Pastor Rene's Bible studies
The Gospel of Luke-- Chap 16:1-15
Are we accountable?
Luke
16:1 (NIV) Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager
was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 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.' 3 "The manager said to himself,
`What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough
to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I
lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' 5 "So he called
in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, `How much do you
owe my master?' 6 "`Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The
manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7 "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.' 8 "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.
9
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that
when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 "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. 11 So if
you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust
you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone
else's property, who will give you property of your own? 13 "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."
14
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes
of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable
in God's sight.
Reading Luke's Gospel, it is important to consider who
is surrounding Jesus, to whom he was talking to and the reasons and subjects
he is talking about. Sometimes he's talking to the crowds (specifying his
qualifications to be his disciples)
Sometimes he's talking to his disciples about the
kingdom or God, about false religion practiced by the Pharisees.
Sometimes he's talking to the Pharisees, usually
rebuking the hardness of their heart, their pride, hypocrisy, greed, etc…
Last week, we saw Jesus answereing the accusation
from the Pharisees.
Luke 16:1
Here, he's talking to his disciples giving them an
illustration that applies both to the Pharisees (Jews) and to us.
Both the Jews and us (the Church) have been entrusted
with a mission-- with responsibilities: We have to manage the Lord's
goods, his blessings to the world.
-
This stewart was accused of wasting his master's
goods, (the Jews ought to have been a Light of the world; a guide to
the blind, a witness to the true God.)
What would you think of a manager who was
given $, authority, specific instructions and responsibilities to make
a company prosper and he would use these resources to build his own account
(or company).
That's what the Jews did - they didn't use God's blessings
to fulfill God's will. They wasted God's blessings for themselves.
They made their own traditions, became proud of them,
and didn't care for the rest of the world.
V.
3 "The manager said to himself, `What shall I do now? My master is taking
away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to
beg--
To dig is to work; They only wanted the privileges.
They were not willing to commit to their duties.
Ashamed to beg; is a position of humility and dependance; They became
proud and unwilling to consider themselves as dependant on God's grace
- They separate themselves from the good-for-nothing sinners.
So their pride became rebellion against God's will and commission.
-
This is also what may happen to many Christians in the church.
-
Because of the accumulation of much material blessings, we may become
independent and self-satisfied, and we may separate ourselves from these
"sinners" unsaved, becoming attached to our own new social class:
-
We want the privilege and blessings that are many. What about the managing
of these blessings to fulfill God's commission?
What does steward (manager)* means?
*oikonomos - think of the word economy
oikos - house
nemo - to arrange
Manager of a house or an estate or an administrator.
1 Cor. 4:1 and Titus 1:7 - Christian Ministers
1 Pet. 4:10 - all Christians using their gifts for ministry to another
the steward (manager)* prepares his future.
4
I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome
me into their houses.'
The steward is letting go what he's about to lose (present
position) in view of the future.
-
The master is not commending his honesty but his Prudence.
He is reducing the debt of the debtors very much. He
obliged them to show him favor in the future.
8
"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.
The master commended the dishonest manager because he
acted shrewdly
(this seems hard to understand) Think
of someone who is good at doing something evil. You may say, He's a false
teacher, but he's a good speaker, a great communicator. He's very convincing.
-
Shrewd: having a keen understanding, a sharp
mind and a good judgment, especially in practical affairs. Ability to arrive
at wise decicions. Unusual power to see through, and being hard to fool.
People in this world have a keen sense of their best earthly
interests.
People of the Light don't seem to have this keen sense of
their best interest as for heaven, for the soul, for Christ's love, God's
will.
-
If people of the Light live only for present material advantages, they
will not think about the future. They will not invest and prepare for their
eternal future.
The Lord is teaching here that the present is not the real prize
for us.
-
"We cannot walk rightly as
disciples unless our eternal future govern our present."
What is it that spoils the testimony of disciples
now?
