Vision Series 2017

Good evening, everyone. It's great to be in church with you tonight. If you haven't met

before, my name's Steve, a senior pastor here. And one of the highlights for me in our church

year is Vision Sunday. And the whole Vision series, in fact, this is my ninth one I've

led us through as a church. And for me, it just gets better and better. So we're almost

at the end of this one, but this is a crucial one for us tonight on our Vision Sunday. And

I want to begin our time together reflecting on the life of one of the greatest philosophical

thinkers, one of the sharpest political minds, most gifted artists, and I suspect most quoted

individuals of the past 100 years. Arnold Schwarzenegger was born the son of a low-ranking Austrian

police officer and was destined for a life of just total obscurity until his hands wrapped

around a barbell for the very first time at the age of 14. By 18, he was living in London

and traveling the world competing in bodybuilding championships. And at one point, his coach,

a guy named Wag Bennett, asked him, Arnie, what is it that you want to do with your life?

And Wag said that the response of this 18-year-old was remarkable. He said,

I want to be the richest and the greatest bodybuilder of all time. I want to live in the United States.

I want to be an actor, a movie director, own an apartment block, and dabble in politics.

As an 18-year-old, he saw the future, what he wanted, he just went for it. And Wag, as well

as those who trained with Arnie and competed with Arnie, said that they had never met anyone

who was so focused on what they want to achieve in the future. His training partner said that if

you ever beat him at anything, he would look at you and say, you will never, ever do that again.

And he said, doesn't matter how hard you're trying to man, what sort of training you put in,

you could never beat Arnie at it again. He was so, so focused.

And Jesus, in that passage that was just read out to us, tells a story, a similar story about a man

who saw the future, saw what he needed to do. He just went for it. Just went for it.

Have a look at it. You've got your service sheets there in front of you. Luke 16, verses 1 to 15.

Luke 16:1–15

Look at verse 1. Jesus told his disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting

his possessions. And so he called him in and asked him, what is this that I hear about you?

Give an account of your management because you cannot be manager any longer. And the manager said

to himself, well, what am I going to do now? My master has taken away my job. I'm not strong

enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg. I know what I'll do so that when I lose my job here,

people will welcome me into their houses. Now in Jesus' time, this manager person here was like a

chief operating officer and a chief financial officer rolled into the one. That is, they ran

the entire estate of the wealthy owner. And what they also did was that they would get the owner's

money and invest the owner's money as well. So they had a very, very high responsibility.

And this manager, as it says, has been a bit dishonest and he hasn't been doing such a great

job. And so he gets a termination notice. You're fired is his notice. And he knows now that he's in

trouble. You see, when word gets around, he's not likely to get another manager's job. He's not likely

to be in this kind of position again. And he's been sitting in an office for too long. His hands are

beautiful. And he's thinking, I can't dig trenches for a living. I haven't got a strong enough back

for that sort of stuff. And I'm not going to lie on myself. I can't go from this role down to begging.

And what's more, there's no social services. There's no Centrelink to fall back on. And so for this man,

this is a life and death decision. How's he going to live? How am I going to feed myself? Where's my food

coming from? I'm going to get my housing. And so what he does is he makes a decision now that will

pay benefits for the future. And that is the point of this whole parable. That's what it's all about.

And what he does next though, is the bit of the parable that can be a little distracting.

Verse five.

Notice what the outcome is from his decision.

It creates friendships that didn't exist before.

In acting for the future, he won the favor and obligation of his master's debtors.

And the really strange thing here is the master's response in verse eight says,

the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

It's an incredible response.

Why would the owner commend the manager for his action here?

I mean, it appears that he's ripped him off.

But one of the best theories is that the manager here was doing what the tax collectors used to do

in first century Palestine. And they would get the cut that the Romans required, and then they would add

their percentage on top. And it's most likely that that's what this manager is doing here is part of

his investment portfolio. He's investing his bosses.

He's the owner of the estate's investments.

And he's adding his percentage on top of it as well.

He's getting his interest out of the investment.

And so what he's doing here would appear that he's taking his investments off.

He's removing his fees.

And it makes his master's debtors happy.

They're paying a much smaller bill.

But he's also giving his master a great name in town at exactly the same time.

So it's like he's getting nothing out of this deal now.

Now, whether that's exactly how it worked is really, it doesn't matter.

It's not the point of the parable.

