Accountability and Change
Notes
Transcript
1 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’
7 “ ‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
SERIOUSLY - this passage made me scratch my head and say, “WHAT on earth is going on here?” It seems as though someone is being praised for being dishonest… WHAT!
Let’s look at what is going on in the context and see if we can get some clues - and then, we’ll have a better understanding of what to do with this passage.
Tensions with Pharisees run in the background
Luke 15 is Parables against the exclusiveness of the pharisees
1 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
3 Parables about Lost Getting Found
1 Parable detailing repentance of the lost and the attitude of those who felt they never went astray
Now, this Parable. It is not JUST about money, but Jesus uses a Parable with money to prove a point.
Yet, to make sure the teaching doesn't dismiss money matters Jesus goes directly into teaching on money
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
And closes with a Parable about a rich man and Lazarus and lots of money.
For Luke, money is not a problem. BUT, it can lead to problems.
Money is a gift that we are stewards of.
We must use the gift wisely/prudently/shrewdly in how we respond to the "other". - those who owe us, those who are poor, those who need compassion, those who are beggars at the gate, those who are prodigals and squander all they have, etc...
As in most of the world, the wealthy are a small portion of the population.
The poor are the largest portion of the population... For Luke/Jesus it is the responsibility of the wealthy to care for the poor. This is what God requires... Yet, too often the wealthy make money their god (mammon) and they ignore the cries of the destitute, like Lazarous.
Ultimately, we will answer for what we have done with ALL the resources God has provided.
The message is that we ARE held accountable to the Master.
So, we must be prudent in how we use what God has given us so that we can be rewarded for being good stewards.
Now, some details on the Parable at hand...
God is master
Debtors are Israel/World
The man/servants represents pharisees (or even the priestly class that does business on behalf of the Master)
The man is made aware that he has messed up and he will be held accountable - oh, we are the man as well...
So, he does something odd... he cancels debts/lowers them
This was my struggle because he is commended by the Master for this action. Why would a master be happy that someone is lowering a debt to him?
The best answer I could discern/Study was that what the man lowered was NOT the principle - but an added interest or "bonus" for the servant...
In fact, if the Master represents God we must agree that, if this was "interest" added to the principle it was not added there by God. God disagrees with His people charging interest
25 “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would. 26 If you take your neighbor’s cloak as security for a loan, you must return it before sunset. 27 This coat may be the only blanket your neighbor has. How can a person sleep without it? If you do not return it and your neighbor cries out to me for help, then I will hear, for I am merciful.
- therefore it is NOT from God that interest is charged.
This MUST, therefore,be an added amount to the principal loan that the wicked servant put on the note to pad his own pockets.
In an effort to get wealthy he oppressed others with interest that the Master did not charge.
When the man realizes he will be held accountable for his actions, he realizes he is too lazy and weak to work, he begins to be wise and wants to earn friends. He does this by canceling interest. He does this by doing what he was supposed to do all along.
Yup, it's about money.. about how we use money and about how many in the world, like this wicked man, earn more money by oppressing others for personal gain. How we use money to earn friends and keep them. How we think more money will solve our problems while it usually only creates more.
But, there's another layer...
The story of God and Israel/ God and us.
Israel (and us) owe our existence to God. Therefore, Israel(us) is indebted to God. God gave commands for Israel (us) to follow in order to, essentially, pay back their debt.
But, along came others who added to the principle. They added the oral traditions, the layers of heavy interpretation. God will call all of those who do that to account for how we've added MORE to what God has said.
So, what do we do…?
Throw caution to the wind and strip off all the extra that we have added!
This leads to the conversion of others towards us, but more importantly, towards our Master!
We WILL answer for how we use what we have - even the grace from Jesus.
So, how are YOU using it wisely, prudently, shrewdly to reach others. How are YOU using what has been loaned to you to assist others?
The entire chapter is about being held accountable for the wealth we have (not just financial, but grace too).
What we do NOW with this gift matters!!