“24” is one of the hot shows on television and I am the proud owner of the first four seasons on DVD.  I recently watched the first season, one episode after another, free of commercials and it is, to me, fascinating.  It feeds my adrenalin addiction!

In some ways it is a very dark show in that it portrays “Evil” as effectively as anything that I have watched in recent years. Jack Bower is the principal character in the show and his job is to protect the President. However, his family is kidnapped and he is hijacked and the enemy attempts to coerce him into using his unique position as the President’s protector to assassinate him.

Now it is this portrait of evil that is so engrossing. No matter where Jack Bower goes the enemy is there to see and to hear. The enemy is an inescapable presence that cannot be evaded or avoided. The enemy is a constant unwanted companion. Evil is always present.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is this: You do indeed have a constant companion and your companion is ultimately and finally good. Even while the forces of evil work their malevolence, God, the Holy One that Jesus calls “Father”, is always with you – your constant companion.

We are talking about stewardship and we have described stewardship as the process of taking care of the gifts that God gives you.

Imagine this: It is Christmas morning and under your tree you discover a chest filled with presents.  There is a whole chest-full of packages to be unwrapped, one at a time, and to be enjoyed. However to enjoy the gift fully, you have to take care of it.

Bobby gets a new car for his birthday. It is his to drive and to enjoy. It is also his to maintain; gas up, change the oil, check the tires, clean and repair. To enjoy the gift, he must take care of the gift and taking care of the gift is called, in church, “stewardship.”

Last week we opened the package called “salvation”, the ultimate gift of all. Today I want to suggest that there is another package to open and it is the gift of a new Companion. Rather than being an unwanted agent of death and destruction, your new companion is the source of life and wholeness and courage and joy. As you open the chest of God’s gifts to you, you will find the gift of God’s companionship with you.

Let’s look to the scriptures as a reminder of the gift that God offers. This morning, we read from the Gospel of John. Jesus is spending his last night with the disciples and he is reminding them of the essence of his instruction. As a part of that last conversation, he says this:

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14: 15-18, NIV)

The word is “Paraclete” and it is sometimes translated counselor as it is here. It is also translated as “helper” “or “advocate”.  Paraclete is one of those Greek words for which no single English word will do. The point is this; Jesus promised that God will send a Companion, the Holy Spirit, who will never abandon us and who will be our counselor, our helper, our advocate, no matter what happens.   God as Holy Spirit will be with us. God as Holy Spirit is with us.

Or listen to Jesus in “The Sermon on the Mount.”

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. (Matthew 6:6, NIV)

You have a Companion. Jesus calls God, “Father” and declares that God is like the Ultimate Father who loves you beyond measure or description. When you go to the place where you can give your full attention to God, God gives God’s full attention to you! You have a companion who knows what you need before you ask.

Let’s look at another promise from Jesus.

For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."  (Matthew 18:20, NIV)

And these are the last words in the Gospel of Matthew. Jesus is speaking.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20, NIV)

The Apostle Paul experienced the companionship with God with such intimacy that he referred to our physical bodies as “Temples of the Holy Spirit.”  (I Corinthians 6:19)  God lives within you, within your body!  You have a companion.

When you accept the gift of God’s salvation one of the gifts that comes in the chest is the gift of a new spiritual companionship. You receive the gift of God’s attentive presence. You have a new relationship with One who is so intimate that God makes even your body God’s  residence, God’s  home, God’s temple.

If the gift is companionship, if the gift is the companionship of God, then how do we take care of it?” What is our “stewardship response?” 

Let’s ask the obvious question; how do you take care of any relationship?  How do you take care of your relationship with your parents or children or spouse?  How do you take care of a friendship? 

Every relationship demands at least three things; time, attention, and loyalty.

Time:  Imagine the father who says to the child, “I love you but I don’t have any time for you. In fact my time is so limited that we may not speak to one another for hours or days or weeks or even months at a time. I don’t have time to sit with you or to go to your games or to be there for your birthdays. I have no time for you but I don’t want that to get in the way of our companionship!” How would you respond? You would say, “That is ridiculous.” There may be some extenuating circumstances but to do that on purpose would be a denial of the relationship. Companions spend time together. That is the essence of companionship, is it not?

Or imagine the friends who never see one another or never talk or communicate in any way. It is true that a kind of friendship may indeed remain but the essence of companionship has been denied. Companionship by its very character demands time.

Our companionship with God requires time:

• Time for worship
• Time for regular prayer
• Time to attend to the presence of God
• Time for the scriptures
• Time for the small groups that nurture our companionship with God

The relationship with God is entirely too valuable to be left to the haphazard habits of spontaneous impulse. Our companionship with God requires a stewardship of time.

Attention: Imagine the husband and wife who sit together in the living room at home. He grabs his chest, lets out a painful sigh and falls to the floor in pain. He passes out. But she is so enthralled in the show that she never notices. In fact, the commercials are better than the show so she doesn’t even notice then. She is not paying attention.

It is a silly way of saying that all companionship requires attention.  Relationships mature as the partners pay attention to one another and those same relationships wither and die when attention is denied.

So, how do we take care of our relationship with God? We pay attention:

• We give our attention to His instruction, particularly to the teaching of Jesus
• We give our full attention to worship and prayer
• We give our attention to the work that God wants us to do
• We give our attention to God’s people

Our relationship with God demands that we pay attention.

All healthy relationships demand faithfulness or fidelity.

Imagine this: The man marries the woman and then says to her on their wedding night, “I love you but do not expect me to stop seeing other women.”  Or imagine the friend who says to another, “We are friends but if I must, I will destroy you to get the promotion.”  The betrayal of faithfulness, infidelity, will destroy any relationship. And while God is infinitely forgiving, a wholesome relationship demands that we seek to be faithful to God as we know God.

So how do we take care of our relationship with God?  We seek to be faithful:

·        We are faithful in worship and prayer

·        We seek to reflect God’s character in our morality

·        We seek to be faithful in the way we conduct our business

·        We are faithful in the ways in which we seek entertainment and enjoyment

·        In the words of the old hymn, we both “trust and obey.”

Our relationship with God demands our fidelity.

We have been given a magnificent gift, an incredible present to open. We have been given the gift of God’s companionship. It is yours; it is ours for the taking. It is a free gift from God.  Please open the gift. And more, please take very good care of it. It is the source of life and hope and peace and joy. It is the source of life, now and forever more.

Amen