“Making Sense Out of Dollars”
Luke 16:1-15
Last week we began a new teaching series I have titled Tell me the Stories of Jesus. We are looking at some of the stories Jesus told through the use of parables. One of the ways we could describe a parable is that it is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. Jesus used these stories to help bring clarity and understanding to His teachings. These parables shed light on the Kingdom of God and make it simpler to understand.
A little boy wanted $100 very badly. He prayed for weeks, but nothing happened. So, he decided to write a letter to God requesting $100. When the postal authorities received the letter to "God, USA", they decided to send it to the President. The President was so amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
The little boy was delighted with the $5 bill, and sat down to write a thank-you note to God. The postal authorities forwarded this letter on to the President, too.
It read: "Dear God, Thank you very much for sending the money. However, I noticed that for some reason you sent it through Washington, D.C., and as usual they kept most of it."
This morning we come to one of the most unusual parable Jesus ever told. It is a parable about money which really shouldn’t surprise us because of the parables Jesus told, 19 of them dealt with handling possessions. Baptism is very important but there are 16X more verses in the NT on handling money than there are related to baptism. The Lord’s supper is important but there are 32X more statements about financial management than there are about the Lord’s supper.
Now when Jesus has that much o say about something, one thing’s for sure, we better pay attention. So look at this passage with me. Luke 16:1-15
Now the moral or the key understanding this parable is in verse 8. The manager was cunning, he was shrewd...in fact he was dishonest. When he learned he was about to lose his job he went to his best customers and gave them all huge discounts on what they owed his boss. Now why would he do that? Well after he was fired for mismanagement he could then go to one of those customers who now owed him a favor and hopefully they would offer him a job. As you know, that is how many people do business. You hear expressions like, “you scratch my bac and I’ll scratch yours.....or hey I owe you one. Now Jesus is not suggesting that we adopt these practices, what He is saying here however, is that we can learn from them.
Notice here that Jesus recognized that there are really only 2 kinds of people. Some are what He called people of this world and the others are what he called people of the light. Here’s the difference. People of this world are those who live as if this world is all there ever will be. They devote their entire lives to material things and getting ahead. Those who are people of the light have a personal relationship with The God of the universe. We live in this world but we know this world is not all there is. We are like Abraham in the OT who was looking for a city not made with human hands.
However, Christians can be very gullible.....very naive. We hear stories frequently about Christian friends who have been taken in by some scam....they have given away their life savings.....lost their retirement money because someone deceived them. People can be deceptive, even pastors. A man came to the Baptist Church and asked to see the pastor. “Pastor,” he said, “My dog died and I would like a Christian burial for him.” The Pastor said, “I’m sorry to hear about your dog, but we Lutherans don’t do funerals for dogs. You might try the Presbyterian church down the street. Presbyterians will do most anything.” The man turned sadly and said, “I’m sorry you won’t do my dog’s funeral, but I understand. I’ll try the Baptist church. But would you tell me how much is appropriate to leave for a memorial for the church? I was thinking of giving a $10,000 memorial to the church in honor of my dog.”
“Wait a minute,” the pastor said. “You didn’t tell me that your dog was Baptist…”
The Bible tells us to wake up! Be wise. Ask God for wisdom (James) Why? Because we live in a world with dishonest people. That’s what Jesus meant when He said “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” And this was His advice. Be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. Note the distinction here. The manager in the parable was as shrewd as a snake but he was as guilty as sin.
Now that, in essence, is the parable to the story, but Jesus is just getting started here. That’s the Parables. Let’s look at the principles: Some money lessons Jesus gives to us. (4 of them: verses 9-15)
Now, you might look at this passage at first glance and think that Jesus was only talking about property and not about money, but we know these teachings are about money because of the reaction of the Pharisees. Look at 13b-14. Some Christians teach that money is evil. It’s not! It’s the love of money. Money is not moral or immoral. It’s neutral. It’s what you do with money that determines its value. Money can be used to buy things, to create pornography or to bribe someone or it can be used to build a church, feed the hungry......
1st Timothy 6:9-10
Isn’t that true? We all know people who have no time for God because they are busy either making money or spending it. A few years ago, the Wall Street Journal gave this advice about money: “Money is an article which may be used as a universal passport to everywhere except heaven and as a universal provider of everything except happiness.”
