THE SHREWD STEWARD
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· 1 viewA faithful steward will use his Master’s money shrewdly to provide true riches for eternity.
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THE SHREWD STEWARD
Today marks the sixth of our seven messages on generosity. We’ve said that you can be technically generous with your money and still not be pervasively generous in all parts of your life.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Jesus calls us to be relationally generous, which means to not always be critical or unforgiving, to be emotionally generous, making ourselves vulnerable, willing to be involved.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
He calls us to be generous with our homes, which is hospitality, generous with our time, our talents, and our gifts. While you can be financially generous without being generous in heart, you can’t possibly be generous in heart without being shockingly generous with your money.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Of the almost forty parables taught; one out of three deal with money in some way. Jesus has more to say about money than heaven and hell combined.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Surprising? It shouldn’t be; according to statistics, more of our waking time thinking about money than not thinking about money.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
We think about how to acquire it, how to acquire more of it, how to spend it, how to save it, how to invest it, how to borrow it, counting it, sometimes giving it away, loaning it.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Money and possessions dominate, define, and determine an inordinate portion of our lives. Statically speaking; an 85 year old has spent nearly fifty years of your waking time thinking about money!
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Sadly, all that thinking about money may not be wise. We can be so foolish when it comes to money. Our Lord redirects our attitude toward money in the parable.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Before we examine today’s text let’s admit Money and possessions often take center stage in our lives.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
We easily become preoccupied with accumulating wealth and material possessions, forgetting that everything we have is a gift from God.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
In today’s passage, Jesus challenges us to be shrewd and faithful stewards of the resources that God has entrusted to us. We are called to use our resources for the kingdom, investing in eternal things that will last beyond this life.
A faithful steward will use his Master’s money shrewdly to provide true riches for eternity.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
This parable is shocking because of the characters involved and Christ response. This story has a crook as its hero and the victim and Jesus giving the crook approval of his action.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
This parable has caused a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation over the years. So, let’s focus on what we ought to know.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
When it comes to parables there are parables of comparison and contrast. Luke, more than any other gospel writers, will highlight the parables of contrast that Jesus gives and this is one of them.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
You'll find the parable of the Unjust Judge in Chapter 18 and he'll contrast the unjust judge to God. He's saying if an unjust judge can do that, you got to know that God who is just can do that and more.
THE SHREWD STEWARD
Jesus isn't saying be bad, be wicked, be scheming and be conniving like this guy in this story. He wants us to be shrewd like this guy.
BE SHREWD
Jesus is addressing His disciples who needed to learn the purpose of money and the Pharisees who loved money.
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.
Notice what it says in verse one, an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. The word wasting is the same word in the previous parable of the previous chapter of the prodigal Son,
Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living.
So in chapter 15, we had the story of the prodigal son and in chapter 16 we have story of the prodigal steward. Also, the word wasting is a present active participle; which means an ongoing activity.
BE SHREWD
This isn't a guy who just ripped his boss off one time, he has been doing this over and over and over again. It's become a practice of his lifestyle. Of wasting his master's goods.
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.
He also said to the disciples connects our text to the previous teaching.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
The word “receives” means to welcome, accept, or embrace. Jesus even ate with them, which was more about fellowship than food. Luke 15:3-32 records Jesus’ response to the complaints of the religious leaders. He tells three parables that make the same point:
LOST PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD!
Watch the progression of the text. It is in the word “receive.” In chapter 15, Jesus responds to those who criticized him for receiving sinners.
LOST PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD!
In chapter 16 he tells this story of the unjust steward who pulled a fast one so his master’s debtors would receive him into their homes after he was fired. Then in verse 9, Jesus says, “
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.
Now that Jesus has addressed the disciples need to learn money’s purpose He addresses the Pharisees who loved money.
The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.
In verse 14, Jesus condemns the Pharisees for being lovers of money. And in verses 19-31, Jesus tells THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN.
THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN.
The rich man lived luxuriously, while Lazarus sat outside his gates sick, begging for crumbs. But the rich man would not receive him. Both men died. Lazarus went to heaven. The rich man went to hell.
THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN.
He who would not receive Lazarus on earth to give him a crumb of bread wanted to receive him in heaven so that Lazarus could give him a drop of water. Here’s the point:
EVERY PERSON WILL SPEND ETERNITY SOMEWHERE.
It is a sin for Christians to use money as if Jesus didn’t die, didn’t rise from the dead, and is not coming again.
Imagine you live in the South during the US Civil War and have accumulated a large amount of Confederate currency. And suppose you discover the Union will win the war and your money will be useless.
It is a sin for Christians to use money as if Jesus didn’t die, didn’t rise from the dead, and is not coming again.
Unless you were foolish, you would cash in your Confederate money for Union currency. You would keep only enough Confederate money to meet your basic needs until the war was over.
It is a sin for Christians to use money as if Jesus didn’t die, didn’t rise from the dead, and is not coming again.
Well, Christians have inside information on a coming worldwide change in our social and economic order. And the currency of this world will be useless when we die or Christ returns, whichever comes first. That knowledge should radically affect our investment strategy.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.
