Sermon Tone Analysis

!!! Luke 16:1-13

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Translation

1 And he also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a steward and charges were brought to him about this man that he squandered his possessions.

2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?

Give an account of your stewardship, for you are not able to still be steward.

3 And the steward said to himself, ‘What can I do, for my master has removed my stewardship from me?

I am not able to dig, I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do so that when I am removed from the stewardship others will receive me into their houses.’

5 And summoning each one of his master’s debtors he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘one hundred baths of olive oil.’

And he said to him, ‘Take your bill and sit quickply and write fifty.’

7 Then he said to another, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’

And he said, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’

He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’

8 And the master praised the unrighteous steward because he was shrewd.

For the sons of this age are more shrewd among their own kind than are the sons of light.

9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves out of unrighteous mammon, in order that whenever it comes to an end, they might receive you into the eternal dwelling.

10 The one who is faithful in insignificant things is also faithful in greater, and the one who is unrighteous in insignificant things is also unrighteous in greater.

11 If then you have not been faithful in unrighteous mammon, who will trust you with true riches1? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what belongs to you? 13 No servant is able to serve two masters, for he will hate the one and love the other, or he will hold fast to the one and despise the other.

No one is able to serve God and riches.”

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Outline

#. Introduction

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What can you learn from an unrighteous person?

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The lesson in this parable: Be generous with that which is not yours in order to demonstrate faithfulness to God and be received into eternal dwellings.

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Where we are going

#. Explaining the parable

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Applying the parable

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Recognize the value of people over things.

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Serve God with the things that are passing away in order to receive the things that are eternal.

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Keep God as the focus of your existence.

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Read the text: Luke 16:1-13

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The parable explained (1-8)

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Moving through the details

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The steward is about to lose his job.

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The steward was not immediately dismissed for he still had access to the record books and could reduce debt.

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He does not like his prospects once he is fired.

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He decides to reduce the debts of his master’s debtors so they will receive him with favor.

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To reduce the debts he simply cut the price.

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The most likely scenario is that he simply reduced what the debtors would have to pay, causing his master greater loss.

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He manipulated that which was not his in order to win favor.

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His master commended him for his shrewd thinking.

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Despite the loss, his master was able to recognize the steward’s shrewd thinking and could praise him for it.

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A modern example

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Modern corporate scandal - the dishonest handling of investor’s money, using what belongs to someone else for one’s own benefit.

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One company might publicly frown on another company doing this, but behind closed doors this kind of scandal is praised and emulated.

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How many companies went down after Enron for doing the exact same things?

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The parable applied (9-13)

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What in the world does all of this mean?

And how should we apply it?

Is Jesus commending dishonesty?

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Recognize the value of people over things.

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Serve God with the things that are passing away in order to receive the things that are eternal.

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Keep God as the focus of your existence.

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Sermon Manuscript

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*Introduction*

What can you learn from an unrighteous person?

I think we all realize that we can learn things from unbelievers.

But what about righteousness can you learn from the unrighteous acts of an unbeliever?

Two thousand years ago Jesus gave his disciples a very important lesson on how to deal with their stuff, their possessions, their money, and he did it through the unrighteous example of an unrighteous person.

In this sermon we will be looking at Jesus’ parable of the unrighteous steward, found in Luke 16:1-13.

This parable contains some surprises for us.

Before we read it I want to tell you what we will learn from this parable and how it applies to our lives, then as we read the text you might see where these elements fit.

Jesus told his disciples this parable in order to teach them to be generous with those things that were not theirs in order to demonstrate their own faithfulness to God and in the process lead people into the kingdom of God.

He did this by drawing three points of application from the parable.

First, we need to recognize the value of people over things.

Second, we need to serve God with the things that we don’t really own to begin with, and which are passing away, in order to receive the things that are eternal.

And third, we need to keep God as the focus of our existence.

With that in mind, let us read the the text together, Luke 16:1-13.

{{@Cue Pray}}

*Explanation*

Before we draw out the meaning of this text I want to go back and move through the details.

Let’s recap the story and see what exactly is happening, looking at the first eight verses of our passage.

In the story we learn about a steward who is about to lose his position due to poor stewardship.

We are not told if he stole his master’s money or if he was simply incompetent.

Whatever the case, his master is going to dismiss him.

With the loss of his position immanent, the steward considers his options.

He could become a hard laborer, perhaps a ditch digger, but he does not like that idea.

He could become a beggar but he is too proud for that.

So he comes up with an option which if it works will make other people receptive to him.

With a little time remaining as steward, he summons people who owe his master money and he reduces their debts.

He took their bills and cancelled a portion so that the people would look favorably on him and would receive him when his time of need came.

In the process he relieved their own burdens.

Their debts were great - the two individuals mentioned in the story each owed goods that equalled several years worth of income.

Their gratitude was certain.

One might well imagine that the steward’s master would not be happy with the arrangement since this would put him out of even more goods.

Here is where we have our first big surprise of the story.

In the first half of [[verse 8|Bible:Luke 16:8]] we read that the master “commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.”

What in the world?

The master was just cheated of money and yet he praised the steward?

Jesus gives us the answer in the second half of the verse, and here he begins to unfold what this parable means to believers: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.”

The word there for shrewd can mean several things.

It can mean the person is wise, or perhaps crafty, or cunning.

In the Greek translation of the Old Testament this same word is used to describe Satan in Genesis 3:1 who was more crafty than the other animals.

It is also used in Matthew 7:24 to describe the wise man who builds his house on the rock.

Be careful to note that in our passage the master does not praise the specific actions of the steward.

Instead, he praises the steward’s shrewdness.

He praised the cunning of the steward.

The steward recognized his situation and was clever enough to work out a solution.

The master was able to recognize in the steward some quality or characteristic that is commendable to the sons of the world.

The steward, knowing his dire situation, was willing to make use of his master’s resources in order to make his own future more comfortable.

That kind of thinking is very popular among the sons of this world.

Consider all of the corporate scandals we have faced in the last few years.