JESUS ON SELF-JUSTIFICATION

Father, sometimes your word is really hard to understand, and sometimes your word, it's just hard to understand, it frightens us, sometimes it delights us, but sometimes it frightens us.

Father, we ask that you grow in us a great trust in you. We confess before you, Father, that your word is always a clear word, that it's our minds and hearts that need to be changed.

So, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would fall upon our minds and our hearts and our wills and our souls, so that we might hear your word and receive your word and receive Jesus as our Savior and Lord, and so with him as our Savior, that as your word enters into our life, that our lives, our day-to-day lives, will bear much fruit that brings you great glory.

Father, this is our prayer, and we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, one of the things that you can do for me is, in fact, if you start to drift off today because it's dark and you're tired because you're still trying to get over Christmas,

let me turn this, one of the things you could do is pray for me today and also pray for me for next coming Sunday.

Throughout the entire Christmas holidays, I was aware of the fact that I was going to come back in my first Sunday back to teaching on the book of Luke.

I was going to have two very hard texts to deal with.

The first one, which we're going to look at in a moment, Luke 16.

You might want to sort of get that in your Bibles because we're going to read it in a moment.

And if you don't have Bibles, there's always some Bibles up at the front that you can take, and you're welcome to use them.

Keep them as a gift from us or return them afterwards.

This week, we're going to deal with what all commentators agree is the hardest parable of all of Jesus' parables to understand.

And in fact, most commentators will say it's actually the hardest text to understand in all of the Gospel of Luke.

And next week, I get to talk about divorce.

So I have two hard texts.

And so if you could pray for me an extra amount this week, I would really appreciate it.

And so today, we're going to look at, those of you who know your Bibles,

we're going to look at the text of the dishonest steward.

The dishonest manager.

And in some ways, this is a nightmare text for people.

I bet if you were to read this text to the condo dwellers all around us,

or to many of the people in your work, maybe even your own family members,

it would just bring up many of the fears that people have about religion.

Because it seems as if in this parable that Jesus praises a fellow

for, first of all, being a lazy, ineffective worker,

and then ripping off his boss.

And it seems as if, in first reading, it looks as if Jesus is praising this behavior.

And as I said, it touches a nerve, because for many people in our culture,

when they see the Christian faith or any type of religion or spirituality,

they think that it's just a cover for immoral behavior.

I mean, over the past year, we've seen people in ISIS,

in between their five times of daily prayer,

playing soccer with the heads of people they've beheaded.

Popular fiction and movie, and maybe even our own experience,

is familiar with people who are deacons and elders in church on Sunday morning,

and the rest of the week they have their slum landlords,

they oppress their workers.

And this is the deep fear that many in our culture have,

is that religion and spirituality,

and therefore Christianity, the Christian faith,

is just a cover for evil.

And so when they see a text like this,

that appears to have Jesus promoting dishonest business dealings,

it's very difficult.

And for those of us who are followers of Jesus,

not even affected by the world in that particular way,

it's just a very troubling text.

Surely Jesus can't be promoting

what in other places he would say is evil.

So, Luke 16, 1 to 15,

I'm going to read the text.

And you'll see what I'm talking about very, very quickly.

If you're unfamiliar with the text,

some of you will say,

oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember that Bible text.

Others, maybe you're hearing it for the first time.

But here at Church of the Messiah,

we try to preach through books of the Bible,

and we're going through Luke.

So this is the text that we're going to look at today.

And here's how it goes.

Jesus also said to the disciples,

there was a rich man who had a manager,

and charges were brought to the rich man

that the manager was wasting his possessions.

And the rich man called the manager

and said to the manager,

what is this that I hear about you?

Turn in the account of your management,

for you can no longer be manager.

In other words,

the rich man's announced that the guy's being fired,

and he's giving him whatever,

a week, a month, or whatever it is.

He's giving him notice, but he's fired.

Inside, that's what the manager was doing.

He was screaming, as we'll see in a moment.

Verse 3,

And the manager said to himself,

what shall I do?

Since my master has taken the management away from me,

I am not strong enough to dig,

and I am ashamed to beg.

Ah, I have decided what to do,

so that even when I am removed from management,

people may receive me into their houses.

So summoning his master's debtors one by one,

the manager said to the first debtor,

how much do you owe my master?

And the debtor said,

a hundred measures of oil.

And the manager said to him,

take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50.

Now just sort of pause there for a second.

Two things.

In the ancient world,

the way that these types of debts

would have often been recorded

is that the person who was in debt,

they would write out,

if they could write,

they would write out in their own hand

that they owed so much money.

And so what the manager has done

is he's come,

and he's brought the copy

because he would keep the copy of what's owed,

and probably what he's done

is he's ripped it up or burned it,

and he said,

now write 50 instead.

