The Parable of the Dishonest Manager | Luke 16:1-13

I want to start with a story. I'm not sure it's

true, but I think it is. But it makes a great

point, so we're going to go with it. At the beginning

of one of the Crusades, the Christian leaders

worried if they had enough troops to defeat the

enemy. So they hired several thousand pagan mercenaries

to fight with them. But then they worried that

God might not bless their war if they had unbaptized

pagans fighting for a Christian cause. So they

told the pagan soldiers they all had to be baptized

to make them Christian. And reluctantly, they

agreed. But as these soldiers went under the

water, they all held their swords up out of the

water, refusing to allow them to be baptized.

When asked why, the soldiers said that while

they were willing to take the step of baptism

to satisfy their new masters, they wouldn't bring

their swords under the authority of anyone but

themselves. Their swords belonged to them, not

Christ, and they'd use them the way they wanted.

Fast forward to today, and many American Christians

aren't a lot different. They'll go to church,

sit in a pew, perhaps get baptized and join the

church. But when they get baptized, they often

hold their wallets above their head out of the

water, signifying that while they don't mind

joining the church, their wallets are theirs,

not God's. and they'll use them the way they

want. And that brings us to our message today.

Today we're going to study one of the strangest

and most difficult parables Jesus ever told,

the parable of the dishonest manager. And there's

no end to debate about exactly what this parable

means or how it applies to our lives. So I want

you all to turn to Luke 16. I'm going to read

it to you, and I want you to listen to what it

says. Luke 16, starting in verse 1. Now he was

also saying to the disciples, there was a rich

man who had a manager and this manager was reported

to him as squandering his possessions. And he

called him and said to him, what is this I hear

about you? Give an accounting for your management

for you can no longer be manager. And then the

manager said to himself, what shall I do since

my master is taking away the management from

me? I'm not strong enough to dig. And I'm ashamed

to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when

I am removed from management, people will welcome

me into their homes. And he summoned each one

of his master's debtors, and he began saying

to the first, How much do you owe my master?

And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he

said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly

and write fifty. And then to another he said,

And how much do you owe? And he said, A hundred

measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your

bill and write 80. And his master praised the

unrighteous manager because he acted shrewdly.

For the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation

to their own kind than the sons of light. And

I say to you, make friends for yourself by the

means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that

when it fails, they will receive you into the

eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very

little thing is also faithful in much. But he

who is unrighteous in a very little thing is

unrighteous also in much. Therefore, if you have

not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth,

who will entrust true riches to you? And if you

have not been faithful in the use of 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 one and love the other, or

else he will be devoted to one and despise the

other. You cannot serve God and wealth. All right,

what do you think? What in the world is Jesus

trying to tell us here? And this really boils

down to two basic issues. Why is Jesus praising

a crook? And in what way are we as Christians

supposed to be like this guy? And I have to confess,

I have a love -hate relationship with this parable

because it strikes me as strange. I love the

challenge of digging into it and finding out

what's in this parable for our lives. But because

it's hard to understand, it also means it's easier

to get something wrong. And I hate making mistakes.

Jeff Noe knows exactly what I'm talking about.

All right. So I want you to think about the passage

we just read as we dig into Luke 16 and see what

we can figure out. Jesus is really saying and

what practical lessons we can learn from this

parable of the dishonest manager. So we're going

to start with the accusation. People were shocked

in the early 2000s when they heard about the

financial dishonesty at Enron and Arthur Anderson

Accounting and some other large corporations

and how they cooked their books. The leaders

of these corporations managed to steal billions

of dollars from their stockholders and employees,

and it was iffy for a time if any of them would

spend any time at all in jail. And what it proved

is there have been dishonest businessmen as long

as there have been businesses. And they even

had them in Jesus' day, and Jesus is going to

use one of them as an example in this parable.

