I'm happy to be able to post the sermon this weekend. Thank you for reading the blog. I hope that all of you have had a very good week.
I've been working hard on writing this week. I was able to do quite a bit of work on my poetry this week, and that is my favorite part of writing. I was going through some of the poems I wrote several years ago, and I found some religious poems that I wrote. I'd completely forgotten about them. I will be posting some of these poems on the blog in the near future.
As you go to prayer this week, please pray for those that are still suffering as a result of the natural disasters that have hit many parts of the world. The people in Haiti are still trying to recover from the hurricane damage, and there are people in California that are still recovering from flooding.
Please continue to pray for peace in this troubled world. Pray for peace in Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan, Israel and Ukraine.
For our prayer focus countries this week, I would like us all to pray for two countries in Europe that have very low rates of church attendance and many people who consider themselves to be atheists. Let us pray that many people in Estonia and the Czech Republic will respond to the message of Jesus.
For the last few weeks, we have been studying the parables of Jesus. Last week, we examined Jesus' parable about the guests at a banquet. It is an important parable teaching us about the importance of humility.
Today, I want to focus on a parable that I believe is the most difficult parable to understand. I've never spoken or written much about this particular parable because of its difficulty for me. In Luke chapter 16 we find what is known as the parable of the shrewd manager. Sometimes, this parable is called the parable of the unrighteous steward or the parable of the dishonest manager.
I've studied the meaning of this parable for years reading sermons and commentaries on this particular teaching of Jesus. There are many different interpretations as to what the meaning of this parable is.
What I want to do today is I want to first go over a couple of the most prominent interpretations of this parable. Then, I want to provide my view on what this parable is teaching.
First of all, what is the parable. Jesus said that there was a rich man who had a manager taking care of his business for him. The rich man discovered that the manager was dishonest in his dealings, and the manager realized that he was soon to be fired. The manager realized that he was not physically able to do manual labor, and he felt that he was too proud to be a beggar. So, the manager decided to act in such a way that others would be charitable to him once he was fired.
The manager found some of the people that owed money to the rich man. One man owed many barrels of oil and another man owed many bushels of wheat. The manager took a large percentage off their bill. When the rich man found out what the manager had done, he commended the manager for his shrewd action.
After telling this story Jesus said in Luke 16:8-9, "That's how it is! The people of this world look out for themselves better than people who belong to the light. My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into your eternal home." Jesus then went on to discuss the importance of being able to be trusted in the manner of using money. In verse 13 Jesus said, "You cannot be a slave to two masters. You will like one more than the other, or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve God and money."
So, what is Jesus saying here. The first major interpretation of this parable is that the steward was not really dishonest. The rich man had been charging his customers usury which was against Jewish law. By reducing the bill, the steward was just charging the actual amount. Since the rich man couldn't complain, he praised the manager for his actions. In this interpretation, Jesus is instructing His followers to not be naive in their dealings in this world. They should use money to make friends so that others will help them out when they need it. If we can't use money wisely, God will not give us spiritual responsibility.
There is another interpretation that I have come across that goes like this. What the manager was praised for was his quick action. Jesus wanted His disciples to be good decision makers and be wise enough in the ways of the world to make good decisions with their money.
Now, I am going to give you my interpretation of this parable. Some people probably won't like it, but I've thought about this teaching of Jesus for many years, and this is what I think He is saying.
I believe that when many people interpret this parable they neglect to read the verses that follow it that actually provide the interpretation. Verses 14-15 state, "The Pharisees really loved money. So when they heard what Jesus said, they made fun of Him, But Jesus told them, 'You are always making yourselves look good, but God sees what is in your heart. The things that most people think are important are worthless as far as God is concerned.'"
Most people in this world are like the rich man and the steward. They are concerned with the pursuit of wealth and material possessions. The majority of their lives are consumed with finding ways to make more money have more things. Many people will do whatever it takes to make more money or advance their careers. Many in the business world do not care who they hurt or what damage they do to this planet as long as they make more money.
Jesus says in this parable that that is not how His followers are to behave. In this parable, and in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is quite clear in saying that you can't serve God and money. The Pharisees clearly understood what Jesus was getting at, and that is why they ridiculed Him. To them, wealth was of overriding importance. As Jesus would say, while wealth and world possessions were so important to them, they were worthless as far as God is concerned.
What is important to God is how one uses the money that one does have. The way that someone uses money is a reflection of whether or not that person is truly trying to follow the teachings of Jesus. In this parable, Jesus is teaching us that we are to use the money that we have to help others. and advance the principles of the kingdom of God. We aren't supposed to just keep making more and more so that we can have more and more. The Lord wants us to have enough to meet our needs, then He wants us to use our resources to help others and make this world a better place.
There are so many needs in this world. Homelessness is still a big problem here in the United States. Many people around the world don't have the food and medicine they need. Many people have not been reached with the Good News of the transforming love of Jesus Christ.
If we don't use the resources that God has given to us, we will not be entrusted with greater responsibility in the kingdom of God.
As believers in Jesus, money is not to be the center of our lives. In fact, truly following Jesus may cause us to have to forsake some careers and money making opportunities. A Christian who is in business needs to put Jesus and His values first regardless of the monetary cost. Think about the stocks you may own and the mutual funds you have. Many mutual funds hold stocks in corporations whose values are directly opposed to the values of Jesus. In truly following the Lord, a believer may have to bypass certain investments even though they may make a lot of money.
There are a lot of Christians in big corporations who are not paying their workers a decent wage. They are not following environmental standards, and they are not making the world a better place. These are not the values of Jesus. Many times, corporations value profits over people.
In this parable, Jesus is calling on His followers to value Him and His teachings more than money. Jesus is calling us to use money to make this world a better place and advance the kingdom. Having a lot of money and many possessions are not evidences of a life lived for Jesus. Jesus will make that even more clear in the parable He tells after this one, and that parable will be our focus next week.
If you are struggling with your loyalty to Jesus versus your loyalty to money and material things, I urge you to look to Jesus. Money, possessions, fame and power are temporal things that are passing away. Only what is done in keeping with the teachings of Jesus will last for all eternity.
If you are a Christian business person, I urge you to reflect upon the teachings of Jesus and then analyze your business practices and see if they are in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ.
If you aren't tithing, I urge you to at least give the tithe. If the Lord has enabled you to give more, I urge you to give to the Lord what He has placed on your heart.
Next week, we will continue with our study of the parables of Jesus. I will post the verse next Monday. I think that I will post a poem on Tuesday, and there will be a book review on Wednesday. Please invite others to read the blog. For some reason, when I have sermon series about Jesus, the readership goes down some. It is so important to learn about Jesus. May God bless you all. Amen.
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