The Stories That Jesus Told
Sermon # 6
“How Wise Are You In the Use of Money”
or
“Parable of the Shrewd Steward”
Luke 16:1-15
I hope that you know today, that you can
trust God, but when it comes to the handling of money, how much can He trust you.
This morning as we
continue our stewardship emphasis we are going to be looking at one of the most unusual
parables ever told. Today’s parable talks about money, specifically the wise use of
money.
In the parable before us today Jesus
catches our attention by seemingly recommending the financial practices of a crook. A
modern telling of this story would go something like this. “A middle-aged
man is in trouble with his boss. He has helped himself to his employer funds one time too
many and now he is facing the music. In fact, he has been told to clean out his desk. He
is given a few days to clear up his accounts, but he knows that after that he is finished.
The man is humiliated. He knew that at his age in life it would not be easy to find
another job – particularly at the pay scale of his old job. He probably could keep
going for a while on unemployment benefits, but what about after they ran out? He was
facing financial disaster.
Then he hit upon an
ingenious plan. He was in charge of collecting debts owed to his employer, he decided that
he would call each of them in and offer them a deal. He told them that he would be leaving
his present position to search out new opportunities. And in order to keep their good will
he was offering them a deal that they just would not be able to refuse. If they paid their
bills immediately, they could settle for 60 cents on the dollar. Of course he assured them
with his fingers crossed that he had been authorized by his employer to make them this
offer, and he hoped they would remember this act of good will when he came to their
company to submit his resume. He used his boss’ money to buy the good will of his
possible future employers.
Now did this man do
wrong? This question brings us to problem of this morning’s text. Why did Jesus pick
this man to be an example? The most common features of our Lord’s parables are their
shock value. They surprise and startle and
this parable certainly does that.
Jesus begins “The Parable Of The
Shrewd Steward” in verse one, “There was a
certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was
wasting his goods. (2) So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about
you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.”
The main
character in this story was a “steward” which means he is
an employee; he is responsible for using his master’s business and assets. Today we
would call such a person a “financial
manager.” As such he of course is to use that which has been entrusted to him
to further his master’s interest and not his own. It would seem though that the
temptation was too great for him for the accusation that he has “wasted”
his master’s funds is the same word used to describe how the Prodigal son has
“squandered” his wealth. This helps us to see that the servant is not just
guilty of making some bad investments but that he had misappropriated the master’s
funds to his own purposes and pleasures. Not surprisingly it is not too long until his
master finds out about what he is doing. His master summons him and asked for an inventory
of his goods and an audit of his books. In modern terms he was told, “Give
me all your records and clean out your desk. Your fired!”
In New Testament
times a man who was a steward for another, was entitled to use some of the master’s
money to meet his and his family’s expenses, but his priority was always to be
furthering the master’s purposes. So the question for us today is, “After
my family’s needs are met, what do I usually do with most of the extra? Do I look
primarily to satisfy, my own desires for more and more? What percentage of the remainder
is used to further God’s purposes?”
The man in the parable
was in trouble because “he forgotten that
stewardship involves not only responsibility and privilege but it also involves
account-ability….. Christians have a tendency to forget that one day an account will
be given to the Lord.” [Warren Wiersbe. Windows
on the Parables. (Wheaton,Ill.: Victor Books, 1979) p. 83]
The Apostle Paul
warns all believers in 2 Cor. 5:10, “For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body,
according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Facing a future
without his position, the soon to be ex-manager contemplates his options. In verse
three we are told, "Then the steward said within
himself, "What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I
cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. (4) I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of
the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.”
What is an out of work
manager to do? Modern companies generally tell fired employees to clean out their desk
immediately, or they may even have it done for them. But this man is given a window of
opportunity. His dismissal although imminent, is not yet public. Until that time, there is
room for maneuvering. As he contemplated his
options, he came to the conclusion, that He is not physically able to do manual labor, and
that he was to proud to beg, but apparently he is not too proud to steal! But he realizes
that time is short, every minute counts, so he develops a plan to put himself on good
terms with those who owe money to his master; to provide himself with friends who could
help him out when he was unemployed. Verse five reveals that, "So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to
the first, "How much do you owe my master?' (6) And he said, "A hundred measures
of oil.' So 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?' So he said, "A hundred
measures of wheat.' And he said to him, "Take your bill, and write eighty.'
“What the steward is
probably doing is discounting the face value of notes by suspending the interest charges.
