Once upon a time, there was a man who worked all his life and saved as much as he could. He loved money more than anything.
Just before he died, he said to his wife, “When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me.” His wife promised she would.
At his funeral, just before the undertakers closed the casket, his wife put a box in the casket. The undertakers shut the casket and rolled it away.
The wife's friend said, “I know you weren't foolish enough to put all that money in there with that man.”
She said, “I can't lie. I promised him I would put that money in the casket with him.”
“You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him?” her friend asked.
“I sure did,” said the wife. “I wrote him a check” (“Money in the Casket," The Good Clean Funnies List, 7-29-02, GCFL.net).
She was honest, but shrewd. And that’s what Jesus wants His followers to be when it comes to their use of money. If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 16, Luke 16, where Jesus shows us how to handle money shrewdly.
Luke 16:1 He also 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 (ESV).
Just like the prodigal son “wasted” his father’s inheritance (Luke 15:13), so this financial manager “wasted” his employer’s wealth on himself. The word literally means “to scatter” or “disperse.” Thus, instead of focusing on investing his employer’s money on earning more money, the financial manager dispersed it recklessly, probably spending a lot of it on himself. So the employer calls his employee in to fire him.
Luke 16:2-7 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am 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 fifty.’ 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 eighty’ (ESV).
100 measures of wheat was the yield of about 100 acres in Jesus’ day (Liefeld)—a huge debt in both wheat and oil. And the actual value of each reduction was equal to about five hundred denarii, or sixteen months’ wages for a day laborer (Liefeld, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan, 1984).
Luke 16:8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light (ESV).
The employer praised his employee for his cleverness, not for his dishonesty. And that’s how Jesus wants His followers to handle God’s money, because everything you have belongs to Him. Jesus wants you to…
BE SHREWD
To be smart with God’s money. To handle your Master’s money wisely. To use it cleverly like “the sons of this world.”
The question is how? How can you be shrewd with God’s money? Well, look at what Jesus says in verse 9.
Luke 16:9 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 (ESV).
To be shrewd with God’s money, 1st of all…
BE FRIENDLY.
Use the resources God has entrusted to you to make friends for eternity. Invest God’s money in evangelistic efforts to populate heaven so you have people there to welcome you when you get there.
In the movie Gladiator, the Roman General, Maximus Decimus Meridius, prepares to go to battle against a barbarian Germanic tribe. Just prior to ordering the charge, he encourages his troops. Take a look (show Gladiator—what we do in life). Sitting atop his horse, he looks out over his cavalry and yells, “What we do in life echoes in eternity” (Gladiator, 00:07:09 to 00:07:12, DreamWorks, 2000, written by David Franzoni, directed by Ridley Scott).
“What we do in life echoes in eternity.” That includes what we do with money.
Robert Morris distinctly remembers the first time he and his wife went out to eat after he had trusted Christ with his life. He found himself wanting to share Jesus with the waitress who was serving them. He thought, “If I didn’t order a meal, I could take that money and leave it as an extra generous tip along with a gospel tract. Maybe, the tip would encourage her to read the tract and bring her to faith in Christ. So that’s what he and his wife did. Before they left, they said a few words to their waitress about how much God cared about her.
About a month later, they returned to the same restaurant for their monthly “splurge.” Through the month, Robert had prayed that God would bless them with enough extra money to leave an even bigger tip along with another gospel tract.
God answered his prayer, and they were able to accumulate an extra $50. They asked for the same waitress and left her a $50 tip on a $10 meal.
They returned to the restaurant a month later, very eager to see if that waitress was still working there. She was.
When she saw Robert and his wife, she said, “I read that little booklet you left last time you were here. And I prayed that prayer to receive Christ at the end of it. Robert and his wife were thrilled, but the waitress wasn’t finished. “Then I called my husband on the phone,” she said, “and read the whole booklet to him and he prayed that prayer too.”
At that point, Robert told her, “That’s wonderful! But what do you mean, you called your husband? Does he travel for a living?”
Looking embarrassed, the waitress replied, “No, my husband is in prison. He will get out in two or three years. We both want to thank you for leaving me that booklet and being so generous. Money has been pretty scarce since he went to prison.”