And the fellow goes along with it.

And just to have a bit of a sense

of how much this is,

like a hundred measures of oil,

is it like a hundred bucks?

Is it like a hundred pennies?

Like what is it?

That was approximately the average,

it was approximately four years wages

for an average working guy or gal.

So that's how much it was.

Four years wages.

A lot of money.

Especially in a culture like that

where there was, in a sense,

virtually no middle class.

Basically, you had fairly well-off people.

A very, very tiny sort of middle class.

And then the rest of the people

were basically lucky

lucky if they could live paycheck to paycheck.

Just basically getting by.

And so four years wages,

that's a lot of money.

Okay, so back to verse 7.

Then the manager said to another debtor,

and how much do you owe?

And the man said,

I owe a hundred measures of wheat.

And the manager said to him,

take your bill and write 80.

And just sort of pause here for a second.

How much money is this worth?

It's worth somewhere between

10 to 12 years wages

for an average working guy or gal.

10 to 12 years wages

of an average guy or gal.

Almost enough for an average working person

to retire for the rest of their life.

Maybe it is enough.

Those of you who know about money

might say,

George, actually, if you have 10 times,

that's enough.

I don't know.

But it's close, right?

It's a lot of money.

A lot of money.

10 to 12 years wages

for an average working person.

So verse 8,

the first half of verse 8

is going to be the end of the parable.

And then after this,

Jesus is going to comment on the parable.

And so what happens next?

Well, we find in verse 8,

the master finding out

what the manager,

his manager has done.

Verse 8,

End of parable.

Wow.

What a parable.

And then,

because the verses were written,

added like a thousand years

or something like that,

more after the writing of the New Testament,

some monks added it.

Most scholars would say

that the parable ends with

the master commended

the dishonest manager

for his shrewdness.

And now we start to have

Jesus' comments on it.

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.

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 in others,

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.

The Pharisees,

who were lovers of money,

heard all these things,

and they ridiculed Jesus.

In fact,

ridicule is a good word,

but it's just,

they sneered at him,

they despised him,

they had contempt for him,

and their contempt for Jesus

comes out in a contemptuous,

deriding,

sneering,

abusive language.

And Jesus said to them,

you are those

who justify yourselves

before men,

but God knows your hearts,

for what is exalted among men

is an abomination

in the sight of God.

So,

what's going on in this text?

You know,

some of the lessons

that Jesus says

all sound pretty good.

I mean,

some of us will have

real concerns about this.

I've become very conscious

over the last year or two

that whenever we talk about money,

that for Quebecois,

I hope I'm pointing

in the right direction,

for our Quebecois friends,

there's this long memory

of how the church

kept,

used Christian teaching

to keep them poor.

And so,

there's hackles raised

about any time money

is raised.

And there's some complexities

there to Jesus' teaching,

but is Jesus

contradicting himself?

Like,

at the end,

he seems to say

that dishonesty isn't good,

but in the early part,

he seems to be

commending the guy

for,

not,

he seems to be

commending the guy

for being lazy

and ineffective,

dealing with his laziness

and ineffective

by ripping off his boss

and actually conspiring

with other people

to rip off the boss

so that when he's fired,

he'll be able to live

with the guys

who have conspired

to rip off the owner.

And that's a very odd parable.

So,

what's going on?

Is this justifying?

Is this,

is the Bible,

in a sense,

saying,

go thou

and do likewise?

Well,

here's the first thing

I'm going to say,

and it's going to be

a little bit of a surprising direction

to maybe talk about,

but it's actually

a very good point

to mention here,

and it's a good point

to remember

all of the time

that we read the Bible.

And here's the first point.

Unlike you and me,

the living God

is not insecure.

Unlike you and me,

the living God

is not insecure.

Now,

why do I say this?

You know,

there's a figure

by the name of

Feuerbach,

whose name I probably

haven't pronounced correctly,

and he influenced

a guy by the name of Marx,

and they all

influenced people

like Freud.

And they sort of

are just capturing

some things

that some early Greeks

said,

because,

you know,

everything's sort of

just footnotes

to Aristotle.

And one of the things

that they developed

was this idea

that human beings,

like Marx and Feuerbach

said,

and Freud said

that God doesn't exist,

that what happens

is that we project

desires that we want

or that our tribe wants,

and we project this

to create

some imaginary being

called God.

And,

now,

Christians should accept

that this is true,

by the way.

Christians should accept

that this is true,

that Feuerbach

and Marx

and Freud

and early ancient Greeks

and modern people

who say that,

that they're actually

saying something

which is true

about human nature.

We do project

onto God

and create a God

in our own image

and likeness

that reflects

our insecurities,

our fears,

our longings,

our yearnings,

and stuff like that.

