Imagine a ship at sea. The clouds are dark, the wind is strong, and the waves are rough. Is the ship in danger? It all depends on direction—which way it is headed. If it is going toward the harbor, it’s safe. If it is pointed toward the rocks, it’s in trouble! Life is like that. Two identical people can be in similar situations. But one’s life can be headed in the right direction while the other’s is not. Time will tell the outcome.
An interesting fact is that in many cases, a person’s eyes can determine their direction—whether driving, walking, or riding a bike. If you look to the right, you tend to turn to the right. If you look to the left, you tend to turn that way. Psalm 119:35-37 is a prayer that says, “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your Word.” As we focus our attention on God’s Word this morning, our prayer is that our eyes, ears, and hearts would be drawn only to those things which are of real and lasting value. Amen!
Luke 16:1-13 is a story told by Jesus about a manager who faced a sudden change in his employment status. In other words, this man was about to be fired! His boss called him on the carpet for being wasteful. As soon as the he could give an account of his management of his master’s finances, he would be let go.
Time was critical. The decisions he made at that point would determine his future. If he made the wrong decision, he would have to either work with his hands or beg (and neither of those choices seemed very appealing). How would he get out of this mess? Then he had a sudden flash of insight and knew what to do. To say the least, his solution to the problem was rather creative!
One by one, he approached each person who owed his master money. One owed 800 gallons of olive oil—the oil produced by about 450 olive trees. This represented three years’ pay for the average worker. The manager simply reduced the bill to half that amount, effective immediately. Another who owed 1,000 bushels of wheat—the wheat produced by about 100 acres of farmland. This was worth about eight or nine years’ pay for the average worker. For him he reduced the amount owed by 20%, or one-fifth. The result? Needless to say, he suddenly had a lot of friends who could help him out in time of need. When he came before his master and showed him the accounts, the master had to praise him for his cleverness and foresight, even if he didn’t entirely agree with his methods!
The interesting thing about this parable is that it has both a point of comparison and a point of contrast. The contrast is between the people of the world, who are shrewd but often dishonest in their business dealings, and the children of God’s kingdom, who have other values. The comparison is that if that the people of the world a kind of wisdom in their worldly dealings, the children of God have even more reason to show true wisdom in both their worldly and their “spiritual” lives. The people of the world live lives that are DOWNWARD and INWARD. As God’s people, redeemed by Jesus’ blood and righteousness, we can live our lives UPWARD and OUTWARD.
(Some people try to justify what the manager did. They propose that the amount taken off what was owed was the commission, or interest, that the manager had previously added to the amount…not necessarily something that belonged to his master. That may be. However, we can see by the Pharisees’ reaction that Jesus meant to provoke controversy!)
If this life is all there is, it makes a strange kind of sense to be as ruthless as possible in accumulating wealth. This is the “He who dies with the most toys wins” philosophy and way of life. Even if we don’t agree with what the wealthy do to get their wealth—including exacting high rates of interest, exploiting those who have less, and exterminating their enemies—we have to admit that they’re good at it. They have a purpose in life (even if it is somewhat shady) and they are focused and intentional in their efforts to achieve that purpose. To that extent we can admire them. But we dare not imitate their actions or their attitude! Their lives might be focused, but they are focused in a dangerous and ultimately self-destructive direction.
The point of Amos 8:4-7 is that this life is NOT all there is.
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
(Now just in case you were wondering, a person doesn’t need to have money in order to have a sinful desire for it. Even if we merely use a little “creative financing” here and there, God still condemns dishonesty.)
Jesus further clarifies the issue:
1) Money is described as a “little thing” (verses 10-11). There are true treasures that are much greater. So many times there are people who say, “If only I had…” and live their whole lives in longing and regret. The tragedy is that while God graciously gives us life’s best and greatest treasures for free, we can really miss out on all the good things God has for us if we are only looking for fulfillment and happiness in material goods.
2) Money can become a person’s master (verse 13). If this happens, it amounts to idolatry. If we fear for, love, and trust our money above all things, it has become our god. Unfortunately, money is not a very kind master. It doesn’t love. It doesn’t forgive. It doesn’t satisfy. It doesn’t promise to be with us always. God won’t allow such a master to share his rightful place in our lives.
3) Money doesn’t impress God. No sum of money, no matter how large, is enough to earn God’s love and favor. (When you’re the ruler of the universe, you really don’t need money!) Only one price was sufficient to pay for and cancel out our evil, wicked ways—the holy, innocent, precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, shed on Calvary’s cross for the sins of the whole world! What Jesus has done for us is worth far more than we could ever give God.
A life that is lived focused inward on ourselves and downward on material things is a self-defeating life. It can be compared to a black hole—the more you possess, the more you collapse under your own weight. There is another life, though: a life lived upward to the glory of God and outward for the good of people around us. This is where the point of comparison in the parable applies.
Our money does not have to be our master. Money itself isn’t evil. As long as we have a proper set of priorities, we can approach money as if it served us. More importantly, no matter how much or how little we have, we can approach our earthly possessions as a gift we have been given in order to serve God and each other. In God’s great big scheme of things, money is a little thing. But that doesn’t mean that a Christian can’t use it wisely. We can do things like budget, save, and invest. If God gives us the ability, we can work hard at our jobs so that our income grows. This is good and comes from God. As a Christian, redeemed and forgiven by Jesus our Savior, we can strive to be faithful even in the little things. This is our grateful response to God for what he has done for us.
If there is a little thing in which we can be faithful (our money), there is also a greater. This greater thing is the Gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord. The parable of the Shrewd Manager, without transition or explanation, directly follows the parables of the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son. I believe the message is clear: Jesus is talking about more than just money. He is talking about the Gospel how we approach those who are lost without it.
Here is God’s approach: “[God our Savior] …wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” (1 Timothy 2:4-5)
The Gospel is of great value because there is no other message that can take its place. We can be faithful with our use of this treasure two ways.
1) First of all, we can keep the message straight. As Christians, this is generally something we pride ourselves on. We have gone to great pains in this regard, and rightly so. But this is only half the job!
2) Secondly, we spread the Gospel to the entire world. The Gospel is a treasure that is wasted if it is hoarded. It was meant to be given away! This parable is a challenge to us to be intentional, focused—and even creative—in our efforts to reach the lost. We can “cheat” Satan out of those he thought were his. He can be pretty crafty sometimes, no doubt about it. But while he traffics in dishonesty, we have the truth on our side—and the Holy Spirit, who works through the Gospel to change people’s hearts and bring them to saving faith.
A life that God enables us to live upward and outward is a rich and rewarding life. In this life, we can make many friends—not temporary friends who are bought with money, but friends for eternity who are won over by our love and the Good News of what God has done for us all in Jesus who has paid for our salvation with his very life… and lives and rules eternally. Amen!
