Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / January 20 - Luke 16

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January 20 - Luke 16 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here and it is a Tuesday.
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  It's the 20th of January already.
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  My goodness, didn't I just say Happy New Year like 4 minutes
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  ago? But here we are.
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  It's the 20th of January and we are continuing in this journey
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  of parables in Luke. And I think there are 14
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  different parables and this week, boy, we are getting
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  through a fair chunk of them. And today we are going to read a
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  couple of parables and these parables centre around the theme
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  of wise use of our resources. And this first one, the parable
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  of the shrewd manager Boy. It has caused a lot of
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  controversy as theologians debate backwards and forwards
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  about what Jesus meant and how best to understand it.
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  And no overwhelming consensus has yet been reached.
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  So why don't we just take it at face value?
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  And that as Paul has gathered these stories together from
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  Jesus ministry, he shares them with his friend Theophilus and
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  with us. And as with some other stories
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  that Jesus told, not always using the most virtuous
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  characters to get the point across, that here we've got this
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  character and it's not about his morality that Jesus interested,
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  but it's about his shrewd behaviour, planning for the time
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  to come. So let us settle in, Holy
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  Spirit, open our hearts so that we can hear your truth through
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  these parables as Jesus shared them through the ages with us.
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  May we know you more. All right, friends, let's read
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  together Luke chapter 16. Jesus told this story to his
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  disciples. There was a certain rich man who
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  had a manager handling his affairs.
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  One day a report came that the manager was wasting his
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  employers money. So the employer called him in
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  and said, what's this I hear about you Get your report in
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  order because you are going to be fired.
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  The manager thought to himself, what now?
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  My boss has fired me. I don't have the strength that
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  dig ditches and I'm too proud to beg.
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  Ah, I know how to ensure I'll have plenty of friends who will
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  give me a home when I'm fired. So he invited each person who
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  owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation.
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  He asked the first one, how much do you owe him?
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  The man replied, I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.
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  So the manager told him, take the bill and quickly change it
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  to 400 gallons. How much do you owe my employer?
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  He asked the next man. I owe him 1000 bushels of wheat,
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  was the reply. Here the manager said, take the
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  bill and change it to 800 bushels.
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  The rich man had to admire the dishonest Rascal for being so
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  shrewd. And it is true that the children
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  of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around
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  them than are the children of light.
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  Here's the reason. Use your worldly resources to
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  benefit others and make friends. Then when your possessions are
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  gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
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  If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in
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  large ones. But if you are dishonest in
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  little things, you won't be honest with greater
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  responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy
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  about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches
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  of heaven? And if you are not faithful with
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  other people's things, why should you be trusted with
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  things of your own? No one can serve 2 masters, for
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  you will hate 1 and love the other.
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  You will be devoted to 1 and despise the other.
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  You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
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  The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and
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  scoffed at him. Then he said to them, You like
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  to appear righteous in public, that God knows your hearts.
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  What this world honours is detestable in the sight of God.
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  Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the message of the
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  prophets were your guides. But now the good news of the
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  Kingdom of God is preached and everyone is eager to get in.
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  But that doesn't mean that the law has lost its force.
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  It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the
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  smallest point of God's law to be overturned.
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  For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone
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  else commits adultery, and anyone who marries a woman
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  divorced from her husband commits adultery.
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  Jesus said there was a certain rich man who was splendidly
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  clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in
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  luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named
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  Lazarus, who was covered with sores.
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  As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man's
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  table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.
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  Finally the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit
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  beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet.
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  The rich man also died and was buried, and he went to the place
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  of the dead. There in torment, he saw Abraham
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  in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.
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  The rich man shouted, Father Abraham, have some pity.
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  Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water
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  and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.
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  But Abraham said to him, Son, remember that during your
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  lifetime you had everything you wanted and Lazarus had nothing.
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  So now he is here being comforted, and you are in
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  anguish. And besides there is a great
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  chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you
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  from here and no one can cross over to us from there.
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  Then the rich man said, please Father Abraham, at least send
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  him to my father's home, for I have 5 brothers and I want him
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  to warn them so that they don't end up in this place of torment.
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  But Abraham said Moses and the prophets have warned them.
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  Your brothers can read what they wrote.
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  The rich man replied, No, father Abraham, but if someone is sent
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  to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and
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  turn to God. But Abraham said if they won't
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  listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be
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  persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.
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  Our Lord, in both of these parables we hear your message
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  about our goods and our wealth and our possessions and our
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  resources here, not being just for our life here, but being for
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  your eternal Kingdom. Lord, as we make decisions about
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  how we use what we have, about where we invest our time and our
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  energy, and about how we hold on to our possessions.
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  Lord, I just pray that you lift our eyes from the temporal
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  around us to see your eternity, to see the long game, to see
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  that you bless us with these resources so that we can bless
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  others, so that we, yes, can care for ourselves and our own,
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  but then look to the needs of others and share what you have
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  given us so generously. Lord, help us always see all
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  that we have as a gift from you given to us so that we can be
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  generous with that gift in giving to others.
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  So Lord, soften our hearts and make us more like you.
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  And we thank you for the many, many blessings that you do give
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  us. We love you and we thank you.
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  And we pray all of this in your wonderful name, Amen.