In 1956, Auca Indians in Ecuador killed five Christian missionaries. But one of them, JIM ELLIOT, had lived with a motto that made their martyrdom a victory: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we must use our money for something greater than a bigger house, a nice car, a fatter retirement fund, newer furniture, or a longer vacation. We must use our money to invest in eternity! Jesus uses a bad example to teach a good lesson.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
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.
The word that is used to describe this man is oikonomos, which is a word that literally means ruler of the house. It does mean manager, but it can also be translated steward.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
The reason it can be translated steward is because it’s talking about a person who is managing somebody else’s money.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Now when you’re managing somebody else’s money, that means you can’t just do anything you want with it because it’s not your money.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
If you understand there is a God, you will know that the money you have is not really yours. So stop acting as if it is yours.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Americans really believe, “If I have money, I made that money. It was my savvy, my hard work. Welath-X recently published a report of the ultra-wealthy, meaning a net worth of 30 million or more. There finding revealed that 67% of the ultra wealthy were completely self-made.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Many, if not most, Americans believe there wealth is self-made. And yet, Jesus is saying, and the whole Bible actually says, “No, it’s not.”
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
How did you make all that money? First, you were alive. This helps tremendously when it comes to making money.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Second, you were to some degree healthy. Do you ever consider how one minor glitch in your bodies operating system can have major consequences? And yet you were able to string together years of unhindered health which allowed you to make all your money.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Why is God holding you together for so long? Every single day you’re alive and every single day you have the health to go to work is a gift from God. Every second is a gift from God.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Third, where did you get your acumen and abilities. Taking credit for such gifts is like someone taking credit for the blueness of their eyes.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Fourth, how did you fall into such favorable circumstances. You can have great acumen and abilities along with an strong work ethic and yet if you were born on a mountain in Tibet in the 13th century you would not have gotten very far.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
You worked hard for what you got with circumstances God provided, with the acumen and abilities God gave you, and with the health and life God gave you.
IT’S NOT YOURS! IT’S HIS!
David said this of his prosperity...
Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
If you are a steward, it’s not really yours. God calls you to be radically generous. If you’re not being radically generous, this is not just stinginess; it’s robbery.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
This is not just miserliness; it’s thievery. This is not just a lack of compassion; this is a lack of integrity.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
If you’re a fund manager and you are not using the money the way the owner says you should use it or if you’re taking way more of it for yourself than was agreed upon, you are not just being uncompassionate; you are being a thief. Let me show you how this works.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
In Malachi 3:8 is a very famous place where Malachi says to the children of Israel,
Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Now in the Old Testament, everyone was told 10 percent of your income needs to be given away. If any of you say, “Oh, that’s a lot of money then you are not seriously thinking.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
What if I came to you and said, “Would you manage my money for me?” You say, “Well, what are the terms?” I say, “Well, I want you to invest my money. Every year, you can keep 90 percent of the returns and just give me 10. Would you like that job?
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Don’t you realize that is what God is offering you? He is saying, “I only want 10 percent. You can live on the other 90, and it’s all my money.” Do you think that is a lot? Of course it’s not a lot.
WE ARE MANAGERS NOT OWNERS.
Malachi is right in saying, “If you don’t give God even that amount of money, if you don’t give that away, you’re not just stingy; you’re a thief.” Very strong.
GRACE GIVING
Some of you have been around long enough to know that we don’t teach tithing but grace giving which is found in
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
If the Law had an expectation of 10% do you believe grace will expect any less. The tithe is the beginning not the end. Its the floor not the ceiling.
THE SHREWDNESS JESUS WANTS US TO SIMULATE.
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.’
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.
I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’
So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
100 measures of oil is between 900 and 1000 gallons. It is worth three years wages and it is the product of 150 olive trees.
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.’
100 measures of wheat is about 1000 thousand bushels. It would take 100 acres to produce 1000 bushels, and it's about 9 years worth of labor.
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.
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.
He is not commended for his dishonesty but for his shrewdness.
This man made sure that he would not spend one night sleeping on the street, one day begging on the street, or one day sweeping the street.
He is not commended for his dishonesty but for his shrewdness.
He used his shrewdness to make friends for the sake of earthly dwellings. Jesus is telling the sons of light to simulate this man actions for to make friends for eternal dwellings.
BE AS DETERMINED IN ETERNAL PURSUITS AS UNBELIEVERS ARE IN EARTHLY PURSUITS.
If believers were as determined in their spiritual lives about spiritual things and their future, as unbelievers are in their physical temporal lives. Things would be a lot different but they are not. Unbelievers will serve their goals, often with more passion and more devotion.
Use the money you have today to buy friends for heaven.
He's being shrewd and Jesus is saying at least be as shrewd, as thoughtful as unbelievers. And here's here's an interesting point.Use the money you have today to buy friends for heaven. I'm going to let that sink in for a moment.
Use the money you have today to buy friends for heaven.
Use the money, the resources you have right now. Your, your, your physical resources, your money to purchase friends. For heaven.
Use the money you have today to buy friends for heaven.
