This week we are looking at an
event from history that is recorded in a section of an account of Jesus life in
the Bible called the gospel of Luke. Yesterday we looked on as Luke began
to give us a front row seat to this event from history by revealing the reality
that Jesus continued his previous confrontation with the self righteous religious
leaders of the day by telling another parable. Jesus
explained that word came back to the rich man that his manager was squandering
his possessions. After receiving the report that the money, possessions, and
treasure that he owned was being wasted by the manager, the rich man called the
manager in for a meeting. The owner confronted the manager in a very direct
manner: “What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management,
for you can no longer be manager.”
Jesus then explained that the manager responded by coming
up with a plan. That plan was that the wasteful manager contacted each person
who owed money to his master and renegotiated the terms of their debt. The
manager negotiated what we would call in our culture today a series of short
sales. In these short sales, the manager would collect what he could on the
outstanding debt instead of risking never receiving any money from the debt
that was owed.
These short sales were a great deal for those who owed
money to the rich man. And the great deals that would come about as a result of
these short sales would earn the wasteful manager favor in the eyes of those
whose debt was being eliminated from the short sale. However, these short sales
were not a great deal for the rich man. The rich man would end up losing money.
Which is why what Jesus says next is so surprising. So let’s look
together at what Jesus had to say about the manager’s plan in Luke 16:8:
"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted
shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own
kind than the sons of light.
Jesus explained that the rich man was not mad at the
wasteful manager for losing him more money. Instead, the rich man expressed
admiration and approval for the wasteful manager because he acted shrewdly. Now
this word shrewdly, in the language that this letter was written in, refers to
having an understanding that was associated with insight and wisdom. Jesus then
revealed what gained the wasteful manager admiration and approval in the eyes
of the rich man: “for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their
own kind than the sons of light.” But, what does that even mean? I mean, what
is Jesus talking about here?
Jesus point here is that people who are far from God tend
to be more prudent in dealing with those who are far from God than those who
are close to God are in dealing with those who are far from God. The
unrighteous and wasteful manager displayed more insight and wisdom in dealing
with others around him who were far from God than someone who was close to God
would have demonstrated. What the master praised the manager for was not the
fact that he handled his money well. That is not Jesus point here.
What the master praised the manger for was his cleverness
and prudent self-interest that would result in him developing relationships
that would provide and support him after he lost his job as manager. But not
only would the manager be viewed in a positive light by those who owed a debt
to the master. The master would also have been viewed in a positive light by
those who owed him a debt.
After all, the master generously allowed such a short
sale to take place. The master would be viewed as being generous, even right
and just in the eyes of those who owed debt. And as a result of that
perception, word would spread about the master and his generosity and people
would want to line up to do business with such a generous, just, and right
master. And as a result, the master would become even more prosperous. Now if
you find yourself a little confused by this parable, just wait until you see
what Jesus says next in verse 9:
"And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth
of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the
eternal dwellings.
Now, I imagine that this was one of the times where Jesus
followers looked at one another and said “why does He always have to talk like
that? Why does He say things like this?” So what is Jesus saying here? Is Jesus
saying that you can earn your way into Heaven? Is Jesus saying that we are to
use money to somehow influence and buy our way into Heaven?
Because, that is what it seems that Jesus is saying,
doesn’t it? At first glance, Jesus seems to be saying that we are to make
friends with God with the treasure we have on earth, so that when those
temporary treasures cease to exist upon our death that we can get into Heaven.
So, is that what Jesus is saying here?
To understand what Jesus is saying here, we first need to
understand what He is not saying. Jesus is not saying to those who are far from
God that they should use their money to buy their way into Heaven. This is not
a command to use ill-gotten gain for one’s own selfish desires. Instead, Jesus
is using this parable, this earthly story, to reveal the reality that those who
are His followers will demonstrate the proof of their faith and their
relationship with Him by how trustworthy they are in handling the money,
possessions, and treasure of this world.
Jesus is challenging the crowds listening to question
whether or not they are planning for their eternal future to ensure that they
have security for the life to come. Jesus is challenging the crowds listening,
and us today, to be as wise about our spiritual future as those who are focused
on the things of this world are about their financial future.
We know this to be the case because of what Jesus says
next in verses 10-13. When we read the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded
for us in the Bible, Jesus often will first tell a parable and then explain the
parable to His confused followers. In Luke 16:1-9, Jesus tells the parable. And
in Luke 16:10-13, we see Jesus explain the parable. So
let’s look at the explanation together beginning in verse 10:
"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much;
and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
After telling the parable, Jesus then
explained that when it comes to how we handle the money possessions, and
treasure we have been given, the issue is not about the amount of money,
possessions, and treasure. In other words, Jesus explained to His disciples
that the amount of treasure is not the issue. Jesus point is that the amount of
treasure that one possesses does not make one more or less spiritual, because
money, possessions, and treasure are amoral; they are not inherently good or
evil.
However, the thing about money,
possessions, and treasure that makes it so powerful is that treasure exposes
the motives of our hearts. That’s why we can find ourselves feeling so
convicted, I mean uncomfortable, when the subject of money, possessions, and
treasure is brought up in church. Jesus
point is that when it comes how we will be judged as
managers of God’s money possessions and treasure, the standard is faithfulness.
Now you might be thinking “if I
only had more money then everything would be okay. If I only had more money, I
would be able to get out of debt and pay off my credit cards and make my house
payments.” What Jesus is saying here is “no everything wouldn’t be okay”.
Jesus point is that the reason
that we are in the financial situation that we are currently in, whether good
or bad, is due to how we have managed the money, possessions, and treasure that
we have been given. Just adding more money to the problem does not solve the
problem, because the problem is not a lack of money; the problem is a lack of
faithfulness with the money that we have been given. Jesus point here is that
if we are unfaithful, we are unfaithful; whether it is with $10, $100, or
$1,000,000. After exposing the problem, Jesus continues by explaining the
implications that the level of our faithfulness with money, possession, and
treasure can have on our relationship with God.
We will discover those
implications and a timeless truth about inviting people to follow Jesus in a
way that follows the example of Jesus Friday…
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