A LESSON IN CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson, 1 Timothy 2:1-8
Old Testament Lesson, Amos 8:4-7
Sermon Text, Luke 16:1-13
Let's start out by putting this parable into modern terms. Let's imagine that you are a very wealthy person. So wealthy that you need someone to help you manage some of your financial affairs. And, so you put an add in the paper for someone who would be a financial manager. And, I apply for the job.
When I come for an interview with you, you say to me, "I would like you to manage some of my finances. You take care of them."
And, I say to you, "Tell me what do you want me to do."
And you say, "Well, I am going to give you a million dollars every year. I want you to manage that million dollars the way that you think I would want it managed."
And I say to you "What is my salary going to be? What will you pay me?
And you say to me "I will let you determine that. You take the million dollars. Whatever you need for housing, you take it out of that million dollars. And, whatever you need for transportation or food, or whatever, take it out of that million dollars. And then you use the rest of it in a way that you know I would want you to use it."
And I think to myself, "WOW!!! What a job! WHAT A JOB!!! What an easy job description!!!"
So, I take the job.
When I get home, I think to myself, "I am a millionaire!!! I can use this money however I want to!!! And he told me I should take out of it whatever I need for my housing and everything else!!! And, so, I am going to buy myself a REALLY nice house!"
So, the first thing I do is buy myself a big, HUGE house with a large mortgage.
And then I think of these two cars that I have always wanted, so I go out and buy them.
And then there are my children. I have always wanted to send to send them to this very nice school. So I do!
And my friends!!! I have always wanted to entertain them and take them out for nice meals. So I take them out for all kinds of nice meals.
And, I would like to invest some money for myself. So I take some of the money and invest it for my own purposes. And, I would like to take some of that money so that I can retire. So I put away a nice retirement nest egg for myself.
By the time I am done, there is only a little bit of the money left over. I use that to make a few loans to people who could use a little money.
This goes on for years.
One day my boss (you), calls me up and says, "I have heard how you are using my money. I hear that you have been using it all on yourself. You bought yourself a huge house, nice cars and all kinds of things and there is only a small part of my money that you have been using for the purposes that I would have wanted you to use it for. Because of this, I am asking you to come to my office, because I am going to fire you. I want you to bring to bring with you all of your financial statements, because I want you to make an account of what you have done with my money."
So, now I think to myself, "I am about to lose my job. I have wasted my boss' money and I am not really able to go out and get another job. I certainly do not want to be a begger. So, now what am I going to do? What can do, before I lose my job, to take care of myself, somehow?"
"Oh, I know what I will do! What I need is friends. What I need are friends who will take care of me in my time of need. I am going to use this little bit of time left to make some friends for myself, who will take care of me."
And, so I quickly pick up the phone and call up all the people that I have made loans to, with my boss' money.
First, there is a man I loaned $10,000.00 to, so he could purchase a van. I call him up and say, "You owe $10,000.00. But, I tell you what! Right now, TODAY, if you can pay me $5,000.00, the debt will be over!!!"
And, of course, he is overjoyed and says, "I'll pay you the $5,000.00. And, if you ever need a favor from me, just ask me!"
I made a "friend"!
I call up another man, who I lent $100,000.00 to, so he could buy a new house. I call him up and say, "If you could, maybe, somehow take out a different mortgage on that house TODAY, I'll only charge you $80,000.00 on that loan!" By doing that I have saved him $20,000.00 on his house, so naturally he's overjoyed!!! He says to me, "If you ever need a favor, just ask me, and I will do it, for you!!!"
And, I made another "friend"!
Jesus then goes on and says, "The master commended the unfaithful steward because he was so shrewd with that money. He saw to it, in the end that his needs were taken care of.
Now Jesus is NOT telling us that we should be unfaithful with our master's money. But, He is giving a lesson to us about being shrewd...about being very careful how we use our Master's "money". Afterall, as Christians we all know that the Bible teaches that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Which means that even the money that I have isn't really my money! It is GOD'S money! And I am simply the manager and I am to manage that money that God has given me, in the way that God would want me to manage it.
Consider this. What would happen, if...
- on the day that your life ended,
- and your job of managing God's money was over,
- and, you sat before the judgment seat of God the Father,
- and, as you stood there, before that judgment seat,
God pulled out all the bank statements from your life???
