The Wednesday of the Ninth Week after Trinity

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Dear friends in Christ, our Lord reveals to us in today’s Gospel text that it is impossible to be both a servant of God and a servant of earthly goods. Earthly goods, or “mammon” in the Aramaic, will enslave us if we do not serve the one true God wholeheartedly. Therefore, our Lord says:

“No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13).

To become a lover of money is an easy trap to fall into. The Pharisees fell into this trap despite the fact that they were some of the most upstanding members of society by worldly standards. They prayed regularly, they knew Holy Scripture like the back of their hand, they tithed and otherwise kept every commandment of the Law better than anyone else. They were, by external standards, model believers, putting most present-day Christians to shame with their devotion to the Lord. And yet, these men still fell from grace. They knew the Bible, but they did not know the God of whom the Bible teaches. And so, through the negative example of the Pharisees, our Lord teaches us in today’s Gospel text that: Christian stewardship requires faithfulness to the things that are real.

Notice how today’s Gospel text immediately follows Sunday’s Gospel of the Parable of the Unjust Steward. That parable is all about Christian stewardship, teaching us that the Christian stewards his possessions in view of eternity. Today’s Gospel text shows us what is at stake. If we become like the Pharisees, which is to say if we become unfaithful and unjust stewards, we will become those who despise the things of God and are therefore outside of the kingdom of God.

At the end of today’s Gospel, we are given a glimpse into the Pharisees’ failings and where exactly they had gone wrong. We are told that they had become “lovers of money” (Luke 16:14) and that they had become those who “highly esteemed” the things that are “an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15). How does this happen? How does a dedicated follower of the Lord come to hate the things that God loves and to love the things that He hates? There are numerous factors that go into this. Many of us have seen this happen. And no two cases are exactly the same. But our text reveals to us one commonality which we would do well to consider.

In verse eleven, our Lord gives us this important insight:

“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?” (Luke 16:11).

This verse clearly speaks to the importance of stewarding earthly goods. But there is something more fundamental behind Christian stewardship. This is revealed by understanding what Christ means by “the true riches.” Notice how He contrasts “the true riches” with “unrighteous mammon.” Unrighteous mammon is the things of this world—the money, property, and possessions which we have been given on this side of eternity. God certainly cares about these things—so much so that He gave the Seventh Commandment to prohibit stealing and to ensure that we can keep what He has given to us. But these physical things of the earth are contrasted with “the true riches”, that is with spiritual things. Faith, hope, love, and the other virtues are what is actually real, despite appearances to the contrary.

And so, it is tempting to become a servant of mammon because it is tempting to believe that mammon is what is actually real. We tend to believe in what we can observe with our senses—this is what constitutes reality in our fallen, sinful minds. And because God is not seen and because faith is the certainty of what is not yet seen, we struggle with faith in God. In short, we don’t believe in spiritual things. We so quickly become complacent in the things of God, embracing the naturalist and consumerist world in which we live. And so, we strive to accumulate wealth by increasing our bank and retirement account balances, by living in the nicest home we can afford, by purchasing all the latest tech gadgets. We strive for happiness and pleasure at all costs. We make food into our god. But the true riches—that which is actually real—are the things which are not seen.

And yet, earthly mammon still matters for the Christian. If we are not faithful in managing earthly things, we will never be faithful stewards of spiritual things. And so, managing your money and finances well matters. Taking care of your physical health matters. Being well-regulated emotionally matters. These earthly things matter not because they are an end unto themselves. They matter because earthly things affect spiritual things. Godly virtues are enacted in space and time. Love is lived out in self-sacrifice by giving what is ours for the benefit of another. Hope is an attitude cultivated by decision making centered on eternity. In the same way, faith or faithfulness are not ethereal realities divorced from physical existence.

And so, quite simply, the Christian steward is called to be faithful. This faithfulness requires making right choices in the little things for the sake of the things that truly matter. For:

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much” (Luke 16:10).

One does not go to the gym to exercise because of the immediate benefits. The benefits of going to the gym are only seen after many months or years of making the hard decision to go there, even when you don’t feel like it. Christian stewardship is no different—it is a life of faithfulness resulting from daily decisions to do the right thing, even when we don’t feel like it.

And all of this is worth it in the end. The internal struggle is real in the moment. But faithfulness reaps immense rewards. For our natural, sinful bent is toward serving the god of mammon. And we are so easily enslaved by money, possessions, pleasure, and the like. But Christ has freed us from such slavery. He has shed His precious blood to redeem us, to buy us back from this wicked master. In the waters of Holy Baptism, He has made us His own so that we might live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness (Small Catechism). And He gives us the gift of absolution so that through daily contrition and repentance (Small Catechism) we might return to Him when we go astray.

Christ is our master now. This does not mean that we will never be tempted to flee and return to our old master. That temptation is real. But so is Christ’s forgiveness. He is always ready to welcome the penitent home. He is always eager to forgive those who trust in Him. And it is His delight to give us His Spirit, who strengthens us to live as faithful stewards of the things that are actually real. And so, by His strength, we strive to be faithful stewards of the earthly mammon which He has entrusted to us so that He might continue to give us the true spiritual riches which endure eternally.

God grant it.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.