Sagacity Series

What's In It for Me? - Sagacity

Introducing new sermon series

We love to hear stories and we learn best from stories

Fairy Tales. Aesop's Fables. Mother Goose Rhymes. Prairie Home Companion - Garrison Keiler

Jesus was the best story teller of all. He told parables. Parables have been called "Heavenly Stories with Earthly messages"

In the next 5 weeks we will hear the stories Jesus. Each story tells us something about the cost and the value of following Jesus

Today: The Story of the Dishonest Manager!

Luke 16:1-8 (The New Living Translation)

16:1 Jesus told this story to his disciples: "A rich man hired a manager to handle his affairs, but soon a rumor went around that the manager was thoroughly dishonest.

16:2 So his employer called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about your stealing from me? Get your report in order, because you are going to be dismissed.'

16:3 "The manager thought to himself, 'Now what? I'm through here, and I don't have the strength to go out and dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg.

16:4 I know just the thing! And then I'll have plenty of friends to take care of me when I leave!'

16:5 "So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe him?'

16:6 The man replied, 'I owe him eight hundred gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, 'Tear up that bill and write another one for four hundred gallons.

16:7 "'And how much do you owe my employer?' he asked the next man. 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' was the reply. 'Here,' the manager said, 'take your bill and replace it with one for only eight hundred bushels.

16:8 "The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are.

The Dishonest Manager was a sage!

Sagacity

Sagacity is a practical wisdom that goes far beyond mere intellectual comprehension of truth. It is a gauging of life and living it with memories of the lessons learned in the past; an eye on the realties of the present; and a clear vision of the future.

A shrewd kind of wisdom The movie inspired by Dickens called "Oliver" has a character in it named Jack Dawkins (The Artful Dodger). Another character is the shrewd Fagan.

He sings: YOU'VE GOT TO PICK-A-POCKET OR TWO

FAGIN:

"You see, Oliver ...

IN THIS LIFE

ONE THING COUNTS -

IN THE BANK

LARGE AMOUNTS!

I'M AFRAID THESE

DON'T GROW ON TREES ...

YOU'VE GOT TO PICK A POCKET OR TWO

YOU'VE GOT TO PICK A POCKET OR TWO, BOYS

YOU'VE GOT TO PICK A POCKET OR TWO"

Calculating and capable, the dishonest manager in this story could see the writing on the wall! He understood that…

…He would give an account

Rumors had been started about him. May have been true – may not have been. Doesn’t matter – he has already been told the outcome.

…He was in trouble

He was going to lose his job. Real work was something he didn’t want to do. He didn’t want to be a begger The future looked grim indeed. He had gotten used to a standard of living. He didn't want to lose it! He obviously believed that money wasn't the only thing in life but that it was way ahead of whatever was second!

He Acted…

…To Prepare for his future

He invited in all the people who owed his master money and made them a deal. 800 gallons of oil became 400. A thousand bushels of wheat became 800. And down the list of accounts receivables he went – name after name – account after account was discounted, cut, and slashed.

He took what belonged to his master and benefited others to insure his own future.

What is truly amazing is that Jesus spoke well of him!

The guy is a crook but Jesus tells us that the rich man commended him for his shrewdness. Then he says that citizens of the world more shrewd than the Godly are.

It is not a negative against the citizens of the world. It is a negative against the Godly. So What is Jesus really saying???

You and I are taught by Jesus to be His followers in the manner of this shrewd steward!

Understand this…

…You will give an account

Whether rumors are started or not. Whether it is fair or foul treatment we receive from our peers, friends, family – it does not matter. We will give an account of how we have done with what our master has put into our care.

…You are in trouble