The Kingdom of Heaven: Money Matters Luke 16:1-13

Last week: What do we Treasure? ()

To pursue the kingdom wholeheartedly, our finances must match our words.

It reveals our heart.

Matthew 6:21 NASB95

21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

How we handle our finances matters to God.

Steward - “Someone entrusted with another’s wealth or property and charged with the responsibility of managing it in the owners best interest.

I love coffee shops.

Alpha and Omega compared to J & B.

I don’t believe that God gets glory when we don’t do our very best to make a living.

Christians either:

Don’t live relevant lives in modern culture. (odd for God)

Desire relevance so much that people would never think they were a Christian.

What does Jesus tell us about His model for people and finances?

Luke 16:1–8 NASB95

1 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 “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; I am ashamed to beg. 4 ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.

Luke

1. Everyone is a steward no matter what they believe. (v. 1-8)

Others were present (scribes and pharisees), but Jesus gathered the disciples close when He revealed His message.

Manager, oversaw masters property and finances, often a slave.

Mismanaged masters $ or spending to much. Either would be grounds for dismissal.

Diebethe (Accused) To carry across, and hence to carry reports, etc. (Only time this word is used in scripture.

He had to give an account of what happened.

Wasn’t willing to do anything else.

He used his current position not to help his manager, but to better himself for the future.

The loss of stewardship meant the loss of livelihood for the manager.

He put His masters name on the debt changes.

Did it in secret.

100 measures (875 gallons) 146 olive trees/cuts it in half.

1000 bushels of wheat, 100 acres.

The owner praised the manager because he felt like he had no other choice.

Awkward position for the owner. To go back and change the debts or fire the manager would be to declare himself as irreligious and oppressive.

His credit with the clients would rebound.

Jesus didn’t condone these actions. He simply said that the manager was able to be shrew enough to keep his job.

He said the children of the world look further ahead than the children of light. Well intentioned as they are, they often lack wisdom to use what they have as wisely as the worldly people use their possessions for a different end.

Non-profits receive just as much $ to nonbelievers as they do believers.

Generosity is universal.

The difference is the purpose of it all.

We are a steward of our possessions. We are called by God to grow it as much as we can and use it wisely.

You are not taking a vow of poverty when you become a Christian.

Luke 16:9–10 NASB95

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.

2. Steward your money and possessions towards a higher purpose. (v. 9-10)

People on earth earn $ for various reasons.

People use it for a purpose. Jesus says to use $ wisely.

Within itself, $ is not evil. What we do with it determines its fate.

The people of god use $ for spiritual reasons and should use it more wisely than a person for worldly reasons.

The goal is to store “treasures in Heaven”.

Jesus told His disciples to be faithful.

Faithfulness depends not on the amount entrusted, but on the sense of responsibility.

What one does with small things in life, one does in the big things.

We are either faithful or dishonest.

Daryl using broom.

In the kingdom of Heaven, God makes no distinction.

It doesn’t matter if you have $5 or $5 million, God wants us to be faithful.

To our debts

Romans 13:8 NASB95

8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Proverbs 22:7 NASB95

7 The rich rules over the poor, And the borrower becomes the lender’s slave.

Roman

2. In giving.

Malachi 3:10 NASB95

10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the Lord of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.

3. Towards the poor. - Matthews 25:31-46

Don’t compare your finances to others who have more or less. Be faithful in what God has given to You.

Why would you expect more if you aren’t faithful in the little?

Luke 16:11–13 NASB95

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 “And if you have not been faithful in the use of 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 else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

3. Steward money for the master. (11-13)

The worldly way is to switch words in the sentence.

Two types of wealth:

Unrighteous wealth - $ (temporary)

True Riches - Heavenly riches (eternal)

Neither are actually yours, but given to you for a higher purpose.

When $ is handled badly, people show that they are unfit to use the true heavenly riches which will otherwise be given as a permanent possession.

$ is neither to be idolized or despised.

Servant (douleuin) means ‘serve as a slave’.

No slave can give full devotion to two masters. He may try, but only one will be central to him.

Last year, Tricia and I took a long hard look at our finances.

Silly debts, constant entertainment, bad habits, and no margin for generosity tells us who our master is.

Living this way makes us powerless.

God’s economy is different.

When we seek Him (), we aren’t doing it alone. There is nothing that God cannot afford.

Does God have the say in what you do with your $ and possessions?

Uncover the heart of the matter. He’s a great advisor.