Luke 16:1-15
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1 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 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.’ 3 “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—4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “ ‘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.’ 7 “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.’ 8 “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. 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. 10 “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. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 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.” 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 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.
Pray
Introduction
Introduction
We are closing in on 19:28 which is the end of this section in Luke. Jesus has been primarily focused in on training his disciples.
He is going to deal with the subject of money at least three more times before we conclude this section.
And the characters in some of Jesus parables are going to be defined by their financial status.
What this tells us is that following Jesus means that we let him lead us with our finances.
Are you ready for Jesus to lead you with your finances?
What do you do before you get fired?
1. Get every personal item out of your work area. Take your stuff home, bit by bit. Don't take it all out at once.
2. Clean your work computer of any personal files, and get their files off any devices they gave you to use in connection with your job.
3. Get the contact details from your workmates and any customers, vendors or other business associates you want to keep in touch with.
4. Make sure to take the email addresses of your active customers so you can communicate your departure to them rather than letting Martin control that important communication.
5. Compose a polite, pleasant and non-disparaging goodbye email message to send to your customers and other business contacts if and when you are terminated.
6. Grab whatever resume fodder you can get from this job before you move on. If there are small but impactful projects you wanted to take on but didn't have time to begin before, do it now.
Observations from the Text
Observations from the Text
A Parable by Jesus
A steward (employee) of a rich man was doing a poor job and was about to get fired.
He makes a shrewd (dishonest) move at the end of his employment to put himself in the good graces of other business people around him.
The rich master (while having lost money) commends the shrewd actions of the employee.
Interpretive questions
Was the actions of the manager moral?
When does the parable end and Jesus commentary begin?
What was the main point of this parable? (This stands in question because of the series of applications given from verse 10-15.)
Our interpretation: Jesus is using a story about a shrewd employee to illustrate the need for shrewd use of resources and opportunity for God’s Kingdom.
The logic builds from a lessor to the greater. “How much more...”
Use wealth as an instrument rather then being acted upon by wealth as a master. (vs. 9 and 13-15)
Note that the manager (employee) was just a middle man when it came to wealth. His boss was wealthy and he was interacting with other wealthy business owners in his community.
Additional Lessons from vs 10-15
Additional Lessons from vs 10-15
Character scales... what you do with little translates over to what you will do with much.
Washington Post story about the GoFundMe that raised $400k but was being mismanaged by the originators of the fund.
"how much more" logic... If the world is shrewd with its resources an opportunities, how much more ought the saints be with theirs.
Do financial gains of Warren Buffet and Ray Dalio inspire you? Embedded in their success is the principle of making money work for you. Let it inspire you to use your opportunities and resources for God’s kingdom.
Relationships are one of the most valuable resources that you have… leading to more opportunities… The first lesson here is to see money as an instrument for building relationships. Once you have that down take the next step in seeing money as an instrument for kingdom relationships.
Tomorrow we are going to give away up to 800 backpacks with school supplies. And we are doing that to 1) meet an immediate need and 2) build relationships with families in our community so that we can help them grow in their relationship with God.
Note: it is essential that our dealings work from a lessor to greater progression… An initial mutually beneficial exchange that ultimately leads to a scaled benefit for the other party.
A bait and switch works in reverse… from the greater to the lessor. And quid pro quo is an exchange of perceived equal values.
- You cannot serve two masters... Notice, money can be a boss. And if it is your boss you will struggle to have God be your boss. When money is your boss you end up justifying yourself by comparing yourself with the people around you rather then being justified by God.
You cannot serve two masters... Notice, money can be a boss. And if it is your boss you will struggle to have God be your boss. When money is your boss you end up justifying yourself by comparing yourself with the people around you rather then being justified by God.
Debt principally puts you and I into a position where money is the boss. Go get yourself into debt and try to follow God in His mission. You will feel the restrictions very quickly.
Move out of debt. Make money work for you. Enjoy the freedom you have to do the mission of God.
Conclusion
Conclusion
17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Jesus is our great high priest. He stands between God and man making a monetary exchange on God’s behalf. The currency is his own body and blood. The purchase is our souls.
Jesus is our great high priest. He stands between God and man making a monetary exchange on God’s behalf. The currency is his own body and blood. The purchase is our souls. He didn’t just half our debt. Jesus canceled our debt entirely.