Kaleo San Diego Church

Luke 16:1-9: "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.'" 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

As we come to a close in our series on the parables of Jesus and begin to transition to the parties of Jesus, I've been very encouraged by several of you who have mentioned that you've sensed a closeness to Christ and noticed a change in your understanding of the gospel and what it means to be His disciple full time, in every way of your life.

 

The first nine chapters of the Gospel of Luke are geared more towards answering the question "Who is this man named Jesus?"  The next nine chapters are oriented more towards explaining what it means to be a follower of Jesus.  This is really important.  There is a steady pattern in Scripture: God declares who He is, what He's done for us, and who we are in Him, before He moves on to explain how we're to respond.  Most of Pauline literature is set up with that very structure: this is God, this is what He's done, "so then," "therefore..." live this way in response.  In other words, because of how incredible God is, because of how merciful He's been, because of our identity in Him, our life should flow in a particular direction in response. 

 

This is in direct contrast to every other world religion that teaches, "Go live this way, then you'll get God's love or God's approval based upon what you do."  They drive outward conformity as a way to get God's blessings or mercy. 

 

Now, I give this preface as a way of helping you to hear what Jesus is teaching us in this parable.  Jesus has already shown who He is and has already promised a new people His kingdom through sheer grace.  Now He's essentially saying that God's scandalous grace actually creates a different life and new people.  This parable is directly following the parable of the prodigal son and elder brother in Luke 15, perhaps the most brilliant display of all the parables of the rejoicing heart of a Father who loves to rescue His children who have strayed and lavish them with His love and favor.  Some commentators have observed that the two parables actually go together.  The prodigal son and elder brother along with the dishonest manager form a unit that shows first our wrong view of people in relation to God's grace, and this second parable shows us our wrong view of stuff in relation with God's grace.

 

This parable isn't reserved for the spiritual elite but for anyone who is His disciple or a follower of Jesus.  He addresses His disciples and in so doing, He addresses anyone here who says they love and are committed to Christ.

 

STUDY

 

I.  We're Created to be Managers

 

Verses 1-2: "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."'" 

 

In this parable, Jesus vividly shows each of us that we are stewards or managers of someone else's possessions.  What does that mean?  It means your stuff is not your stuff because everything belongs to God and you are a steward or manger of His things. 

 

Because of this we aren't allowed to do whatever we want with our stuff as if we own it.  As a manager, we are to use all that God has entrusted to us in such a way that we do with it exactly what God would do with it, as if He's using it through us.  Does that make sense?  Does that give you a nervous tick? 

 

Are you thinking to yourself right now, "Wait a minute, I've worked really hard to earn everything I have and I have a right to use it as I want!"  Okay, but who gave you the hands to work?  Who gave you the mind to learn?  Who gave you the life you live?  Who brought you into creation at this moment rather than on a Tibetan mountain in the 5^th century?  There are no "self-made" men or women.  God made each of us and entrusted these things to our care so that we would use them exactly as He would use them.  Everything we have is on loan from God and we are only managers of His goods.

 

In our culture there are essentially three prevailing views of our stuff: 

 

Owner

Owners say, "This is mine and I can do what I want with it and no one has the right to tell me otherwise." 

 

Franchisee

The franchisee is someone who thinks and acts as if they've bought into a franchise like Subway.  They don't necessarily own the name, but they bought the goods and are willing to pay a 10% franchise association fee to use the name of the franchise.  They realize they can't benefit until they pay their fee first before they enjoy their profits.  This particular view is probably the most common in the church. 

 

Manager

The manager realizes they own nothing.  They are simply entrusted with the incredible responsibility of overseeing the goods of another.  Their sole job is to always have the interests of the owner in mind in everything they do.  Their job is a privilege and not a right.  Of course, it's the view that all my things belong to God and I'm to use everything exactly as He would desire in every way. 

 

A couple ways this works out is with your home and your money.  A franchisee sees their home or apartment as a place they acquired, but they can't really enjoy their home until their conscience is freed by paying 10% to God and then they are hoping after doing so that they will have enough left over to do what they want with it.  Basically they're hoping the 10% won't put too much of a crimp on their lifestyle and true desires.

 

However, a manager sees their home as God's and therefore they aren't looking for the minimum usage of their house to get God off their back; but they are looking for ways to use it to bless others as God would.

 

With money, the same principle applies.  The franchisee hopes to have enough left over after their tithe to truly enjoy, but the manager finds their joy in using whatever resources they have for God's priorities, His purposes, His plans and passions.  This brings the manager joy because they realize their money isn't their money, their home isn't their home, their car isn't their car, their things aren't their things. 

