Luke 16:1-15 | "God Knows Your Hearts" [ The Heart of Giving ]
[The Heart of Giving] • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 31 viewsSunday, April 23, 2023. Luke 16:1-15 | "God Knows Your Hearts." Preached to Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, MA. This the second sermon in a mini-series called "The Heart of Giving."
Notes
Transcript
I. The Reading
I. The Reading
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.
2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
3 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; I am ashamed to beg.
4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’
5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of 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 else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
II. The Exhortation
II. The Exhortation
“God knows your hearts.”
“God knows your hearts.”
Jesus spoke these words to Pharisees, who were lovers of money (16:14).
“God knows your hearts” He said to them.
If we think that this teaching of Jesus is about money, let us consider whether any of Jesus’ teachings have as their purpose, aim and end — money.
Does Jesus teach with a purpose, aim and end of money? — No.
Does God love money? — No.
What is it then, that God loves? … [ ? ]
If we think that this teaching of Jesus is about money, I suggest that we may be hearing it as Pharisees, who were themselves, lovers of money.
For what we get out of this teaching of Jesus depends entirely upon the orientation of our hearts as we hear it.
What we get out of this teaching of Jesus depends entirely upon who and what we love as we hear it.
Are we hearing with hearts of disciples, or with hearts of Pharisees?
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.
But the Pharisees were not the only ones listening to this teaching.
May we pray once more?
[ Pray ]
Father, we ask that you would grant us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand these words of Jesus. As we consider the heart of giving, we know that we are considering a matter of our hearts. We believe your word is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12). May your Word and Spirit accomplish your purposed work among us and in us. We desire that our hearts be loyal to you and belong to you by faith in all things. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
III. The Teaching
III. The Teaching
In verse 1, Jesus brings His disciples into view.
Verse 1 says:
16:1
16:1
Luke 16:1 (NASB 95)
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples...
Who are “the disciples?”
The disciples, at the most basic level, are followers of Jesus. The disciples are learners of Jesus, who are taught by Jesus. Disciples are Christians (Acts 11:26).
Why is it important, for the Word to tell us that Jesus is now speaking ALSO to the disciples?
We must conclude that this is a teaching for them. This is a teaching for Christians. This is a teaching for us.
Brothers and sisters - Listen!
For as Jesus speaks these things, He is not just speaking to Pharisees. Jesus is teaching us who love Him with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strength, and with all our minds; and who love our neighbors as ourselves (Lk 10:27).
Verse 1 again —
Luke 16:1 (NASB 95)
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager...
“There was a rich man who had a manager...”
Often in Scripture, when Jesus introduces a parable or story with the words, “there was a rich man…”, Jesus speaks of the rich man as a bad example, with words of sadness or sharp rebuke (see the latter part of this same chapter, for example.)
But here little attention is given to the rich man and his wealth — for good or for bad.
We’re told that he is rich or wealthy as a way of setting up this story that involves him, his manager and debtors.
“There was a rich man who had a manager...”
Knowing that the Pharisees, who are lovers of money, are listening, I suspect that Jesus is speaking to their hearts by telling a story of a rich man, for money seems to be their heart language, and God knows this.
“There was a rich man who had a manager...”
As with other parables, we are going to be tempted to match the characters of this story to real people to understand the application.
We will want to ask questions like:
“Who is the rich man?” — Is the rich man God?
“Who is the manager”? — Is the manager the Pharisees? or me?
“Who are the debtors?” — Are we the debtors?
And if we do this, we will find ourselves frustrated - because a clear answer does not fit.
To ask these questions of this parable seems to miss the point of this parable. Jesus doesn’t give answers to these questions anyway, so let’s not get distracted with them.
The value of this parable is not in revealing who the characters represent, but the value of this parable is in understanding the relationships represented.
How do these people relate to one another and to possessions?
Verse 1 -
“There was a rich man who had a manager...”
The word “manager” reflects a household manager. The rich man hired this manager to manage his household possessions (LN).
So this manager is entrusted with a stewardship…he is given something to steward by the owner and he is trusted to manage that stewardship well on the owner’s behalf.
Luke 16:1 (NASB 95)
1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.
Charges are brought to the rich man against this manager.
This household manager is squandering the rich man’s possessions.
The word “squandering” means to “scatter” or “disperse” — to waste (LN, BDAG).
If you need an illustration of what this word means, think back to the prodigal son in the previous chapter of Luke, where the younger of two sons asked for his inheritance from his father.
He receives that inheritance while his father is still living, gathers everything together that was given to him by his father, and goes on a journey into a distance country.
There God’s Word says, the younger son squandered his estate with loose living until he had spent everything and he began to be impoverished (15:12-13).
This is what the rich man’s manager is now doing with the rich man’s possessions.
He is scattering them, meaning he is wasting them - squandering them.
