A Good Principle from a Bad Example

Luke 16:1–13 “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. 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.’ 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.’ 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. “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? 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.””

I. A Bad Example - A Strange Story

The story makes us cringe, wonder - who is the hero? Is there a hero? what is there to like?

Interpretive options:

He is telling them to reduce interest which had been charged on the balance, but the reduction of the wheat (50%) stretches credulity

The manager’s character:

The manager doesn’t argue, he knows he’s been a cheat.

So on his way out he tries to ingratiate himself with his master’s debtors by instigating further deception

None of the possible alternative explanations really satisfy

We struggle because we want to take too much meaning from the parable, we want to find every aspect admirable

But this parable warns against this approach.

we might not value shrewdness the way this culture did

II. An Eternal Principle - A Surprising Point

manager is commended for his shrewdness not his character or actions

He prepared for the future - prudent planning

he prepared for his future with more forethought and diligence than the typical religious person plans for his own eternal future with God

III. The Importance of Simple Faithfulness

Faithfulness is cultivated in the small, ordinary, mundane

faithfulness in finances is important - not because of the great importance of money, but because of what it means for our other areas of life

I speak of this as someone who still has more to learn

This manager displays shrewdness, ingenuity, which though used in dishonest ways is commendable.

The real commendation though is for his forethought. He is thinking ahead for his future and actively trying to do something about it.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

In contrast to the parable of the Rich Man who amassed wealth without any thought of the future (12:16–21), the master praises the steward, scoundrel though he is, for his ingenuity in figuring out a way of providing for his future by using his soon-to-be-lost financial power. He is indeed a “son of this world,” but he is more prudent in planning for the only future he is concerned about than the typical religious person is in planning for his eternal future with God.

Jesus is directing this parable against those who think they don’t have to worry about the future.

This cheating scoundrel didn’t wait around for judgement to happen to him. He immediately acted as though his future depended on it, because it did.

He knew he deserved the coming judgment and so he immediately acted.

Jesus is not telling us that we can avoid God’s judgment for our sin by our ingenuity, by flattery or buttering God up. He’s not suggesting that the way to escape judgment is outsmarting God.

But he is saying that we need to devote the same energy, intention, and action this scoundrel did to doing evil, to obtaining favor with God. We don’t obtain favor with God through trickery, or even with impressive obedience upon our own merits and strength. What pleases God is faith. Trust in his promises. Resting on his sufficient grace, the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit.

Luke 16:9 “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.”

At first this sounds like Jesus is saying you can buy your way into heaven. But we know that’s not the case because otherwise Jesus would never have gone to the cross. (Gospel tangent)

But we can also see that from this verse. He speaks of wealth failing. If wealth were eternal or could purchase eternal life, entrance into eternal dwellings it would not make sense to speak of it failing.

Rather he is speaking about using wealth in this life while we have it for more than just temporary pleasures in this life.

Wealth is meant to be used in the service of greater ends.

Paul, reflecting on and elaborating on Jesus’ teaching here and elsewhere write to Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:17–19 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Honoring God with your money means putting his kingdom first. It doesn’t mean giving it away irresponsibly, but it also doesn’t mean gripping it greedily.

Generosity is described as eternal investment. This is because generosity with our money orients our hearts towards God rather than ourselves. When we use money to love God, build his kingdom, and advance the gospel we are not buying a place in heaven, but we are moving our treasure from earth to heaven in order to direct our hearts to follow.

When our hearts are fixed on heaven, on God, we will have eternal life. Whereas when our hearts are fixed on earth, our lives will remain eternally worthless. The only way to live well on earth is to have your heart fixed on heaven.

The word “mamon” seems to have linguistic roots in the “aman” which refers to putting your trust in it. We see that Jesus uses the word in relation to the exclusivity of one of two masters. Jesus says trusting in God and trusting in mamon is incompatible. It is a binary. If your heart is relying on wealth you won’t be trusting God.

But we shouldn’t let this binary make us think that in our experience we will be 100% one or the other. If we have some trust in God we don’t need to not worry about whether we are beginning to trust in wealth. Jesus is warning about the binary because it is the final outcome. It may begin small and subtle, but setting our hearts on wealth, placing our trust in it, relying on it for meaning, happiness, or security will eventually entirely crowd out reliance upon God.

These two loves insist on exclusivity within our hearts. Neither one will tolerate partial allegiance. This means God wants all your heart. It also means money won’t be content with partial trust, it will seek complete devotion.

We can see this by where he goes next. He speaks of faithfulness with wealth.

Jesus says our use of money is not disconnected, partitioned off, siloed from the rest of our Christian life.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

The scene, to put it in modern terms, is that of a recently terminated middle manager who double-deals with company debtors on the main floor of corporate headquarters while his CEO sits in the boardroom upstairs. When the CEO learns what has happened, he says in admiring disbelief, “I’ve got to hand it to you. You’ve turned a pink slip into a promotion!”

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

Jesus’ interpretation is introduced in v. 9, “I tell you,” which is emphatic in Greek. “Make friends for yourselves from unrighteous mammon, so that when it is gone they will receive you into eternal dwellings” (v. 9). The accent of this exhortation falls on “yourselves” (heautois), which in Greek is placed emphatically at the front of the sentence. Jesus’ exhortation is thus not about money per se, but about what disciples do with money.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

This understanding is reinforced by the etymology of “mammon,” which almost certainly derives from the Hebrew aman (from which amen is derived), meaning “to place trust in.” Jesus earlier warned of the danger material possessions pose for disciples (14:33). “Mammon of unrighteousness” recalls “steward of unrighteousness” immediately preceding in v. 8, implying that believers should make friends with mammon as the steward did.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

When wealth and possessions control one, one has lost even the shrewdness of “the people of this world” and cannot be counted among “people of the light” (v. 8). The only way “mammon of unrighteousness” can be put in its proper place is to make sure that God alone is Lord and Master, and to signify that lordship by using money and wealth in God’s service.