Look at the first part of verse 1. Now he was

also saying to the disciples, As the story unfolds,

Jesus is speaking to his disciples. The Pharisees

are still hanging around, as verse 14 in this

chapter makes clear, but Jesus isn't focused

on the Pharisees at this point. This parable

is aimed at those who believed in him because

he had some important lessons he wanted them

to learn. And by extension, it's also appointed...

pointed at us as well, those who believe in Jesus

today. We need to learn those lessons from this

parable. Look at the second half of verse 1.

There was a rich man who had a manager, and this

manager was reported to him as squandering his

possessions. It was a common practice back then

for a rich landowner to turn over the day -to

-day running of his financial affairs to a manager

or a steward, someone who was responsible to

manage his wealth. Occasionally those managers

were slaves, as Joseph was when he managed Potiphar's

affairs in Egypt, but often they were free men.

The key to understanding what a steward did is

to remember that he managed somebody else's money.

He was in charge of his employer's asset, and

his sole obligation was to do the best job he

could for his master. But this steward did a

lousy job of managing his owner's assets. And

one day word reached the master that the steward

was squandering his wealth. That word squandering

is the same one used in Luke 15, 13 to describe

how the prodigal son squandered his inheritance

with loose living. But at least the prodigal

son squandered his own money. This manager was

squandering his master's money and that spelled

trouble. Look at verse 2. And he called him and

said to him, what is this I hear about you? Give

an accounting for your management, for you can

no longer be manager. Apparently, there was enough

evidence against the manager that the master

felt he had to act. And so the master ordered

the books open for a full audit and decided to

fire the manager. Now the manager had a big problem.

Look at verse 3. And the manager said to himself,

what shall I do? since my master is taking away

the management from me. I am not strong enough

to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. This dishonest

manager is in big trouble. He was a lifelong

bureaucrat who loved his desk job, and he's too

old to do manual labor to support himself, and

the thought of begging people for help disgusted

him. What he needed was a way to maintain his

current lifestyle, even after he was fired as

manager. And so this is our manager's dilemma.

He's accused of squandering his master's money.

The books are about to be opened for an audit

and his step is exposed, and his master has decided

to fire him. This is a huge crisis. The question

is, what would he do now? Listen, crisis often

reveals our character, what's really in our hearts.

It's during a crisis that we have to make some

hard choices about whether we trust God, depend

on his grace, and do the right thing. or panic,

depend on our own cunning, and fall into sin.

We've all been there, and we all know that crisis

tends to bring out our true character. For this

dishonest manager, he faces the choice between

coming clean, turning from his sin, and seeking

forgiveness and mercy from his master, or continuing

his old habits of dishonesty and deceit. So let's

see the answer he comes up with. And this is

where we run into some controversy about what

Jesus is saying in this parable. Is the manager

actually changing his ways and repenting or is

he simply doing more of the same? So I want to

read this next part and then we'll talk about

it. Look at verse four. I know what I shall do

so that when I remove from the management, people

will welcome me into their homes. Suddenly it

dawned on him. A way to take care of himself

after he's fired and to make sure he had some

place to go. All it would take is a little bit

of creativity. He would use the time he had left

to buy influence among wealthy clients of his

master to open the door for himself down the

road. Look at 5 to 7. And he summoned each one

of his master's debtors. And he began saying

to the first, how much do you owe my master?

And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he

said to him, take your bill, sit down quickly

and write 50. And he said to another, and how

much do you owe? And he said, 100 measures of

wheat. And he said to him, take your bill and

write 80. He was a shrewd man. He knew everybody

likes to save money. So he called some of his

master's debtors and offered them a chance to

discount their debt by rewriting their contracts.

The amounts of food here are considerable, so

the discounts made a huge difference. It seemed

likely as well that Jesus cited these as simply

examples of what he did, that at the same time

he's rewriting other contracts for his master.

And it's easy to see how these other businessmen

who made a nice profit from the deals might be

grateful to him later on and willing to help

him. Now, here's the controversy. Some scholars

believe that in rewriting the contracts, this

represents a change of heart, that what he was

actually doing is removing his own excessive

interest charges from the bills he had been extorting

from his master's debtors. This is seen as a

step of honesty. If it's true, it does make the

master's praise of him in verse 8 a little more

understandable. So what do you think? Does this

view make sense to you? Do you think our dishonest

manager is actually turning over a new leaf here?