But Jesus' point here is that this man is using his opportunity, his wealth, with an eye on the future.

And the master commends him because he acted shrewdly.

You made a great decision there.

A wise decision, a smart judgment.

You're astute.

But see the rebuke of the second half of verse 8.

This shrewd, wise, astute action is one that Christians fail in.

It says,

For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are people of the light.

Jesus is saying that this manager's actions, he's wiser.

He's wiser in the youths of his wealth than his disciples are in theirs.

So what we're going to do is we're going to take a moment here to learn a couple of lessons from this parable

about what it might look like to be wise.

The first thing we learn here is that Jesus likens us, his disciples,

to a manager of someone else's estate.

Someone else's money.

The word manager here can also be easily translated as steward.

So this man is a steward.

He's a manager of someone else's money.

He's a fund manager.

When you manage someone else's money,

you can't do whatever you want with that money because it isn't your money.

You have to do it according to the terms of the person who owns the money.

And so first up, Jesus is reminding his disciples that if you understand anything,

if you understand that there is a God, then you'll know that whatever you have is in fact not yours.

We are stewards of God's money, of his resources.

And so the first thing is we've got to stop acting as if it's ours.

That's pretty hard hitting.

Because particularly in the Western world,

we have a strong attachment to wealth and possessions

because we've worked for it.

We love the idea of the so-called self-made man.

It's my money.

I've worked hard for this.

I've sacrificed for this.

And Jesus says, no, it's not.

It's not your money.

If you're a Christian, there is a much bigger, broader theological context

that you put this truth into.

As Christians, we believe that God made everything,

that he sustains everything.

We have life and we have skills and we have opportunities

that he has gifted each one of us with.

They are gifts from him to us.

And without those things, we would not make any money at all.

Without the life that he gives us every day,

and the Bible says he puts the breath in our lungs moment by moment,

with that breath that he gives us,

he gives us the ability to make money.

And if he chooses not to give that to us,

we have no ability to make money.

Without life, it's extremely difficult to do anything.

If you're healthy and you're able to work, that's a gift.

The fact that you were born in this time and this place

with its many opportunities, that's a gift.

If you were born in the 12th century on a mountaintop in Tibet,

you would think very differently about the resources that you have.

And so we work hard for what we have with the life,

the circumstances, the talents that God has given us.

We are stewards of every gift from him.

Listen to the prayer of the fabulously wealthy and powerful King David

from 1 Chronicles 29.

Everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Wealth and honor come from you.

You are the ruler of all things.

Who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give

as generously as this?

Everything comes from you,

and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

All this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple

for your holy name comes from your hand,

and all of it belongs to you.

So if we're stewards, it's not ours,

and God calls us to be radically generous.

And if we're not radically generous with the gifts that he's given us,

that includes time, emotions, and everything else,

then it's not called stinginess.

It's called robbery.

It's not a lack of compassion for the poor and the needy,

and it's actually a lack of integrity in our hearts.

Malachi 3.8 is pretty clear in this.

It says,

That is, the people in the Old Testament were told

that 10% of their income needed to be given away as the starting point.

That was the starting point.

And I'm not convinced that the standards of the people in the New Testament

are any lower,

especially when we have a greater hope,

a greater revelation, a greater grace, and greater benefits.

However, if we do think that 10% as a starting point is a lot of money,

then maybe we're thinking about it totally the wrong way.

We've got this whole thing upside down.

Don't forget we're stewards of someone else's money.

So imagine someone comes to you.

They're a billionaire.

They come to you,

and they say to you,

Please manage my wealth for me,

and here's the terms.

The terms are this.

Every year,

you get to keep 90% of the returns from the investment,

and you've got to give me 10% of the returns from the investment.

Would you want that job?

Come on.

Would you want that job?

Who wouldn't want that job?

Every fund manager would kill someone else to get that job.

In all seriousness.

And that is exactly how generous God is.

That is what God is offering us.

But if we love money more than we love God,

then those terms,

even those terms,

will not be good enough for us.

We won't be generous.

We won't give.

And it's not called stinginess.

It's called robbery.

We are stewards of money that is not ours.

That's the first thing we learn from this parable.

But there is something even more incredible that is being taught here.

Verse 9 is the goal that Jesus has in mind with our stewardship of his resources.

And the goal is our happiness,

our love,

our security forever.