Over the next few years, Robert and his wife discipled their waitress and saw great spiritual growth. They also began to mentor her husband in prison. When he was released, he joined the church with his wife, and they were baptized together.
Robert says, “I had the privilege of knowing that the lives and eternal destinies of this couple had been changed because I gave. And I gave because Christ changed my life” (Robert Morris, The Blessed Life, Regal, 2004, pp.85-86).
Robert Morris used God’s money to make friends for heaven. You do the same.
It reminds me of that old song about a man who died and went to heaven. There, a lot of people approach him and thank him for his influence in their lives. One verse says:
Then another man stood before you and said,
“Remember the time a missionary came to your church?
His pictures made you cry.
You didn’t have much money, but you gave it anyway.
Jesus took the gift you gave, and that’s why I’m here today.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am a life that was changed.
Thank you for giving to the Lord.
I am so glad you gave” (Ray Boltz).
Who is going to be there to welcome you into heaven because you gave?
Be shrewd with God’s money. How? 1st, be friendly. 2nd…
BE FAITHFUL.
Be dependable with God’s money. Use His resources reliably in the way God directs you to. Jesus said…
Luke 16:10-12 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. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (ESV)
God cannot trust you with more if you don’t dependably use what you already have.
Randy Alcorn says: Suppose you have an important package to send, so you take it to an overnight delivery service. Only, instead of delivering the package, the driver takes it home When you confront the driver, he tells you, “If you didn’t want me to keep it, why did you give it to me in the first place?”
You might reply, “The package doesn’t belong to you. Your job is to deliver it to the person to whom it is addressed.” Then, if you’re smart, you would never trust that delivery service with another package again.
You see, just because God puts his money in your hands doesn’t mean He intends for you to keep it. Sometimes, He wants you to deliver it to someone who needs it (Randy Alcorn, “God’s Money Managers: Letting go of what isn’t mine,” Focus on the Family, December 2006, p.13).
And if you’re faithful to deliver God’s packages time after time, then He’ll be faithful to give you more packages to deliver. Who knows? He might even include a generous tip every once in a while.
Fred Smith, founder of Fed Ex and a mentor to business leaders all over the world, once said, “God entrusts us with money as a test; for like a toy to the child, it is training for handling things of more value” (Fred Smith, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 1; www. PreachingToday.com).
The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of World War II soldiers that belonged to the 477th Bombardment Group of the U.S. Army Air Corps. They received the nickname “Red Tails” after the group painted the tails of their aircraft red.
The Tuskegee Airmen became famous for two reasons. First, they were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. But second, and more important, their work turned the tide of the war in the Allies favor.
In the European air war, U.S. bombers were getting shot down at increasingly alarming rates. The problem arose when the enemy attacked. Fighter pilots, protecting the bombers, would leave the bomber to engage enemy aircraft. Though this seemed like the obvious response, it meant leaving the bombers vulnerable to attack. Each lost bomber carried a crew of 10 or 11 Americans.
The Tuskegee Airmen came in with a different strategy: Never leave the bombers. Never. Regardless of what was happening around them. When the enemy attacked, stay the course and defend your charge.
The result of their steadfast devotion? Only 25 of the hundreds of bombers they protected during the war were lost. Their stellar reputation became legend: If you flew a bomber, you wanted the Red Tails with you.
In George Lucas' Red Tails movie, the Tuskegee Airmen gather around each other on an airstrip in a foreign land and shout their motto: “The last plane, the last bullet, the last man, the last minute, we fight!”
Today, we celebrate the Tuskegee Airmen, not just because they were excellent pilots, but because they never wavered from their duty; they never left their charge. No matter what happened, they stayed faithful to their calling (Wayne Drash, “A Midair Courtship: Tuskegee's Historic Love Story,” CNN.com, 1-22-12; www.PreachingToday.com).
And that’s what Jesus wants you to do as His follower. Stay faithful to your calling, Use His resources as He directs no matter what, even if what you do seems to be “very little.” For sometimes it’s hard to remain faithful when you wonder whether your small contribution makes any real difference. The airmen in World War II had a big job, but what about those who served in the trenches?
