Blessed Privilege, or Hopeless Slavery Sermon Text Luke 16:1-15 Sun. & Wed., September 19 & 22, 2010 Pentecost 17, Proper 20, C Old Testament Reading Amos 8:4-7 Epistle Reading 1 Timothy 2:1-15 Gospel Lesson Luke 16:1-15 Zion Lutheran Church, Beecher, IL Dear friends in Christ Jesus, We see it coming through once again today. Jesus was never bashful to preach about touchy subjects. Because of that, He didnt hesitate to talk about difficult issues such as divorce and adultery. He would openly talk about hypocrisy. Hed talk about the evils of covetousness and envy. And as we heard in todays appointed Gospel reading Jesus would even speak about money!!! The scheming Pharisees once wanted to test Jesus regarding His loyalty to Caesar. They asked: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus taught them saying: render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods. (Mt. 22:21, ESV) Another time, Jesus observed people putting money into the treasury. He noted that many of the rich put in a great deal while a poor widow threw in just two mites but it was all that she had. Jesus remarked: Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on. (Luke 21:3-4, ESV) And today in Luke 16 Jesus tells a parable that ranks among the most difficult to be found in Scripture and it deals with the subject of money. Jesus tells of a dishonest manager, a steward, if you will whos unfaithful in dispatching the trust placed in him by his master. Jesus doesnt say how, but somehow, the master learns of the dishonesty. He then calls the manager before him and tells him that hes fired. But, the master graciously gives him time to turn over the records. Using that time, the manager decides to use his masters money to make the debtors beholding to him and in that effort secure his own future. To do this, he tells his masters debtors that they need only pay a fraction of what they owed to his boss! In other words, he used his masters money as a tool to accomplish what was really important to him. Surprisingly, when the master heard of this, Jesus says that the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. (v. 8) You have to notice though, that Jesus doesnt praise this dishonesty. No! Jesus is only saying that what the manager did was shrewd. He used his masters money to his own advantage to make others indebted to himself. Jesus then gives the point of comparison between His parable and the real idea that He wishes to make with those who would hear Him His disciples of all times and ages. The shrewdness of the manager is likened to the shrewdness of the sons of this world. In other words, worldlyminded unbelievers know how to act decisively in a crisis. They know how to use money as a tool to accomplish their main goal to have a secure earthly future. And in that respect theyre often more shrewd than are the sons of light; that is, the Christians. And then, Jesus says the words that make the whole point of this parable: 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. (v. 9) The children of this world are shrewd when it comes to providing a secure earthly future. As we saw in the parable, they act quickly and decisively in order to make that happen. But what about Gods children, the sons of light, as Jesus calls them? Do they show the same concern that same drive for that future which they believe will be eternal? Do they make plans and act wisely and decisively so that all their efforts are directed toward this heavenly goal? Or Im just asking or can Gods children sometimes be found neglectful and having no energy or zeal to carry out the business of Gods kingdom? Its true, isnt it? At times we look foolish in our use of money to accomplish our goal, which as Christians, is to advance the Gospel. We look foolish compared to the way that the sons of this world use money to accomplish their goals. Think about this If we truly believe that God has our back in every, every thing and aspect of our lives why would we worry about the future? Why would we allow the work of the kingdom of God to be stymied or even stopped for lack of money when we personally have it within our means to change that? Our eternal future is secured through the rich and faithful promises of God fulfilled in Jesus. As His Baptized ones our goal, our desire imitates that of Christ, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4, ESV) All that we have is a gift. Our bodies our minds our ability to do things and to work even our money. God has loaned all this to us and He calls us to be good managers using His gifts to accomplish His goals. Think about it although what he did was wrong, the unjust manager used money as a tool he was its master and he engaged it to accomplish his goal. On the other hand, God gives His gifts to us and licenses us with the blessed privilege to use those gifts to serve Him and our fellow man. But all so often especially with the gift of money we quit thinking of money as a tool; and instead, we become consumed with the notion of having it possessing it hoarding it. And, with the onset of that pathetic mindset, the privilege to be a manger of Gods gifts using them to advance the Gospel in this world has changed and we find ourselves in hopeless slavery! Am I wrong on that? How many times have you heard a news report of someone who died in a rundown shack with no heat and all alone except for several thousand cockroaches who were the persons only companions at the end? And this person is later found to be a millionaire. They have a fortune squirreled away in bank accounts or in cookie jars that they could have put to use in order to not only take care of their earthly needs but to also help others as well. But their money had become their master. They were a slave to it and it used them up rather than they faithfully using it to give and sustain life. Toward the end of our reading Jesus warns us: 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. (v. 13) We must ever remember that God has made us managers of all that we have. And we cant be a good manager, if we forget the purpose of these gifts.