The place we disagree

with Freud and all

is that

well,

that's actually

sort of begging

the question

as to whether or not

there actually

is such a being

called God

who does exist.

And what if there

is a God

that does exist

and we Christians

aren't saying anything

other than the fact

that we're beggars

telling one other beggar

where to find bread

and we believe

not that our philosophy

is wiser,

not that,

because we have,

we're not saying

that we have smarter philosophers,

smarter mystics,

smarter poets,

smarter thinkers

than anybody else,

we're not claiming

anything special,

all we're saying

is that God

has spoken

and revealed himself

and we've received it.

But the fundamental insight

that we project

ourselves

is very true.

And so you see,

the fact of the matter

is that every human being

is insecure.

Some of us

are massively,

unbelievably,

wildly,

you know,

you know,

bridezilla type

of insecure.

And others,

it's maybe deeply buried,

but all of us

have divided hearts.

All of us,

in fact,

have very,

very different

types of desires.

Like,

it's not unusual,

if you're honest

with yourself,

it's not unusual

that over the course

of the day,

that part of the day

you might sort of wish

that you were as gentle

and wise

as St. Francis of Assisi

and other times

you might wish

that you were like

Hugh Heffler,

at the Playboy Mansion.

In other points in time

you might believe

that you might sort of

have as a virtue

that you're just

caring for other people

the way Mother Teresa

cared for people.

And then another point

in time in the day

you wish that you were

like Arnold Schwarzenegger

or Bruce Willis,

I'm talking like as a guy,

okay?

And that you could

sort of blast people

and on.

And other times

you sort of wish

that you were

as evangelistic

as Billy Graham

and the other day,

parts of the time

you wish that you were

maybe just able

to talk and curse

and do all sorts of things

and this can all happen

in the course of a day,

it can happen

in the course of an hour,

but it can definitely

happen in the course

of a week.

that we have all these

different personas

and desires

all going on within us

and we're unstable

because we're multiple selves

and that always creates

within us

a fundamental insecurity.