Well, as I've gone through this, I've come to

the conclusion this isn't a sudden attack of

conscience causing him to take a step in the

right direction, and here's why. First, there's

no evidence of repentance. Nothing he does indicates

he's repenting. There's no confession of sin,

no admission of wrongdoing, no seeking forgiveness

from his master. If this is repentance, it's

carefully disguised repentance. And secondly,

his motives are way off. As we just saw in verses

3 and 4, he didn't do this because he felt guilty

and wanted to make things right with his master

and his creditors. He did it to save his own

skin so that he would be taken care of when he

was fired. That doesn't strike me as the high

moral conviction of a man who's trying to change

his ways. Everything in these verses convinces

me that this is simply more the same dishonesty

that got him fired in the first place. Rather

than face up to his mismanagement, the steward

decided to be more dishonest. Creative, but dishonest.

And he also knew that he could count on finding

other businessmen who were as dishonest as he

was. Crisis and pressure usually reveal what's

really in our hearts. When everything's going

well and we're in control, it's easy to put up

a front and pretend we're so spiritual. Before

this, I'm sure many people thought this steward

was a good guy, just as many people thought all

the corporate execs in the early 2000s were good

guys. But when the pressure's on, what's in our

heart comes out, and he became more dishonest.

Pressure always forces our true character to

the surface. So how deep does our faith in God

go? We won't really know until hard times come

and the pressure is on. And that's when our true

character and commitment to God will either shine

through or crumble. And the time to build our

character is now so that when the pressure is

on, godliness will shine through. Crisis will

reveal a lot about our character and how deep

our faith goes. All right, let's talk about the

application of this parable. This is the fun

part, how we apply this to our lives. But to

do that, we're going to have to carefully sort

out exactly what Jesus is and isn't saying to

make sure that we don't draw any wrong conclusions.

But the heart of this parable is a challenge

to the people of God. to learn how to use their

money for the glory of God and to build his kingdom.

And as you will see, this parable is really a

call to financial faithfulness among the followers

of Jesus. Look at verse 8. Now, several key points

need to be made here. First, Because the steward

still had authority to act when he discounted

the bills, the contracts he signed were valid

and the master would have to honor them. And

second, the master isn't praising him for his

dishonesty. That's important to remember. What

he praises the manager for is his shrewdness,

for his quick thinking and using his position

to buy influence among wealthy people who would

be in a position to help him later. What he prays

for is knowing how to use the financial resources

of this world for his own good and to get what

he wanted in the world. That's the heart of Jesus'

comment at the end of this verse when he states

that the people of the world know how to use

money and resources at their disposal to win

friends and buy favor among the people around

them to get what they want. They understand money.

and power, and influence, and how to use money

to get their own way. That is how the game is

played. Look, it's no secret in Washington that

there is a pay -to -play mentality of many of

our office holders there. That if you give enough

money to the right campaign, you can buy influence

and favors. What did we find out this week during

hearings with RFK Jr.? Virtually every senator

and congressman on the committee he was sitting

before had taken money from the pharmaceutical.

Interesting. I wonder why they gave all that

money. It's a running joke in Washington. And

Jesus is saying, worldly people know how to play

that game, and they play it really well. There

is a shrewdness to how they go about using their

money to buy favors and influence. And this manager

knew how the game was played, and he played it

well to his own advantage. But what Jesus wants

us to understand and what he is about to go on

to explain is that his followers need to learn

how to be shrewd with their money and resources,

but not in a dishonest way, and not for themselves,

and not to gain power and influence in this world,

but to use that shrewdness to build the kingdom

of God. And so often God blesses us with resources

that he wants us to use for his kingdom. And

it never dawns on us that God might have a higher

purpose in blessing us than just satisfying our

own wants and desires. The people of God need

to learn how to use their money to the glory

of God and the kingdom of God the same way the

people of the world use their money for their

own desire and power. And in the next few verses,

Jesus is going to make some very insightful applications

of what it means for his followers to be shrewd

with their money. Remember, though, shrewd does

not mean dishonest. And the core idea that comes

up again and again is faithfulness. Are we being

faithful with the finances God has given us?

