Jesus talked more about money than heaven or hell. Half of His parables are about money. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, one out of every six verses is about money or money management. Why? Because money influences our lives for either good or bad. If you don’t learn to manage your money, it will manage you. Today we’re looking at a parable Jesus told about money management. (READ TEXT)
Jesus praised this dishonest man’s shrewdness. To be shrewd means to be smart, strategic, and resourceful. God wants us to learn how to be biblically shrewd with money. From this story we learn . . .
. Four things not to do with money:
A. Don’t waste it - v. 2 - Just as this money belonged to someone else and wasn’t the manager’s to do with as he pleased, all we have doesn’t belong to us - it’s on loan from God - we aren’t owners, but managers. What money I have is God’s. And I don’t want to waste God’s money.
B. Don’t love it - v. 13 - It’s impossible to live with divided allegiance. You can’t have two number ones in your life. You can’t have love for money and love for God both as your number one goals. You have to decide. Is God going to be number one in your life or is my making a lot of money my number one goal in life? You cannot serve them both.
C. Don’t trust it - v. 3 - No matter how much money you’ve got, you can lose it. The manager learned this pretty quick in verse 3.
“In the blink of an eye, money can disappear, as if it grew wings and flew away like a bird.” - Proverbs 23:5 (Easy to Read)
D. Don’t expect it to satisfy -
Famed billionaire, Howard Hughes, was asked, “How much does it take to make a man happy?” He replied, “Just a little bit more.”
“Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” - Ecclesiastes 5:10 (NIV)
Your self worth is not determined by your net worth. Your valuables do not determine your value. You’re not worth a lot
because you have a lot. You know you’re worth a lot because God gave a lot to make you His - He sacrificed His Son.
2. Three things to remember about money:
A. Money is a trust - v. 1 - We read here of an owner and a manager. In life, God is the owner and we’re the managers. Everything we have has been entrusted to us by God. “But I earned this with my own two hands!” Who do you think gave you those hands? It’s all from God.
We need to remind ourselves of this every day.
When you get in your car after the service say, “This isn’t my car; it’s God’s car. And when you go home say, “This is God’s house; not my house.” And when you sit down to eat your meal, know that the dishes you’re using are dishes. And when you go to bed tonight say, “This is God’s bed. He loaned it to me and I get to use it. I get to take care of it.” Everything is God’s.
When you live like this your worry level goes down. Why? Because if I’m the employee and God’s the employer, then He’s in charge of the benefit package. This takes the pressure off. I’m not the owner, I’m the manager. Which means that as I follow the owner’s instructions and manage what He has entrusted to me, I will be provided for.
B. Money is a tool - v. 9 - It’s been said that money is like manure: If you spread it all around it makes things grow. But if you pile it up it starts stinking. We need to use the temporary resources God has put in our hands as a tool to do permanent good. How do I do that? Let’s look at this dishonest manager. Why did Jesus make him the hero of the story? Obviously he’s dishonest. But he did three things right.
1) He looked ahead - v. 3
Many never look ahead when it comes to their finances. This is why reverse mortgages have become so popular. People have not prepared for retirement. The average European saves 12% of their income; the average Japanese saves 25%. But the average savings among Americans is –1%. The average American spends 1% more than they make.
“The prudent understand where they are going, but fools deceive themselves.” - Proverbs 14:8 (NLT)
What financial facts are you unwilling to face? What adjustments to you need to make today to be prepared for tomorrow? Are you in a house you can’t afford? Do you need to downsize? Are you driving a car you can’t afford? Some of you need to cut up your credit cards and learn to live on a budget and within your means.
“You need to live like no one else, so that later, you can live, and give like no one else.” - Dave Ramsey
2) He made a plan - v. 4
Do you have a budget? If you don’t have a budget you don’t have a plan. A budget is telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went.
“We should make plans - counting on God to direct us.” - Proverbs 16:9 (TLB)
3) He acted quickly - vs. 5-7
He didn’t procrastinate, he took action. When it comes to us managing what God has trusted to us, today, not “one of these days,” is the day we need to begin. “One of these days” means “none of these days.”
Most people have no plan for the future. They’re just drifting through life. Day by day. Instead, Jesus says you need to take the long view, and not just think of the future in this life; but of the future in the next. I quoted Dave Ramsey’s famous saying, “You need to live like no one else, so that later, you can live, and give like no one else.” You see, I need to manage the money God has entrusted to me not just so I might be able to provide for my future, but so that I might invest in eternity.
The best use of my money is to use it getting people into heaven. This is Jesus is saying in verse 9. He’s talking about heaven. He says just like this dishonest guy made friends that he could count on later, you and I need to use some of our money to make spiritual friends, eternal friends, friends you’re going to have forever in heaven who will welcome us when we get to heaven. Money is a tool God expects us to use so as many people as possible might know Him and go to heaven. And we need to act quickly, so that we might make the most of the time that we have. How many people have not heard the Good News because you are not willing to take seriously your responsibility to be a good manager of what God has entrusted to you?
C. Money is a test -
1) With rewards for today - vs. 10-12
Jesus said that if I’m faithful with a little then God will be able to trust me with more. And obviously whoever is irresponsible with little will be irresponsible with much. This principle applies to every area.
Faithfulness in little ways produces fruitfulness in big ways. You say, “When I make it big then I’ll really become generous. When I make more money then I’m going to start tithing.” No, you won’t. You start tithing when you’re poor. That’s how you get out of poverty. You start managing well what God has given you, and then God will trust you with more.
“To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” - Matthew 25:29 (NLT)
As you manage what God has given you in the way He tells you to, you will have abundance. In every area of your life. But you’ve got to use what you’ve been given.
2) With rewards for eternity - v. 2
One day there’s going to be an audit on my life. How I used not just my money, but everything that God gave me. What did you do with what you were given – your talent, your relationships, your opportunities, your mind, your creativity, your contacts, your networks? What did you with what God gave you?
What might be the greatest reward we could receive in eternity for the management of the money God entrusted to us?
“For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?” - 1 Thessalonians 2:19 (NIV)
Imagine: One day you’re going to die. You get to heaven and there’s a hundred people there standing at the entrance to heaven clapping and cheering saying, “We’ve been waiting for you. We’re so glad you’re here. We’re here because you spent some money to tell us the good news. We’re your friends for life… no, eternity. Because if it weren’t for the way you used your money we wouldn’t have heard how to get to heaven.”
Are you using any of your money for that kind of thing? Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you because of the way you used your money? You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead. How? By investing in people who are going there.
Each person you help hear the Good News who accepts Christ and goes to heaven is your eternal IRA. Your Individual Reward
Account that is awaiting you in heaven.