And because we're insecure

it means that we have

great problems

with doctrines

like God's grace,

doctrines like

of judgment,

of hell,

of human freedom,

of providence,

all of these things

we have problems

not just when we come

to this parable

which I'm still going

to get to in a moment,

I haven't forgotten it,

but we have problems

with it all the time

because as part of our

insecurity

and our multiple selves

we're very aware

of the fact that

whether it's ourselves

or somebody else

or maybe we grew up

in a family

where the dad

wasn't able to express

being unhappy

with his wife

so he took it out

on the kids

or the dad

wasn't able to deal

with the fact

that he couldn't get

along with his boss

and so he takes it

out on the wife

or maybe we had a boss

and we can see

that she wasn't able

to deal with her anger

or discipline

and her employees

so she took it out

maybe on waiters

or waitresses

or on her own family

and we're just used

to people

and we can see

it in our own selves

we're inconsistent

and sometimes

we're too aggressive

and sometimes

we're too weak

and passive

and so when we see

doctrines in the Bible

of God's grace

and of judgment

and of hell

and of God speaking

without realizing it

we project

our insecurities

and our multiple selves

onto the text

and we worry

that that's what God's like

but the Bible wants us

to know

that God

is never

ever

and never has been

insecure

and he's never had

multiple selves

or multiple desires

God is always

unchangeably

himself

and that the

whole doctrine

of God's

unchangeableness

is designed

to protect

this idea

that we don't have

to wake up tomorrow

to discover

that God now says

that murder is good

we don't have to worry

that tomorrow

we will wake up

and God has changed

his mind

on anything

nothing can change

God's mind

nothing can stop

God from being God

God is always

himself

he's always good

he's always true

he's always wise

he's always strong

he's always present

he's always active

he always knows

all things

he is unchangeably

himself

and because

he's so secure

he and his word

allows images

to be used

of the Christian

life and of himself

which are shocking

to us

you see

we don't want to use

we don't want to refer

to ourselves

in ways

I mean we might

sort of play around

and refer to ourselves

in shocking types

of ways

in areas where

we're secure

but in an area

where we're not

secure about

ourselves

and somebody

uses an analogy

about us

that touches on us

we get very

very uncomfortable

with it

but God

is always secure

and that's why

in the Bible

like you know

if we went to the

condos

or the University

of Ottawa

and we were to say

that one of the

main images

that God uses

of himself

is the Lord of hosts

which means

that he's the

commander in chief

of angel armies

that would make

people very

uncomfortable

that might not

make us uncomfortable

some of us

it might

but others

it would make

them very uncomfortable

but God

compares himself

in the Bible

sometimes to a

drunken soldier

to an unjust

uncaring judge

the whole means

by which Jesus

died for us

has become

just a common

place

and people

wear it as

jewelry

but it was

unbelievably

shocking

and offensive

to the first

generations

of people

who knew

crucifixion

as something

that they would

if not witness

in their lifetime

at least have

heard about

or know

that it happens

in parts of the

empire

and many of them

it would have

been a living

experience

for them

that they

would have

witnessed

and so

the first

thing is

okay

we're shocked

here

Jesus is

using an

analogy

of a whole

pile

of corrupt

people

well we

probably

wouldn't do

that

but God's

not insecure

Jesus isn't

insecure

he knows

who he is

and because

he knows

who he is

he's able

to use

things which

are shocking

shocking

to good

people like

you and me

who

even if we

cheat on

our taxes

even if

sometimes

the person

at the

cash

gives us

too much

change

and we

don't

return

the

difference

because

they gave

us

ten dollars

or twenty

dollars

too much

we know

we know

that we

shouldn't

do it

and we'd

like to

think

that we

would be

the type

of people

who wouldn't

do those

things

but this

parable might

speak very

powerfully to

other people

and God is

not insecure

so he uses

sometimes shocking

things to catch

our attention

and throughout

these last two

weeks over

Christmas when I

would mention to

different people I

was going to

preach on this

they say Luke

16 what the

answer the story

about the

dishonest manager

they go whoa

that parable

like people who

read through the

gospels that's one

of the parables that

sticks in their

mind because it

sticks in their

craw it sticks in

our craw

so that's the

first it's just a

general thing about

it all the time is

that we realize that

we're reading the

text it's not that

the Bible is ever

unbalanced it's we're

unbalanced and we

fear that our

unbalancedness and

insecurity and

multiple selves that

that's somehow an

evidence in the text

and God is never

insecure he's always

himself he's always

God praise be to

God we never have

to worry that God

will stop being

loving never

nothing can stop him

being loving

nothing can stop him

being love itself

so somebody said okay

George well that's

okay okay well

okay so God uses

shocking images

but George George

George George

this is a this is a

parable about

conspiracy successful

apparently successful

conspiracy to

defraud and

Jesus does seem to

commend the person

for it and so

what on earth is

going on okay

well here's I'm

going to put up the

point and I'm

going to try to

explain the point

and if you could

put up the second

point here's what I

think is going on in

the text the Bible

presents only two

ways two ways for

human beings to

follow or to live

one way is to

strive for self

justification the

other way is by

humble faith in

Jesus receive God's

free gift of

justification I'll

say the game I

think the Bible has

lots of different

ways that it

phrases this but the

Bible is constantly

trying to get us to

see that there's two

ways to live and in

this particular case and

it's going to sort of

have a sort of an echo

in the text one way to

live is to strive for

self justification to

justify ourselves and

justify ourselves before

ourselves and before

other people the other

way to live is to live

by humble faith in

Jesus and receive in

receiving and receive

God's free gift of

just of justification in

other words that through

Jesus God justifies us

God completely and

utterly justifies us he

does it by grace as a

gift through Jesus and

we can add nothing to

that justification it's

all comes from God so

some of you might say

well George I like that

message but I sure

don't see it here in

the text well here's

where just sort of

bear with me we have to

do a little tiny bit of

sort of inquiry to see

why I say this so

remember how the

parable goes right and

we all remember how it

goes and we remember

about the master

commending the fellow

excuse me the first

thing is that the

commending actually sort of

funny type of thing now

you all know that I I

like if you come here to

the church at all you

know that I like movies

that have like murders in

them I like books that

have murders or bank

robberies and and all of

that type like really bad

people and all of that

in fact the book that I

just finished reading one

of the things in the book

was that there's a guy who

sort of had his finger in

all of the criminal

activities that were going

on in this large area and

of course in that case

there's lots of other

criminals who sometimes

try to encroach and take

over part of the business

and there's several times

in the book where the guy

says he's a criminal by

the way he's also a deacon

in the local church but