The manager is accused of mismanagement (PNTC).
So the rich man calls for an account.
16:2
16:2
2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’
Our way of saying this is simply — “You’re fired.”
“You are no longer entrusted to manage my household.”
The rich man apparently knows what he will find when he is given the account, assuming the charges to be true, so he removes the manager from his position right away.
But it will take some time for the manager to give an accounting of his management — if that means pulling together records or ledgers or tying up loose ends.
At any rate, the manager has a small window of time before his removal takes full effect and word of his firing spreads.
16:3
16:3
3 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; I am ashamed to beg.
The manager comes to his senses (PNTC). He considers his future.
What will he do now? How will he survive?
“my master is taking the management away from me.”
He refers to the rich man for the first time as “my master.”
This word for “master” is the word for “lord.” It is the same word used of Jesus as our “Lord.”
The word “master” or “lord” or “owner” in this general usage recognizes a sense of authority the rich man had over this servant — authority that the servant also represented on behalf of his master.
The word “master” also contributes a sense of high status and respect that belonged to the rich man (LN).
The manager is mindful of his physical limitations - He says: “I am not strong enough to dig.”
But he is also mindful of his reputation and status - He says: “I am ashamed to beg.”
As he questions within himself, the answer comes to him!
16:4
16:4
4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’
He is being removed as a manager over his master’s home, so he devises a plan to be let into other people’s homes.
(They must not have checked references in antiquity...?)
16:5
16:5
5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
16:6
16:6
6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
For context, a hundred measures of oil is estimated to be 850 gallons, the yield of nearly 150 trees, worth about 1,000 denarii (IVPBBC NT).
The manager cuts this debt in half.
By misrepresenting the authority of his master, the now-fired manager summons each one of his master’s debtors before they are aware, asks what they owe, and then lowers the debt owed.
Time is of the essence. This must be done quickly before he is found out!
16:7
16:7
7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
The measure of wheat (about 1,000 bushels) represents the yield of about 100 acres and was worth about 2,500 denarii (IVPBBC NT).
In both of these examples, the debt forgiven is about the same, about 500 denarii.
There are several suggestions about what this means. Was the manager removing a form of interest on the debt? Was the manager removing his own commission from the debt?
We don’t know, and we aren’t told. But given the sizeable sums owed, it is implied that the debt reduction would make the manager some new friends.
16:8
16:8
Luke 16:8 (NASB 95)
8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly...
This is the end of the parable.
At the end of this story, the manager is revealed and called what he actually is — he is “unrighteous.” Some translations render the word as “dishonest.” That is what he is - and that does not change.
Yet the master, somehow aware of what the unrighteous manager has done, responds in a peculiar way. Rather than condemning him, he praises him.
The master does not praise this manager’s unrighteousness, but more specifically, he praises his shrewdness.
Shrewdness means he acted with prudence, understanding, with insight, with wisdom (LN).
And even though what he did was unrighteous, and that doesn’t change, the master still praises his shrewdness.
We can identify with this kind of response, can’t we?
Is it any different than the way we react when we watch a movie about an elaborate heist and are entertained?
We’ll watch a robbery taking place before us, often times involving lies, fornication, even murder - Yet we marvel at how this story of theft unfolds.
We marvel at how this evil stealing is so brilliantly and thoughtfully carried out with success.
And we give that movie our money and our time, not because it represents something that is right and upstanding, but because of the shrewdness with which it is carried out.
Stuart Briscoe writes:
“Good men sometimes do good things badly…Bad men sometimes do bad things well” - Stuart Briscoe
(Stuart Briscoe, Patterns for Power, 137)
This manager is a bad man doing a bad thing well.
It is here in the middle of verse 8, that Jesus appears to interject His own commentary and teaching on this parable.
The saying of Jesus shifts from parable to teaching.
Verse 8 again -
Luke 16:8 (NASB 95)
8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly...
(Then Jesus teaches…)
Luke 16:8 (NASB 95)
8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.
Jesus begins to interpret the meaning of this parable.
Remember, the value of this parable is not in revealing who the characters represent, but the value of this parable is in understanding the relationships represented.
And Jesus puts forward relationships to be examined through a series of contrasts.
First, in verse 8, Jesus contrasts:
The sons of this age vs. the sons of light (16:8).
The sons of this age vs. the sons of light (16:8).
The sons of this age are the children of this fading world, people who have no use for God (LN).
The sons of light are the children of God who belong to His Kingdom.
Jesus uses this parable to teach that the the sons of this age relate with more shrewdness (that is with more prudence, with more understanding, with more insight, with more thoughtfulness) to their own kind — to other sons of this age - than do the sons of light.
The unrighteous manager, by acting shrewdly, figures out how to provide for his future with his master’s wealth. He’s thinking about his future and acting with his future in mind, however temporary it may be by forging relationships.