 

Conflicts over Stuff

 

How many wars have been started over possessions?  Land, gold, oil, religious buildings, etc., have been the cause of a great many wars.  Our courts are booked and filled with case after case of lawsuits against one another over stuff, over possessions, over money.  Stuff we think we own. 

 

This is incredibly liberating when dealing with conflicts over stuff.  When someone wrongly uses you or takes from you, you realize they are essentially taking from God and it frees you from being too tied to your things so that you can't have relationships with people.  When things become primary over relationships with people, something has been lost in translation.

 

When we have this broken view, we are basically leaving God out of 90% of our life, since most of our time, energy, and resources have to do with dealing with stuff.  If we make this decision apart from Him, we're missing out on perhaps the biggest way He can be immediately brought into most of our decisions.  It's no wonder we feel distant from God at times, if He's only relegated to a spiritual experience and has nothing to do with our moment-by-moment decisions with regard to our things.

 

Since a manager is supposed to use his owner's stuff as the owner would use it, He has to know his master intimately doesn't he?  This means that we need to know God intimately to be able to use His stuff the way He would.  It requires closeness to Him and a desire to know His will.  We have to know God's purposes, priorities, and passions.  We have to speak to God in prayer and listen to God in His word and through others in community. 

 

We're Created to be Managers

 

The flow of stewardship- In Genesis, we're given an account of the dominion and cultural mandate, the mandate to bless the earth by sharing our gifts. This is repeated with Noah in Genesis, and redemption is initiated with Abraham in Genesis 12:2 (blessed to be a blessing).  Even Isaac was given to ultimately fulfill what God intended in his seed to be a blessing in Genesis 17.  Also, every child born into this family would be circumcised to show they belong to the Lord.

 

II.  The Crisis of Management

 

Verse 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.'" 

 

This manager is facing a huge crisis due to his mismanagement of his owner's stuff.  The rich man discovered his poor management and decided to fire him.  In verse 2, he says the most terrifying words for this man, "You can no longer be my manager." 

 

The manager realizes that he's in a very serious bind.  He's not strong enough for manual labor, and he's too proud to beg for money.  He is one step away from being without a job and home.  He has come to see that he's facing a crisis and everything needs to change.  There is an urgency created in this man. 

 

Likewise, we too are facing the same crisis.  Jesus is telling everyone through His disciples that we're not just created to be managers, but we're facing a huge crisis due to our poor management of His things.

 

God has entrusted us with these things, and instead of using it for His passion and plan, we've used it for our own desires.  A day of accounting is coming and the books are going to be settled.  The crisis is real.

 

III.  This Crisis Demands Immediate Action

 

Verses 4-7: "‘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.'" 

 

The manager realizes that he needs to settle these accounts immediately.  Nothing can be left open.  Not only is he urgent to settle, he realizes that he is making friends with his master's debtors.  He does this so that if/when he's finally unemployed, he will have a place to go as they welcome him into their homes. 

 

Jesus is saying that in light of this coming crisis, we must take drastic action now.  But what is the drastic action He's commending?  What is it that Jesus is saying we should do in response to this news immediately? 

 

The clue is found in verse 8 where Jesus tells us that the master commends the shrewd manager for his shrewdness.  This seems strange doesn't it-that Jesus is commending this man's actions? 

 

Commentators are at a bit of a loss over the text and have devised all kinds of responses to it to help us try and understand what Jesus is getting at with this story.  Why would the owner commend this guy? 

 

I think it's actually very simple.  The master commends the manager for doing what he should have been doing all along.  We do this all the time.  If you're in a sport, or working a job and someone has continuously blown their responsibilities and all of the sudden they snap to attention and start doing what their supposed to, even though it is their responsibility to do their job, we commend them because we see decisive action, real change take place.

 

This man should have been making friends for himself which is ultimately making friends for his master!  He should have been creative and not allowed debts to go so long unpaid.  He should have used his master's goods with far more sobriety.  By doing what he did, he not only created friends for himself, he created friends for his master.  His master's reputation was helped by this man's actions. 

 

Do you see what Jesus is saying?  He's saying that God our Father wants us to use what He's entrusted to us to make friends for ourselves, in His name, so that we're making friends for Him. 

 

Have you been doing this?  Have you been managing what he's entrusted to you in this way?  Have you been making friends with your things for the sake of His reputation and name so that you are making friends for Him? 

 

I think if we're honest, we'll have to admit that we haven't.  Or, perhaps, we haven't to the degree that He desires.  Maybe we still see ourselves as franchisees and so we give a little bit, a little of ourselves, a little of our resources, a little of our things, a little of our money.  However, we are still maintaining control and view ourselves as the true owners.  Instead of using His stuff for His desires, we're using it for our own selfish desires.  This is why it's so hard to let anything go.  This is why it's like pulling teeth when you give anything.  You feel like you're giving up your property rather than being free because you don't own it anyway. 