In a public television special, soldiers from World War II recalled how they spent a particular day. One sat in a foxhole all day; once or twice, a German tank drove by, and he shot at it. Others played cards and frittered away the time. A few got involved in furious firefights. Mostly, the day passed like any other day for an infantryman on the front. Later, they learned they had just participated in one of the largest, most decisive engagements of the war, the Battle of the Bulge. It did not feel decisive to any of them at the time, because none had the big picture of what was happening elsewhere (Philip Yancey, "Reaching for the Invisible God," Christianity Today, 9-4-00; www.PreachingToday.com).
Only God has the big picture in the spiritual warfare we are waging every day. So remain faithful in the task God has given to you even if your contribution seems insignificant and small.
Be shrewd in your use of God’s resources. That means be friendly, be faithful, and finally…
BE FOCUSED.
Invest with a single devotion to God. Make serving Christ your only purpose in life. Jesus said…
Luke 16:13 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 (ESV).
You have a choice to make this morning. You can either serve God or money, but you cannot do both. So, what will you do?
There is an old song which says, “If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right.” Sad to say, that’s how a lot of people feel: If loving money and loving my stuff is wrong, I really don't want to be right. However, the believer must ask, “Who owns this stuff? Is it the Lord's or is it mine?” (Roger Thompson, “A Lifestyle Inventory,” Preaching Today, Tape No. 86; www.PreachingToday.com).
Obviously, every dollar belongs to the Lord, so you must be singly devoted to Him, not to Him AND to piling up more dollars.
Truett Cathy, as founder of the Chick-fil-A restaurant franchise, was a very successful businessman, but the focus of His life was Christ, not earning more money.
For example, Chick-Fil-A restaurants have been closed on Sundays since 1948. It seems Cathy didn’t mind losing millions of dollars of business to honor the Lord’s Day.
At his first restaurant in 1948, he hired Eddie J. White, a 12-year-old African American. This was an unpopular choice during a time of segregation. He also mentored an orphan Woody Faulk since he was 13. Later, Woody became vice president of product development at Chick-fil-A.
Cathy also developed a successful foster home system called WinShape Homes. There are now 12 homes in the U.S. and one in Brazil. One of Cathy’s favorite truisms was “It’s easier to build boys and girls than to mend men and women."
Finally, Chick-fil-A Kids Meals don't come with promotional toys from the latest popular movie. Instead, they offer Veggie-Tales books and other character-building materials (Tom Neven, “A Doer of the Word,” Focus on the Family Magazine, September 2000; www.PreachingToday.com).
Honoring Christ was the focus of Truett Cathy’s life. Sure, God entrusted Cathy with a lot of wealth, but Cathy used that wealth to honor Christ. He loved the Lord, not his loot, and that made all the difference in the world.
In the same way, when you love the Lord, He can use you to change your world for the better, as well. But when you love money, the only thing that changes is your heart, which goes from bad to worse.
Researchers have determined that a person who drives 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket is three times more likely to be killed in a car accident while driving to buy the ticket than he or she is to win the jackpot. Yet, even with nearly impossible odds of ever winning a dime, one out of every four Americans believes their best chance of getting rich is by playing the lottery (Chuck Beatley, The Root of Riches, FORIAM Publishers, 2011, pg. 73; www.PreachingToday.com).
Please, don’t be stupid when it comes to money. Instead, be shrewd. That is, be friendly, be faithful, and be focused with the resources God has entrusted to you.
Several years ago, a French baker almost died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his shop. However, a homeless man passing by raised the alarm and rescued him. The baker, very grateful for the heroic action, pledged to generously “sell” his business to the homeless man for just one euro as a gesture of his immense gratitude.
Soon after that, the 62-year-old store owner was greeted by a rude surprise. He returned to the bakery at 11 o’clock one night and discovered that Jerome [the homeless man] had set up a bar of sorts with wine and beer in the bakery and with all his homeless friends in the oven room. The baker told Jerome, “This was not part of the deal. Pack your bags and go” (Reuters, “French baker fires his savior instead of giving him his business,” Yahoo News, 4-19-16; www.PreachingToday.com).
My dear friends, God has given you a Jerome-like opportunity. He’s given you the “store,” so to speak. So, what are you doing with your amazing opportunity? Please, whatever you do, don’t waste the opportunity. Instead, use it to further God’s Kingdom and God’s interests around the world.
