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. We looked on as Luke gave us a front
row seat to this event from history by revealing the reality that Jesus
continued his previous confrontation with a group of self righteous religious
leaders by telling a parable. In this parable, there are two
characters. The first character was a rich man, who represented God. The second
character was a manager, who represented a member of the crowd, and us here
today. Jesus used 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 challenged the crowds listening to be as wise about
our spiritual future as those who are focused on the things of this world are
about their financial future. 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. Jesus point was 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 in Luke 16:11-12:
"Therefore
if you have not been faithful in the use
of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's,
who will give you that which is your own?
In these verses, Jesus reveals
for us the reality that how we handle money, possessions, and treasure here on
earth impacts the depth of our relationship with God and our spiritual
maturity. Jesus used two rhetorical questions to hammer His point home. First,
in verse 11, Jesus asked “if you have been unfaithful in the use of unrighteous
wealth, then who will entrust true riches to you?” Jesus was not looking for
the disciples to answer the question, because the answer to the question was
obvious.
Jesus point is that if we are
unable to demonstrate faithfulness with the temporary treasure that we are
given while on earth, which Jesus described as a very little thing in verse 10,
then we will be unable to demonstrate faithfulness with the vastly greater
spiritual treasure, such as mercy, justice, and faithfulness in our
relationships with others, that flows out of a growing and maturing
relationship with Him. And so we can find ourselves in a place where we are not
growing spiritually in our relationship with Jesus because Jesus is not going
to give to us the true spiritual treasure that flows out of a growing and
maturing relationship with Him if we fail to demonstrate faithfulness with the temporary
things of this earth, including money, possessions, and treasure.
And to hammer His point home,
Jesus asked a second rhetorical question in verse 12: “If you have not been
faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is
your own?” Again, Jesus is not looking for an answer, because the answer is
painfully apparent. Jesus point is that if we are unfaithful with someone
else’s treasure, we prove to be unworthy of being given anything of our own. Could
it be that the reason why we do not possess what should be ours as a result of
our relationship with Jesus, such as the goodness, brotherly kindness, and love
that flows from a right relationship with the Lord is not ours to possess
because we are not faithful with what He has given us materially and
financially?
Jesus point is that our spiritual
lives and our relationship with God stagnates and suffers when we fail to be
faithful with what He gives us materially and financially. Jesus makes that
point unmistakably clear as He concluded His explanation of this parable in
verse 13:
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You
cannot serve God and wealth."
Jesus made it clear that we cannot faithfully serve
two masters. When Jesus uses the word serve, He is referring to someone who
acts in total allegiance and total commitment to someone or something. Jesus
point is that you cannot be totally and faithfully committed to two differing
options. Jesus is reminding His followers that we cannot serve God and money
because we will only be faithful to what we are devoted to.
The timeless reality is that God and money,
possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion. You will either be
totally devoted to God, or you will be totally devoted to money, possessions,
and treasure. Jesus point is that how we manage the treasure that we have been
given reveals who or what we place our faith and trust in. And the level of
faithfulness that we demonstrate when it comes to managing the temporary
treasure that we have while on earth serves to provide the proof and reveal the depth of our faith. Luke then
revealed how the Pharisees and scribes responded to Jesus parable in verse
14-15:
Now the
Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and
were scoffing at Him. 15 And He said to them, "You
are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your
hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight
of God.
Luke explained that the Pharisees responded to Jesus
by scoffing at Him. What is so interesting is that the word scoffing here, in
the language that this letter was originally written in, is a word picture of
someone holding up their nose in disdain of another. These self righteous
religious leaders sneered at Jesus with contempt for Jesus. Luke then revealed
the reason for their harsh response to Jesus was due to the fact that they were
lovers of money. And because they were lovers of money, Jesus parable exposed
that reality for all to see by how they responded to Jesus.
Jesus then exposed the Pharisees to the fact that they
had been exposed: "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of
men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is
detestable in the sight of God.” You see the Pharisees, while attempting to
make themselves look like they were right with God in the sight of men, had
exposed the reality that, in their heart of hearts, they served and worshiped
money instead of God. And while their worship of money may have resulted in
them receiving honor and respect among men, their worship of money was
repugnant in the sight of God. And because of that reality, the Pharisees were
exposed as having need to be rescued from their rebellion as a result of the
motives of their heart being exposed for all to see.
And it is here, in this earthly
story designed to reveal a deeper spiritual truth, that we discover a timeless
truth when it comes to following the example of Jesus by inviting those who are
far from Jesus to follow Jesus and live in relationship with Jesus. And that
timeless truth is this: Inviting people to follow Jesus
in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that we strive to expose
the motives of the heart. In order to invite people
to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus, we must strive
to help those that we are inviting to follow Jesus see the motives of the heart
that drive their lives.
Inviting
people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that
we strive to help uncover the secret motives of the heart in a way that exposes
their need to trust and follow Jesus. As
followers of Jesus, we are to strive to lovingly engage those who are far from
Jesus in a way that helps them see the motives that are driving their lives
away from Jesus. As followers of Jesus, we are to strive to lovingly engage
those who are far from Jesus in a way that helps them see where the motives
that are driving their lives are driving them to, so that they can see their
need to turn from those motives and turn toward Jesus.
As followers of Jesus, we are to strive to lovingly
engage those who are far from Jesus in a way that helps them to be as wise about their spiritual future as they are
about their financial future. And to do that, as followers of Jesus, we must
strive to expose the motives of their heart that drive the decisions that they
make about their spiritual and financial futures. As followers of Jesus, we are
to strive to expose the motives of the heart that drive their behavior by
asking great questions that expose the motives of the heart. Questions like
“Tell me more why you believe that? Why did you decide to do that? What drove
you to decide that?’
And inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that
follows the example of Jesus requires that we speak clearly about what how our
culture views and handles money, possessions, and treasure without denouncing
and condemning the culture. You see, instead of denouncing and condemning the
culture, Jesus used the way that the culture handled money, possessions, and
treasure as a way to invite people to turn from their rebellion against Him to
instead follow Him. Jesus used the way
that the culture outside the church operated to challenge and judge who considered
themselves insiders, not condemn those who were outsiders. Because this morning, the timeless reality is that inviting
people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus requires that
we strive to expose the motives of the heart.
So here is a question to consider: Are you willing to
lovingly engage those who are far from Jesus in a way that helps them see the
motives that are driving their lives? Are you willing to ask those who are far
from Jesus why they do what they do so that they might come face to face with
what motives are driving them to do what they do? Are you willing to speak
clearly about what or how our culture views or does things without denouncing
or condemning culture so that those who are far from Jesus would be able to see
what motives are driving their life when it comes to culture?
Because inviting people to follow Jesus in a way that follows the example of Jesus
requires that we strive to expose the motives of the heart…
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