Latest / HBCWestminster / 6.6.21 Luke 16:1-13 Pastor Danny Gardner

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6.6.21 Luke 16:1-13 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, good morning, church, and happy Communion Sunday. I pray that you enjoyed that and some time with the Lord and also time in worship. Thank you to Carla for leading us in worship so faithfully. She does such a great job. Our text this morning is Luke chapter 16, verses 1 to 13. Luke chapter 16, verses 1 to 13, and our simple title, Earthly Income, Eternal Investment. And when you're there, if you wouldn't mind standing in honor of the reading of God's Word, I'll read our text, verses 1 to 13, and then we'll pray and begin.
• 0:30
  It says in verse 1, he also said to the disciples, there was a rich man who had a manager and 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. And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I'm not strong enough to dig. I'm ashamed to beg. I've decided what to do so that when I'm removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.
• 0:58
  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 50. But then he said to another, and how much do I owe you? He said, a hundred measures of wheat. How much do you owe? I'm sorry. And he said, a hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, take your bill and write 80.
• 1:21
  The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 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. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
• 1:44
  If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God and money. Let's pray. Lord, give us eyes to see with an eternal perspective. Give us the strength to live today in light of that day.
• 2:13
  And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, church. You can be seated. You've probably noticed that we are knee deep in parables. In fact, Luke's gospel arranges the parables, the author thought most important, into one long section of 10. And it's not the only 10 he records, but in the last couple of chapters, and including Luke chapter 16.
• 2:33
  We have been right in the middle of wading through a big block of ten parables, and this morning's parable is number nine of that section, and is probably the one that I have least looked forward to preaching. The parable of the dishonest manager, I think, is the most difficult of all of Christ's parables, both to interpret and to apply. I was one time asked to guest preach at a nearby church.
• 2:57
  The pastor and I were friends. Over lunch, he told me his family would be out of town, and an upcoming Sunday asked if I wouldn't mind filling the pulpit for him. I told him I'd be honored. He said that his church had been studying Luke, and would I continue their study in Luke 16? I said, well, yeah, sure, of course. Not really able to remember in the moment put on the spot what Luke 16 verses 1 to 13 was really about.
• 3:20
  When I got home and I read it, I texted him, conveying my dismay. Like, what? What did you give me? All I got back was a smiley face and him reminding me, yeah, we're gone. Thanks for filling in. He and I are no longer friends. I'm just kidding. I guess the moral of the story would be, ask what they're studying before you agree to preach, right? Luke 16, you might get saddled with the parable of the dishonest manager, F.F. Bruce.
• 3:46
  has said this story presents problems what a simple way to say that jc ryle the passage we have in luke 16 is a difficult one there are knots in it which perhaps will never be untied until the lord comes again honestly though church this parable is not as difficult i think as it first appears
• 4:06
  Probably not as difficult as we make it. Remember, parables were not given to teach doctrine. They were not given to be a systematic theology. Rather, they were given to illustrate a spiritual truth that really probably should not be pushed or allegorized beyond that. And the parable before us shows how a man's life can change in a moment when he suddenly realizes that he will one day give an account.
• 4:31
  When accountability presents itself, the urgency with which a man lives can suddenly kick into high gear. And church, I would ask, have you ever had a moment like that? A moment which you felt like was urgent? A moment in time that you knew was significant? A moment that you knew would have a life-changing impact? A moment of clarity?
• 4:53
  When your mental acuity was sharpened, the fog of confusion was lifted, when you saw things the way they actually are, when you saw what is most important in your life, and if so, how did you respond? Or did you respond at all? Several months ago, and many of you know, my mom
• 5:14
  who lives in our home contracted COVID and we had worked very hard to keep it away from her. The rest of our family had had it, but it was relatively mild for us, but we knew it would be more severe for my mom, but we just couldn't keep it away. And many people are experiencing the same thing. And so she got it and was fine for the first week or so. But after about a week, you know, as has been the case with many people, she had to be hospitalized. Eventually she was put into the ICU at a nearby hospital. They took great care of her, but
• 5:41
  It was really, really, really close to her passing away. She was just a breath away from heaven for a couple of days. And praise God, she has recovered since then, has moved back home with us, and is doing well.
• 5:55
  But in that moment, in that couple of days when she was in the ICU and I was having these, you know, kind of come to Jesus moments, these come to Jesus talks with doctors and nurses and social workers. And they were just saying that there was really nothing else they could do. She was either going to pass or she was going to live. And there was really not any way to tell. And they suspected that actually she would pass away. They were even telling me that I was in the room with her at one point because not only am I her son, but I'm also her pastor. And so invoking that kind of pastoral privilege, I was able to be.
