Use Your Worldly Wealth Wisely

Dynamite. The airplane. Television. The Internet. Those are just a few examples of things that mankind has invented that have been used for good and for evil. Dynamite has allowed people to accomplish great tasks in building, mining, and demolition. Sadly it has also been used as a tool for death and destruction. Certainly the Wright brothers had high hopes for their invention. Sadly, the airplane was almost immediately enlisted by armies around the world as a weapon of war. And the horrific scenes twenty years ago on September 11th gave us a modern reminder of the evil that can be done with their invention. Adolf Hitler was one of the first to seize the moving pictures of film and television for evil. But we also know that T.V. can be used for good. It can open minds to learning and bring entertainment into people’s lives. It has been said that one television broadcast can reach more people with the gospel than all the preaching of Jesus and the Apostles combined. In recent years we have seen how the Internet can be used for wonderful purposes as well as a means of peddling pornography and promoting hate.

This morning in our wallets, and purses, and pockets we have another human invention that can be used for both good and evil. The money we use, and really all the worldly wealth God has given us, can be used for selfish sinful purposes or for Godly and good purposes. In the parable of the dishonest manager, the Gospel Lesson for this Sunday, we are presented with a man who used money to serve himself. He was dishonest in how he used it but he was also creative and enterprising.

Perhaps to our surprise Jesus used such a man to teach some important lessons about how his followers are to use their worldly wealth. As we begin let’s recall the simple definition of a parable that we discussed in our Sunday morning Bible class back in September and October. They are stories about life on earth that contain a message about spiritual things. We also noted in our Bible class that we should generally look for one main point so that we don’t get sidetracked by some of the details that support the story. So when we hear about the dishonest manger working with an earthly purpose, an earthly perspective, and earthly priorities we should look for contrasting things in a heavenly or spiritual sense.

Instead of using this parable to teach his disciples to stay away from worldly wealth Jesus used it to encourage the proper use of something that is so often misused. The lesson Jesus had for them and that he wants to teach us from the example of the dishonest manger is:

“USE YOUR WORLDLY WEALTH WISELY”

I. For a heavenly purpose

II. With a heavenly perspective

III. With a heavenly priority

The parable of the dishonest manager leaves us with many unanswered questions. Why did Jesus use the “creative accounting” done by a cheater as the basis for a lesson on managing money and material wealth? Specific questions about what this manger did or did not do are perhaps better taken up in a Bible class. Suffice it to say that Jesus was not commending the dishonesty of the dishonest manager. He was pointing out the commitment and creativity, the innovation and the wisdom, that the man showed toward using worldly wealth.

Then drawing on good traits in a bad man Jesus showed his disciples good ways to use the things of the world. They were to use their worldly wealth wisely. From some of “the ways of the world” they could learn how to use it for a heavenly purpose—according to God’s will. And that we would also use our worldly wealth wisely with a heavenly perspective, and yet keep a heavenly priority.

I.

If the dishonest manager was anything he was focused. He had one purpose in mind all the time. That was self-preservation. He used worldly wealth to serve himself above everyone else. In the parable we see how shrewd and thrifty he was. When his boss fired him and told him to prepare a final accounting of his work he quickly considered his options. He realized he wasn’t strong enough for manual labor. Begging wasn’t his style either. Immediately his mind seized upon an idea. So he quickly brought in those businessmen who owed his master money. Then he “cooked the books” as the saying goes. He had each of the debtors reduce their debt to his master so they were indebted to him instead. Even though the master lost a lot of money in the process he admired the shrewd wisdom of his manager. This would only happen in a parable, right? This wouldn’t make good business sense! Although dishonest the manger used money for the single purpose of saving his own skin.