 

Perhaps you're doing well in using your money to make friends, but how are you doing with your time?  My wife shared with me yesterday that we've always been more than willing to give things away, to open our home to let people live with us, and that our problem isn't that we don't like to use our things, but that we don't like to give up our time.  Rather that giving up stuff, we still see our schedule as our own and when we have to die to our schedule and see that God owns it too, it's painful because we want to retain ownership.  This means that we're mastered by our comfort and control and to relinquish them is like relinquishing our lives. 

 

For others, you might not have problems giving up your time or talents to help others, but giving up your money or possessions is like dying to you.  This may mean that you're mastered by your money as your security and to let it go is like letting your security go. 

 

If you're like me and most others, you have to confess that this parable is for you. 

 

Good News to Bad Mangers

 

This is an accurate description for us.  Jesus is speaking this to His disciples, therefore He's speaking this to us.  We need to take in these words. Instead of justifying, instead of running through a list of all the good you've done to counter the conviction you might be feeling, you need to simply stop. 

 

There are some of you who avoid conviction like it's the plague.  I think the reason you do this is not because you're malicious necessarily, but because you don't know what to do with it.  You think your only option is to accept the conviction of these words and feel terrible all week long or to justify yourself so that you feel better and can pacify your conscience by reminding yourself that you're pretty good. 

 

Jesus wants neither of these responses.  What He's looking for is the only right response to His sobering words.  There is another option for you and me, a third option. 

 

You see, behind the dishonest manager is an honest manager.  Behind the poor steward is a good steward.  Standing behind the unfaithful manager is the faithful manager. 

 

When God discovered that we'd been unfaithful with His stuff, He didn't immediately throw us out of our job.  He didn't immediately throw us out of His home.  Instead, He did for us what we couldn't do for ourselves. 

 

He took decisive action at a time of our greatest crisis.  He did this by sending His Son.  And Jesus came and He used all that the Father had given Him to make friends for Himself and friends for His Father. 

 

This meant that reducing our debts was not enough.  Jesus had to do something that would cancel our debts completely.  In just a few chapters from this story we see how He did this.  Jesus, the one who is telling this parable, went to the cross.  And on that cross He willingly gave up is life, the life entrusted to Him, and spent Himself and spent His Father's joy to take our sins upon Himself to cancel the debt we owed.

 

In fact, right before Jesus died he cried out "tetelestai" which we translate, "it is finished."  This word is a powerful word.  It is a powerful and incredibly significant word that means something has come to an end, something has been completed and perfected.  As a matter of fact, in the market place the word was written across someone's debt when it was paid.  In other words, it was a declaration that it is "paid in full."

 

Here you have Jesus telling a story of a dishonest and unfaithful manager who called His master's debtors to bring their invoice and to change them to a lesser amount.  An amazing and generous act, however, they still owed a debt.  They were happy to pay it because it was a lower debt, but they still owed. 

 

Yet when Christ came, He didn't simply come as an example to show us how to lower our debt to God.  He came in our place and on that bloody cross, He substituted Himself for you and me so that He could cry out over all our debts "Paid in full!" 

 

He saw we had need and took drastic action.  He now calls us to see our need and to now take drastic action in response.  What is the action?  To put our faith in His Son.  To acknowledge that we haven't used our stuff the way He's intended and to stop looking to our things to be our god but instead to the perfect manager, His Son.

When we trust Him, in that moment, we are treated as sons and daughters and not debtors.

 

I want you to linger on what this cost His Son.  To cry out, "My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?" must have been words Jesus spoke from the depths of an agony we can only read about.  But it isn't only His Son who suffered.  Can you imagine what the Father endured when He turned His face away from His only beloved Son and poured out His justice and judgment of our sin upon Jesus? 

 

God loved us so much that He gave His only Son; Jesus loved His Father so much that He, like Isaac walking up the mountain with wood in his hand, was willing to follow His Father all the way to the end; He trusted Him; He wanted Him glorified; and He loved us so much that He was willing to look each of us in the eye and say, "I know you can't do it, I'll do it for you.  My life for yours." 

 

As you grasp this and realize His sacrifice and love to bring you to Himself, the question we should all ask is, "How can I say thank you to Him for what He's done for me?"  This is a great question isn't it?  It is framed just the right way.  How can I say thank you for what you've done for me?  To the degree you know and believe what He's done for you, to that same degree you'll want to respond.