How shocked would you be, as you stood there, before that judgment seat, and God pulled out all the bank statements from your life? And, he pulled out all the checkbooks, and he pulled out all of the credit card receipts? And, then He said to you, "We need to take a look at how you managed the money that I wanted you to manage."
How shocked would you be? What if God went through that statement and He said, "Boy! Look at this! I see that you provided housing for yourself. I wanted you to do that, but, you spent a lot of money on housing! And, you knew that I wanted you to also take care of the poor, people who don't have housing for themselves. But, I don't see anywhere here that you used the money that I gave you, to take care of poor people who don't have homes."
"And, look at this! I wanted you to buy food for yourself. That is important. But, you spent a lot of money on food. You know that I also wanted you to take care of the hungry. And, I don't see anywhere here where you spent any money taking care of the hungry."
"And, I did want you to make sure that things were going to be ok for yourself. And, I see that you put away a really nice nest egg for your retirement. You really did take care of yourself, but you knew that I wanted you to take care of the widow, the fatherless child, as well and I don't see anywhere here where you made arrangements to help take care of those who really can't take care of themselves."
"What have you done with the money that I gave you to manage?"
All of us have to admit that, if, on Judgment Day God were to judge us on the basis of our bank statements, and our check books and our credit card receipts, it would be a troubling day for everyone of us.
If that troubles you, as it would trouble me, then we need to turn to the one place that all of us need to turn in order to be saved, and that is to our Savior. We need to run to our savior's arms. We need to flee to our Savior. And, there in our Savior, we need to find what God demands of us. And there in our Savior we need to find Jesus.
And we need to say, "Jesus I need a perfect life!!! And I don't have it. But, Jesus I see that you do have the perfect life!!! I see how you took care of the hungry. You fed the 5,000. You fed the 4000!!! You took care of the needs of the poor.
Jesus, I see how you took care of the needs of the widows. I remember how you raised to life the young man of Nehm, so that his widowed mother could have him back. You took care of them. You did it perfectly!
Jesus I see how you were concerned with the sick, and those who didn't have someone to care for them. You healed them!!! And, you did that perfectly!!!"
"Jesus,
I need your perfect life as my very own,
because mine is NOT good enough to stand before
God's Judgment Seat."
Jesus is a free gift!!! Dear Christian Friends, Jesus gives us that perfect life!!! So when we stand before God's Judgment Seat, it is as if we took care of the poor, the needy, the hungry, the troubled and all those less fortunate than we are. And, we did it all perfectly!!!
We should fall down on our knees in thanksgiving and gratitude that by shear grace God sees us, for Christ's sake.
Not only that but we need to run to our Savior and say,
"Savior I have all these blots against me. All these things that I have done wrongly. Even with the money that you have given me. Jesus, I need them all washed away, because I know they can't stand in the presence of my Father.
Oh Jesus, I see you on that cross.
And, when you bled, your blood was shed for:
MY sins,
MY greed,
MY selfishness,
My self centeredness,
MY lack of care for those in need.
Oh, Jesus!!!
Your blood has washed them all away,
erased them,
removed them,
and blotted them out!!!
It is as if they never happened,
and never existed!!!
We ought to fall down on our knees, in profound thanksgiving, because it is only by grace that God sees us, as if those sins never happened!
So that on the day that we are judged, if God were to actually get out all of those bank statements, check books and credit card receipts, and look at them and then look at what Jesus did for us, He would bring down that gavel and say, "You are not guilty! You are innocent! You are holy, because of the sake of my Son!!! And my mansions in Heaven are yours, for all of eternity."
Dear Christian friends, that is the position that you and I are in! WE ARE RICH!
We are rich beyond our wildest imaginations, because our sins,
OUR SINS,
our sins, which should condemn us for all eternity,
FOR ALL ETERNITY,
ARE
GONE!!!
They are gone!
And God does NOT and will NOT ever see those sins against us, for Christ's sake. And, we are forgiven! And, all that belongs to God, is ours, as a free gift!
That is where Christian stewardship begins. Christian stewardship, means being a manager of all the things God has given to me in this life, including the money that He has given me to manage.