Now look at the principles Jesus gives us.
(1) Your best investment is in people that you can take to Heaven with you. Lost people who find Christ are the only thing you can take to Heaven with you. V. 9
In this passage, the crooked manager used his discounts to influence his customers so they would receive him in a favorable manner after he lost his job. As believers, we should use our money to influence people for Christ.
Jesus said, “One day your money will be gone and you’ll be gone from your money.” Jesus is saying while you have a chance, use your money to influence people so that when you’re living in Heaven, there will be friends there to welcome you.
(2) Your management of God’s money determines if He can trust you with true riches. Verses 10-12
Here He mentions 2 kinds of wealth. First, there is worldly wealth. That’s the money God gives to each of us. Remember it all belongs to God. God gives us this money so we can buy the basic things we need - food, clothing, shelter. There is also bonus wealth. These are things we enjoy beyond the basics. Now, when I speak of a wealthy person, you may envision Bill Gates (billionaire) and so you don’t think of yourself as wealthy. Listen, if you have money in your pocket to buy lunch, if you drove your own car to church today and you have indoor plumbing, then you are wealthier than 80% of the world’s population.
V. 11 - Jesus speaks of another kind of wealth. He calls it “true riches.” Here’s the way that works. If you are trustworthy with a little, then God knows you can be trusted with a lot!
We have to ask ourselves, “Am I managing God’s money wisely? Well, how do I know?” Answer this: “Am I returning 10% of what God gives me? - often people will say, “If I was making a million dollars a year, I’d be happy to give God 10% of it!” Well, if you aren’t tithing on your $20,000 or whatever, a year income, then why would you think God would trust you with more?
The issue is not tithing. The issue is trust.
(3) Money is a great servant, but it is a terrible master V. 13
Mammon was the Aramaic word for “riches.” Jesus reminds us in verse 13.......
Some of our senior adults will remember the comedian Jack Benny. He was known as a cheapskate who absolutely hated to spend his money. In one of his comedy routines, he is approached by a robber. The man points a gun at Jack Benny and says, “Come on, hand it over! Your money or your life!” Jack rubbed his chin and said, “Hmmm....I’m thinking, I’m thinking.......” In the same way, God is saying to each of us today........”Serve Me or serve money....which will it be?” And we stand there saying, “Hmmmm......I’m thinking, I’m thinking....”
Let me ask you, “How important is money to you?” Several years ago people were asked what they wold be willing to do for 10 million dollars. The results were published in a book entitled, “The Day America Told the Truth.”
For Ten Million Dollars:
25% said they would completely abandon their family
23% of the women said they would become a prostitute for a week
16% said they would leave their spouse
3% said they would even put their children up for adoption
All of this supports the statement Jesus made when He said “Money is a terrible master.” Money will make many people do things they would not normally do.
(4) Money is temporary, but God’s Word is permanent. Verses 14-18 Here is what Jesus is saying.......In verse 9, Jesus said, “One day money will be gone.” And it will! When we die, all of our worldly riches will be gone. We bring nothing into this world and we take nothing out with us.
But let me alter that statement a bit. You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead. Jesus said (Matthew 6:19-20 LB) Jesus said we should invest our money in people because people have a soul and they will live forever. When we invest in God’s work, we are investing in reaching lost people.
He is also pointing out there is one other thing that is eternal and that is the Word of God.
Flip Wilson was a popular comedian several years ago, and one of his characters was a Preacher at the ““What’’s Happening Now Church.”” Flip did a Skit where he told about this preacher. He’’d shout out: "IF THIS CHURCH IS GOING TO SERVE GOD IT’’S GOT TO GET DOWN ON ITS KNEES AND CRAWL!!!" And the audience yelled back "Make it crawl preacher, make it crawl!
"AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO CRAWL, IT’’S GOT TO GET UP ON ITS FEET AND WALK!!!"Make it walk preacher, make it walk" the audience moaned.
AND ONCE THIS CHURCH HAS LEARNED TO WALK ITS GOT to BEGIN TO LEARN TO RUN!!!" "Make it run, preacher, make it run!" "AND IN ORDER TO RUN, ITS GOT REACH DEEP DOWN INTO POCKETS AND LEARN TO GIVE!!!" They then said let it crawl preacher, let it crawl.