 

From this story Jesus is teaching us that the way we can say thank you is by being a faithful manager.  Look at His words:

 

Verse 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." 

 

He's simply saying that we're to use our earthly, wordly money and things to make friends for ourselves and for Him. 

 

Having had your debt paid in full, having your status as manager reinstated, you're to use His stuff so that you make friends that will last forever.  Our hearse doesn't have a U-Haul on it and so He's calling us to bring with us what will last, our friendships in Him.

 

Remember, this is an urgent call.  This is something that you should respond to even now and not wait.  This was the man's disposition, he quickly responded.  I realize how little urgency I have in my own life.  How much I take for granted that tomorrow will come for me.  I think it is one of the most vexing problems, the problem of assuming we have all the time in the world. 

 

But Jesus wants us to respond with a sense of urgency and gratitude, to have that strange combination of calm urgency.  To both rest in our security with Him, yet see that our security empowers us and wakes us up to respond immediately.    

 

You see, these parables teach us about His kingdom and how we're to now live as citizens of His kingdom with the values He holds dear.  This is why Jesus labors to teach us over and over again what the Kingdom looks like and how this applies to every area of our lives. 

 

His values will often directly contradict the values of the world, like the assumption that we have more time, or the assumption that our things are ours, etc.

 

One of the ways I'm beginning to learn more and more about His values is by seeing what we view as progress is nothing more than a god we worship to steal from us the values of Kingdom progress.

 

Peter Kreeft, a Christian Philosopher and professor of philosophy at Boston College, wrote a great book entitled Socrates Meets Jesus.  It is a great work in which Kreeft transports Socrates to modern times.  Socrates doesn't know where he is or why he's there but he attempts to find out about our culture and world as we see it today, and ultimately he comes to meet Jesus in the end of the book.

 

There is a chapter called "Progressing away from Progress" that I've always found incredibly interesting when discussing our stuff and progress.  In it, Socrates is on the street and has met a girl at the university named Bertha who is willing to engage him in dialogue about cars and what he sees:

 

Bertha:  Watch your step, Socrates!  Taxis don't stop for philosophers here. 

Socrates:...That-thing was a "taxi?"

Bertha:  People don't walk long distances anymore.  They ride in cars.  Yes, all those things are cars.  Would you like to ride in one? 

Socrates:  I think I'd prefer to walk.

Bertha:  Are you afraid?

Socrates:  No, I enjoy walking.  Don't people enjoy walking any more?  Those car things seem to be a way to avoid walking, aren't they?

Bertha:  I guess you could look at it that way.

Socrates:  I don't understand why you would prefer to sit inside one of those mechanical animals rather than using your own two good legs out in the open air.

Bertha:  Why, then you get where you're going much faster, of course.

Socrates:  Of course, but why would you want to shorten one of life's great little pleasure, walking?

Bertha:  I never thought of that.

Socrates:  I begin to see why I was sent here.  I don't claim to understand your world, but it seems to me that the noise and hubbub and danger of those things would make travel decidedly unpleasant.  Do the people inside them who guide them enjoy being in them?

Bertha: Not usually.  Not now, at rush hour, anyway.

Socrates:  That's what I thought.  I noticed most of the drivers look rather glum or impatient.  I suppose they are impatient to end their unpleasant journey in this vehicle?

Bertha: Yes.

Socrates:  In that case, why do they choose to travel in cars in the first place?  Why not walk if walking is more pleasant?  They seem to be locking themselves into unpleasant little cages and going as fast as possible so that they can get out of their cages as fast as they can.  Why get in in the first place?

Bertha:  They have to get where they're going in a hurry.  To work, for instance.

Socrates:  But why would they want to rush to work?  Why not take a pleasant, leisurely walk to work instead?

Bertha:  They don't have time to walk to work.

Socrates:  Why not?

Bertha:  Most of them live far from their work.

Socrates: Why?

Bertha:  There isn't enough room to have houses where the offices are, I guess...I don't know.

Socrates: Those buildings are offices? 

Bertha: Some, yes.

Socrates:  And do people enjoy working in them?

Bertha:  Not usually.  But there are al sorts of jobs, of course...

Socrates.  Do most people enjoy their jobs here?

Bertha: Some do, some don't, I guess.  I don't know how you could know that for sure. 

Socrates:  Perhaps asking a question would help:  If they were given free room and board by the State for the rest of their lives and didn't have to do any work for it, would they then do the work they do now if they didn't get paid anything extra for it?

Bertha:  Most people wouldn't.

Socrates:  Then they do not work for the work but for the pay.

Bertha: Yes.

Socrates:  Are they slaves then?

