"Loving God & Neighbor"
Luke 16:1-13
A sermon for 4/30/23
Fourth Sunday of Easter
Pastor John Bright
Luke 16 “1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who was informed of accusations that his manager was wasting his assets. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Turn in the account of your administration, because you can no longer be my manager.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What should I do, since my master is taking my position away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m too ashamed to beg. 4 I know what to do so that when I am put out of management, people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he contacted his master’s debtors one by one. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 The man replied, ‘100 measures of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ The second man replied, ‘100 measures of wheat.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write 80.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their contemporaries than the people of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by how you use worldly wealth, so that when it runs out you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.
10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own ? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will 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.” New English Translation
Pause right there. Why are you listening to this? Do you want to become more like Jesus? The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you right now – right here! Do you want to become more like Jesus? It’s a question only you can answer.
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This week I am returning to Luke. We left off right before chapter 16. This chapter has 2 parables, but the second one is more of a teaching. Sandwiched in the middle is some description of the Kingdom of God that informs both parables. We see here a discussion about money and compassion that should challenge every last person listening to this sermon… as well as the guy who is preaching it!
Listen to two more verses of chapter 16 “16 “The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.” This is the center, the lynch pin, of the whole chapter. Jesus is telling the religious leaders that there are two ages:
• First was the Law & Prophets
• Then came the Kingdom of God
Things are going to be different in the Kingdom – especially when it comes to money and how we treat others.
There is a story about a newly married couple. The husband thought he had been ignored by his wife for several days, so he confronted her with what he perceived as the problem. “Come on, admit it,' he told her, 'You only married me because my granddad left me a million dollars, didn't you?'
So, she replied, “You really are silly, I couldn't care less WHO left it to you.” 😊
The Parable of the Clever Steward, v. 1-9
This parable of the dishonest manager is a tough one. It has to be looked at from the view of what is Jesus trying to teach about the Kingdom. The story begins with a man who handles the accounts of a rich man. This man is getting fired. That means he must come clean with all of his accounts. We are not told what the manager is accused of, but Luke uses the same Greek word for “wasting his assets” that was used in the last parable – The Prodigal Son – for how “he squandered his wealth.” (15:13) This manager has operated like a tax collector and added his cut on top of what was owed to the rich man. He feels that he has no other option than to make folks like him and that is accomplished by reducing the total bill for those who owe the rich man.
There are two items mentioned in these bills – olive oil and wheat. “The large debt suggests relatively wealthy businessmen. The actual measurements are 100 “baths” (a bath was about 8 gallons of olive oil) and 100 “cors” (a cor was about 10 bushels) of wheat. The former would have been worth about 1,000 denarii or about three years’ wages for a day laborer; the latter, 2,500 denarii or about eight years’ wages. The reduction of debt in each case (from 100 to 50 baths and from 100 to 80 cors, respectively) would have been roughly the same, worth about 500 denarii.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament)
These new actions by the manager get a different reaction from the rich man for whom he has worked. He is commended – “Good job!” This parable will be lived out in Luke 19 when we meet the “wee little man” Zacchaeus. No matter how we are looking at this – in the Kingdom, generosity will be commended.
Several probing questions, v. 10-12
10 “The one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you haven’t been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches? 12 And if you haven’t been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you your own?”
This language reminds me of the Parable of the Talents found in Luke 19 and Matthew 25. In Luke 19, Jesus tells this parable “because they thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.” You see, it has a Kingdom connection. In Matthew, we find this parable in the middle of chapters 24 and 25. These are an extended teaching on the Second Coming of the Messiah. In both cases, Christ is teaching on future events. That’s why we keep a view of the Kingdom of God as having entered into our world, but not yet fully come.
Things have changed, as we saw earlier in Luke 16:16-17 “16 The law and the prophets were in force until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urged to enter it. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tiny stroke of a letter in the law to become void.” Side note – Believers no longer have to fulfill the Law of the Old Testament. I found this at GotQuestions.org – “In place of the Old Testament law, Christians are under the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2), which is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39). If we obey those two commands, we will be fulfilling all that Christ requires of us: “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40). Now, this does not mean the Old Testament law is irrelevant today. Many of the commands in the Old Testament law fall into the categories of “loving God” and “loving your neighbor.” The Old Testament law can be a good guidepost for knowing how to love God and knowing what goes into loving your neighbor. At the same time, to say that the Old Testament law applies to Christians today is incorrect. The Old Testament law is a unit (James 2:10). Either all of it applies, or none of it applies. If Christ fulfilled some of it, such as the sacrificial system, He fulfilled all of it.” https://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-law.html
We are part of the Kingdom of God and one day Christ will return and call home all the Believers in this world. When that day comes, we will be held accountable for what we have done with the resources that God entrusted to us. How would you answer this question – “Have you been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth?”
For most of us, we would want come clarification about the “trustworthy” part of the question. That will come in the next parable/teaching, but here is a hint: Matthew 25 “34 Then the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or naked and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘I tell you the truth, just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine, you did it for me.’”
The confusing world of Kingdom values, v. 13
“13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will 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.”
When I arrived at one church, they wanted a teaching on stewardship. I told them it would be better if we waited a while, but they insisted. That Sunday, I was teaching about our stewardship of stuff as a Kingdom value. To drive home the point, I used an illustration: one of the ushers was asked to pass a plate and whoever had $1 bills were asked to give. He came back and assisted me in making four equal piles of bills. The piles represented the money that comes into a church.
The first pile represents pay for the pastor and staff. I gave the organist some bills and put the rest in my pocket.
The second pile represents money used to pay bills so it benefits the congregation. I divided those dollars among several members.
The third pile represents our giving to mission work. I had an envelope already stamped and addressed to the Society of St. Andrew. I put the dollars in it and sealed the envelope. I then asked someone to mail it “as is” – with no return address and nothing on the inside to identify the giver. I have always wondered about the staff member that opened that letter and how glad he or she was.
Then, I explained that there was always money for this and that. It seems to disappear. So I tore up the last pile of bills into the offering plate and told them they would be at the door if anyone wanted a souvenir of today’s sermon.
You should have seen the looks I was getting! I asked folks to raise their hands if this illustration was upsetting and almost everybody lifted a hand. I asked, “Why?” Someone answered, “You just gave away and tore up my money.” That was the point! I have never used that illustration again because there were a few folks in that church who held it against me for 6 years.
In the Kingdom of God, the values are confusing but simple. How can we be sure we are serving God and not money? Remember, it’s not about what you own. It’s about not letting what you have own you! When it comes to the Kingdom value of stewardship, this is the bottom line – NOTHING IS YOURS, IT’S ALL ON LOAN FROM GOD. Even your body is not yours. It is a gift you get to use for a while as we read in 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” It makes no sense for a Believer to use the argument – “It’s my body, it’s my choice.”
How many times have you heard that our time here on earth is to be spent learning how to love God and love neighbor? God has given us resources and compassion deep down in our hearts. How we use those in the Kingdom of God matters because we all want to hear “well done, good and faithful servant” and we all want to “enter into the joy of the master.” Amen.
NO TEACHING SHEET
