Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.51LIKELY
Disgust
0.2UNLIKELY
Fear
0.07UNLIKELY
Joy
0.53LIKELY
Sadness
0.46UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.59LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.19UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.71LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.83LIKELY
Extraversion
0.29UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.58LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.78LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Using Money to Buy Friends
Life According to Jesus
January 18, 2009
Parts of this message was derived from a message from Larry Sarver titled “How to Use Money Wisely”
 
This morning we are continueing in our teaching series “Life According to Jesus” We are studying together the commandments of Jesus… Two weeks ago we talked about tithing… or giving 10% of your financial gain back to God.
I had several questions this past week about tithing.
I think the one thing I want to clarify this morning is that giving is always a matter of the heart.
*2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (ESV) \\ *6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
I believe the tithe is a starting point… in our giving not the end goal… We should never develop the attitude that says I gave my 10% THAT GOOD ENOUGH… Because God always looks at the heart…
 
So this week we are going to be talking about money again… Specifically how we are to use the money God has entrusted to us…
 
Our text for this morning is Luke 16:1-15, one of the most unusual parables Jesus ever told.
At first glance it can seem troubling… Many Bible teachers merely skip over this parable and pretend it does not exist… Many of you, here this morning have asked me “Where in the Bible does it say to use money to make friends?”
Well it is found in Luke 16:9
 
It is the parable of the Crooked Manager.
In this parable Jesus’ tells the story of a manager who took advantage of his position.
He used dishonest methods to give an accounting of his company’s assets for his own personal gain.
And then he is commended for his shrewdness.
*If you have your Bible open with me to Luke 16*
 
*Luke 16:1-15 (ESV) \\ *1 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions.
2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?
Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’
5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’
He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’
He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.
For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.
For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
\\ *Let’s unpack this a little bit!*
\\ In New Testament times extremely wealthy people would hire managers or stewards to oversee their financial affairs.
These managers would keep the books, approve of expenditures, pay employees, make contracts, track loans, etc.
 
Today we call such people "financial managers."
Or CFO’s
 
In this story the manager has been caught "wasting" the owners possessions and is told that he should get the books in order because he is going to be fired.
The word translated as "wasting" is the same word used in the story of the Prodigal Son to describe how he wasted his inheritance when he "squandered his wealth."
*That means the manager was not just guilty of making some bad investments or a simple bookkeeping error.
This guy was taking advantage of being a steward and was squandering his master’s wealth on himself.
*
 
Something that is important for us to realize is this guy already had it good… He was a very wealthy man’s business manager… He had complete control of all his masters’ business dealings.
His mastered trusted him.
He had use of all his masters stuff.
He had a nice place to live and plenty of food… but instead of being grateful for all of this, he was greedy and jealous.
So he began to look out for his own financial interests instead of his masters… He used his master’s money to indulge himself rather than to further his master’s purposes.
*IF YOU GET NOTHING ELSE THIS MORNING GET THIS… GOD IS THE MASTER WE ARE HIS STEWARDS…*
* *
In the story the manager realizes that he is in a real heap of trouble because he will not be able to get another job managing money primarily because FANYMA and FREDYMAC had not yet been created so there was no market for crooked managers.
And Jesus tells us that he is too old or to weak for manual labor, and too proud to beg and obviously a Golden Parachute was not part of his contract.
*He is in a dilemma, there is no such thing as welfare or unemployment… *
 
But being a shrewd manager, he does not ignore this dilemma but instead he comes up with a plan to secure his future financial needs.
He decides to use this last opportunity as the owner’s legal manager to help others by reducing the debts they owed to the owner so that they will show him a favor when he is in need.
And because he had authority over his master possessions it was a legal act but not a moral one.
As a result of his dishonest actions… he rightfully expects that "people will welcome him into their houses."
The crooked manager is counting on the old principle:
 
*You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours…*
\\ In verse 8, Jesus says that when the master found out what the dishonest manager had done he "commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly."
The thing that confuses people about this parable is that a crook would be praised, but if you look carefully at the story it is not the manager’s dishonesty that is commended, rather it is his shrewdness
\\ Then after telling this parable, Jesus then tells his disciples, to be just as shrewd in using money for eternal benefits as the "people of the world" are in using money for worldly benefits.
The word shrewd in this context means to act wisely with insight.
The Dictionary says it means, /“given to wily and artful ways or dealings…”/
 
* *
* *
*This is the main point of the parable.*
Christians should shrewdly use their money and possessions in a way that will benefit the Kingdom of God.
Money and Possessions are tools given by God to be leveraged for the Kingdom… Remember the parable of the Talents, God expect a return on his investment.
*LET ME UNPACK SOME APPLICATION POINTS FOR US THIS MORNING.*
If we are going to make wise money decisions that impact the Kingdom we must first recognize we are stewards or managers not owners… \\ \\ We are responsible for managing God’s resources… we own nothing… *IT ALL BELONGS TO GOD!!! *
* *
We touched on this point a couple weeks ago when we talked about tithing but I think it bears repeating… \\ \\
One of the primary points in this parable is this: /what we consider our money and possessions are not really ours.
/
 
Your house, your Cars, your Toys, Your Tools, You Retirement Accounts… None of it is yours!
Many Christian struggles with the principle of being stewards instead of owners.
*Let me share with you one of the issues, I have with the principle of tithing*.
It becomes a religious duty that can be used to justify how the other 90% is spent.
You see… it is easy to develop the mindset that the 10 percent of your income that you give to the church belongs to God while the other 90 percent is yours to use as you see fit.
 
*THAT IS NOT WHAT THE BIBLE OR JESUS TEACHES… *
 
The Bible teaches that 100 percent of our material goods, whether money or possessions, belong to God. *IT IS ALL GODS…* Every last penny of it… Everything you have in your possession is God’s… right down to the shirt on your back… It is all His…
 
As such we are not only responsible for how we use the first 10 percent but also for how we use the other 90 percent of the money God allows us to acquire.
\\ \\ *When you really start to understand this principle it will change how you use your money and your stuff…*
* *
I don’t know about you but when I borrow something from somebody… I always treat it better than if it were mine… If I borrow somebody’s car I always try to wash it and return it full of gas… I haven’t washed my truck in 2 months… I always try to treat other people stuff better than I would treat my own… and I expect that people do the same when I lend stuff out.
I think most of us are like that… We tend to be wiser and more cautious in using those things that do not belong to us and we expect the same in return.
When we understand that we are stewards of God’s money and that we own nothing it will change how we us God’s resources in the same way… \\ \\
 
*So, does this mean that a Christian cannot spend any money on himself or herself?*
No, not at all.
A manager in New Testament times was entitled to use some of the master’s money to meet his and his family’s needs and to use some for his enjoyment.
*But a manager’s first priority is to furthering the owner’s purposes with the money not his own.
*
 
If a manager is using the owner’s money primarily to indulge his wants then he is not being a good steward and is in danger of being fired when the owner finds out, just like we see in this parable.
*So how are you doing at managing God’s resources?*
Are you a good manager?
Are you using those resources to further God’s purposes in the world?
Or, are you using those resources to further your own purposes?
\\ \\ \\
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
* *
*FIRST, TO USE MONEY WISELY WE NEED TO RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE MANAGERS AND NOT THE OWNERS OF MONEY.
\\ * \\ This principle serves as a basic foundation for using money wisely… That is why I wanted to touch on it again…  Now let’s look at the second application point …
\\ *2.
USE MONEY AND POSSESSIONS TO MAKE FRIENDS.*
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9