Dan Herold | Luke 16:1-13 | September 18, 2016
(Sermon begins at 20:03)
In our gospel reading this morning we heard one of the more difficult to understand parables which Jesus taught. Parables were a common teaching tool which Jesus used to teach important lessons about life as a Christian. A parable is defined as an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. All of the parable are stories about everyday life; the shrewd manager, the sower and the seed, the parable of the weeds, and all the others. But, Jesus used those stories about everyday life in order to teach us something about our spiritual lives as well. There’s another important thing to remember about the parables too. All of the parables that Jesus told, were told for a specific purpose…to teach one specific lesson. Sometimes it’s possible to stretch the stories that Jesus told to include all sorts of things, but when we study the parables we want to look for the one specific lesson that Jesus was teaching.
So, in the parable of the shrewd manager, what’s the lesson that Jesus is teaching? Throughout the history of the Christian church the interpretation of this parable has caused quite a bit of discussion. Is Jesus encouraging us to be dishonest in our jobs like this manager was? In some ways it might seem like it at first. Is Jesus telling us to find our own way out when we get into trouble? Some people have thought so. There’s all kinds of different directions you can go when you try to figure out what Jesus was teaching in the parable of the shrewd manager. Since that’s the case, it is necessary for us to take a very close look at just what Jesus did say and then to compare it with what God says in the rest of the Bible. That’s the surefire way for us to learn exactly what Jesus wants us to learn from this parable.
As the parable goes, Jesus told his disciples this story. He said that
“There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.”
So, there was a rich man who owned a lot of land and he had hired people to take care of his property. The owner of the property heard a report that one of his employees wasn’t doing a very good job and was wasting his property, whatever it may have been.
So, then the owner calls his employee to come meet with him and tells him he has to answer for these reports that he hadn’t been doing his job faithfully. The owner also must know that these reports are true, or at least have some credibility, because he says that this manger isn’t going to be one of his managers any longer.
Next, Jesus tells us what is going through the head of this manager. He starts to wonder what he’s going to do now that is going to be fired from this job. He doesn’t protest the charges. The manager never says he’s been falsely accused or tries to prove that he was innocent. So, it’s not even up for debate whether or not the manager is guilty—he is guilty. It isn’t the issue that Jesus addresses so we can tell that this isn’t what the lesson is about. Jesus isn’t talking about what to do if you’re wrongly accused…he’s teaching about something else. We have to keep looking for the lesson.
The shrewd, or dishonest, manager had to start thinking about what he was going to do now that he was about to lose his job. He says that he isn’t strong enough to dig, or do manual labor, and he’s too proud to beg. So, what will he do? Then he comes up with an idea. He realizes that he’s going to have to make some friends really quick so that he’ll have someone to turn to for help when he gets fired. So the manager comes up with a plan to make some friends.
“He called in some of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “ ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’ “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “ ‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’”
Now, if you did that, what would you expect to happen next? If you knew you were about to be fired from your job for being wasteful or dishonest and then right before your boss comes in to fire you, you lowered the bills for people who owe your boss money, what would you expect to happen next? Would you expect your boss to be happy with you? Would you expect him to commend you for what you had done? Would you expect Jesus to speak positively about you when he told your story to his disciples? Of course not! If we acted that way we would have every reason to expect to be punished. But, that’s not how it plays out. Remember, this is a parable—a story that Jesus is telling to teach a lesson. It doesn’t have to go exactly how we would expect it to in real life.
Well, this is what happened after that shrewd manager reduced the debts that some people owed to his master.
“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.”
His master complimented him! Now, he didn’t compliment him because he had been dishonest or because he had essentially lost more money for the master. Jesus says that the manager was commended because he acted shrewdly. That’s a clue for us to help us see what the lesson which Jesus is trying to teach truly is.
