Luke 16:1-14
The LORD is rich in His grace and mercy
O LORD, keep
your church in your perpetual mercy; and because without you we cannot but fail;
preserve us from all things hurtful and lead us to all things profitable for
our salvation;
The parables of Jesus always tell us something about
Himself. And about the Kingdom. When you hear one of Jesus’ parables, He is
always telling you something you should know about His love, His grace, His
mercy, His kindness, His character. And, when Jesus teaches a parable there is
always a surprise. Something you did not expect!
Notice the problem. “Charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his
possessions. 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.’
The manager is brought up on charges that he has wasted his Master’s
possessions. He’s forced to turn over
the books and face an audit. He’s told, “You
can no longer be my manger.” Did you notice the surprise? The manager is accused. Not good. He’s told,
“You can no longer be my manager.”
Even worse! However, he isn’t fired. He keeps his job!
Here is the first surprise! Mercy is unjust. The manager is busted for his wastefulness. He is
told, “You can no longer be my manager.”
The Master expects obedience. He is just. But he does
not throw his manager into prison. This does not make sense in man’s economy.
It makes perfect sense in God’s.
It has become common practice in business, that on
your last day of employment, security will personally escort you out of the
building. Even if you’ve been a faithful employee! When my chaplaincy class at
Lutheran Hospital ended, I turned in my badge. My user name and password were
immediately erased from the hospital computer. It was, as if, I never
existed!
Immediately the manager hatches a plan. 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. I have decided what to do, so that
when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their
houses.’ So, summoning his master's
debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said
to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
Then he said
to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures[b] of
wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
The manager latches on to the owner’s character. He
gambles everything because of his Master’s mercy. And the farmers go along with
it. Remember the manager acts on behalf of his owner. When he cuts the bill in
half the people rejoice. Because, they
too, expect the Master to be merciful.
We expect the rich man to be outraged. Instead, he
commends the man for stealing. These parables of Jesus tell us that God is not
like us – the surprise - God does not act as we do. The Father wants to give
His Kingdom away to the very people who would steal from Him and killed His own
Son. He bestows His Kingdom on rebels
who sought to kill His Son. What is the
greatest injustice? God forgives
our debts and wants to give the Kingdom away. This makes no sense! The LORD is wasteful in showering this
upon us. He is unjust in forsaking
His Son and declaring us righteous. – It
makes no sense in the economy of men. It makes perfect sense in God’s economy.
What wealth can you use to bribe God –stolen wealth, that which belongs to
another, that is not yours, that which you cannot buy or earn, wealth that
which is stolen. That is all a part of God’s economy.
The innocent dies for guilty – that injustice is the foundation of the Kingdom. It is the
shocking character of grace – the Master gives the Kingdom away. The Father
forsakes the Son to have you. He accepts payment from the Son as payment for
your sin. More than you stole. He adds
to your account. He adds a credit. And you end up with more than you attempted
to steal.
Jesus shows us the character of the Master –who does
not fire the steward and the steward banks on the character and the generosity
of the Master. There are not Masters in this world like that. He goes too far.
A Master we can never imagine. He is pleased with the steward because of what
the steward has done is give the Master’s things away. For free. This is the
parable of the Merciful Master who gives away the Kingdom for free!
Jesus concludes with these words, “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.”
Who can receive you into eternal dwellings? Only God.
Thus, Jesus concludes with this thought - You cannot serve God and money. The
steward teaches us a valuable lesson.
Money must never to be seen an end in itself. It is only a means to an
end.
Employment does not last forever. Retirement does not
last forever. No matter the level of
security anyone has amassed; all of us, sooner, or later, will end up in a plot
of earth. Given eternity, how can any thing of a material nature have any
lasting consequence?
So where do you place your trust? Trust not in princes they are but mortal. Trust not in yourself. You will fail. Trust not in anything except the mercy of God. Who loves you more than you could ever imagine. Who is content to give you His Kingdom at the price of His own Son. Deserving has nothing to do with it. It all depends on the Father’s character, His good will, His clemency, His mercy, His grace.
Passive Sentences – 8%
Readability –77.7%
Reading Level- 4.9
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