• 6:24
  in the room with her in that full hazmat suit and multiple masks and the whole thing. And she just conveyed to me, you know, her excitement to go to heaven, her zeal to be there, her desire to be there. Obviously she was grieving and there were some things about this earth, including her grandkids that she would miss, but her desire was to be in heaven. But then she said this, she said, Danny, although I'm not, I'm not.
• 6:49
  distraught over the thought of going to heaven and seeing my Lord. That's not what I'm distraught about. I'm distraught about the fact that I'm going to die in a hospital. This is not where I wanted to die. And we had this talk. I'm sitting there, you know, through all of the masks and shields and everything else. She just said, this isn't where I wanted to die. I didn't want to die in a hospital room in the ICU at the hospital. And I just began to ponder, could I get her out?
• 7:10
  Can I get her out? I even talked to her doctor. Can I just, if it's coming down to it and you think that she's going to go either way, I'd like to take her home. And he said, she'll never make it. She won't make it. She won't make it from here.
• 7:21
  to your house the 20-minute drive in the back of my truck he said she won't make it uh as soon as we unplug everything he said uh it's only a matter of moments maybe minutes and so it was a you know it's kind of a real situation like okay then what do i do i've got my mom here saying this is not where i wanted to go all of her grandkids were out in the parking lot of the hospital but they couldn't come in to see her because of covet and whatever and so she wanted to be with them she wanted to be with family and there was a moment in time church where i thought
• 7:47
  I think I could get her out of here. I do. If she looks at me and asks, Danny, get me out of this hospital room. I think I could do it. I think that I could pick her up. I think I could get through those doors before they could stop me. My brother-in-law is standing right outside. I thought I could call him and say, hey man, grab my truck, back it up to the front doors of the hospital because I'm busting Nana out, right? This is her kind of last wish. She wants to die out there with her kids surrounding her, even just in the parking lot.
• 8:15
  I'm about to go to jail. I actually had this thought. I'm about to go to jail. I'm going to get arrested for busting my mom out of a hospital." And praise God, it didn't come to that. Praise God, she has recovered. But in that moment, church, everything snaps into focus. Urgency changes our perspective, right? It makes us think differently. It makes us act differently.
• 8:37
  It makes us reprioritize our lives. It strengthens our resolve. I mean, I was thinking, I dare the security guard to stand in front of me as I'm holding my mom, walking out of the house. What are they going to do? It fills us, that urgency fills us with a sense of immediacy that doesn't exist at other times. And chapter 16 of Luke's gospel can be divided into three parts. The first, which will be our focus this morning.
• 9:02
  calls us to faithfulness and wisdom specifically here in the handling of money but we'll see that it has far-reaching impact knowing that we will one day stand before the lord and give an account
• 9:14
  There will be a day church when every one of us, anybody watching right now, and I will stand before the Lord and give an account for how we have acted, what we have said, and how we have spent our money. And that sense of urgency that should be created should cause us to reprioritize the way we do things on this earth. The second part of Luke chapter 16 is a rebuke of the pharisaical attitudes toward money and marriage. The third and final part.
• 9:39
  is the last of those 10 parables, the parables of the rich man and Lazarus, which is a reminder to God's people that we must be generous toward God and others. Now, there are nearly 40 parables, 4-0, 40 parables in the Gospels taught by Jesus. Of those 40, about a third deal in some way with money. Now, why? Well, the obvious answer is because money is important.
• 10:08
  Money preoccupies much of our lives because the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Jesus often used that as an indication of our own spiritual condition and scripture has a lot to say about money. We know how to acquire it, how to save it, how to use it. Now pastors and commentators have gone around the mulberry bush a hundred times on this particular parable because of its difficulties.
• 10:33
  They've provided a host of possible interpretations. There's a whole bunch, but I'm going to boil them down to what I believe are the two most likely interpretations of this problem passage, okay? The first, maybe, is that the manager was dishonest.
• 10:50
  even in reducing his master's bills, okay? So he cheated his master out of money, and then in order to make himself look good, he cheated his master again by reducing the bills, okay? But maybe he was thinking ahead, and therefore Jesus commends this crafty, forward-looking use of resources. Now, the problem I have with this interpretation is probably obvious.
