The Shrewd Manager
Parables of Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
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· 152 views4 Scriptural principles about money taken from the Parable of the Shrewd Manager
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Over the course of this spring season we are focusing our attention on some of the parables that Jesus taught and what they say to us today
In doing so though I am concentrating my efforts on some of those lesser known parables that Jesus taught
The ones that we either find difficult to understand or reconcile with our theology and so we don’t generally pay them a lot of attention
Over the past couple of weeks we looked at the parable of the new wine in old wine skins seeing that Jesus wants us to move beyond the confines of religion and into this new work that He wants to do in and through us
Today’s parable is another one of these that you probably haven’t paid a lot of attention to but that has some valuable lessons to teach us
Today’s parable is the parable of the Shrewd Manager and is found in Luke chapter 16
Let’s being reading at verse 1
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg—I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“ ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
I’m going to stop right there for a moment because while my 4 points this morning are found in the verses that follow it is crucial to our understanding of the them to first understand this first part
The first thing we need to notice is this word “shrewdly”
It comes from the Greek word “phronimos” and this is the only time in all of the Bible that it is used
Now because of the context of the story and because it is used to describe the actions of a man who is already described as wasting his master’s possessions we immediately think of this word as being negative when in actuality it was a compliment of sorts
It means to act providentially, prudently, wisely
This man may have been lazy and wasteful but he knew how things worked and he was able to work them out to bring about an advantage
Secondly we need to take notice of what Jesus said in the second have of verse 8, “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.”
Jesus was about to teach some valuable lessons to His followers (remember that He is speaking to His disciples also knowing that others are listening) about how we are to live and deal with other believers “our own kind”
Now the N.T. actually has a lot to say about a Christian’s conduct towards other Christians
We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Of course I could go on and on with these passages, but there’s something that sets our text this morning apart from these other passages and that is that our text deals more specifically with one subject matter and how that subject relates to our conduct towards other believers
The clue to what that subject is can be found at the end of the parable in verse 14
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
That’s right, the point of this parable that Jesus was teaching is to give a Godly perspective of money, especially as it pertains in how we relate to other believers
So let’s look at the 4 Godly principles about money beginning, of course, with number one which is found in verse 9
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Our first financial principle from this parable is that the absolutely best investment that you can make with your money is in the people that you will see again one day in Heaven
Now before anyone misunderstands what I am saying let me put this point another way, The best thing that we can do with our money is to use it in such a way as to influence other people for Jesus Christ
This can take many different forms
It could mean giving to a missions endeavour so that people get exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, or it could mean sponsoring a single mom to get to go to a week of Christian camp with her kids, or it could mean involving someone else in your favourite hobby
This is NOT just about giving your money away but it means to use it in such a way that it benefits others so that when this life has come to an end and we have all of eternity at our fingertips, we will have stories and memories to share and talk about with those other people
Our second financial principle is found in verses 10-12
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
Our second financial principle is this, your management of God’s money determines whether or not you can be trusted with true riches
I believe verse 10 to be one of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible
A very large percentage of the time verse 10 is interpreted to mean that if God finds that He can trust us with a little bit of money, He will then trust us with more money accordingly, but that’s not what Jesus said
Notice the distinction Jesus makes between “worldly wealth” or money and “true riches”
Jesus said that when it comes the things that make a person rich, money is at the bottom of the list
Having more of something that has no value does not make a person wealthier, so Jesus is not saying, ‘Be good with your money and I’ll give you more money.’
What He is saying is that your attitude towards money and the way that you treat it will give Him a pretty clear indication of whether or not you can be trusted with other things that carry a real and true value
The Greek word for “true” here is the word “aleethinos” and it means “real, genuine, not false, trustworthy”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary says this about the “true riches”
“The true riches signify spiritual blessings; and if a man spends upon himself, or hoards up what God has trusted to him, as to outward things, what evidence can he have, that he is an heir of God through Christ? The riches of this world are deceitful and uncertain. Let us be convinced that those are truly rich, and very rich, who are rich in faith, and rich toward God, rich in Christ, in the promises; let us then lay up our treasure in heaven, and expect our portion from thence.”
We’ve all heard things like Money can buy a house but not a home, money can buy medicine but not health, money can buy recreation but not peace, or the all summed up, money can’t buy happiness
The things that are of true value, that are genuine and trustworthy do not come from the counterfeits of this world but only come from God and are worth far more than any worldly treasure
The third principle is found in verse 13,
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
This principle is that money makes a great servant but a poor master
While it is true that money is an inanimate object and that it is neither good or evil, it is equally true that mankind has a history of making gods out of inanimate objects and serving and worshipping those Gods
In as much as the Jews of the O.T. could not serve both God and Baal or God and the golden calf, likewise we cannot serve both God and money
The word for “serve” literally means to be in slavery, to be wholly owned by and devoted to
The Pharisees that were eavesdropping on Christ’s teaching had a problem and Jesus knew it, they were more devoted to their money and all the power and luxuries and comforts that it afforded than they were to God
When that is the case it is impossible to serve God wholeheartedly as we are instructed to because our devotion is more to what the money can provide than what it is that God requires
If you have one of the more traditional translations your Bible use the word “mammon” instead of “money” in this verse, that’s because Mammon was the god of material wealth, in short the god of greed
If my devotion is first and foremost to God, than everything, including how I use my money will reflect that fact
Likewise if my devotion is first and foremost to earthly riches, than everything, including how I use my God will reflect that
I don’t want to get too deep into it here this morning but this is where the prosperity gospel sits, it uses God to serve money rather than using money to serve God
The fourth and final financial principle is that money, and the things it provides, is temporary and only the Word of God never expires, verse 14
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.
“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Luke 16:14-
Contrary to what we might think, Jesus is NOT trying to offer a theology of divorce in this passage
Remember He is teaching about money, but just as in last week’s parable when the Pharisees tried to use Jewish rules of fasting to prove a point, Jesus here uses the Jewish rules of divorce to prove His point about money
says that if a man took a wife and she found no favour in his eyes because of something “indecent about her” that he was able to write a certificate of divorce and send her away
By the time that Jesus had come upon the scene, generations of Rabbis had defined this word “indecent” to mean just about anything they wanted it to
From disrespecting her husbands mother, to yelling at or nagging her husband to burning the bread
One particular Rabbi who was born about 20 years after the death of Jesus Rabbi Akiba who is often considered the greatest and wisest teacher of this period of Jewish history actually went so far as to write that a certificate of divorce could be issued if the man found another woman who was prettier.
They were making a mockery of God’s Word for their own wicked desires, just as they were when it came to the Godly principles of money
Interestingly, right after that passage about divorce in Deuteronomy God says this,
Deuteronomy
When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.
Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
The purpose of the parable of the shrewd manager is not to commend this man in his wastefulness or even in his dishonesty but it was to demonstrate for us that when his end was near and he realized what was important, he knew what he needed to do and he went about that task with all of his strength
For us too our end is never far away and as we consider what lies next for us we also need to engage all of our strength and motivation doing what we need to do, especially in the area of finances
We need to invest where we are going to realize an eternal return
We need to be faithful with this task in order to inherit true wealth
We can serve God or money but we can’t serve both
Money is temporary but God’s Word is eternal
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
1 Timothy 6:
Let’s pray