Are we using his money wisely and shrewdly to

build his kingdom and accumulate treasure in

heaven? Or are we spending it on our own wants

and desires without any real thought to what

God wants us to do? So let's go through the next

few verses and see what applications Jesus makes

for us. First, we have to make sure we're buying

influence in the right place. Look at verse 9.

dwellings. So let's define some terms here so

that we make sure we understand exactly what

Jesus is saying. The wealth of unrighteousness

or the mammon of unrighteousness should be understood

as worldly wealth. The money and resources the

people of this world seek so passionately. It's

unrighteous because it's uncertain, unstable,

easily lost, destined to perish, and it corrupts

the heart. But Jesus also recognizes that Christians

need to learn how to use worldly wealth in an

otherworldly way. And the French mention here

could be a way of referring to God who welcomes

into heaven those who learn to use their resources

wisely. But friends could also mean the people

we've touched for Christ here on earth through

using our finances wisely for the kingdom of

God, that they will welcome us into heaven one

day. I always think of that Ray Bolt song from

years ago, Thank You, where a man is standing

in heaven and someone comes up to him who he

never met on earth and tells him how God used

the money he gave that missionary and who preached

the gospel to him and led to his salvation. If

we use our money wisely, people will be touched

for eternity and we may well be welcomed into

heaven someday by friends we never knew. I believe

many people at Heart of the Canyons will be welcomed

into heaven one day by Nashi believers from China

because they helped send our mission team there

a few years ago and had a part in their salvation.

There may well be people in Madagascar who will

welcome Oak Hill people into heaven one day because

we helped expand and repair their church and

help them buy a school with the money we sent.

And it's just a small amount of money here, but

the fruit of it may go well beyond anything we've

ever thought of. So the first application Jesus

makes for us is that we better make sure we're

buying influence in the right place, in heaven,

not on earth. The dishonest manager used his

master's money to buy influence with the wealthy

and powerful on earth. Jesus wants us to learn

to use our money to buy influence in heaven.

That's the shrewdness Jesus wants us to have,

that we can take something very worldly and unrighteous

like money and use it to influence people for

eternity and gather treasure in heaven one day.

We are to seek treasure in heaven more than treasure

on earth. And did you catch that remark about

worldly wealth failing one day? It won't last

and it's destined to perish. Money can't save

us. We can't take one cent with us to heaven.

But we can use our money to invest in treasure

in heaven that will last for eternity. And we

can touch people for eternity with our money.

We can't take it with us, but we can send it

ahead. Second, learn faithfulness with this small

responsibility, money. Look at verse 10. He who

is faithful in a very little thing. My first

thought when I read this is that money doesn't

seem like such a small thing to me. It seems

like a very huge thing at times in my life. But

remember, the values of heaven are the exact

opposite from the values of earth. Gold, the

thing so many wars in human history have been

fought over, is used to pave the streets of heaven.

From God's perspective, money is one of the small

areas of responsibility that he uses to evaluate

our faithfulness. It seems pretty clear from

this verse that Christians who can't learn to

use their money wisely for God's kingdom will

be way off in other areas of their lives as well.