I tell you,

use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself

so that when it is gone,

you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

So what this manager does here

is he puts aside some short-term financial gain

for the sake of gaining something

that is long-term and infinitely more valuable.

And that's what a wise investment is.

A wise investment is where you put your money

into something that is going to increase in value over time.

So what can you put your money into

that will really last?

Not this world.

Because Jesus gives a really helpful perspective in verse 9.

He says,

so that when it is gone,

what Jesus is saying there is,

there is no investment

that is in this world

that will last.

Not one.

There's no material thing.

There's no asset.

There's no place

where you can put your money

that will really,

really last.

And he's calling his disciples here

to make a wise investment

to put their money

into something

that will literally last forever.

Put your money,

he says,

into building the kingdom of God.

Use your money in such a way

that there is glory in heaven.

Put your money

into something

that will last forever.

Now,

what I love

about the way

that Jesus puts it here

is that he doesn't just stay

at that abstract level.

Because I'm the sort of person

who's logically convinced

for the argument

for long-term investment.

You know,

immediate pain

for long-term gain.

I'm totally,

totally in for that,

logically.

But what Jesus says next

is what moves my heart

and causes me

to open my wallet.

This is what moves my heart.

And I hope it does for you too.

Look at how Jesus describes

eternal dwellings

in verse 9.

This is how he describes heaven.

Friends.

Use your money now

to gain friends

who will welcome you

into eternal dwellings.

In other words,

to get eternal friends.

Let me quote one commentator

who wrote on this verse,

and it's the main point

of this whole parable.

He wrote,

although these things,

your property,

your ability,

your time,

belong to this life only.

Jesus says,

yet what will happen to you

when,

then,

when you pass into that life

will depend on what you are doing

with them here and now.

Make sure that your use of them

brings you into a fellowship

of friends

which will survive beyond death.

That is definitely what Jesus is saying here.

We look to money

to give us security,

significance.

As I said last week,

it's the identity scorecard for us

and the possessions that we have.

But genuine security and significance

is not material.

It's actually relational.

In the end,

the most important thing

that everyone needs

is love.

We feel truly wealthy

when we are loving people

and are surrounded

by people loving us back.

You can get someone

who is an absolute pauper

and yet they feel so rich,

feel so rich

when they are surrounded by people

who love them

and who they love.

That's because wealth is relational,

not material.

That's when you feel really alive

and yet

the love that we really need

is out of reach for us

in this life.

We get a taste of it now.

We get a foretaste of it

but the best

is yet to come.

The thinking that heaven

is a place of harps

and halos

and crowns

and gold streets

doesn't kind of move me

in the same kind of way

as heaven being

a world of friendships

and relationships

and perfect love.

That moves me.

A place of deep relationships.

A place of real love.

A place where we love

and are loved

without any barriers

at all.

That is a place

to really hope for

and invest in now

because

the love that we experience

in this world,

the friendships,

the relationships we experience

in this world

are a foretaste

of what is to come

but they fall

so far short

of what will be in heaven.

love in this world

both the receiving of it

and the expressing of it

is often a source of pain.

There are barriers

to loving

and being loved

in this world

that will not exist in heaven

and that's what makes heaven

such an incredible prospect.

that's why

if you can make

investments now

to increase

your experience

of that

that's a wise investment.

See one of the barriers

we face now

that won't be there

is that we are often

as individuals

not loved

for our own sake.

It's painful

when we discover

that people

are not loving us

for our own sake

but actually

using us

to get something else.

it's very rare

for any of us

to love

another person

totally

for their own sake.

Most love

is a love

in order to receive love

and in heaven

we will be loved

absolutely

completely

fully

for who we are.

Another barrier

for loving this world

which is

just a foretaste

of what we become

is the inability

for us to express

our love

for others

without any hindrance

whatsoever.

Things like pride

selfishness

defensiveness

pettiness

coldness

means that we cannot

fully completely

express our love

for another person

even those

who are the

closest to us

in this world.

Even for me

I mean

I said this morning

for me

for Natalie

I get to the end

of each day

and I realise

how much

I've failed

to express

the love

that I've got

deep down

there somewhere

it's like

there's this ocean

of love

it's got it

coming up

through a straw

you know

like it's just

just not coming

out the way

it's meant to.

