Sermon for Sept. 22, 2019

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 16 verses 1 through 13.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

This parable that Jesus uses in these scriptures,,, are to me,,, hard to understand. I had to take the time and really study them to be sure of what God wanted me to say this morning.

1 He also said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions. 2 So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 “So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one. 6 “A hundred measures of olive oil," he said. “Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write 50.’ 7 “Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’ “‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write 80.’ 8 “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. 10 Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. 11 So if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous money, who will trust you with what is genuine? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? 13 No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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I usually read through this passage of scripture and just carry on,,, because I haven't been able to understand why it was used as an example by Jesus.

This seems like a terrible way to get what we want out of life.

Hopefully,,, as we look at this scripture this morning,,, we can see how parts of it will help us in our walk with God this week.

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In verse 1 it says: 1 He also said to the disciples: “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions.

When Jesus begins this parable He's talking to His disciples but the Pharisees and scribes are still listening.

This is a continuation of the talk that we looked at last Sunday where Jesus gave the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son.

Jesus is telling His disciples,,, according to my Bible Knowledge Commentary,,, that they should use material things for future spiritual benefits.

In this passage Jesus isn't saying that it's ok to be dishonest,,, but He was using it as a good lesson from a bad example.

Hopefully this will make more sense as we study these scriptures farther.

Apparently this manager has been accused of squandering his bosses wealth and it must have been something very serious because of what we read in the next verse.

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In verse 2 it says: 2 So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

The information the rich man received must have been sufficient because he immediately tells the manager that he will no longer be his manager.

He ask the manager about the accusations but he has already made up his mind to fire him.

And apparently they must have been true because the manager doesn't even try to deny them.

He immediately begins to worry about himself!

(5:34)

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In verse 3 it says: 3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.

The manager wonders what will he do!

He admits that he's not strong enough to dig.

He's apparently been doing this for awhile and doesn't want to do any manual labor and that's something that he can't do or isn't strong enough to do.

He is too ashamed to beg,,, possibly since that he has been a manager for so long that he feels like this is beneath him to do.

He tries to figure a way out even as things aren't looking good for him at this time,,, but then we see from the next verse that he "has" figured out a way.

Definitely not the right way to act,,, but in his eyes,,, at this time,,, he thinks that it's the best way for now!

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See what it says in verse 4: 4 I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

As I read this verse this week,,, while I was writing my sermon out,,, the first thing that came into my mind was what I would do when I had problems and I would start to take care of them myself.

You see,,, my thoughts were like this man that was worried about his future.

He wasn't taking care of today because of worrying about tomorrow.

Of course the biggest mistake that he made,,, was not talking to God about his problem in the first place.

He tried to handle it himself.

But,,, I want you to understand that just talking to God about your problem isn't enough!

You have got to have faith that once you have given something to God,,, that He will take care of it.

I've told you several times about my ways of dealing with problems in my life in the past,,, and even when I prayed about it,,, my way of taking care of it was to do as this dishonest manager did and take care of the problem myself.

And I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's way is much better than anything that you can come up with,,, but you must give Him time to answer and have the faith that He will answer first!

But this dishonest manager has come up with this plan to help himself out after he is fired.

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In verses 5 -7 it says: 5 “So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one. 6 “A hundred measures of olive oil," he said. “Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write 50.’ 7 “Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’ “‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said. “‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write 80.’

He spends this time talking to his bosses debtors and what he is doing is dishonest on top of everything else that he has done wrong.

If this man had been working for me,,, then I would have been furious when I found out what happened.

But we see from the next verse that isn't so.

(8:50)

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Verse 8 says: 8 “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely. For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people.

Instead of the master being very angry at the unrighteous manager,,, he praised him!

This is the verse that really gave me problems,,, because it appears that Jesus is saying that this is ok.

There are several different views from the many commentaries that you can read today.

Some say that the manager was dishonest but he was shrewd in his choices at the end.

Others say that he was just over spending at first which was bad but wasn't as bad as being outright dishonest.

My Faithlife Study Bible says that although the reduction of debts cost the master money in the long term, the master recognizes the manager’s cleverness.

The manager also brought funds in right away for his master, resulting in a temporary gain.

And that's why the master praises him.

In the IVP New Testament Commentary,,, it said that the manager was only reducing his commission at the end and that's why the master praises the manager,,, because he has sacrificed what he could have taken now and instead has given it to others so that he can receive gain later.

In other words,,, instead of the manager using the commission that he was supposed to receive to try to get by,,, he decided to give it back to the debtor's so that maybe they would help him out after he was fired.

This type of thinking lines up better with Jesus' statement in verse 9,,, but you can make an argument for either case.

(10:34)

Also notice the comparison that Jesus makes in the last half of this verse where He says: For the sons of this age are more astute than the sons of light in dealing with their own people.

Jesus is talking about the men of that day spending more time worrying about their future here on earth than the ones that are supposed to be Christians spending time worrying about their heavenly future!

We must be looking forward to the time that we will be in heaven and not worried about our future on earth.

We need to spend our time and money on those that are in need because that's the way that Jesus says that we will feed, clothe, welcome Him and give Him something to drink.

Again,,, we don't earn our way to heaven by doing these things,,, but they are the fruit of the spirit that is given out by us after we become Christians.

That's what Jesus means in verse 9.

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In verse 9 it says: 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of the unrighteous money so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

The main thought that Jesus seems to make in this verse is that when our earthly endeavors are over,,, we need to be sure that we have used our money for treasures in heaven instead of our personal gain now.

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In verses 10 through 12 it says: 10 Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. 11 So if you have not been faithful with the unrighteous money, who will trust you with what is genuine? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?

These verses are saying that if we can be trusted with a little then we can be trusted with a lot but if we have been unfaithful with a little then we can't be trusted with a lot.

In these verses Jesus is telling us to be faithful in every thing that we do because everything that we have is a gift from God,,, it doesn't belong to us,,, we just take care of it until we are called home to heaven.

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Verse 13 says: 13 No household slave can be the slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t be slaves to both God and money.”

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says that we cannot have two masters.

Love of money will always drive us away from God,,, but if we love God,,, then we will use money in the correct way,,, which is to use it to take care of others

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So as we finish up this morning,,, I want us to remember these verses,,, remember the correct way we should act,,, regardless of which way we interpret these verses.

Hopefully they will help us remember what we need to do as we go about our week.

As far as these verses go,,, the most important thing to remember is to keep our focus on heavenly things instead of worldly things.

Don't get too worked up about what was meant by individual verses,,, which is really true about any of the verses in the Bible.

And be sure to use our time, talents and gifts wisely and be sure that when we leave here today that we all remember that when we leave,,, the church leaves with us,,, because we are the church!

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page - 338

Seminary - Hymn Page - 357

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