You could invest your money now in such a way so that when you get to heaven, you will have planted seeds with your money, your finances, so that you will have a welcoming committee in heaven. Don’t store up like the rich man in Luke 12
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully,
and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’
But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Don’t store up, be shrewd.
You can’t take your wealth with you but you can send on ahead.
BE FAITHFUL
Now somebody's. Going to say well. I don't have that much. If I had more. I'd give more. If I won the lottery. I'd give more. No, you would not. Listen to what Jesus said.
“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.
If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
It's not about how much you have, it's about who you are.
“Unrighteous wealth” in verse 11 parallels “a very little” in verse 10. And “the true riches” in verse 11 parallels “much” in verse 10.
BE FAITHFUL
We treat money like it is such a big thing but Jesus says it is really a little thing. And if you cannot be trusted with something as little as money, how can he trust you with true riches?
BE FAITHFUL
In verse 9, Jesus says, “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth.” But the flesh, the world, and the devil will do everything to stop you from using your money to invest in eternity.
BE FAITHFUL
So Jesus uses the same phrase “unrighteous wealth” in verse 11 to say that money is not real wealth. And if you cannot be trusted with something as little as money, who can trust you with true riches?
BE FAITHFUL
Jesus put it this way in
For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?
THE MATTER OF OWNERSHIP
“And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?”
THE MATTER OF OWNERSHIP
Be faithful with your money because it is not real wealth but you should also be faithful with your money because it is not really your money.
THE MATTER OF OWNERSHIP
Here is the first, primary, and ultimate principle of Christian stewardship: GOD OWNS IT ALL!
“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord.
The TITHE belongs to the Lord but the Lord owns the other ninety percent, too.
The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,
God owns everything. You own nothing – not a house or car or toothbrush! You don’t even own you.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.
And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”
They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
MONEY IS A TEST.
If you cannot be trusted with what belongs to someone else, you can’t be trusted with something of your own.
MONEY IS A TEST.
An old fable tells of a poor man who begged for food. One day he found out that the king was coming to town. And he decided to go out early to get a good place to wait for the king to pass by. He found a place and waited. In his pouch, the poor man had some fruit, a sandwich, and a few coins.
MONEY IS A TEST.
Finally the king came down the road. The poor man jumped up and called out, “Good sir, I am one of your poor servants. Take mercy on me and give me a coin.” The king looked down at him and said, “You give me a gift!” The poor man was stunned.
MONEY IS A TEST.
Angrily, he reached into his pound pushed aside the sandwich and fruit and coins. He found some crumbs in the bottom of the pouch and gave them to the king. The king went on his way. And the beggar went to his home and cried.
MONEY IS A TEST.
But when he emptied his pouch, he discovered three gold pieces where the three crumbs were, shaped exactly to the size of the former crumbs. “Why,” he moaned, “Did I not give the king my best?”
MONEY IS A TEST.
God is the king who owns everything. You are the beggar who owns nothing. The more you keep from God the more you cheat yourself. But the more you give the more he gives to you. Luke 6:38 says,
give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
BE DEVOTED
The word money is literally “mammon.” It comes from a Hebrew root meaning “to entrust” or “to place in someone’s keeping.”
BE DEVOTED
Mammon, therefore, meant the wealth one entrusted to another. But the meaning of the word shifted from passive (“that which is entrusted”) to active (“that in which one trusts”). This is how materialism operates.
BE DEVOTED
Money can go from being a sacred trust you humbly receive from a gracious God to becoming a false god in which you place your trust, joy, and security.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
So you cannot serve God and money. The two are diametrically opposed, mutually exclusive, and self-contradictory. God calls us to walk by faith; money calls us to walk by sight.
BE DEVOTED
God calls us to be humble; money calls us to be proud. God calls us to set your minds on things above; money calls us to set our minds on things below. God calls us to look toward unseen things; money calls us to look toward things that are seen.
BE DEVOTED
God calls us to live for eternity; money calls us to live for temporary things. Jesus did not say you cannot have God and money. He said you cannot serve God and money.
You can serve God with your money.
You must choose. If you serve money, you cannot serve God. And if you serve God, you will not serve money. So Jesus advises us to use money with a single-minded devotion to God. Here’s why:
Money is a wonderful servant, but a horrible master.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
So let me close by giving you some wise financial advice:
LET GOD BE YOUR MASTER!
Be like Joshua who said, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Be like Jesus when he was tempted in the wilderness to compromise for the sake of worldly glory. He said, “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Let God be your master.
How do we become a faithful steward will use his Master’s money shrewdly to provide true riches for eternity?
and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.
I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
Do you know what he is saying?
Jesus Christ is the one friend who emptied himself of all of his money to turn enemies into friends.
Jesus is the true steward who loses all of his wealth, who loses all the money in order to make friends for friends. He wasn’t an unjust, dishonest steward; he was the true steward. When he gave up everything he did not give it up for his friends. He gave it up for his enemies to turn them into friends.
We, who are recipients of that ultimate friendship, can know we’re going to last forever.
Let this truth make you a faithful steward who will use there Master’s money shrewdly to provide true riches for eternity.