Sermon Tone Analysis

In the previous chapter, Jesus told us a parable of prodigal son.

It was actually a story about the prodigal’s older brother as Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, who were hard hearted towards those who sought out forgiveness.

He compared them to how the elder brother reacted when the prodigal came home by pointing out that the older brother lived as though everything was about him.

Don’t you hate it when someone points out your mistakes?

It can come in the form of a bible story, a devotion, or seeing your faults lived out by others.

That’s one of the problems with parables.

They are stories that are intended to teach, but often they hold up a standard that seems perfect… and most of us struggle with perfection.

Then there are parables like the ones in chapter 16 of Luke.

Parables that lift up the bad guy… not so much to say DON’T do that - but rather learn from him.

Making someone who we obviously wouldn’t look up to, a sort of strange role model.

A strange role model

If you read commentaries about this parable, you will find a deep study taking you in a variety of directions.

Granted it’s hard to imagine that Jesus would lift up someone who was a obvious thief from his master as a role model.

Perhaps we are missing something more obvious from the text.

I apply Occum’s Razor in this situation.

Occums Razor is a theory of reasoning that says the solution - the conclusion, the motivation - that is most obvious, that requires the fewest steps, is usually the correct one

Regardless of the source of the difference… whether the manager made up the difference or if he just wrote it off, knowing his master wouldn’t know the difference, either way he would get credit from the debtors.

Luke 16:9-18

Principles from the Parable: Use worldly wealth to invest in people, not possessions

Shrewd managers make investments in the future.

Shrewd disciples make investments in the kingdom in order to prepare for their future life in heaven.

Use your money in ways that pursues Gods interests as his managers in His kingdom.

Everything he has given us is to be used to further the kingdom.

Use your resources to further his kingdom and by so doing you prepare for your eternity in heaven.

If you build your life and your resources for this life, it will fail you.

It is not IF; it is when.

This is critical because mammon – everything we have here and not just money will let you down.

If we live for this life; then we will have a rude awakening come day we stand before God.

I”m not saying that if you aren’t generous, you won’t get into heaven.

Your salvation is found in Jesus… not in your generosity.

Not only that… but think about how you invest in the kingdom things vs temporary pursuits.

This is a great barometer of our spiritual lives, if it is robust, anemic or existent at all.

Jesus is going to show us an example of this very thing in just a moment, but first a couple other principles.

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Principles from the Parable: Faithfulness is vital

Faithfulness is not dependent upon how much you have, size of your income, but on what you do with what you have.

Because it reveals the condition of the heart.

If you are not faithful with little then you will not be faithful in much.

How many of us have seen this to be true in people we have known.

If they talk to you about others it won’t be long before they talk about you to others.

If they tell other’s secrets to you, who are they telling your secrets to?

If your neighbor doesn’t return your shovel, what will you allow him to neglect tomorrow?

When it comes to our resources, how we use them now demonstrates the sort of character that God wants to reward with greater riches in the Kingdom.

If you cannot be trusted in this life then you will not be trusted with true riches.

The bible teaches that in heaven there will be a time of judgement, when our deeds on earth will be judged.

Faithfulness will be rewarded… so no you won’t be kicked out for a lack of kingdom mindedness… but it does reveal our heart… we will be rewarded for how faithful we are in this life… part of that is what we do with what we have.

Today, None of THIS is ours, it belongs to God to use as he sees fit - which leads us to the next principle -

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Principles from the Parable: Our mindset has to switch from ownership to management

Here is the issue.

If we see ourselves as managers of Gods’ resources and are faithful in using them for Gods purposes then we are serving God.

If not we are serving money.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples but verse 14 tells us that the Pharisees were listening in the background and they ridicule him because they are lovers of money.

The Pharisees were very religious people; moralists as we have seen.

Yet they loved money and did not love God.

What that tells us is that one thing that keeps us from being good managers is the love of money.

How do you serve God or serve money?

You are not doing anything for money; you are not adding anything to money or to God.

Serving here means what money is doing for you; it is what God is doing for you.

It means positioning ourselves before money or God to receive their benefits.

We serve God by trusting Him to provide for us; we serve money by trusting it to provide for us.

You serve God by being generous with your time, your talents, our treasures, and trusting that he will provide for you, protect you, and meet your needs.

You serve money by looking to it and using it to meet your needs, to protect you, to provide for you.

If that is you or you are veering down that road, or tempted to turn down that road you will end up devoting yourself to money and yourself and hate God.

That may seem harsh but that is what the text says.

Our possessions, whether our money, our time, our talents, our skills… are meant to be a source of blessing.

It is to be used to bless you, your neighbors, the church, and the world.

Those things are ours to manage, to develop them, to care for them.

That makes us managers, stewards, of what God has given and how we use them is tells both God and the world whether we treasure God or not.

So in a way, we get to be selfish about our possessions.

I heard a story of a grandfather talking to his grandson.

Grandson asked why he gave them this or that… why are you so generous?

I’m not generous, in my heart I’ve always been a very selfish person.

But because of all that Jesus has given me, I’ve decided I’m going to be selfish with my generosity.

What do you mean?

I am the most selfish person in the world.

I’m so selfish I want to see the smile on people’s faces while I’m living.

I can’t enjoy it when I’m dead.

That's a great way to live, but it’s only possible if we are able to see the things we have in the right perspective… let me ask you

the question the text is driving us to address today…

Do you own your money, or does it own you?

If you struggle in this area, there are some great resources out there to help you grow in this.

This is important.

There are more verses in NT about money than any other subject.

Now, let’s go back for a minute because some of you were wondering...

Why Is This Here?

NT speaks to divorce: Matthew 5, Matthew 19, Mark 10, Romans 7, 1 Corinthians 7.

But in context here.

After the Pharisees laughed, Jesus is pointing out that they are fanatics of the letter of the law, but missing the big picture.

They allowed divorce for any reason… Deut 24:1 “1 If a man marries a woman who becomes displeasing to him because he finds something indecent about her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, gives it to her and sends her from his house...”

But Jesus says, not so fast, they are missing the point.

There are some things that can’t be undone and shouldn’t be handled so carelessly.

Matthew 5:31-32, 19:3-9, Mark 10:1-12, Romans 7:2-3, 1 Corinthians 7:10-15.

Relationships, like our possessions are the same in this regard.

We see this in the closing parable:

Stewardship vs Entitlement

This parable is all about stewardship vs Entitlement.

I’ve heard it said that we are living in the entitled generation…

Poor - welfare, rich - tax break, employed - benefits, student loan - forgiveness, special interest - special hearing

But as I read Scripture, parables like this one, I see that this is the condition of the heart… to get what we feel we deserve.

In many ways, this was part of the original sin of… Yes God said, eat of any tree but this one… but we deserve this one too...

What do we really deserve?