Lessons From The World

 LUKE 16:1-13

          This to me has always been a difficult parable to understand.  At first reading it appears that the unjust steward is being praised for coming up with a scheme to cheat his master and win favor for himself.  Certainly Jesus could not be saying that it is ok to cheat and deceive in order to get favor.  And what is meant in verse 9 when Jesus says “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”  This sounds like Jesus is saying use your possessions to make friends so that later they will fill obligated to help you when you fall on hard times.  This would be the same as giving only to those who can help you or giving only because you expect to get something in return.

LUKE 6:31-36

          Here Jesus clearly teaches against giving, loving or doing for others only with the hope of receiving something in return.  Yet in verse 9 of chapter 16 it appears that Jesus is saying use your possessions to get favor with man so that they will owe you later.

          Jesus is not saying here that we should behave like those in the world, but rather that there are some lessons that we can learn from them.  The title of today’s message is “Lessons From The World”.

          Before we start on the lessons we need a little background on these scriptures.

Luke 16:1

      In Jesus’ day managers were often hired by wealthy people to care for the finances of their estates. Such a manager would be comparable to a modern-day financial planner or trustee who controls the finances of an estate for the purpose of making more money for that estate. The money did not belong to the manager but was his to use for the estate. Apparently the manager was wasting those goods.  Squandering another’s possessions was considered a terrible crime. 

Verse 2

The rich landowner viewed his manager as irresponsible rather than dishonest. The manager was fired.  Although the manager has been dismissed, the master gives him some time to get the accounts together before he leaves. 

 Verse 3-4

          The manager uses this time to secure favor for himself with others to whose houses he may later join himself to.  In other words these people might at some time later hire him.  In that day people were very conscious about favors they owed.  The manager knew that he had no other skills and that he could not stoop to the undignified position of a beggar or a digger in someone else’s fields. Diggers were normally slaves and this was very hard labor and begging was for the poor.  So the manager comes up with a scheme that will ensure him favor with others when he is unemployed.

Verses 5-7

          These tenants owe the landowner fixed amounts of their crops.  However, they were not required to pay the sum until harvest.  100 measures or baths of oil was about 850 gallons or the yield of about 150 olive trees, with a cost of 1000 denarii’s (1000 days wages).   So to cut his bill from 850 gallons to 425 gallons was no small sum.  This would be the equivalent of giving him 500 days wages.  100 measures of wheat is about 1000 bushels or a yield of about 100 acres and was worth about 2500 denarii’s or 2500 days wages.  The manager cut his debt from 1000 bushels to 800 bushels, or from 2500 denarii’s to 2000 denarii’s.  Again this was the equivalent of giving him 500 days wages. 

          Keep in mind that these are not poor tenants.  They are well-to-do also.  What they paid for use of the owners land was only a small portion of their crop.  This manager wanted to get in their good graces in the hopes that they might hire him.

          Now you are probably thinking like me, “Who in their right mind would want to hire this wicked man.  If he cheated one owner would he not do the same to the next?”  Here again we must understand the culture of that day.  In hard times, masters would sometimes forgive part of the debt, writing it off as a loss, in return for being considered benevolent.  (Matt. 18: 23-35, parable of unmerciful servant) By reducing these debts the manager gained public favor for himself and the people believe the master to be a generous landowner.  Now look at the wisdom of the manager.  If the master punishes the manager now it would appear to the public that he was doing so because the manager was kind and generous.  Since it was not during hard times and he did not have the master permission, what the manager did was a crime.  However, he took the chance that the owner would deem it more valuable to protect his reputation and be thought of as generous more than to punish the manager.

          Furthermore if the tenants did treat him well after he was fired, he could threaten to tell the landowner what they did and get them all arrested. 

Verse 8

          Recognizing what the steward has done, why does the owner commend this deceiving scoundrel? 

LESSON 1 (Use all opportunities wisely)

          The steward is not being commended for cheating his master, but rather for making good use of his opportunities.   The people of the world seem to be much better at seeing opportunities and profiting from the than are the Children of God.

Matthew 10:16

          Recognizing the condition of the world in which we live Jesus told his disciples to be as wise in their thinking and planning as the wicked of this world and yet be as pure and harmless in their actions as those who reside in heaven.