If our faith in Christ doesn't affect how we

use our money, it won't affect these other areas

either. Money is one of the weather vanes God

uses to measure our faithfulness. And it's very

simple. If we aren't trustworthy with the money

God gives us now, then we won't be very trustworthy

with the more important things of the kingdom

of God, like caring for people and using our

gifts and walking in integrity. Money is a weather

vane, how deep our faithfulness in God goes in

the things that really matter. Money is a small

thing in God's eyes, but it's a very big indicator

of the depth of our trust and faithfulness to

him in the kingdom. Faithfulness with money indicates

fitness for greater responsibility in the kingdom

of God. You wouldn't promote an employee who

couldn't handle the small responsibility of his

job. Neither will God. Third, money opens the

door to true riches. Look at verse 11. Do you

know that God has great plans for us? He wants

to use each and every one of us to extend his

kingdom and impact people for eternity. And he

wants to reward us for our faithfulness with

true riches, with treasure in heaven, with responsibility

for souls here, and effective ministry here and

now. God has great plans for all of us. But if

God can't trust us to be faithful with worldly

wealth he has given us, And he can't trust us

with eternal resources. Learning to use our worldly

wealth shrewdly for God's kingdom opens the door

to greater riches in our lives, both financial

and otherwise. And we forfeit those true riches

when we misuse our money and squander our resources.

Fourth, we are all stewards. Look at verse 12.

And if you have not been faithful in the use

of that which is in others, who will give you

that which is your own? This is a key concept

throughout this passage. We are all stewards.

And all the financial resources God has given

us belong to him, not us. We are the managers,

not the owners. And the key point Jesus is making

in this verse is that nothing we have right now

is ours. None of it belongs to us. It all belongs

to God. We have that which is another's. And

if we aren't faithful with it, God will never

give us any real resources of our own. We are

all stewards of God's money. And we will forfeit

treasure in heaven one day if we misuse God's

treasure here and now. If you found out your

accountant was living high on the hog on your

money instead of investing it for you, you'd

do one thing. You'd fire that accountant. Why?

Because he's wasting money that belongs to you

and not him. And if we show ourselves unfaithful

to God by squandering his resources, he certainly

isn't about to give us more resources of our

own. And finally, we can only have one God. Look

at verse 13. No servant can serve two masters,

for either he will hate the one and love the

other, or else he will be devoted to one and

despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Here's the crux of the issue. Why does God put

so much emphasis on measuring our faithfulness

with money? Why is he so concerned about how

we spend our money? Because when you cut through

all the facades and all the excuses, how we use

our money reveals who our God really is. Remember,

our God is who we serve, who we trust in, who

we lean on in hard times. And for most people

in America today, money is their God and their

faith is in their affluence. That's why so many

people get so rattled when the stock market tanks.

And while it's possible to have both God and

money, it's impossible to serve both God and

money. One will reign supreme and dominate all

our decisions. And for most people today around

us, money dominates. And Jesus is warning us

to make sure our faith and trust are squarely

in the one true God and not in money like so

many around us. It's a call for us to be different

from the unbelieving world we live in. We are

to constantly check our hearts because the lure

to trust money is so subtle and destructive in

our lives. So putting all these verses together,

we can get an accurate picture of how God views

money in our lives. First, We need to be sure

we are using our money shrewdly to buy influence

in the right place, heaven, and that we're using

it to affect people for eternity. Second, money

is a small area of our lives, but one that reveals

our fitness for greater service in the kingdom

of God. God is looking for faithfulness. Third,

when we use our money the right way on earth,

it leads to greater treasure in heaven and usefulness

now. And fourth, we are all stewards of God's

resources and our money belongs to him, not us.

He expects us to use it wisely for his kingdom

and he will reward us if we do. And finally,

how we use our money reveals who our God truly

is. If we are truly seeking after God and his

kingdom, it will be clearly seen in our checkbooks.

All right, so let's talk about the action. If

all this is true, what does God want us to do

now? See, it's not enough to know these things.

You're blessed if you do these things. So God

wants us to begin to examine how we use our finances

and to make sure that we are using our resources

in a way that reflects our commitment to him

and his kingdom. So here are some principles

we need to put into practice if we want to make

sure we are trusting God and not our money. Some

of these principles are from 2 Corinthians. and

I'd encourage you to read those chapters where

Paul talks about giving. First, we must give

faithfully. Giving is not a matter of what we

make. It's a matter of how much we trust God.

That trust must be reflected in faithful giving.