• 11:16
  is that Jesus is building his argument on and commending dishonesty, all right? And that is actually what most pastors preach. That is how they preach this passage. I don't like it because I can't imagine our Lord commending dishonesty, all right? Even if it is forward thinking. Rather, and the interpretation that I prefer, is that perhaps the manager was not dishonest, but was rather shrewd. Now, early in his managerial duties, he acted poorly.
• 11:46
  which is why he was going to be fired. But when the time came and he reduced his master's bills, he was simply cutting down on his own hefty and perhaps fraudulent commission in hope of goodwill later. So he wasn't cheating his master additionally. Rather, he was docking himself. Now, if this interpretation is to be followed, then Jesus commends him for his creative use of foresight.
• 12:14
  Now, in this brief but profound parable, Christ commends a dishonest man, but not for his dishonesty, rather for his shrewd behavior in the face of oncoming trouble. Surely, Christ would say, surely, if a lying, conniving, cowardly manager is willing to take drastic measures to protect his earthly life, then the believer in God should be willing to take drastic measures to protect his spiritual life.
• 12:39
  In other words, there is an urgency with which the spiritual life must be lived, and each of us must live with that urgency, ready at any moment to meet our Lord face to face. You perhaps will recall in Luke chapter 12, another parable that Jesus gave of the rich fool, the man who said he had so much stuff that he would build bigger barns. And Jesus said in Luke chapter 12 and verse 20, you fool.
• 13:07
  This man is just amassing wealth. You fool, Jesus said, this night your soul is required of you. And Christ's encouragement to us through this parable would be to live as though eternity were constantly before us. To live in light of the glory of God.
• 13:23
  To work, to serve, to be married, to parent, to study, to preach, to invest in such a way that we can echo with a clear conscience the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4 when he said, I have fought the fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord will give to me on that day. And so our hope would be that we would live
• 13:49
  today in light of that day just as i prayed a moment ago that we would consider as we live as we are married as we have kids as we go to school as we go to work as we come to church as we invest our money that we would all do that in light that we in light of the fact that we will one day give an account and now i will say i will for the sake of simplicity and clarity divide our passage into two sections and if you're taking notes two simple points first
• 14:18
  is the parable to be answered the parable to be answered that's verses 1 to 8. but then second some principles to be applied that'll be verses 9 to 13. so the parable and some principles and so let's look at the parable verse 1 he also said to the disciples there was a rich man who had a manager imagine once upon a time there was a wealthy but absentee land owner
• 14:47
  Imagine that he owned an apartment complex here in Denver, but that he himself lived in Phoenix. Because he lived in a far-off place and so rarely visited his property in person, he hired a manager to care for his apartment complex.
• 15:03
  The manager ran the whole operation. He was responsible for the care and maintenance of the property, was also responsible for accounts payable and accounts receivable. Now that just means that he both paid the bills and collected all of the money due. But that manager was a corrupt man. Rather than simply collecting what was owed, he would overcharge the tenants and merchants who owed his master money, and then he would skim the profits. For instance,
• 15:32
  The newlywed tenants renting that one-bedroom, one-bath apartment for $1,200 a month, he actually would charge $1,500 per month, and he would keep the extra. To the young couple with two kids renting the two-bedroom apartment upstairs for $1,800, the manager would charge $2,100, and he would pocket the profit. This went on for some time. Neither the owner nor the tenants had any idea it was happening. Pick up in verse 1.
• 16:02
  And 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. And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me? One day, that corrupt apartment manager got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. The single mom renting one of the two bedroom apartments saw the actual contract sent from the owner.
• 16:31
  before it had been rewritten by the manager and the price falsely raised she noticed that she was only supposed to be playing 1800 instead of the 2100 she was being charged and so she ran upstairs and she called the owner directly and she reported what the manager had been doing now after a quick investigation
• 16:55
  it was determined that not only was the manager overcharging the tenants he was also squandering now that word wasting if you look there in verse 1 the end of verse 1 that this man was wasting his possessions that word for wasting is the same word for squandering it is the same greek word that we taught last week the parable of the lost son you remember the parable of the prodigal who squandered his inheritance
• 17:21
  he squandered it right he wasted it and that's what this man is being accused of he's taking the masters what was owed to the master and he is squandering it he was using for instance the company credit card to finance parties to finance vacations he was pocketing the money that was meant to be used for property improvements he hadn't it turns out been paying the property taxes that the master owed
• 17:49
  He was supposed to be paying the county and he wasn't doing that. He wasn't even paying the apartment's bills. And so the owner demanded an accounting of all the manager had done. Look again at verse two. What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager. Okay, so give me the books and show me how much money you've been charging people. Show me what has not yet been paid. He's basically calling for an audit.