So much failure

we can't even

get close

to expressing

our love

fully

without some

kind of

hindrance

but in heaven

there'll be love

without any

impediment

all sin

pride

selfishness

pettiness

coldness

defensiveness

it's going to

be all gone.

We also

struggle in this

world to have

a mutual love

is there anything

more painful

than to love

someone more

than they love

you back?

It's very rare

to have a

mutual love

at the same

time.

In this place

this world

many of the

people that we

love

we love

more

than they

love us

back

and that

is nothing

but pain

but heaven

everyone

will love

everyone

mutually

and fully.

There's also

the barrier

of another

barrier of

love in this

world and

that's the

unhappiness

of those

we love.

Think about

this for a

minute.

This is for

everyone here

because you've

all been kids

and still

are.

Once you

start having

children

once you

start

if you're

a couple

and you

start having

children

for the

rest of

your life

your happiness

level never

increases more

than the

unhappiness of

one of your

children

or of your

unhappiest

child.

Once you

start having

children

your happiness

level never

increases more

than your

unhappiest

child.

Your unhappiest

child.

See what

you've done

to your

parents?

You know

we can

never be

happier

we can

never be

happier than

the people

we love

because their

heart becomes

our heart

and if you

love more

than five

people any

one time

in this

world you're

always going

to be

unhappy.

That's just

a fact.

C.S.

Lewis said

that if you

don't want

your heart

to be

broken then

just stop

loving

people.

Love is

such a

source of

pain but

of course

if that's

what you're

going to

do then

you become

a hard

person and

you're right

on your

way to

hell.

Love is

such a

source of

pain but

in heaven

everyone

will be

perfectly

happy filled

with a

never

ceasing

joy.

But the

greatest

barrier to

love in

this world

is the

separation

of love.

We want

a love

where we

will never

be separated

from the

people that

we love.

It is

painful knowing

that when

you marry

someone it

is highly

likely that

one of you

will bury

the other.

Highly

likely unless

of course you

both go down

the plane

crash or

something like

that.

In my

case I've

got five

people sitting

around my

dining room

table and

it's highly

likely that

one of us

will be

sitting at

that table

will see

everyone else

dead.

Highly likely

that one of

us will see

the rest

dead.

My mother

experienced

that in the

last two

weeks where

she is now

the only one

left of

two parents

and four

sisters.

This is the

way our

relationships are

in this

world.

But not

there.

Not there.

We are

made to

desire the

kind of

relationships,

the kind

of friendships,

the kind

of love

that is in

the kingdom

of God.

We have

been designed

for what

Jesus says

heaven is

going to be

like.

And knowing

and experiencing

the pain of

relation to

this world,

it is so

hard for us

to imagine

what perfect

relationships and

perfect love

actually looks

like.

what the

experience of

that is going

to be like.

Knowing and

experiencing the

pain of this

world, it's

hard to know

what it's

going to be

like.

Hard to

believe in

fact.

Just imagine

what it would

be like to

completely

believe it

though.

That what

Jesus says

about heaven

is actually

going to be

true.

Imagine what

it would be

to be completely

sure of the

future because

of Jesus

Christ and

what he's

done for

us.

Imagine that

to believe in

Jesus is to

be able to

live with

God and

friends in

absolute

perfect love

forever.

No barriers,

no hindrance

to joy and

love.

Just imagine

what that

would do to

the way that

you would

live your

life now.

would we

not use

our worldly

wealth now

knowing that

what really

lasts is

people,

relationships,

friends,

something

significant that

we all have

something to

look forward

to.

And so

don't put

your money

before people.

Don't put

your money

before people.

Don't put

things before

people.

Put your

money into

solving people's

needs in this

world, the

poor and the

needy.

Use your

money, as it

says here, to

create a

fellowship of

friends that

will survive

beyond death.

Friends who

you don't even

know.

You won't even

know that they're

your friends until

you get to

heaven.

And

when people

find hope and

faith and

love in

Jesus, they

will be your

friends and

they will be

your friends

forever.

They will

welcome you

to heaven.

They will

love you and

be loved by

you without

any barrier.

And so

this radical

investment is

to put the

money you're

a steward of,

which you've

been given

by, by

God, into

connecting

people with

their God who

loves them like

this without

any barriers.

that's the

wise investment.

Put your

money into

connecting

people with

their God

who loves

them like

this.

Because all

of this hope

and all this

joy is

possible because

we are

recipients of

the ultimate

love and

friendship.