That means every time we get paid, we need to

set aside what we're going to give to God. We

have to establish a heart and a habit of faithful

giving in our finances. That's why Paul encourages

the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 16 .2 to put

aside money on the first day of every week to

give. And don't fall for the lie that says, well,

when I'm out of debt or when I pay off this bill

or when I get a raise, then I'll start giving

to God. That day will never come. God is not

interested in grand promises about what we will

do tomorrow. He is interested in our faithfulness

today. And if we aren't giving now, odds are

we won't give tomorrow either, no matter how

much we have. Faithfulness starts today with

what we have now. So set an amount and start

giving. Besides, maybe you're in debt because

you've never trusted God and you aren't giving

and he can't bless you. Oftentimes, giving is

one of the first steps out of debt. Second, we

have to give to God first. If you're not in the

habit of giving to God, then you need to start

by giving to God first. I guarantee you that

if you always wait to see what you have left

before you give, you'll never give. We can always

find ways to spend everything we have and more.

So commit to give to God first by writing your

first check to God before you pay the bills.

That way you can make sure God is not shortchanged

or overlooked, and it can help you develop that

habit of faithful giving. God wants our first

fruits, not our leftovers. Third, we have to

give freely. God is not interested in our money

if he has to pry it from our iron grasp. If we're

giving grudgingly and with resentment, God can

live without it. He wants us to give freely out

of gratitude because we understand what he has

done for us in giving us his son. And because

we realize what God can do through our gifts,

our gifts to God need to be given freely out

of love and gratitude to him. God loves a cheerful

giver. Fourth, we have to grow in our giving.

If we're serious in our walk with the Lord, we

will grow in our giving over time. When we get

a raise, our giving should increase. And quite

honestly, I don't know anyone who's serious about

growing in the Lord and seeking him who doesn't

come to the place somewhere in their lives where

they're tithing. This is me, not O 'Kill. Let

me make that clear. And I know there's some debate

on whether tithing is taught in the New Testament

or not. And that's something you'll have to wrestle

with in your walk with God. But even more, every

serious Christian I've ever met ends up tithing.

You may not be there yet, but let me encourage

you to begin to work toward getting there. Some

of you know this is true because God's been burdening

your heart with this, that this is something

you need to do. It's an issue of faith. But remember,

tithing is a floor. It's not a ceiling. It's

not like once you're tithing, you never have

to give any more. Once you've experienced the

joy of giving to God by tithing, we may end up

giving way more than a tithe. God wants us to

grow in our giving as we grow in our faith, and

tithing may well be a part of that for you. Again,

that's me. That's not Oak. All right. And fifth,

we have to give sacrificially. At times, giving

should hurt. We should feel compelled to give

even if it means we have to go without something.

And I don't mean giving up a Starbucks once in

a while. Paul praises the Macedonian believers

for giving out of their poverty and beyond anything

Paul expected them to do. They gave an overwhelming

gift. You know, my old church Cornerstone, we

had a family that went to Nekus, Uzbekistan as

missionaries for five years. It was a brutal,

hard place to serve. And we were a small church,

but our people gave faithfully and sacrificially

to support Scott and Dortha the whole time they

were there. And after four years, they had seen

the church grow from about 50 to about 90. And

then something amazing happened. Over their last

year there, the church exploded to almost 1 ,000,

and this in a Muslim country. It was a great

work of God fueled by the sacrificial giving

of a small church in Saugus, California. I reminded

what David said when he wanted to buy the threshing

floor from Arunah to make a sacrifice to the

Lord. And when Arunah offered to give him everything

for free, David refused and said, I will not

offer to God something which costs me nothing.

We need to give sacrificially. Six, we have to

change our habits. How do you know if your spending

habits are wrong? If you're American, they're

probably wrong. Look, most Christians don't struggle

with giving because they don't have enough. They

struggle with giving because they mismanage what

they have. We eat out way more than we should.