that's a separate matter he

gets himself elected the

deacon on the deacon's

board of his of his

Baptist church first

Baptist of the of the area

but he's he's running

he's running prostitutes

he has a strip club he's

running drugs he's running

illegal weapons and does

money laundering and he you

know you get the idea this

is a really really bad guy

and but several times when

people try to muscle in or

do something else he says to

himself something like these

words he says my aren't you

an industrious and clever

fellow that's what he says

my aren't you a clever and

industrious fellow and then

of course he goes and has the

guy killed okay but but that's

what he says he sort of

admires the fact that the

person who's trying to rip

him off is trying to be as

good a criminal as he is and

so you know I would say that

this commending of the of the

guy at the end by the rich guy

isn't necessarily something if

you sort of look at it from

that point of view it's not

necessarily something

especially when you then see

what Jesus says but here's

why it's all about self

justification the first thing

is if you go back and look at

verse 15 and you have

actually yeah verse 15

actually we're going to go back

to a context thing we'll start

at verse 1 look what it says

here he also said to the

disciples also said in other

words this parable is linked to

the parable before it in fact what

you can imagine doing is that the

first parable if you go back and

look at chapter 15 there's three

parables and the one immediately

before this is the parable of the

prodigal son and so what you can

imagine is that there's this

conflict and there's all these

Pharisees over here sorry I'm not

picking on this side of the

congregation okay the Pharisees are

over here and and Jesus has his

disciples behind him okay and in

chapter 15 it's as if Jesus says

these three parables his

disciples can hear him says these

three parables concluding with the

parable of the prodigal son and he

says it to the Pharisees the

religious people the spiritual people

the elite people of the culture and

then after he said these three

parables he turns to the disciples

the Pharisees are all still now behind

Jesus they can hear what Jesus says to

the disciples and Jesus tells them this

disciple of the dishonest manager and

then after he tells them the parable

of the dishonest manager he goes on and

tells them about which we'll look at in

a moment about you know people you know

if you're if you're dishonest and little

you'll be dishonest and much if you're

faithful and little you'll be faithful

and much you can't serve God and mammon

and as he finishes that what he hears

behind him is the Pharisees the

religious and the spiritual the elite

the cultural elite the well-educated the

powerful they sneer at Jesus they

ridicule him they deride him for

everything he said and Jesus turns now

with his back to his disciples and looks

at the Pharisees and says in verse 15

you are those who justify yourselves

before men but God knows your hearts for

what is exalted among men is an

abomination in the sight of God

why were these people ridiculing Jesus

for the prodigal son and the dishonest

manager Jesus says that what led them to

ridicule was because they believed in

self-justification and the worship of

money and he said anything all self

justification is an attempt to exalt

yourself and God finds it an abomination

so the two parables are linked and

actually if you think about it I don't

know how well you know you folks know

the parable of the prodigal son when you

go home today maybe you can read it again

and if you read the prodigal son and you

read the story of the dishonest manager

and you go from one parable to another

you'll be surprised at the number of

similarities in both cases there's a man

who's using somebody else's wealth and

desires somebody else's wealth in both

cases there's waste of the wealth in both

cases there's sort of not only the desire

for the wealth but the wasting of the

wealth and in both cases after the wealth

has been wasted there is either the threat

or the reality of being reduced to a

lower working class status and in both

cases there is the worry that once the

wealth is gone you're going to be

friendless in both cases in both stories

that's the same thing and in both stories

the characters have a brain wave they go

oh I got it oh I got it in both stories

the prodigal son when he's feeding the

the corn husks to the the not the corn husks

he's just feeding the pods to the pigs and

he says oh I got it the dishonest manager

when he knows he's about to be fired going

to be reduced to even lower than dicking

ditches and begging he goes oh I got it and

in both cases there I got it they have a

strategy to move forward in both stories

both stories very similar structure and

but you see in the first story those of

you if you go back and listen to my

sermon on I think was the second Sunday

in December you'll see that in the first

story the prodigal God it's really a

prodigal son it's really a story about God

and and it's a story that God sees the

son long before the son sees so this the

son in humility decides his exit strategy

is you know what I'm never gonna have any

money anymore but what I really need is

to be with my father I'd rather be home

with my father and poor than anything else

and so remember he prepares a speech he

says you know I've been very bad I've

wasted your money I'm no longer worthy

to be called your son would you at least

let me live at your house and work as a

servant and that's his strategy and the

story is that as he goes that the story

is not fundamentally about his strategy

although the strategy is fun very very

important but the father who sees the

son long before the son sees the father

that the father crosses the distance

between himself and the son and goes

and embraces the son and welcomes the son

and the son only says part of his little

prepared speech before the father saying

bring my bring the best robe which is his

own robe and cover this guy and let's have

a party because my son who is dead is alive

again

and in the second story of the dishonest

manager he says you know what how can

there be an existence apart from money and how

can I possibly have an existence apart from

being seen as really being important how can

there be any life worth living if I don't have

money and I'm not important so I'm going to find some

criminals and I'm going to hope that the

parable by the way is incomplete the parable

doesn't say whether at the end of this in the

next step that the rich man says hmm aren't you a

clever fellow okay kill him

okay my servants go out whack him you know kneecap

him you have no idea whether the the criminals are going to

actually accept the guy that the parable is incomplete

because it's not a moralistic thing it's not about

moralism and principles it's about the fact that God looks at our

heart and these two parables reveal radically different

understandings of the human heart in the context of the living God

in the prodigal son he humbly sets aside any type of self-justification

and to his huge surprise and to our surprise we discover that God

justifies and accepts the son in the last story the manager only desires

desires to continue to have money be the center of his life and seek his own

self-justification two radically different approaches and stories to life

in the first story part of what is going on is all we see is that the father

justifies the son and we don't realize that the parable is preparedness

remember those of you who've been here other weeks

that from chapter 9 on every single thing that happens in the gospel of Luke is

Jesus regularly every chapter and a half or two chapters says to his disciples

we're going to Jerusalem I'm going to Jerusalem to die

I'm going to Jerusalem to die I'm going to Jerusalem to die keeps reminding people

