Download Greeting: Dear Christian brothers and sisters, former strangers and

Luke 16:1–13
Our Savior, Bishop
Trinity 9
2016 July 24
Dale A. Jaech
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Who in grace and mercy did bestow great treasures upon Your Church for the preservation of Your
saints unto eternal life, grant that we would always be found faithful in their use, and protect us from the evils of our age.
Amen.
 It seems to me that there are two approaches among preachers regarding the subject of money. For some, it seems to be a
priority: there is always a ministry of the congregation that needs funding; a building project of some sort; a pledge program; a
tithing objective; or, for many media preachers, a new study guide available for a small ‘donation.’ Other preachers don’t like to
touch the subject with a ten foot pole. They believe their parishioners will be offended by talk of the church’s financial needs.
They don’t want to be perceived as expecting financial gain through their preaching. They might think that talk of money from the
pulpit demeans the Bible’s message. We will be talking about money this morning, because Scripture and its Lord, Jesus, want us to
know something about money:
Text: Luke 16:1–13
He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting
his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for
you can no longer be manager.' 3 And the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away
from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from
management, people may receive me into their houses.' 5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How
much do you owe my master?' 6 He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write
fifty.' 7 Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill,
and write eighty.' 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in
dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,
so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10 ¶ "One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and
one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will
entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and money." [ESV]
Theme: “A Christian’s Fiduciary Responsibilities”
 Another reason that some preachers don’t like to talk about money is, they don’t really understand what Scripture says about
it. Being fearless as we are, we will now talk about money from the perspective of the Bible’s most difficult – to – understand
passage on the subject.
Let me summarize Jesus’ parable of the unrighteous steward: A manager is caught embezzling from his boss. He will be fired as
soon as he brings the books up to date. The manager’s survival strategy is to ingratiate himself with the boss’s debtors by
discounting their outstanding accounts as much as 50%. His boss commends his cleverness, and Jesus says that if the sons of light
– His disciples - would imitate him, they could make friends for eternity. And when you whittle it down to its core, it sounds as if
we could buy – or spend - our way into heaven. So, how do we properly understand these words of Jesus? We will apply our
Lutheran principle of allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture and we will start with Paul’s reminder to the Ephesians (2:8,9), “by
grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works.” From this
and similar passages, we know that our heritage in heaven is never the result of anything we do – it is solely on the basis of faith in
Jesus Christ – itself a gift of God. So we can proceed, knowing that we will not gain heaven by leveraging our financial assets.
 Now, let’s look at the characters in the parable. The manager, is clearly identified as dishonest, unrighteous: he’s a swindler, a
con artist – plain to see. We note also that the debtors are willing accomplices. They know what they owe, but they have no more
scruples than does the manager, “quickly” taking advantage of the opportunity to discharge their debts for 50 cents on the dollar.
And why is the manager’s master so quick to praise him for “his shrewdness?” A little background: Mosaic law prohibited the
charging of interest on a debt to fellow Jews, and so it was common practice to inflate the price of goods. It is possible that, even
after a 20 – 50% reduction, the employer felt he was still getting fair compensation! He may simply have been expressing the
admiration of one thief for another!. Well, without any ‘redeeming’ characters in this story, we are still left looking for the point.
Are they merely ‘bad examples,’ like those Paul referred to in our Epistle lesson? It’s not quite that simple, but our Old Testament
reading does provide us a ‘good example’ on this subject from King David.
 If earthly wealth was ever a means to gain heaven, David would be a top candidate. He had amassed a fortune for both himself
and the kingdom. Although not permitted by God to construct the temple, David did make preparations for it, donating large
amounts of precious metals and other materials from his own assets and encouraging others to do the same. When the collection
had been completed, David dedicated it to God with the prayer recorded in I Chronicles 29, in which he acknowledged, “all that is in
the heavens and in the earth is Yours,,,O LORD… Both riches and honor come from You.” Although the site for the building of the
temple was offered to David for free, he insisted on paying full value for it, saying to its owner, I will not take for the LORD what
is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing" ICh21:24). This is the attitude toward material wealth that Jesus is
encouraging in the parable of the dishonest manager.