Disciples are governed by the circumstances of this life and by our
desires and feelings, lusts and insecurities, worries.
Living like this makes it impossible to glorify God.
How should we then live?
9
I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so
that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 "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.
I tell you; Jesus is now applying the illustration
to us.
The unjust steward was wise in this;
He looked out for the future.
When he was going to lose his position of stewardship, he used his
master's goods to make friends with them so that he might be received kindly
by these new friends.
Notice that the goods were his master's, not his own.
-
(What people--and ourself call ours, are the resources of our master).
We have nothing of our own to secure the future, except we use all that
belongs to God.
But here is the victory of faith, We look in faith to the future,
and act accordingly.
-
Then, instead of holding fast to what we have for ourselves, we learn
to use all we have freely because we are aware they belong to God.
Mammon of unrighteousness
Observe how the Lord calls what man covets:
Mammon: is like the money-god. It represents riches personnified,
and opposed to God
Unrighteousness: adikia, absence of right, truth, faithfulness.
Look at all the murder
movie (The Fugitive) all the jalousy and lying. Wealthy doctor killing
another doctor's wife.
James 2:6, Do not the rich oppress you, drag you
into court.
That you may be received in eternal dwellings.
That's what should be our concern.
Compare: present to eternal glory.
2Cor
4:16 (NIV) Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting
away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs
them all.
10
"Whoever can be trusted with very little
For those who look ahead to the Eternal Future…the little
things will take great importance
There are countless of ways to glorify God in the
daily lives of a mother, a father, children, office people, business man,
(Daniel as an administrator) worker, Joseph as a slave.
Most of moral failures happen in the little things
A man's true character is revealed in the small
things
11
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth,
who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy
with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
v.11and 12; needs to be read together, there are two
questions:
v.11 If not trustworthy, faithful, who will
trust you with the true?
V.12 if you have not been trustworthy, faithful with
someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
The true riches (are the one to come) in contrast
to the Mammon of unrighteousness
-
The true riches-- cannot be entrusted to those who
are not using well the unrighteous mammon. (test of integrity) Money
is a good test of the Lordship of Christ.
-
The present state of honor and riches are not the true
riches, but a test of integrity. The more you have the more you
account for.
-
Someone else's property and your own.
Our present property is not our own.
Christian life is managing another's property, Christ.
We are servants in trust for the Lord.
(Christian ought to regard time, money, abilities,
and properties as the goods of his masters.)
-
Our business is to serve our master, as a manager, an
administrator, to put the house in order.
Greed consists in making earthly
things which God has not given, your own.
"That's mine!"
The wisdom of the disciple is to count what he apparently
seems to possess as it belongs to the master.
The natural spirit of man holds on to what it considers
its own as if only NOW counts.
-
We should by faith, estimate what we have to belong
to Christ, and then act freely with it as the unjust steward was with his
master's goods.
Now it should be easy to be generous with another's
money. Count your riches as another's, and act with all possible liberality
in faith for the future.
Jesus himself apllies it to us saying: "Use wordly
wealth"
9 I
tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so
that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings
v. 13
You cannot serve both God and Money.
2 masters.
If I have not Christ as the master of my goods, I
will make myself my own master, and find myself in satan's service (because
the fallen heart is satan's slave.)
To Luke, double service is fatal.
Mammon is the universal idol. In the world,
in the church.
Mammon reigns in the hearts of men in every nations
who are professing the name of the crucified. (who denounced it)
14
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
15 He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes
of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable
in God's sight.
Jesus referred to the Pharisees when he taught this
illustration to the disciples.
Because they loved money. They were greedy. They
even laughed at Jesus' teaching.
They considered that wealth was a proof of God's
blessing them and they justified themselves for living the way they lived…
Let's serve the Lord with the goods he entrusted
to us in making wise use of every opportunity to bring others to Christ.
Our earthly investment will bring eternal BENEFIT.
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