and when we read the gospel we have to remember that everything that's said is all in the context

of Jesus going to Jerusalem to die and so at the time of the prodigal son we don't understand

that how the son will be justified is is not merely by some degree of declaration by the father but that the

that the this that ultimately my justification in yours comes by Jesus's finished work upon the cross

that it will be the death of Jesus upon the cross that ultimately justifies you and me

me accepting his finished work is what justifies me

we don't know that I mean we know it because we know the story but when you're reading the story it's just preparing you for this

so the Bible is setting before us two different ways

the one way is to strive for self-justification

or by humble faith in Jesus receive God's free gift of justification

well some of you are saying well what about the money aspect

and what about how does it all end with verse 9 and all of that other stuff

and and is is the Bible now is Jesus saying that money is like dirty

like George isn't that sort of what those priests said to the Quebecois

for many many generations or at least I mean whether it's true or not I don't know

just in in in for many people when they think about it that's what they believe happened

I'm not saying it did I just it's what they believe happened

that um I'm not saying that they're wrong either

I I don't know enough about Quebecois history to know whether it's a fair depiction

but are is this just is this why that the the priests in the in the church

in Quebec they would tell people that money is dirty

and so they shouldn't seek to make money and they shouldn't seek promotions and ambitions

and that allowed all these Anglican and Baptist and United Church Anglophones

to get all the rich positions

is that I George is still a bit confused

well we're going to look at it but the first thing we have to understand is

is something about what it means to be justified by Jesus

when we put our when in repentance we turn to Jesus

and we say father I'm I'm no longer worthy to be called your son or your daughter

I cannot justify myself

I I cannot exalt myself

that whole project comes to an end

all I can do is just hope and trust that what your son has done for us on the cross

