He Reinvented Himself

Money can do an enormous amount of good, but it can also control. The Scripture says that the love of money is the root of all evil.

One of America's most miserly millionaires was John G. Wendel, who died in 1915 at his home in New York City. Seeking to keep their inherited fortune in the family, Wendel and five of his six sisters remained unmarried.

He instilled such frugality in his sisters that when the last one died in 1931, it was found that although her estate amounted to more than $100 million, she never had a telephone, electricity, or an automobile. Her only dress was one she had made herself and worn for nearly 25 years.

Money can do an enormous amount of good, but it can also control. The Scripture says that the love of money is the root of all evil.

Today’s passage is an interesting one. It was suggested as one of our “Pew to Pulpit and Back,” messages.

Jesus is speaking with His disciples. He has just finished telling the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.

Although shared with the disciples, this this parable is aimed at the Pharisees. And they were lovers of money. To understand our passage we must see that there is a problem.

The problem: The manager was fired.

Luke 16:1-2 The steward receives an accusation. He was wasting the rich man’s goods. We are not told if this accusation was legitimate or he was falsely accused. Nor are we given any details of his wastefulness, but that it involved dishonesty. Nevertheless, the steward is quite convinced that he will lose his job. Joachim Jeremias suggest that Jesus is dealing with an actual case.

Luke 16:1–2 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.’

G.B. Caird’s view is that the manager is dishonest from the outset and that he is trying to make the situation right by diminishing the interest that is charged at the outset in the way of price-gouging.

You see, it was illegal to charge interest according to Levitical law. So there was often an up-charge on the front end to cover interest on a good. Price gouging was common way to get around the illegality of charging interest.

The solution: be resourceful and shrewd.

Therefore, he has to get busy on plan B. When life deals you lemons, you make lemonade. And so the manager reinvented himself. Notice his response.

Luke 16:3–7 ESV

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.’

Laurence Porter notes that what the manager was really doing was that he was giving away what was his. (Porter, 237). He thinks of a shrewd plan so as to drop the amount of debt each debtor owes. So… the steward sides with the debtors. He already had an enemy in his boss, the rich man. So he set out to enlarge his friend group, so as to have a fallback plan. Laurence Porter states:

“Faced by ruin, he took energetic action to ward it off; it is his foresight and resourcefulness which are commended, not his dishonesty. His planning and his efforts for his own personal ends put to shame the awareness and the perseverance of many of the sons of light who ought to recognize the things that lie ahead of them.” (Porter, 238).

Wheat interest in Egypt could be as much as 50%. In diminishing the debts of each debtor, he creates a sense of obligation for them toward him. Pretty nifty. Also, he improved the reputation of the master.

Walter Liefeld states:

“The manager knew his job and reputation were gone because of his previous mishandling of funds. He needed friends; and, by foregoing the customary interest, he won friends among the creditors. Jesus then uses this story to show that the ‘people of the light,’ could also accomplish much by wisely giving up some of their ‘worldly wealth.’” (Liefeld, 987).

What is your plan B? There are certain principles that provide living proof that you are a follower of Jesus Christ. Generosity is one of several. Money is meant to be used in the right way: to provide for yourself and to bless others. And this is how the dishonest manager reinvented himself. He went from dishonest to sacrificial, generous and resourceful.

The wisdom: be shrewd and selfless, rather than wasteful and selfish.

Notice the wisdom that Jesus shares based upon the parable. Luke 16:8-13

Luke 16:8–13 ESV

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.”

Our hearts cannot be divided. Porter states: “Money, tainted as it is, should be used in such a way that when it fails- that is, at death, when it can no longer avail- spiritual enrichment will be ensured in contrast with that of this transitory life.” (Porter, 238)

As believers, we always keep the end in mind. There will come a time when all wealth and possessions are gone. Therefore, these things are a means of serving God and others. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When the McGugarts of New York won the Irish Sweepstakes, they were happy.

Pop was a steamfitter.

Johnny, twenty-six, loaded crates on docks.

Tim was going to night school.

Pop split the million with his sons. They all said the money wouldn't change their plans.

A year later, the million wasn't gone; it was bent.

The boys weren't speaking to Pop, or each other.

Johnny was chasing expensive race horses;

Tim was catching up with expensive girls.

Mom accused Pop of hiding his poke from her.

Within two years, all of them were in court for nonpayment of income taxes.

"It's the Devil's own money,” Mom said. Both boys were studying hard to become alcoholics. All these people hoped and prayed for sudden wealth. All had their prayers answered. All were wrecked on a dollar sign.

Luke 16:14 is the reason this parable was given.

Luke 16:14 ESV

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.

Money is a currency, meant to be used. We are supposed to use things, love people and worship God. Instead we end up using people, worshipping things and forgetting God.

1 Timothy 6:8–10 ESV

8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 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.

As Christians, we must always value people over money. And our worship must be directed to God alone. I Howard Marshall states that the wise use of money in this passage is seen in Almsgiving, giving to the poor and those who are less fortunate. (Marshall, 615).

What's the most outrageous thing you would do for $10,000 cash? That's the question posed recently by Chicago radio station WKOX, which attracted responses from more than 6,000 full-tilt crazies.

The eventual winner: Jay Gwaltney of Zionsville, Indiana, who consumed an 11-foot birch sapling'leaves, roots, bark and all. For the event, he donned a tux and dined at a table set elegantly with china, sterling, candles and a rose vase.

Armed with pruning sheers, the Indiana State University sophomore began chomping from the top of the tree and worked his way, branch by branch, to the roots. His only condiment: French dressing for the massive birch-leaf salad.

The culinary feat took 18 hours over a period of three days. When it was all over, Gwaltney complained of an upset stomach. Evidently the bark was worse than his bite.