What does it mean to be shrewd? The dictionary definition which best fits this context is this: shrewd is defined as “having or showing sharp powers of judgment.” Being shrewd means being able to make decisions quickly. It means not dragging your feet and trying to sit on the fence, but quickly and effectively making up your mind and choosing a side. That’s the characteristic for which the owner is commending this manager.
Now, let’s apply it to our lives. Why did Jesus tell us this parable? Why did he tell it to his disciples and have Luke write it down? What sort of shrewdness and decisions is Jesus talking about? In the next couple of verses Jesus explains what he is talking about a little more. Jesus said,
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“I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves… That gives us some more insight into the lesson, but there are still a whole lot of different ways to take that statement.
So, keep reading. The lesson Jesus wants to teach isn’t crystal clear yet, so let’s keep reading to see what he has to say.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
Now, it’s starting to come together. Jesus is talking about what we call stewardship. When we hear that word sometimes our minds jump right to money, which is a big part of stewardship, but that term really includes a lot more than just money. Jesus is talking about how we use the things we have…he’s talking about material things, like money, but he is also talking about our intangible possessions too—our minds, or reasoning abilities, and things like that. This principle of stewardship, which Jesus is talking about, touches just about every aspect of our lives. And Jesus says that the way that we take care of the things we have been given in this life is an indication of what we can be trusted with.
Have you ever known a couple that didn’t know if they’d be good parents so they got a pet dog to test it out and see if they could handle it? Or if you’re a parent and your child wants to get a pet, wouldn’t you first teach them that they need to be responsible with small things like cleaning their room and taking care of their chores and other smaller responsibilities before they get to take on a bigger responsibility like a pet? That’s what Jesus is talking about—he says whoever proves himself to be faithful with a small thing can be trusted with bigger things, but if you show yourself to be unfaithful with a little you’re never going to be trusted with big things.
There’s one final part to this lesson though—one more component to put the whole thing together. The last piece is to find where Jesus words, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves,” fits into this principle of stewardship. In the parable the manager was praised for his shrewdness in taking action to make some friends for when his current job was taken away. What does that look like for us? How do we use worldly wealth to make friends for ourselves?
First of all, Jesus isn’t telling us to try to buy friendship or to base our friendships on materialism. What he is telling us is this: Jesus is teaching us that we are to be faithful with even the smallest things we have been given and to use all that we have to build relationships that will last even when this world is no more. Jesus is telling us to use our time, talents, and treasures not to serve ourselves, but to spread the gospel and make friends that will be there for eternity.
Essentially what this lesson boils down to is this: Jesus is saying that we either need to fish or cut bait, as the saying goes. You can’t play both sides. You can’t try to balance on the fence forever. We cannot serve two masters…we cannot serve our own sinful desires and do God’s will at the same time. It is either one or the other and Jesus tells us which one we should pursue—we should be making friends who will be with us in our eternal dwelling place when this world is all gone.
That is the lesson Jesus is teaching in this parable.
“No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.”
Our sinful nature tells us to try and play both sides, but Jesus says that doesn’t work. We can only serve one master—either sin or God. Jesus makes the case that serving God turns out much better in the end. The way that we interact with the material world is a reflection of our spiritual state.
As Christians, then, let’s strive to make our lives in this world reflect our relationship with God—our first friend for eternity. God has given us everything that we have so that we can demonstrate our faith in how we use what we have and in doing so we gain friends that will be with us in heaven. There’s no capacity limit in heaven. God wants all men to be saved and he’s given us the privilege of being the messengers that get to tell others about their Savior.
If we only serve ourselves, or serve money like Jesus said, then the day will come for us like it came for that dishonest manager. The day will come when this all will be taken away and then what will we be left with? Don’t wait until that day comes like the manager in the parable did. Today and everyday listen to the lesson your Savior teaches you. Trust in him to do what he says he will do. He is your one and only Savior from sin, the best master you could ever hope for, and also—he is your true friend who one day will welcome you into your eternal dwelling place.
In His name,
AMEN.