Shrewd Stewardship
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Shrewd Stewardship
Shrewd Stewardship
You probably have noticed this emotional and moral roller coaster that the Gospel of Luke rides.
We like the parts when Jesus heals and loves.
We don’t like the parts when he speaks to us about our own decisions.
Maybe those sections are not for us!
But, you know they are for us.
Today’s topic will seem to be about money...
But money is not the topic...
Heart
This should not surprise us, it is a topic that Jesus addresses quite often.
But, you have to apply some wisdom to follow the first part of the story.
It is not easy to understand because we insert God into the story.
And perhaps we should pause before we do that.
Let’s look into this story and see what it has to teach us.
Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Once there was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were laid against him that he was squandering his property. So he called him and said to him, “What’s all this I hear about you? Present an account of your stewardship; I’m not going to have you as my steward any more!”
‘At this, the steward said to himself, “What shall I do? My master is taking away my stewardship from me! I can’t do manual work, and I’d be ashamed to beg …
One of the first mistakes we can make is to insert God or Jesus in this story as the rich man.
This is a parable, but the parable relates to life on earth, in the system of Babylon.
The story is setup, so let’s see where we go from here.
‘ “I have an idea what to do!—so that people will welcome me into their households when I am fired from being steward.”
‘So he called his master’s debtors to him, one by one. “How much”, he asked the first, “do you owe my master?”
‘ “A hundred measures of olive oil,” he replied.
‘ “Take your bill,” he said to him, “sit down quickly, and make it fifty.”
‘To another he said, “And how much do you owe?”
‘ “A hundred measures of wheat,” he replied.
‘ “Take your bill,” he said, “and make it eighty.”
How do you think this stewards master will respond?
It is pretty clever, right?
The rich man, the master, will be losing his profits.
You might think, “profits,” but yes, profits. You see, when you owed a debt, the interest was often 50% sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on what was loaned and the lender.
The rich man is likely getting at least his principal back, so he is not out everything.
Let’s see how the rich man, the master, responds.
Luke 16:8–9 (BE:NT)
‘And the master praised the dishonest steward because he had acted wisely.
The master and rich man is impressed with the steward. Because he acted wisely.
How can this be a parable about God or Jesus?
Have you ever heard of a time when God or Jesus praised something dishonest?
Wouldn’t that go against one of the big ten?
You will not steal.
Do you see what I mean?
The rich man is not God. The rich man is representative of the world and its system.
‘And the master praised the dishonest steward because he had acted wisely. The children of this world, you see, are wiser than the children of light when it comes to dealing with their own generation.
‘So let me tell you this: use that dishonest stuff called money to make yourselves friends! Then, when it gives out, they will welcome you into homes that will last.’
Jesus breaks into the parable to explain a principle.
What is the principle?
What did the dishonest servant do?
He took what belonged to the Master, gave it to the people in debt, and bettered his own situation.
His purpose was selfish.
And here is Jesus’ point...
****** SLIDE *****
So let me tell you this:...
What is the problem with this model?
What is the problem with giving away what you have to make friends?
The friends. What if they don’t house you when you’re broke!
But what if....
What if he is not talking about money...
Where would you build a home that will last?
‘Someone who is faithful in a small matter’, Jesus continued, ‘will also be faithful in a large one. Someone who is dishonest in a small matter will also be dishonest in a large one. If you haven’t been faithful with that wicked thing called money, who is going to entrust you with true wealth? And if you haven’t been faithful in looking after what belongs to someone else, who is going to give you what is your own?
Is this parable about money?
Is this parable about wealth?
Yes, but not the kind of currency and wealth we think about.
What did Jesus say about where to store your real treasure, your real wealth?
You store it in heaven.
How do you do that?
Generosity.
Loving others.
And if we are not faithful in that, then we will be poor.
The point of this is not that God gives us money to give away, the point is God gives us love and we don’t give it away.
That is why he can say...
‘Nobody can serve two masters. You will end up hating one and loving the other, or going along with the first and despising the other. You can’t serve God and money.’
Notice the equation.
God and money.
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this, and mocked Jesus.
Just like many, many people do today.
We don’t call it mocking, we call it investing.
We call it being wise and smart with money.
That is the hard truth.
Our believing loyalty is to money, things, this life, not to God, his principles, his ways, his love.
So he said to them, ‘You people let everyone else know that you’re in the right—but God knows your hearts. What people call honourable, God calls abominable!
How do you do this?
Your wealth testifies to your goodness, your righteousness.
God finds it abominable.
Jesus is going to tie this back to the law, because this is not a new concept.
‘The law and the prophets lasted until John. From now on, God’s kingdom is announced, and everyone is trying to attack it. But it’s easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of an “i” to drop out of the law.
In other words, the ways of God, his purposes, his will, what he has said will happen.
His plan....will endure and will come.
The scripture testifies to this.
Jesus wraps this up with a closing statement that comes from left field.
It’s like it makes no sense being here...
UNLESS YOU KNOW THE SCRIPTURES...
‘Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and a person who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.’
Quick poll around the room...
Why is this here?
This whole section been about:
Loyalty
Stewardship
Believing in a coming kingdom
Working with real treasure
Isn’t it all about this...
‘Someone who is faithful in a small matter’, Jesus continued, ‘will also be faithful in a large one. Someone who is dishonest in a small matter will also be dishonest in a large one. If you haven’t been faithful with that wicked thing called money, who is going to entrust you with true wealth? And if you haven’t been faithful in looking after what belongs to someone else, who is going to give you what is your own?
Here is where we are going to wrap it today.
You must realize what you have been given
In order to care for it well.