 That manager, you see, had no assets of his own. He was merely a steward, assigned to manage the property of his master. So
we also, as David confessed, have nothing that belongs to us. We have merely been entrusted by God with certain riches and we
have a fiduciary responsibility regarding them. That is, we are not to manage God’s gifts in our own interest, but beyond our basic
needs for food, clothing and shelter, our wealth is to serve God by serving others.
At this point, your conscience may feel a little guilt-stricken, for none of us are able – most of us are not even willing - to apply our
material wealth to God’s purposes in a way or to an extent that satisfies Him. If we were, no one would be homeless and no
Christian mission effort would go unfunded. The normal consequence for such malfeasance of a fiduciary is termination at least, or
criminal charges and imprisonment. Every one of us is a Bernie Madoff. This is the point at which we find ourselves in Jesus’
parable. Our unrighteous behavior is known to our Master and we must suffer the consequences!
 And yet, I would note, we are given time…
From a worldly perspective, the guilty manager uses his time wisely, albeit with the same unprincipled approach and with only his
own welfare in mind. Jesus even implies that his scheme was successful: using “unrighteous money” to make friends. But in the
same breath, He issues a warning for us about the potential eternal consequences of this kind of attitude and behavior. The Greek
word translated in this text as “dwellings” is skhnh, (skānā). It is the word for tent – a distinctly temporary shelter. It is
never used as a synonym for monh, (monā), a permanent home where one lives or stays, as Jesus describes the mansions in His
Father’s house (John 14:2).
So, we should be warned. Would you rather be received into shabby tents, to share eternal homelessness with the sons of this
age? Or would you rather be received by Jesus into the mansions of heaven? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth…but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt6:19-21).
 Jesus makes the point of His parable more explicit when He says, “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth,
who will entrust to you the true riches?” Through this parable, He gives us an opportunity to examine our hearts and our behavior.
God does not despise money, just as He does not despise sex, music, science, or technology. These are all part of His created
world, meant as blessings for us – in their proper use. Money is not inherently evil, just as poverty is not inherently good. What
makes the difference in all of these things is the attitude of our hearts. And as faith is an attitude of the heart, the uses to
which we put these blessings of God are indicators of our faith. They are indicators that Jesus will look for on the day of
judgment; to see what we have done with these blessings for any of the least of His brothers. If we, on account of our faith in
Jesus Christ, have been trustworthy in our stewardship of worldly blessings, then we will receive the true riches: the inheritance
of the Father’s kingdom (Mt25:32ff). If your charity is motivated by pride and self-righteousness, your eternal dwelling will
reflect the emptiness of your heart. And while it is true that God can turn the self-centered and avaricious actions of the sons of
this world to His purposes, it is better for us if our actions are generated by faith and the resultant love for the lost.
 For the heart of the matter is that we were lost: lost in the poverty and disgrace of sin. We have failed to live up to the
standards of our Master – the Creator, or to serve Him with due diligence. For our arrogant, self-centered, and unrighteous
disregard of Him, He is justified in cutting us off and dismissing us from His household. We have no way of returning to His good
graces and no hope of life, without Him. But He has been merciful and gracious to us regarding our debt. He has redeemed us from
sin and its consequences of death and damnation; not 80 percent or 50 percent, but 100 percent. And not with gold or silver that
will decay along with this temporal world and our mortal bodies, but with the precious blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Upon Him He
laid the burden of our failures. Upon Him He passed the judgment of our death. And on His account He admits us into eternal
glory, not as hired hands, but as brothers and heirs. He has made us alive together with Christ … 6 and raised us up with him and
seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his
grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ep2:5-7).
 So we should remember that the greatest treasure we have to give away is that which is the single most compelling need of all
people; that is greater than any amount of earthly mammon: the good news of forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life
through Christ Jesus. As Paul wrote, God has entrusted to us “the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for
Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2Co5:19,20). Through this parable, Jesus encourages us to be bold, to be innovative
(‘shrewd,’ if you will) in gaining friends for eternity. Let us employ those skills often abused for material security and worldly
influence in the interest of saving souls. Let self-interest give way to love and compassion. Let our concern for the future have an
eternal perspective. May we ever give thanks to God for all that has come from His hand and may He make us faithful stewards of
His temporal and eternal blessings. Paul reminds us (1Ti6:7,8) to be content with what we have, for “we brought nothing into the
world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” The one thing you can take with you to heaven is another believer.
Amen.
The peace of God, which exceeds all comprehension, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria