Sermon Series: Generosity (3)

Sermon: Generous with your Resources

Luke 16:1-13 “And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

I. Intro

OK, so this is a message some of you aren’t going to want to hear. In our series on “Generosity”, we have talked about being generous with our time, and being generous with our talents. As we close this series, how important is it to be generous with our resources? Yes, I’m talking about your money, but not just your money. Every cent in your pocket comes from the Lord. Every resource you have, your cars, your houses, your land, your toys, even your children and grandchildren come from the Lord. Every single resource you own comes from God. We are all called to steward our money generously and wisely by investing it in what will outlast us. In the parable of the unjust steward, we are taught to be shrewd with our money and use what we have to make an impact on eternity.

II. How you spend your money matters.

As it has been shared throughout this series, all you have is a gift from God.

Your money is one of those gifts. God has given you the ability to work, and the talents to perform whatever trade or career you are in to earn money.

Whether you have a lot or a little, God expects you to invest what you have for eternal good.

Oswalt Chambers writes about Matthew 6:33 in My Utmost for your Highest: “Immediately we look at these words of Jesus, we find them the most revolutionary statement human ears ever listened to: ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.’ We argue in exactly the opposite way, even the most spiritually-minded of us. ‘But I must live; I must make so much money; I must be clothed; I must be fed.’ The great concern of our lives is not the Kingdom of God, but how we are to fit ourselves to live. Jesus reverses the order: Get right with God first, maintain that as the great care of your lives, and never put the concern of your care in the other things.”

How you spend your money is the barometer of your heart.

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

III. Background of the parable of the unjust steward.

What this story doesn’t tell us.

It doesn’t tell us that it’s right or good to cheat people out of money. The Bible clearly states that making money in deceitful ways is sin.

Proverbs 21:6 “The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.”

It doesn’t mean that money is evil. 1 Timothy 6:10 says that the love of money is the root of all evil.

How the landowner system worked in Jesus’ day.

The landowner hired a manager to manage the land for him.

Rent was often calculated “in kind” (giving gifts like wheat, etc.)

The manager usually added his own little commission- that was his salary.

IV. What the parable of the unjust steward teaches.

God owns it all.

The landowner owned all the land. In the end, everything is his, though he gives the manager responsibility over it. This is a picture of what God does.

The Bible teaches that God has authority over everything.

The first few verses of Genesis attest to the fact that God created everything. Without God, there would still be nothing.

This idea is reiterated in the NT.

Colossians 1:16 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him”

Stewardship begins when we realize all God has made, all that we own, and all that we are, are His.

This includes our money.

Money isn’t evil. 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

Instead, money is a tool our generosity allows God to use for His purposes. More than any story in the Bible, this parable speaks to this truth.

God gave us the ability to earn our money.

Deuteronomy 8:18 “But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

God has entrusted us with what He has made.

The landowner entrusted the land to the manager.

After God created the Earth, He made man it’s manager.

As we’ve discussed in this series, God entrusted us with all we have. (time, talents, treasures)

We are to use what He has given us for Kingdom purposes.

This is the main point of the parable, Jesus is telling the disciples to use what He has give them for Kingdom purposes.

The NIV translates “unrighteous wealth” as “worldly wealth” or more generally, all the things of this world that pass through our hands.

The question really is: Will we use what we have for things that have eternal value? Our financial resources are a gift from God.

David recognized this as he prepared Solomon and the people of Israel to build the Temple. Generosity comes when we realize we’ve been entrusted with the Lord’s resources and we’re to use them for His purposes.

We are to use what we have wisely.

The landowner praised the unjust steward for managing what he had been given wisely: “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted astutely.” HCSB

“Astute” means wise. It’s a word used in Matthew 7:24 to describe the man who build his house on the solid rock (of Jesus). It’s also used in Matthew 10:16 to describe how Jesus sent out His disciples on mission.

God wants us to act wisely and use what He has given us intelligently.

Are you using what God has given you wisely and generously? Or are you just sitting on it?

The wisest, most significant thing you can do with your resources is to generously pour them into causes that will outlast you. William James once said, “The greatest use of life is to spend it on something that will outlast it.” The same is true with our money.

There will be an end to our opportunity to be generous.

The manager’s time was limited-he would soon be left out in the cold. He had to act immediately.

One day, death will come to you. Hebrews 9:27 reminds us of this. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” You have no idea when that day will come.

Show a stopwatch. Say, “You have a limited time to make a Kingdom-sized difference in the world through your generosity. The time to be generous isn’t tomorrow. It’s today.”

In the movie, Schindler’s List, business man Oscar Schindler arranges to protect his workers from being murdered during the Holocaust. He saves more than 1,100 people. But in the movie’s final scene, he is haunted by how many more people he could have saved if he would have spent his money differently.

The manager prepared for his end. He did by preparing for it. He made friends-friends that could be a part of his life when he no longer had a job.

We all should live with the realization that our life on Earth is limited. We need to make the most of the time we have and use it to prepare for eternity.

V. Conclusion

God created stewardship when He gave man the Earth to take care of. Since the beginning of time, God has given us resources and entrusted us to manage them. How have you managed what God has given you? It may be a lot or a little. Have you invested for a time when you won’t be here? Or have you been selfish with your resources? Don’t wait til tomorrow to return to God what He has given you. Today’s the day. God doesn’t need your money. He is just testing you to see if you are a wise steward. He will give you so much more if you give back to Him. Watch and see.