Sermon Title: Wise Stewardship

Scripture: Luke 16:1-13

Summary: In this powerful exploration of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager from Luke 16, we're challenged to reconsider our role as stewards of God's gifts. The key message isn't about condoning dishonesty, but rather about using wisdom in managing what God has entrusted to us. We're reminded that everything in this world belongs to God, and we're merely managers of His property. This parable, when compared with the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, emphasizes the importance of faithful stewardship and the accountability we'll face for how we've used our gifts. The surprising twist comes when the master commends the manager for his shrewdness, teaching us that Christians should be even more prudent than 'the sons of this world' in managing affairs. This message encourages us to delve deeper into biblical wisdom, particularly in the book of Proverbs, and to balance being 'innocent as doves' with being 'wise as serpents' in our faith journey.

Key Points:

  • We are stewards of God's property and will give an account of our management
  • The importance of wisdom in using God's gifts
  • Christians should be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves
  • How we use our gifts reflects our relationship with God
  • The gospel changes our perspective on physical possessions
  • We are called to use our resources to bless others, as Christ has blessed us

Transcript:

The parable in our gospel reading today is kind of strange. In fact, the parable of the dishonest manager, as it's called, is referred to by some as maybe the hardest of all of Jesus' parables to understand. Is Jesus saying that it's good to be dishonest? Is he saying it's okay to cheat people? Is he saying that the dishonest manager did the right thing? Well, no, of course not. Jesus is against stealing and dishonesty. He's not saying that those things are good here. But when we look at the parable closely, and when we compare it with other parables Jesus taught, or when we even just look at his own explanation of the parable right here, we see that it's not really that difficult to understand. Today's parable is about the importance of wisdom in using the gifts God has given you. It's about how the way you live your life in this world reflects what's truly important to you. Now, I invite you to turn now to Luke chapter 16.

Jesus said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager. The first step to be able to understand any parable is to figure out what represents what. And in the case of this parable, it's pretty straightforward to apply it. We are like the designer. Like him, we are stewards of property that does not belong to us. Everything in this world belongs to the God who made it. And... We've been given the privilege of managing the gifts that he has given to us. Now, like the dishonest manager as well, though, we're guilty of wasting our master's property. We're guilty of using it to serve ourselves rather than to serve others. In case you've got any doubt that this is the meaning of the parable, we can compare this parable with a similar parable Jesus told, a little bit more well-known. That's the parable of the talents. If you would turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 25, we can just read through the whole thing just to get a sense of this other parable and what it can teach us here.

"For the kingdom of heaven will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now, after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, Master, you delivered to me five talents. Here, I've made five talents more. His master said, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, Master, you delivered to me two talents. Here, I've made two talents more. His master said to him, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master. He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. So I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours. But his master answered him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I have not and gather where I scattered no seed. At my coming, I should have received what was my own with interest. So then take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has one, will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

We don't have time to unpack all of this parable, but notice how there's a lot of similarities between this parable and the parable of the dishonest manager. Both parables involve servants who are entrusted with taking care of their master's property. Both parables involve a servant who abused, his master's property. And both parables involve a judgment on the servant who misused what he'd been entrusted with. And this has a powerful message for us here today. Remember that you will give an account. God will demand an account from all of us on judgment day on how we've used his creation.

He demanded an account from his servant in the parable of the dishonest manager or in the parable of the talents. That should all make us nervous because fallen servants, fallen men naturally views physical things as something to waste selfishly rather than something to help others with. We naturally serve money rather than God. You can see this in so many ways in people's lives. For instance, you can see it when people prioritize being comfortable over hearing God's word. You can also see it when people prioritize career over family or when they prioritize their hobbies over fiscal responsibility.

But here's where a twist comes into the parable. The second key to being able to understand a parable is always to look for the twist, that surprising thing that doesn't quite make sense at first glance because that's where the real meat of the parable is. Let's pick up, if you want to flip back to Luke chapter 16, let's go and see what the twist is here.

"And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master's taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that when I'm removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, how much do you owe my master? He said, a hundred measures of oil. He said to him, take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50. Then he said to another, and how much do you owe? He said, a hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, take your bill and write 80. The master commended the dishonest manager for his trueness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings."

Notice here in verse eight, the master commends the manager, not because he was dishonest, but because he was shrewd. Jesus is not saying that it's a good thing to steal or to be wasteful or dishonest or anything like that. He says, it's good to be wise. It's good to be prudent. It's good to put forethought into how we do things and use our resources, our gifts well. Verses eight and nine are Jesus' own summary of the point of this parable. And that is to teach us to be good stewards of God's gifts or what Jesus calls unrighteous wealth. The word unrighteous wealth here, maybe will make you a little bit confused. It's not saying, it's not saying sinful wealth here. It just means the wealth of this world, as opposed to the wealth of the world to come. Jesus is making a comparison. If worldly, godless people can be prudent and wise in how they manage their affairs, shouldn't Christians be even more so? Something I think that Christians in our culture nowadays struggle with. I mean, we know for instance, that we should do what God commands us and should avoid what he forbids. We know that we're all sinners and that Jesus died for our sins. But how much do we think about what the Bible teaches of wisdom? How much do we think about how God teaches us to organize our lives, how to think about the world so that we use our gifts well? We've got even a whole book of the Bible dedicated to wisdom. That's the book of Proverbs. But how often do we read it and take to heart what it says? How often do we forget that in Matthew 10, verse 16, Jesus says to his disciples, "Behold, I'm sending you, out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves." I think Christians sometimes can focus so much on being as innocent as doves that we forget to be as wise as serpents. As Jesus says, "the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light." And that's not a good thing. It's a good thing when Christians act wisely. And the reason why it's so important to use our gifts wisely is because the way you use your gifts in this world reflects your relationship with God. Jesus says, if we go back to Luke chapter 16, one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. Think of the parable of the talents here. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you the true riches? And if you've not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

You see, by default, we use God's gifts selfishly. We think that we get our life and our existence and everything good from things in this world, but we're wrong. Because Christ is the source of everything. He is the source of every good and perfect gift that comes down from above, not from this world. You see, when we squandered our master's wealth, he paid our debt, and he promises to give an eternal dwelling place when the riches and wealth of this world fail. And so in a weird way, the manager, the dishonest manager, ended up doing the right thing. He forgave the debts of his master's debtors. No, it's not good that he was dishonest, and that he cheated his master and squandered his wealth, but when we realize that we serve the God of forgiveness and mercy, rather than the God of money and greed, it changes everything about how we view our lives in this world. When we realize that we have been forgiven, we are willing to forgive the debts of others. We give generously to others because Christ gave his life for us. We are to be faithful in the unrighteous wealth of this world, because we have been given true riches in heaven. And so the parable of the dishonest manager ends up being a story about how the gospel changes the way that we look at our physical possessions. Although we sinned by wasting our master's possessions, we use God's gifts rightly, we use them wisely, when we use them the way that Christ would, to give to those who didn't earn it, to forgive the debts of others, just as God in Christ did.

And so when you serve the God who gives, rather than the God of getting more, then you use the gifts that God has given you to be a blessing to others. You're in fact set free to give to others, because you know that your true riches are not the things of this world, but your true treasure lies in heaven. And so make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you in your kingdom of heaven.