The son of this age gives more thought and action toward his future with the resources available to him than sons of light give for their eternal future with God (see PNTC).
Joel Green says:
The Gospel of Luke 5.5.7.1. Using Wealth to Make Friends (16:1-9)
“Children of this age,” he observes, understand how the world works and use it to their benefit; why do “children of light” not understand the ways of the kingdom of God?
To understand the ways of the kingdom of God is to understand what is important to God.
People are important to God, not money.
Jesus instructs his disciples -
16:9
16:9
9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Jesus teaches on how wordly wealth is to be stewarded by sons of light - for making eternal friends.
Previously, Jesus said:
33 “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.
“Unrighteous wealth” or “unrighteous mammon” or “wordly riches” will fail. It’s not a matter of “if it fails” but “when it fails.” It will run out in either amount or in time available to use it in the world.
So disciples should use money with people in mind and with eternity in view.
Because God doesn’t love money - God loves people.
God doesn’t save money - God saves people.
Money doesn’t have a heart. People do.
What matters for disciples is faithfulness.
Are we faithfully stewarding what God has given us?
16:10
16:10
10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
This verse lives in the present tense — the NOW.
What we do with what we have now - whether it be much or little - will show how we will steward what we will have later in Christ.
God is concerned with our faithfulness.
Faithfulness will not change with the quantity of our possessions.
This is why the best time to begin giving to the Lord, to allow God to grow in us a generous heart — is NOW.
For we won’t do later what we aren’t doing now. We won’t do for eternity what we are aren’t doing now.
10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
Jesus is teaching that stewardship in this world is a test for how we will steward in the Kingdom.
What we do with the unrighteous wealth now, the worldly wealth now — describes our spiritual stewardship.
16:11
16:11
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you?
16:12
16:12
12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
All we have, we have received from God.
We are merely stewards of all God has given to us in the here and now, and this stewardship has eternal implications.
R.T. France -
Luke Luke 16:1–18: God and Mammon
Our heavenly well-being depends on how we have handled the possessions entrusted to us here on earth.
How we steward what we have been given reveals everything about our hearts, our love and who we serve.
Jesus says:
16:13
16:13
13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
To serve wealth as master means that wealth masters us. To serve God as a master means God masters us.
To serve wealth means that we love ourselves. To serve God means that we love God and people (GCM).
In this world, we are being tested more in our discipleship than in our finances (see Blomberg, Interpreting the Parables).
And this is why Jesus makes this teaching a matter of the heart.
For Luke tells us:
16:14
16:14
14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and were scoffing at Him.
16:15
16:15
15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God.
Jesus never ends a teaching with money. Money and the use of money is never the end goal. Jesus takes the teaching all the way where the Word takes it - to the thoughts and intentions of the human heart.
The Pharisees did not love what God loved. The Pharisees loved money — and in God’s sight that is detestable. That is abhorrent.
For God loves people.
God loves YOU!
The [Christ] Conclusion
The [Christ] Conclusion
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Jesus paid our sin debt with his own blood - and He paid all of it.
And the Gospel says after His death, Jesus was buried.
Luke tells us something about the circumstances of Jesus’ burial.
Luke 23:50 says —
50 And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man
51 (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God;
52 this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
53 And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain.
Matthew 27:57 tells us that Joseph of Arimathea was a rich man.
God ordained that Jesus’ body would be laid in the tomb of a man who by wordly standards was rich, yet he was a man who was waiting for the kingdom of God.
And on the third day Jesus, the light of the world, walked out of that tomb, showing how the teaching of this parable is fulfilled in its fullest sense in Christ.
For Jesus made use of Joseph’s wordly wealth, who offered his tomb willingly for the Lord, so that by coming out alive Jesus makes us friends with God - for eternity.
By His cross, His burial, and His resurrection - all who believe in Jesus may be sons of light, children of God, and by faith Christ will dwell in our hearts (Eph 3:17).
Brothers and sisters - judgment is coming.
The first judgment is whether or not you confess Christ as Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead to be saved.
But another judgment awaits us — it is not the judgment of salvation, but a judgment of our stewardship of all God has given us.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.
But let us not forget verse 10:
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Our works matter as Christians! Our stewardship matters as Christians! Not for our salvation (that’s decided through the cross of Christ), but for God’s glory and God’s pre-ordained purposes. “which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”
And brothers and sisters - we will be judged in eternity for our stewardship this day.
We will be judged by what we have done with the salvation God has given us, and with the resources God has entrusted to us, whether it be much or little.
Will there be a welcoming committee of people greeting you in glory who are there because of the way you stewarded the resources God gave you in this life and on this earth?
So let us NOT look in judgment to one another, but let us each examine our own lives before the Lord, who knows our hearts.
Romans 14:10 (NASB 95)
10 …For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Communion
Communion
27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.