Bad Books, Good Lessons
Luke 16:1-15
Enron. WorldCom. Martha Stewart. Parmalat. People playing loose and fast with numbers and bookkeeping. Today’s parable sounds like a story straight out of this week’s Time magazine.
The parable itself can be troublesome. My temptation was to skip it, to go straight on into the lessons that Jesus taught from it. Yet I’ve learned that many times that the parts of the Bible that I’m tempted to skip are the very ones I need to read.
So let’s take a look…
Depending on how you count them, Jesus told about 38 parables. Of those 38, 19 are about possessions and money. In fact, the Bible has a whole lot to say about how we handle money. There are actually many more passages on that than there are about essential doctrines like baptism or the Lord’s Supper. Maybe we need to take some time to see what Jesus has to say.
Luke 16:1-8 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg — I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.
Today’s parable reminds me of the story of the man who was interviewing candidates for an accounting job. When the first man came in, the interviewer asked, “OK, what’s two plus two?” The candidate replied, “Four,” and the interview was over. Same thing happened with the next man. But the third candidate, when asked the same question, stood up and locked the door. He closed the blinds, then leaned over the desk and asked, “How much do you want it to be?”
I guess one of the surprising things about this parable is that the hero seems to be a crook. Maybe that’s because… he is a crook! Jesus calls him “the dishonest manager.” I’ve read commentators that tried to talk around that, that tried to show that the man didn’t do anything wrong. But I think Jesus is talking about a crook.
You see, Jesus on several occasions used bad people as examples in order to teach good lessons. One example is the unjust judge in Luke 18. The widow begs and begs, day after day, until the judge grants her request. And then Jesus teaches us that we should pray like that. Is he comparing God to this judge? By no means. He is merely using the unrighteous to teach about righteousness. When Jesus talked about his second coming, he compared it to a thief in the night. This image was so loved by his followers that both Peter and Paul repeat it in their writings. Will Jesus come to do harm like a thief? No! He is merely using the example of a bad person to teach a good lesson.
So what’s the point? Remember, that’s the question we need to ask with every parable. Parables are not allegories where each item in the story has a particular meaning. Like a good joke, you either get them or you don’t. You shouldn’t get caught up in the details.
This parable is different from most in that Jesus draws at least 5 different lessons from it! So the question should be what are the points?
1. The first one is in verse 8. Jesus talks about shrewdness, as he did in Matt. 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” Christians can be a gullible lot. We go out into the world trusting and expecting to be trusted. I’m probably worse than most in dealing with people.
Yet Jesus isn’t telling us to distrust people. What did the manager do? He used his present to prepare for the future. That’s what Jesus is telling us about. We need to use what we have now to prepare for the future that is coming. Be wise. Be prepared.
2. The second point he makes is in verse 9. Relationships are your best investment. What should be the outcome of our use of money? Friends. Relationships. A welcome into an eternal dwelling.
Will someone say to you, “Because of what you did, I’m here in heaven.” The money you gave to support outreach. The money you used to help the poor. The example you gave by the way you used your money generously.
What sort of a return are you getting on your money? Let me give you an insider tip: Relationships are your best investment. If you’re making money and losing friends, you’re going about it all wrong.
3. Let’s read verses 10 through 12 for the next point. God considers how we handle His money. I didn’t say our money. I said His. Notice that these verses talk about how we handle someone else’s possessions. The money you have is actually God’s. Psalm 50 says that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Everything that you have is not yours. You are just a steward.
And God will look at how we handle His money to decide whether to give us true riches. What are the true riches? I think they are the spiritual gifts that He gives to us. If I can’t handle physical wealth, why trust me with spiritual wealth? If I don’t use money for His glory, will I do any better with spiritual things?
4. Verse 13 shows us the next point. We can’t serve God and serve money. Money is a useful servant, but a terrible master.
Do you remember the story of Solomon? God appeared to him in a dream and offered to grant him anything. Solomon chose wisdom. God said, “Because you have not chosen physical blessings, I will give them to you, along with wisdom.”
Today God says, “Choose me, and I will supply all your needs. Seek first my kingdom.” If you seek money, you will lose God. If you seek God, you will lack for nothing.
Are we teaching this lesson to our young people? We warn them about drugs, about sex, about drinking and smoking… do we warn them against trying to get rich? I’ve seen that the R.I.C.H. virus has done much more harm in the Lord’s church than the A.I.D.S. virus every will!
5. Verse 15 slaps me across the face. “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” God hates the very things that man values.
Again, I think about what I want for my kids. I worry about their future, especially their college education. I want them to be rich so that they can pay for a good nursing home when I’m old and gray! But God is telling me that that’s not what really matters. I need to worry about their spiritual life.
Parents! Wake up. This is now your official wake up call. Teach your children what really matters. Don’t wait for me to do it or the Sunday school teachers or their teachers at school. Teach them that the world’s values are all backwards! Teach them that all that really matters are the eternal things.
There’s an old song that I love called “Rise up, O men of God.” When I was in college, we used to sing, “Wise up, O men of God.” That’s what Jesus is saying here.
What is valued among men is detestable in God’s sight. Think about it.
Look at verse 14 again. When Jesus said all this, the Pharisees sneered. Is there a part of you that sneered this morning? “Sure, preacher, eternal things. But who’s going to pay my bills?” Did part of you sneer when I said that your money was really God’s? Or that the best investment for money is relationships?
Part of me sneered. And sneers. Preachers fall prey to money as well as you. When I interviewed here, someone said, “He won’t come. He’ll go where he can get more money.” And there is a pull to that, to knowing that I could make 2 or even 3 times as much as I’m making right now, doing this exact thing!
But I think about Jesus’ words. You’ve got to weigh it out. Will you serve God or money?
And not just that. The choice is between God, and the world. Jesus talked about the people of this world and the people of the light. Which camp are you in? Where does your loyalty lie? Will you serve God or will you serve money? Will you be of the light or of the world? Whom will you serve?
As for me and my house...
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Reference:
How Much Can God Trust You?
Luke 16:1-18
by David O. Dykes
www.sermoncentral.com