Since these charges are not legal within Jewish law, his master has no ground of action
against him. … the debtors… would accept the offer gladly. He has therefore tied
his master’s hands effectively, stayed within the bounds of legality, and ingratiated
himself with people he wants to remember him kindly.” [Gary Inrig. The Parables: Understanding
What Jesus Meant. (Grand Rapids: Discovery House, 1991) p. 112]
In the first part of verse
eight Jesus gives the conclusion of the parable.
The disciples were probably waiting to hear
how the crooked steward got what was coming to him. I think they were very surprised by
when Jesus said, “So the master commended the
unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly….” I
think there may have been some good-natured laughter at having been caught so off guard.
Notice that it is the
master not Jesus who commends this man for his shrewd-ness. The master in this story does
not say that he is pleased by his steward’s actions but is none-the-less, impressed.
It is obvious that
Jesus is not commending this man for being under-handed or dishonest. But the shrewd
manager is an example to us in that he saw clearly what the issues were, he cared about
the outcome and he did something about it.
THREE
PRINCIPLES OF WISE STEWARDSHIP (vv. 8b-13)
In the second half of
verse eight Jesus begins to apply the principles of found in this parable.
First, We Are Called To Use
Opportunities Wisely (vv. 8b-9)
“…
For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. (9)
"And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you
fail they may receive you into an everlasting home.”
The idea that
followers of Christ are to be shrewd is a little unsettling. What does it mean to be “shrewd.” When we think of
shrewd individuals we may think of the lawyer who knows all the loopholes and is careful
to stay just within the realm of what is legal; not at all concerned about moral principle
or true justice. Or we may think of the businessman who knows how to exploit his
competitor’s weaknesses or a customer’s ignorance.
Good
businessmen, either then or now, see the possibilities and seize the opportunities in the
world around them. They are even willing to sacrifice present comforts for the prospects
of future rewards on their investments.
William Barclay
sums it up pretty well when he said, “If only the Christian was as
eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his
attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man.”
[William Barclay. The Gospel of Luke.
The Daily Bible Study Series. (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975) p. 208]
In the bible there seems to be two
under-laying principles concerning stewardship. The first is the requirement stated in 1
Corinthians 4:2, “Moreover, it is required in stewards
that they be found faithful.” The second is an explanation of the reward;
found here in verse ten, “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and
he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. (11) Therefore if you have not been
faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (12)
And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your
own?”
“Mammon” which is
sometimes translated money, refers not just to money but to all our possessions.
To quote Barclay
again, “ … what you get in heaven depends on how you use the
things of earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the
things of which you are only a steward.” [Barclay. p. 209]
We Are Called To Use Material
Possessions Faithfully…
In his commentary, the great Bible
expositor Ray Stedman writes about this verse: “Jesus’
emphasis here is on the word “and.” You cannot serve God and money…. He is
saying you cannot live to make money and live to serve God at the same time…. If the
reason you are living is to make money for the sake of the things money can buy, then that
is your god, and you do not and cannot serve the living and true God. (On the other
hand), you can love God, and He can gift you to make money, as
He has done for many. There is nothing wrong with making money or being wealthy, even
being a millionaire or a billionaire. But the proof that you love God first, and that
money only is an instrument of your love for him, will be that you use that money to help
others without seeking recognition for yourself. That will indicate you love God and you
are rightfully serving him with the money He gives you.” [Ray Stedman. “Get Smart With Money.”
Luke 16:1-14. www.pbc.org/
dp/stedman/parables/0378.html]
The point is
that we have to keep our priorities straight. Wealth is to be used, not served. The truth
about money is that we can either be stewards of it or we can be servants of it. The
follower of Christ is called to yield himself totally to the service of God. There is no
such thing as a part-time Christianity.
Jesus has been
speaking to the disciples but the Pharisees have been listening and their response is
anything but spiritual for we read in verse fourteen, “Now the Pharisees, who were
lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. (15) And He said to
them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.
For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”
They sneered at
him (the Greek word means to “turn up one’s nose”). These supposed
men of God were greedy lovers of money and to make matters worse they justified their hypocrisy with Scripture. Not unlike
some Television Prosperity Preachers of our day. They bent God’s word to support
their lifestyles, adding their own interpretation to what God had said.
Conclusion
Singer/Songwriter Ray Boltz has
I encourage you to manage God’s resources in a way so when you arrive in heaven, there will be people there who will say, “Thank you for giving to the Lord.