We buy more house than we need. We drive cars

that cost a fortune when we could be just fine

with something less. Or we trade them in every

two or three years because we're bored with them

when we could drive them for 10 or 12. We buy

all these toys because our friends have them.

And we spend ourselves into credit card purgatory

because we haven't learned to say no to our appetites.

Giving faithfully to God for most of us means

we'll have to do some radical surgery on our

money management. It will mean evaluating your

spending by God's standards, not Madison Avenue's.

And it will mean obeying God's command in Romans

13 .8 to stay out of debt by doing some plastic

surgery and cutting up those credit cards. so

that we get ruthless about avoiding new debt.

But financial freedom at the end of the process

will be worth it. And if you want some practical

help learning how to manage your money, I encourage

you to find a copy of Dave Ramsey's Financial

Peace University. You'll find some great information,

some great steps you can take on how to be better

stewards of what God has given you. Giving faithfully

means we'll have to change our habits. Finally,

this isn't in your notes, but I wanted to say

this. We live in a society that is absolutely

filled with covetous people. Whether that's people

out to get every nickel they can from anybody

and everybody, or politicians out to take everything

they can from anybody and everybody to use it

on their own whims. Covetousness is a disease

in our society. But you know what? Giving kills.

covetousness in our lives. One way to defeat

the coveting is by giving freely to develop that

generous spirit that goes so counter to the spirit

of the age. Learning to give will help kill coveting

in our hearts. Is all this easy? No, it's not.

But that's the wrong question. The question we

have to ask ourselves is, is this right? And

if it's right, then it doesn't matter whether

it's easy or not. We need to do it because it's

right. We all know in our hearts that we haven't

been as faithful as we should. We all know when

we've squandered a lot of our money and resources

on trivial stuff that's destined to perish and

worthless in light of eternity. The trouble is

they're not our resources to squander. They're

God's resources. And like the dishonest manager,

we have to give an account to God one day for

how we have used his money. Better to start changing

our habits now so we will not be ashamed later.

Now, there's an old saying that when you start

talking about money, you stop preaching and you've

gone to meddling. But the problem with that is

if you're committed to preaching Jesus, you have

to talk about money. Because Jesus talked more

about money than any other topic. And maybe he

knew just how big a struggle money is for people.

And any preaching that fails to bring to light

what God says about an area that so many of us

struggle in is not biblical preaching. And the

scary part is, if it was a struggle to keep money

in perspective back in Jesus' day, when most

people were dirt poor and barely got by, how

much bigger a problem is it today when affluence

corrupts so much of our society? I hate to think

what Jesus would say to our society about its

attitude toward money. And the tension between

needs and want, between coveting and contentment,

is a harsh reality we all have to wrestle with

every day. And it's time we learn the lessons

Jesus wants us to learn from this parable. That

God wants us to be good managers of the resources

and learn how to use our money shrewdly and wisely

for his kingdom and his glory. How we use our

money is a test of our faithfulness, and we all

need to ask God honestly to examine our hearts

and help us begin to change what we need to change.

Let's pray. Father, I know whenever we talk about

money, it always hits close to home, and it always

hits close to our hearts, Lord. We live in a

society that measures everything by dollars and

affluence and possessions and all those kinds

of things, Lord, things that are superficial,

things that are destined to fail and don't last.

And yet God... You want us to learn how to use

the unrighteous wealth of this world for a righteous

cause. To be shrewd in how we use these things

so that, Lord, we can build your kingdom, lead

people to Christ, and gather treasure for eternity.

Father, I pray you would help each of us to take

a deep look in our own hearts and that you would

show us how we can grow. And how we handle our

finances. That you would help us to grow in our

giving. That we would give faithfully. That we

would give sacrificially. That we would give

to you first. And that we would put you first.

That you would be our God and not money. So Father,

we ask you to do a work of grace in our hearts.

Work this through our lives over this next week.

And convict us in where we need to change. And

help us to grow in our giving. and in our understanding

of how we use our resources to glorify you and

build your kingdom. And we thank you now, Lord,

for this. In Jesus' name, amen.