          During our stay here on earth we are to take every opportunity that we have to win souls for Christ and use all that God has provided for us.  We are strictly managers of His resources and we must take every opportunity to us his resources wisely.  If Christians were as eager and as smart in our attempts to attain righteousness and win souls to Christ as the people of the world are in their attempt to attain money and comfort, we would be much further along in our own growth and in winning the world for Christ.  If mankind would give as much attention to the things which concern our souls as we do to the things which concern our business, we would all be much better off.  We will expend 20 times the amount of time, money and effort on our pleasures, our hobbies, and our jobs as we do on our spiritual lives.  Our Christianity and spiritual growth will begin to be real and more effective only when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our worldly activities.  The manager took advantage of the opportunities in front of him and developed a plan that would secure him his desired goal.  He is not commended for his wrong motive and deceitful actions, but for his wisdom in taking advantage of the opportunities afforded him.

 Lesson 2 comes from verse 9.

     Use your possessions and power to benefit others.  Though the manager had wrong motives in using his power and possession to get friends, Jesus want the disciples to understand that there was nothing wrong with using power and possession to show forth the goodness of God to the unrighteous.  Christ encouraged the disciples to use their possessions and power to open a doorway or avenue allowing them to engage someone in friendly conversation and thus to witness to them.  Jesus did this all the time.  He fed the people then he preached to them.  He healed and then he taught.  The masses followed him because of what he could do for them.  He allowed it because it gave him an opportunity to teach them the principles of the kingdom of God.  A man can use his wealth selfishly or he can use it to make life easier for his friends and fellow humans.  Possessions are not in themselves a sin, but they are a great responsibility.  In verse 9 Jesus was saying that one is to use wealth, not store it up or be a servant of it. Wealth should be a Christian’s servant, not vice versa. The disciples were to use wealth to gain friends the same reason the dishonest manager used the rich man’s wealth. The disciples’ wise use of wealth would help lead others to believe the message of the kingdom and bring them to accept that message.  Our wise use of all that God has blessed us with, be it money, possessions, talents or gifts will draw other to believe the gospel message and give them hope of a better life.

LUKE 12:16-21     

          The rich man here had an opportunity to do a great work for God by sharing the abundant blessings of God with others around him.  He had more than enough and yet rather than choose to share; he chose to hoard the blessings of God for himself.  Keep in mind that he is collecting food and grain enough for many years.  He calls them fruits.  What fruit do you know of that will stay in a barn for many years without decaying.  Matthew 6:19-21 tells us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”  As Christians we are to use all of God’s blessings in our lives to the glory of God and the benefit of others.

Lesson 3 comes from verses 10 and 12 (Be faithful in the little things)

          A man’s way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be trusted with a bigger task.  Many times we want God to give us the lime light task, but we are not willing to do the behind the scene task.  We want to be out front because we view the visible task as being more important. (In own time read I Cor. 12:14-26)  But truth be told it is often the small task that go undone that will bring failure to a program.  Programs that are successful are those where attention has been paid to small details.  You see the large issues rarely get overlooked because everyone will consider them.  But the small details will often be overlooked.

          One should prove his faithfulness in the small task before being promoted to the larger task.  Would you elect someone who failed at being governor of a state to be president of the United States?   If he could not handle the affairs of a state what make you thing he could handle the affairs and make wise decisions for a nation. 

          Jesus extends this principle to the eternity.  He says, “on earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours.  We are stewards over God’s blessings.  If we cannot be good stewards over the earthly, temporal possessions on loan to us from God, who will trust us with eternal possessions?  The implications in these verses is that what you get in Heaven will depend on how you use the things on loan to you on the 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.  If we use God’s wealth as He wills, then He will give us true riches which are our own.  I encourage you to be a faithful steward of God’s earthly blessings so that he might find you worthy of eternal blessings.

Lesson 4 comes from verse 13. (Cannot serve God and riches)

          Jesus wanted his disciples to know that though riches and possessions are important, it is impossible to be a servant or slave of both God and riches.  A slave cannot serve two masters.  The master possessed the slave and possessed him exclusively.  Today you can work a second job in your spare time.  But then the slave had no spare time.  All of his time belonged to his master and was at the master’s disposal.  Like the slave all of our time belongs to our master and should be at his disposal.  Sometimes we treat God like he is our part-time employer when in fact when we gave our lives to God he became complete own of all that we have and are.  Once a man chooses to serve God every moment of his time and every atom of his energy belongs to God.  With God we either belong to him totally or not at all.  God will not share ownership. 

          In telling this parable of the unjust steward to the disciples Jesus is teaching them that they must use their wealth, possessions and talents for kingdom purposes.  The moral of this parable make good use of every opportunity given to you to promote God.  Use what God has blessed you to be steward over to help others because doing so will bring glory to God and gain you favor with God and man.  Be faithful at every task God appoints to you whether big or small.  Your faithfulness will gain for you an eternal home with eternal blessings.  Remember that as a servant of God, we belong exclusively to him and that includes our possessions, our time and our lives.