that you will justify me in him

that you will do this by grace

out of love and mercy for me

you know father how divided my heart is

you know that one moment I think I want to be like Billy Graham

the next minute I want to be like Bruce Willis

you know that on one on one moment I want to be faithful

the next moment I want to be like Hugh Hefner

you know that you know all those you know these terrible

you know how father you know everything going on inside of me

I cannot justify myself

I all I can do is come to you for mercy

and trust that you will justify me

and have justified me

through what Jesus has done for me on the cross

that you will not weigh my merits

you will only pardon my offenses

and I come to you

I come to you

and what happens after we're justified

well that's what we have to understand

that's what Jesus is talking about in the text

it's what happens in verses 9 and 10 and 11 and 12 and 13

it's I put it this way

when I am justified by God

my life begins to bear fruit for his glory

when we really have been justified by God

our lives start to bear fruit for his glory

let's look at the text

and see how it how it works itself out a little bit

and then we'll talk just in closing a little bit

how's my time

we'll talk in closing just a tiny little bit about money

I've gone on a long time

hopefully I haven't lost you

look at verse

so verse 8

the master commended the dishonest manager

for his shrewdness

it's the end of the parable

now Jesus begins to comment

for the sons of this world

are more shrewd

in dealing with their own generation

than the sons of light

and the word shrewd there

in the Old Testament

the Hebrew Old Testament

was early on

before Jesus' time

translated into Greek

and so often in fact

many people believe

that most of the time

when the apostles were reading the Bible

they were reading the Greek version of the Bible

most of the time

and the word in Genesis chapter 3

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

if you know that story about the serpent

and the word in Greek

that they use to translate how the serpent is

is the same word that's used here

in other words

remember when it says about the serpent

that the serpent was more subtle

than other creatures

more shrewd than other creatures

that's the word that's used here

it's not a compliment

to be said that you're like

the serpent in the Garden of Eden

that's not something

that you should say

whoa

boy that's off my bucket list

I've always desired to be compared

to the serpent in the Garden of Eden

who leads all of mankind astray

Jesus is commenting upon the fact

that you're dealing with a story here

that's all about people

who are all consumed with money

the rich man and the manager

and the creditors

they're all consumed with money

money is their God

but he's going to make a shocking thing

he's going to say the fact

that the fact of the matter is

is that even though these people

are all consumed with money

that's all that consumes them

yet you know what

at least they pursue this

with diligence

so how should we then live

if even thieves and criminals

pursue their end

with diligence

does it mean

that when you have received

the justification

that comes from me

that you don't have to pursue anything

if thieves understand

that they should pursue money

now that I have justified you

shouldn't you pursue something

what should you pursue

verse 9

he begins to talk about it

and I tell you

make friends for yourselves

by means of unrighteous wealth

I'll talk about that in a moment

so that when it fails

they may receive you

into the eternal dwellings

and the word fails

there is actually

it's an interesting word

it's a good word

but the original word

in the original language

is the word that we get

the word eclipse from

in other words

when money is eclipsed

for you

remember he's talking

to the disciples

money

you live in a world

where money exists

but you know what

one day

money

will be eclipsed

for you

so he said

you know

using the thing

as the guy

in the parable

was hoping

that by his criminal activity

he would make friends

and so what Jesus

is saying

is eternal dwellings

the word for dwelling

there

which is a good word

it's the same word

used for tabernacle

and it's a place

where God meets with you

and he said

you know

when you're justified

by what I've done

for you on the cross

where's your destination

now?

you're going home

and home

is to be with God

to live in the new heaven

and the new earth

that's what my justification

does for you

that's your new destination

you know

you sojourn in Canada

but your true home

is heaven

and that's where you're going

and if that's where you're going

use

and here Jesus takes

the argument

from other people

you know

like a lot of times

religious and spiritual people

will say

we don't want to talk about money

money is unclean

it's dirty

you know

it's worldly

it's carnal

it's unimportant

you can't take it with you

and there's all this talk

of sort of despising money

but inwardly

we still like it

and we like to have more of it

and we get upset

and we go back to the cashier

if she didn't give us enough change

or he didn't give us enough change

because you know

we can talk about money

being unclean

and carnal

and unspiritual

and unworthy

and non-eternal

and all that

but we live in a world with money

still has a hold on us

and Jesus is saying

okay folks

you're going to be justified

by what I've done for you

on the cross

you're going to receive that

but once you're justified by me

you're going to bear fruit

and part of how you're going to bear fruit

is you're now going to start to understand

that you're going

to this future

and this future is guaranteed

so use your worldly resources

in such a way

that fits

with your destination

the dishonest manager

he had no destination

other than money

he had no destination

other than being important

he didn't really care ultimately

about any particular person

he didn't care

which one of these creditors

took him in

because he ultimately

didn't care about people

all he cared about

was himself

and he cared about money

that's what he cared about

and that was his destination

and he pursued that diligently

and Jesus said

if these guys

can pursue these things diligently

you're going to be justified

by me

when you put your faith

and trust in me

now

you're going

to live with God

and if that's your destination

use the resources

that you have

in such a way

that fits

with where you're going

and then he goes on

and he talks about it

one who is faithful

you know

now that

okay

well

okay Jesus

how do I do that

like what do I do

if that's my destination

like what do I have to understand

you know

and Jesus says

well one who is faithful

verse 10

in a very little

is also faithful in much

you know

money is in a sense

a very little thing

it's going to be eclipsed

but you know

if you're not faithful

in these little

tiny little things

how are you going to be faithful

in big things

like who's going to believe you

like part of the fruit

that's going to come

from justification

is you're going to have

a desire built up within you

that you need to develop

habits around

to desire to be faithful

even in little things

why

because

one

and one who is dishonest

and very little

is also dishonest

and much

and what else

does Jesus say

if then you have not

been faithful

in the unrighteous wealth

he's taking their language

from them

who will entrust you

to the true riches

the riches

that eclipse

money

and if you have not

been faithful

in that which is another's

because

you know

at the end of the day

the Bible is going to teach

that we're all just

managers of resources

we don't really own anything

God puts things

under our care

but you know

when we die

it all goes back

in the box

goes to somebody else

and ultimately

it's God's

and you have to understand

I have to understand

that the money's ultimately

not my money

it's God's money

it's not my resources

it's God's resources

I didn't do anything

to create my DNA

and if my DNA

means I have a certain

type of IQ

and a certain type of health

and God has blessed me

with you know

a wife and kids

and living in Ottawa

and he's given me

these resources

gosh

I was born in this country

I don't know why

God had me born here

rather than in

you know

Sri Lanka

or in this

you know

in slums of Shanghai

I didn't do anything

to accomplish that

and God has given me

some resources

he's given you

maybe lesser resources

some of you

is giving more resources

but whatever resources

that God has put

put in your control

he's given them to you

to manage them

for him

he's given you

to them

to manage

for him

and if you have not

been faithful

in that which is in others

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

the Pharisees

who are lovers of money

heard all these things

and they ridiculed Jesus

they sneered at him

they despised him

why?

you are those

who justify yourselves

before men

but God knows your hearts

for what is exalted

among men

is an abomination

in the sight of God

two final points

just to try to bring it home

the first one is this

verse 4

Jesus asks me

will I manage money

in service of money

or will I manage money

in service of the living God?