And, He gives the Gospel. So, it begins with a heart that knows what my Savior did for me. We are not like, and should not be like that unfaithful steward, who wasted his master's money. We should be a faithful steward, who says, "Lord, look at what you have done for me. And, now I want to go out, and use the gifts that you have given to me in this life! And, you have given them to me, for a very specific purpose - to be used for you. I want to use them for you and for your purpose.
Now what is the purpose for which God has given you those gifts? I want you to listen to this. He says, "The master commended the dishonest manager, because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in their dealing with their own kind, than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwelling."
Why does God give us that earthly wealth? Jesus says here, that you can make friends for yourselves, so that when it (your worldly wealth) is gone, (which is the day you die), you will be received into eternal dwelling. What does that mean? That means that we need to understand that the wealth that God has given me is for a purpose. And, it is to be used to gain people for the Kingdom. We can't have greater friends, than friends who have been gained for the Kingdom of Heaven. Friends, who someday, when we get to Heaven, will thank us! they will welcome us into eternal dwellings, because we used what we had here, to the best of our abilities, so that they could hear about their Savior!
Let me give you some examples.
We have a Christian Day School, here at Holy Cross. There are people in our neighborhood who cannot afford to send their children to school here. What if you, as a wise manager, sat down and said, "What can I do to make friends for my Savior? What if I made it possible for one family, one unchurched family, to send their child to this school? I have the gifts that God has given to me, the gifts that could make that possible!"
Just imagine if:
- that child comes to this school,
- and that child learns about Jesus in this school,
- and that child becomes a Christian
-and that child dies and goes to Heaven,
because that child learned about Jesus, at this school!!!
Don't you think that on the day that you go to Heaven, there will be thankfulness? That child will come up to you and say, "Thank you! Thank you for using what God had given to you, to see to it that I could hear about my Savior, to see to it that I learned that my sins are forgiven. And now I am in Heaven! And that is partly because of what you did, with what the Master had given to you!
Or, some of the ladies in the Ladies Circle gave money so that a church, a little church could be built in Peru. It only cost several thousand dollars, because things don't cost very much down there. What if some Peruvian woman who was distraught and at the end of her rope felt like life was over and happened to walk by that church, one day? What if she heard the sounds of singing and Christian Hymns coming out of the building? And, she decided to stop by to see what makes them so happy. And, as she goes into that church, she hears the Word of God! She heard about her Savior! And the Holy Spirit brought her to faith! And she trusts in Christ as her Savior. And then she dies. And, she goes to Heaven!!! Don't you know there will be thankfulness? Don't you think she will say, "Thank you Friend! Thank you for making it possible for that church to be built! So that I could hear about my Savior. Thank you Friend!"
What about someone in your neighborhood, that you know, who is struggling to make ends meet? Someone who tries hard, but can't pay the bills? Out of love and concern, Christian love and concern, you go to them. And you say to them, "Can I help you out a little bit? Can I take care of this, or that bill?"
They look at you with thankfulness. They know that you are a Christian and now, they know that you are willing to sacrifice your wealth, so that their needs can be taken care of. And, that will make them curious. Why do you love me so much that you are willing to take care of my problems - that you would sacrifice what you have, for me?
And they want to know what motivates you to do that! So, you tell them about your Savior and all He did for you! And, they listen to that. And through that Word of God, they become a Christian. And when that person dies, won't that person welcome you into Heaven, and say "Thank you, Friend! Thank you friend for taking what God gave you in your life, to see to it that I would hear about my Savior!"
The bottom line is this, money, money, won't get anyone to Heaven. Money won't convert anybody. But, we can use the gifts that God has given to us, to see to it that God's Word is spread to as many people as possible.
We need to be wise managers, very wise managers, shrewd managers. Jesus commends this man's shrewdness. That man sat down and really studied what he could do, so that he could make friends for himself. And, as Christians, we should be shrewd. Not shrewd in a bad sense, but we really need to sit down and ask ourselves, "What has God given me?" And, we need to really make plans, really think, and really consider how to use the gifts that God has given to me, to make friends for eternity?
Thank God for everything he has given me!
Thank God for our Savior, Jesus!
Now let's go out, and by God's grace, let's be good managers, good stewards of everything God has given us, for the sake of the Kingdom!
Amen.
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