What is that purpose? Its to serve God and our fellow man. And the greatest service is to make it possible for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be proclaimed. When Jesus commands that you use your money in this way, He really isnt focused on the money. Rather, Hes focused on the new heart and new mind that Hes created for you in His Word. Youve been given the forgiveness of sins by His death and His resurrection. Youve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit in Baptism, just as He promised. And youve been made a new creation, as St. Paul says (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV), and this new creation now lives without fear. In His powerful Word, Christ removes from you all fears, including the very same fear experienced by the manager in todays Gospel, that is, the fear that youll be left without any means to live in this life. When Gods powerful Word awakens you, so that you realize and believe that your heavenly Father wont fail to provide for your every need even those here on earth when you apprehend the fact that all of your needs have already been met for you in Christ and when you believe by the miracle of God that the indwelling Holy Spirit shall not depart from you, then all fear melts away. Then youre no longer a slave. Then youre free to do that which Jesus calls you to do: make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth. That is, we manage the money that God has given to us in service to Him and His interests, trusting that He will provide for all of our needs in every tomorrow that we experience on earth. In our management we use Gods money as a tool in order to show people their sin in the face of Gods call to holy, righteous living. And then we show them Gods Answer the only Answer to that sin none other than Gods Son, Jesus Christ, Who was crucified, died, and was buried for their sins and rose again three days later. In Christ we show the world a real, joyous, and fulfilling life that can be lived not in service to oneself but in service to the God who created, redeemed, and called them in Baptism to be His own for time and eternity! To be sure, besides using His gifts to present the Gospel, we also take care of our earthly needs providing for our food, clothing, and shelter. And, no its no sin along the way to have a few toys a new sewing machine, a new jig saw or a nice new cell phone loaded with options. But its when we consider the gifts of God to be entirely our own and think that we have no responsibility to engage them to accomplish His good and gracious purposes then again, then we have become the slave and are no longer a manger of those gifts. This past week, our member, whos the principal at Lutheran High School, told a story to me. With his permission I relay it to you. A family called and wanted to enroll their children into the Lutheran High School all 6 of them. (Apparently some adoptions had occurred to have so many kids of high school age!) They applied to be enrolled and were accepted following interviews. Then the mother phoned the principal and said that theyd need some financial assistance to make it happen. He didnt ask How much do you need? Instead, he simply asked around for help. Two different people committed $1,500 each making available a total of $3,000. Reluctantly the principal called the mother back and asked: How much money in assistance do you need to comfortably enroll your children in school? (As you might imagine, he was skeptical that $3,000 would even come close to being enough!) The mother totally unaware of the amount that had been obtained simply replied: I looked at everything and we can enroll the kids if we could somehow get... $3,000 in assistance! Dear people of God, I end this sermon with this great story for it shows us all once again that God knows all our needs and perfectly provides for them. Our future both here on earth and there in heaven is secure. Let us all now in confidence hope and joy be found to be faithful managers of Gods gifts entrusted to our care using them to His glory for His purposes and the salvation of many! God grant it, for Jesus sake. [Amen.] ` ____________________________________________________________ Mortgage Rates Hit 3.25% If you owe under $729k you probably qualify for Obama's Refi Program http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/4c9bba3a93d474652e0st05vuc