will I manage money

in service of money

or will I manage money

in service of the living God?

see the issue is

we all live in a world

where money exists

right?

we all live in a world

like that

and we can't just pretend

that it's unspiritual

so we don't have to bother

with it

because all that does

is it just allows greed

and envy

and to fester within us

and it allows us

to be ungenerous

and hoarding types of spirits

just to grow within us

to start to think

when we think of it

it's just underneath us

and beneath us

it just allows us

to exalt ourselves

and Jesus says

listen the issue is

in the throne of your heart

who's on the throne

of your heart

and on the throne

of your heart

the center of who you are

for many of us

it's myself

and money

and other idols as well

it might be the idols

of tribe

or of nation

or of job

or career

or whatever it is

but there's a host

of idols

sitting on the throne

of our heart

and the throne

of our heart

should only have

one person

sitting on it

and that should be

the living God

it should be Jesus

who's died to redeem us

and to restore us

to that which we were

created for

because we were created

to have God

at the throne of our hearts

our hearts are restless

till they rest in him

and Jesus says

you can end up

serving money

managing money

but really what you're doing

you're managing money

because you worship money

which means that

money manages you

and money will fail

one second after death

Bill Gates

and the poorest person

in Ottawa

one second after

they both die

if they die at the same time

one second after death

they have the same

financial resources

so the issue isn't

do you manage money

the issue is

who are you managing

money for

money

himself

or the living God

one final thing

Jesus calls me

to manage the resources

under my care

for the glory

of the living God

Jesus calls me

to manage the resources

under my care

for the glory

of the living God

you see that's why

there's nothing wrong

if God has granted you

the ability to start a business

start a business

bless the city

you know one of the ways

that we bless the city

that we help the poor

is by starting businesses

that create employment

for people

and you know

and you know

and you know

if he's giving you

some type of a vision

to start a dance troupe

or something like that

those are some you know

resources that you have

or to paint beautiful pictures

or to make films

or just you know

God calls you into marriage

and maybe you end up

deciding that you're going

to have a little bit

less money

so one of you

can stay home

to care for the kids

that hopefully God

will bless you with

and you know

the thing is

is that these are all

resources that God

has put under your care

and you're to manage them

not thinking about

how can I maximize money

in service of money

but you be wise

and work hard

and seek promotions

if God has granted you

that ability

to seek promotions

and manage those resources

but you manage them

not to enthrone yourself

and not to enthrone money

but you manage them

for the glory of God

and that's why

you see

that it's part of that

that just as well

as you manage

the resources

and maybe cause

the resources

to thrive

and grow

but at the same time

because

you're not worshipping money

that's why you give money

to the poor

and why you give money

to the church

it's why

the spiritual discipline

of tithing

is so important

for a Christian

that there's at least

a bit of a benchmark

in the Bible

put about

okay well

how is it

that I show

that I'm going to

dethrone money

as the thing

which drives

my managing of money

well one of the ways

you do it

is you give money away

oh no

I'd rather have

a spiritual thing

like I'd rather have

a spiritual experience

in church

and God says

no no no

you can't dethrone money

in your life

unless you give money away

and you know

you can trust me

I'm going to provide for you

but you've got to

give money away

and we're suggesting

some people

like Mother Teresa

she had to give away

everything

some of us

maybe God's going to

call us that

that we have to

give away everything

maybe it's more than

10%

but that's how we

dethrone money

in our lives

that's how we

manage money

in such a way

that we show

that we're living

to the glory of God

tithing is such

an important

spiritual discipline

connected to this text

to help us

to understand

how to live

but build your business

get the promotions

look out for interest rates

you know

if you have

credit card debt

you know

talk to somebody

who can help you

put all that

under a line of credit

with a lower interest

you know

because

it's not a particular sign

of being very spiritual

to give lots of money

to credit card companies

when you can

you know

that money can be kept

for yourself

you can give it to the poor

you can give it to the church

like there's lots of better uses

for that money

but manage your money

manage your resources

use your energy

use your mind

get the degrees

get the promotion

manage your resources

but don't do it

for the exaltation of yourself

don't do it

to justify yourself

in the eyes of men

don't do it

to prove

to your parents

or your teacher

or your coach

that they were wrong for you

you have the opportunity

I have the opportunity

to be justified

by the finished work

of Jesus upon the cross

so that at the end

of our life

when we die

that which we can

begin to know now

we will hear

at the end

where God

the creator

the living God

says to me

George

fill in your own name

I am so glad

you've come to see me

and be with me

face to face

I've been looking

forward to this

come

I welcome you

into my kingdom

there's no greater

justification

than that which

comes from God

so live for his glory

receive that

which he gives

he'll give you

it in such a way

that you start to bear fruit

live for his glory

please stand

bow our heads

in prayer