Luke 16.1-13

Luke 16 1st Draft

Intro

Are you a manager of someone, or something?

Think about whatever God has blessed you with –

Your possessions, money, family, how about your community.

Or, how about our church?

I'm sure you will all agree we are to manage our possessions and money well.

We need to be responsible for what God has given us and wherever He placed us will have a big influence on what our focus needs to be.

Our story this morning seems very odd to me – when I first looked at it – it kind of annoyed me.

Here we have a manager whose job is to take care or steward his boss’s financial affairs.

I think the world view of a person who oversees some thing or some one is called a manager.

Our story this morning is about a manager – to me this manager seems completely dishonest with what he has been given to take care - He's been trusted with something that doesn't belong to him - so he is in a position of trust.

I have looked at various versions of this passage - and I actually like the NKJ -

This version refers to the manager a steward - and I like like to us this term - Steward - for my message today.

you see to me it makes more sense - the way I see it a manager is someone directs and manages usually a group of people or maybe a business or some kind of organisation - could be a household.

a steward is someone who take care of someone's elses property, finances or affairs.

Either way, Both a manager and a steward is someone in a position of trust.

let's read togther - NKJ

The dishonest manager/steward not only does a poor job of looking after his master’s finances, but he takes advantage even more in order to secure his future.

The rich man is impressed by the man’s actions not because it’s cost him financially but because I think he saw how cleaver he was in setting up his future.

Now I’ve also read commentaries that may help us to understand a bit of background of that time.

The manager may have placed additional charges to the people that had debts to pay. Now this extra charge may not have been known by the rich man.

Or maybe the rich man had overcharged or extorting the people to begin with – we cannot be sure either way.

But the fact remains – there is dishonesty, deceit and greed in this story.

so why does Jesus tell this to His disciples this parable - What was Jesus wanting to get across which we too can learn from 2000 years later?

Do we have ears to listen and the heart to learn from this story?

let's dive in -

As we continue in our series of Luke – the clash of Kingdoms –

I’ve titled my message -

A kingdom based on unjust unrighteousness and a Kingdom based on faithfulness and truth

So a place that is full dishonesty, deceit, greed or a place filled with faithfulness, truth and generosity.

certainly - A clash of kingdoms!

I think it would be helpful for us to place ourselves in the shoes of a steward - we have all have all be blessed in different ways - resources, time, talents or abilities.

I think what Jesus is teaching using a common wordly scenario to outline how we can live our lives in parallel but in a different universe or Kingdom.

Pioritising our wordly possessions

using what resourses we have in an unjust way

faithful in least, in much

wasting goods,

faithful in worldy things , true riches

uses accounts for his own purpose

other man's, our own

uses someone elses finances

what will save you?

use resources with the knowledge we are stewards

Our faithfulness/honesty

manager/steward

Our subsatnce - what we own - we own nothing

Our Priorities - how we priotise our lives and rescources

Management

Dishonest

Waste/lazy/greedy

Securing the future

Spurgeon once noted that each of us will have to give account of our stewardship regarding our time, our talents, our substance, and our influence.

Stewardship

Honest, faithful

Little and much

Securing the future

we will all have to give an account - time talents substance and influence

take advantage or do what you can now to secure your future

pursue worldy profits and pleasure - share the gospel, pursued the Kingdom,

riches promise much but deliver very litleimportant to be wise with fanances but look to future Kingdom

false and unfaithful in everyday life - cannot be trusted true riches - least and much

faithful in other's possessions, with lead us to be faithful in what is ours

matt 10.16 shrewd and innocent