• 18:17
  So he is auditing this man and his business. Now, church, don't forget that there will be a day when we all give an account. There is an audit coming, a spiritual one, right? There is an audit.
• 18:37
  company coming we will give an account every single one of us will stand before the lord in judgment now if we're in christ the penalty for that for those offenses has already been taken away and put on him but nevertheless we will stand and give an account ecclesiastes 12 says for our actions for everything we've ever done we will give an account whether good or evil matthew chapter 12.
• 19:00
  Jesus is speaking and he says, we will stand on judgment day and give an account for every careless word we've ever spoken. Man, can you imagine how many careless words have slipped out of your mouth? How many words that you can never have back? Jesus says, I tell you on that day, Matthew 12, people will give an account for every careless word they speak. And here we find that just like the steward, there will be a day when we give an account for our money as well.
• 19:28
  Every dollar spent. Now, Jesus wasn't joking when he said that blessing would come to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That should be our hunger. Righteous living, righteous action, righteous words, righteous spending. You pick up the end of verse three. The manager said to himself, what shall I do? My master is taking the management away from me. I'm not strong enough to dig. I'm ashamed to beg. I've decided what to do.
• 19:57
  So that when I'm 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. Now that was a lot. Okay. And the man said to him, take your bill, sit down quickly and write 50. Cuts it in half. Then he said to another, how much do you owe? He said, a hundred measures of wheat. Again, a lot. And he said to him, take your bill and write 80. Now facing a future on the streets.
• 20:26
  The fired manager began to contemplate his options. He didn't want to work retail, right? The thought of fast food kind of turned him off. He was embarrassed by his present plight. He was humbled at the thought of now begging work from the very merchants who he used to collect money from. And perhaps, now again, this is my interpretation. This is, I'm drawing some assumptions here, okay?
• 20:50
  but perhaps maybe in a Zacchaeus kind of moment, remember Zacchaeus went up in the tree, he'd stolen a bunch of money, Jesus calls him to come down, goes to his house, and Zacchaeus in a moment of repentance says, whatever I have stolen, I will pay back fourfold whatever I've taken in dishonesty. And perhaps in a Zacchaeus moment, he called the tenants he formerly cheated and now offered not only to begin charging them the proper amount, but even told them he would personally pay their next three months rent. I will, I will.
• 21:20
  pay it. Whatever you did owe, you don't owe. I'm going to make it up. Maybe a phone call to the contractors who'd been robbed and offered a massive discount at his own expense. I will pay the bills. I will be the one to make sure that you get what is owed to you. And verse 8, and herein lies the point. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.
• 21:47
  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. T.W. Manson has said this, this parable, in reference to the parable of the dishonest manager, has always presented difficulties for the interpreter. Like most such difficulties, they arise from trying to press the details of the story instead of seeking for the main point. Just look for the main point of the parable. What is the main point?
• 22:18
  and we find it in verse 8. The point of the parable is this. Those who see judgment coming and prepare for it will be those who stand on the last day. On the other hand, those who see judgment coming and do nothing will be found wanting. Jesus says in verse 8 that the people of the world
• 22:41
  give more thought to their earthly wealth and to their physical well-being than God's people do to their eternal wealth and their spiritual well-being. He says, why do the sons of earth spend more time thinking about preparing for their earthly dwelling, which is so temporary, when the sons of God spend so little time caring about their souls?
• 23:07
  Because we, as God's people, have only rarely been forced to live with any kind of spiritual urgency. We've only rarely been forced to think beyond the physical and that urgency. The thought of giving an account, the thought of standing before the Lord one day should dislodge our stranglehold on this life and its comforts. It should remind us that the home we are building is a future one. Beloved church, how much time...
• 23:35
  and energy and money do you devote to the care of your body to your health to your lodging to your food how much time on the other hand do you devote to the care of your soul again jc ryle has said so if a wicked man can do this for an earthly home and in a wicked way how much more on a righteous man to provide for himself a heavenly home and in a lawful way that
• 24:05
  is the parable to be answered but now look beginning in verse 9 jesus gives some principles which are going to reinforce his point and we'll kind of use these principles as application and as a conclusion beginning in verse 9 jesus continues and i tell you make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth or worldly wealth so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings now don't overthink this bizarre statement from our lord the principle is this
• 24:35
  God honors those who are generous. That's the principle. I know the wording is weird, okay? It's a little backward, presents some problems, right? Like J.C. Ryle said, it kind of ties us up in knots and we don't know what to do with it. But the principle is this, God honors those who are generous. The point being made is that monetary wealth can be used for a glorious cause if it is used with eternity in mind.