Bertha:  Oh, no.  We have no slaves, Socrates.  That's one of the best pieces of progress we ever made since your day.  We don't need slaves anymore.  We have machines to do our work for us.

Socrates:  Then why not send the machines to work in those cars and offices instead of people who don't enjoy it?

Bertha:  In a way, we do.  But we have to monitor the machines.

Socrates:  Then you are slaves to your slaves?

Bertha:  Certainly not.  We are all free.

Socrates:  Then why is work such drudgery for free men?

Bertha:  Women too, Socrates.  We're not male chauvinists any more.  That's another piece of progress-equality among the sexes.

Socrates:  You mean women work too?

Bertha:  Usually.

Socrates:  So your women are just as enslaved as your men?

Bertha:  Enslaved?

Socrates:  Enslaved to need to work at unpleasant jobs just for the sake of money.

Bertha: I mean, try looking at from our point of view.

Socrates:  I'm trying, but I am not succeeding.  I don't understand why the faces of most of the people I see are so unhappy, if you have made such progress.  Why is everyone hurrying nervously about like slaves worried about displeasing their masters?

Bertha:  It's not as bad as that, Socrates.

Bertha:  I guess most don't care.  They're bored with philosophy. 

Socrates:  Now there is a word I do not understand.  What is it to be "bored?"

Bertha:  I don't get it.  You speak perfect English.  Why don't you understand that word?

Socrates: English...yes.  Somehow, I find myself speaking your barbaric language without ever having learned it.  Yet I have not forgotten my own.  And here is a word that has no equivalent in my language.  Perhaps people started getting what you called "bored" only in your time.  Might it be connected with the worship of your new god?

Bertha:  God?

Socrates:  Progress.

Bertha:  Progress is not a god, Socrates.

Socrates:  If you know that, then why do you treat it as a god?

Bertha:  Do you think we do that?  Most of us believe in only one God, just as you did.

Bertha:  Progress is not a god.  It serves us, we don't serve it.

Socrates:  Is that so?  Then has it made you happier?

Bertha:  I...I guess I don't know.

Socrates:  Do you think you should?

Bertha:  I guess so.

Socrates:  Let's see whether we can improve your knowledge from a guess to a certainty by finding a proof.  If a master is served by a slaved, does the master expect to be made happier in some way by this service?

Bertha:  Of course.  Otherwise he wouldn't have a slave.

Socrates:  And progress, you say, is your slave rather than your master?

Bertha:  Yes.

Socrates:  Then you must expect it to make you happier?

Bertha:  That follows.

Socrates:  The next thing to ask, then, is whether it has done that for you.  Are people in your day happier than they were before Progress came?

Bertha:  I don't know.

Socrates:  If you don't know whether it has made you happier or not, then why do you choose it?

Bertha:  I guess it does make us happier today.  But I don't know how you can tell that.  How can you compare two different cultures?

Socrates:  By looking for clues.  There seem to be many.  For instance, is there less discontent express in your literature?  Less political unrest and revolution, less restless change in the world?  Few and smaller wars, fewer people changing their lives, their jobs, their homes, their wives or husbands out of discontent?  Less mental disorder?  Fewer crimes?  Fewer rapes, child abuse, infanticide, abortion?  Less fear of death for the individual and for the society?  Less uncertainty about whether life is worth living?

Bertha [sighing]:  No, Socrates, there's more.

Socrates:  More of what?

Bertha:  More of all those things.

Socrates [incredulous]: More of all those things?

Bertha: Yes.

Socrates: Every one?

Bertha: Yes.

Socrates:  One thing, then, at least, seems abundantly clear: people in your society are much less happy than people in mine.

Bertha:  I guess I have to admit that.

Socrates:  And you nevertheless still believe in Progress?

Bertha:  Of course I do.

Socrates:  What strong faith you have in your god!

Bertha:  It's not faith, Socrates.

Socrates:  Well, it's certainly not reason and evidence.

 

What is Socrates getting at in this dialogue?  The things we think we master, master us.  The happiness that we think more stuff and progress will bring us, the unhappier we are.  And what great faith it certainly takes to keep trusting in these things even though they continually fail us. 

 

You see, we don't need to conjure up faith in Christ.  We already have an abundance of faith.  Faith is trust, and so we don't need to create it, we have it.  What Jesus is calling you and me to this morning is to simply trust Him more than we trust our stuff, to love Him more than we love our things, and to move our faith off of our stuff and progress and onto Him.  If we do that, if we trust Him, space will be created between us and our money, us and our things, and we'll be able to hold them loosely and use them as the mangers God has always intended.

0 Comments | Login to Post Comments

• Calendar
• Agenda