2 Corinthians

8, the

Apostle Paul is

encouraging the

church in

Corinth to give

generously to a

great need in

the same way

that other

churches are

done.

And he

doesn't order

them to do

it.

He says, I'm

not going to

order you to

do this.

I want you to

be compelled

by love.

And he

shows them how

to do it.

He says,

think about

this.

Think about

Jesus Christ.

Though he

was rich,

yet for your

sake he

became poor

so that you

through his

poverty might

become filthy

rich.

Relationally

rich.

experiencing

love like

you have

never

experienced

before.

You see,

Jesus is

the one

friend who

emptied

himself of

everything to

turn his

enemies into

his eternal

friends.

Jesus is,

in fact,

the true

steward here.

As recipients

of the ultimate

friendship, we

get to live

with him

forever in

perfect love.

And so use

your money in

a way that's

controlled by

that reality.

Guess what?

You and I,

here today,

we're in

exactly the

same boat as

the shrewd

manager.

I'm not

sure how

long he's,

how much

notice he

was given,

how many

days or

weeks he

had before

he had to

fold up the

books,

but in

this moment

the books

were still

open,

he still

had a

pen,

and he

was still

in control.

And he

acted.

He had a

chance to

act in view

of the

future,

and he

did it.

And I've

been calling

two previous

congregations,

I'm doing the

same here,

across St.

Paul's today,

calling us

all to make

a radical

investment.

That's our

vision.

Our vision

says we are

desperate for

the world

around us

to encounter

Jesus.

We are

desperate to

make eternal

friends.

who will

love us

and whom

we will

love for

eternity.

Now,

following on

from 1

Chronicles 29,

the process

that King

David led

Israel in

there,

for the

last,

this is our

ninth time

doing it,

in my time

here,

we have

followed a

process.

The process

is I

pledge what

my giving

is,

because I

believe if

you've read

what I wrote

and have

distributed to

the parish

in the last

week,

is that

giving is a

spiritual matter,

it's not a

financial matter,

and so there's

financial accountability

for the top

right down.

So Natalie and

I, each year,

we declare what

we're giving,

we're the only

ones who do

it, parish

council then

follow suit,

and staff

follow suit.

So Natalie and

I are seeking to

increase our

giving for next

year, and

we're committing

$1,400 a

month for our

vision, this

church's vision,

for people to

encounter Jesus.

We've also

contributed $1,000

to the $70,000

target.

So far, parish

council and

staff together

have pledged

$3,500 a

week, and

$18,200

towards the

$70,000

target.

That is a

significant lead

from your

leaders.

That is,

parish council

and staff make

up 10% of the

parish in

terms of

numbers.

And so

far, they

are giving

one-third of

our 2018

budget, and

a quarter of

the project

target.

10%, one-third

and a quarter.

They're leading

us in this, and

so I would

invite you, in

fact, I would

implore you to

follow us and

to make an

investment in

eternal

friends.

We have

got enormous

opportunities.

I would

encourage you to

see this project

of employing

someone for

children's

ministry.

There are

children coming

into our

neighbourhood all

over the

place.

Invest in

making friends

from the next

generation to

employ a

children's

pastor.

Takeshi, who

was here this

morning from

Japan, he is

a native of

the largest

unreached

people group

in the world,

and we've

got an

opportunity to

invest in

him.

Invest in

making eternal

friends on

another part of

the world who

will never

meet till we

get to heaven.

And he goes,

you are the

guys who

funded Takeshi.

I'm here

because of

him.

Make your

eternal joy

complete and

invest in

eternal

friends.

I'm going

to invite

Nick up.

What I'm

going to do

is Nick's

going to lead

us in a

song.

And as

he does

that, we

are going

to take

an opportunity

to sit and

reflect.

Because some

of us may

have come

prepared, some

of us are

not prepared

at all.

But if you've

come prepared,

you might go,

I need to

rethink what

I've just

done because

there's not

enough gold

factor on it,

there's not

enough sacrifice

in it.

For those of you

who haven't

prepared, this is

an opportunity

for you to get

these cards out,

take the

project card out

and take the

pledge card out.

We've already

looked at

serve, take the

project card,

the pledge card

out.

This is an

opportunity for you

and what the

gold factor is

going to be for

you in your

financial commitment

to this church.

And I'll come

back up in a

moment.