• 25:01
  Heaven, Jesus says, will be pleased to accept the one who is generous. Now this point is actually going to be made multiple times in chapter 16. I've heard it said that none of us will stand before the Lord in judgment. And looking back over our earthly lives, wish in that moment, as you're standing before the Lord, wish in that moment you had been less loving.
• 25:24
  Wish that you had been less bold in your faith. Wish that you had been less generous. On that day when we are standing before the Lord, none of us will look back and wish we had given less away. I wish I'd have kept more stuff. None of us will think that way. Rather, Jesus says, use worldly wealth to build the future kingdom. God honors those who are generous. Let's read verses 10 to 12 now. Look at principle number two.
• 25:51
  Verse 10, one who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. One who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? If you've not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? The principle is this. If you're faithful in little, you'll be faithful in much. Faithful in little, faithful.
• 26:19
  much and when I was a high school teacher I consistently had certain students who would not do their homework the end of the quarter would come predictably those students would also come asking for extra credit in a last-ditch effort to salvage their grades now I was a teacher who offered extra credit but I only offered it to those students who had completed every assignment
• 26:43
  Didn't mean they had to do well on it, but if they had turned in every assignment, I would give them extra credit. After all, in my thinking, it was extra credit. I remember a young man, a senior just before graduation, getting angry with me because he had not done many of his assignments and had no intention of completing them and turning them in. And he asked me for extra credit, and I said no.
• 27:09
  I said, if you would go back and turn in all of your assignments, I would gladly give you extra credit. His exact words to me were this, if I had done all my homework, I wouldn't need the extra credit. There was a long pause. I said, did you figure that out all by yourself? That's exactly the point. If you'd done all your homework, then you wouldn't even need the extra credit if you had been faithful in small things. Faithful in small things, you'd qualify for bigger things.
• 27:42
  You know, I'm raising sons who are becoming men. I have three sons. Part of the way I define manhood to them as I'm training up my sons to become men and make no doubt that is what I'm doing. I am pushing them to become men, right? Not just to grow physically, but to grow spiritually, emotionally, so that they become men, not just become boys trapped in man bodies. All right. But part of the way I define manhood to them.
• 28:08
  is to tell them that boys need to be taken care of. Boys must be watched. They must be fed. They must be cleaned. Boys aren't even strong enough to hold their own umbrellas during a rainstorm, but they've got to stand under somebody else's young men. Young men can take care of themselves. They can make their own food. They can clean up their own mess. They can hold their own small umbrella. They can keep themselves dry.
• 28:38
  Men, however, can take care of themselves and they can take care of others. The umbrella of their responsibility is so large that not only can they fit under it, but their wives, their kids, sometimes many more can fit under their umbrella of responsibility. And church, if you are faithful in small things, the Lord will give you a larger and larger umbrella.
• 29:08
  Let's read verse 13. We'll conclude with our final principle. He says, no servant can serve two masters for 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 God and money. The final principle is this, differing loyalties will at some point come into conflict and one will be forced to make a choice.
• 29:32
  Differing loyalties will at some point come into conflict and one will be forced to make a choice. The follower of Christ cannot be a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. His allegiance first and foremost must be to the Lord and not to the resources the Lord has entrusted to his care. If ownership of our money is viewed properly, if ownership of our money is viewed as stewardship,
• 30:00
  To be used in service to the Lord and to others than to serve God. Catch this. To serve God is to give our resources to meet the needs of those around us. That is what it's for. If we view our money as stewards, this stuff doesn't belong to me. I've been entrusted with it. And I will be expected to give an account. Then to serve the Lord is to use our resources in the service.
• 30:28
  of those around us. And someday, church, every one of us, like the man in our parable, will stand before God and give an account. And this should create in us an urgency, a moment of clarity where everything snaps into focus, where we think, am I acting in such a way that I'm ready to stand before the Lord? Am I speaking in such a way that I'm willing to stand? I'm ready to stand before the Lord. And am I spending my money in such a way?
• 30:56
  right? That I will stand and give an account and that we pray on that day, receive a commendation and not a condemnation. And God, thank you for this parable, Lord. And although difficult on the surface, God, it makes perfect sense that we will stand and give an account before you and that we need to live today in light of that day. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.