Today’s Scripture

Psalm 119:33-40         Amos 8:4-7     1 Timothy 2:1-8          Luke 16:1-13

 

            What a story!  There is breaking news in town about a major financial institution where the chief financial officer has absconded with a significant amount of funds.  To keep himself from being discovered he bribed the head internal auditor who has located to France.  The CFO is now in a Caribbean Island and immune from prosecution.  Did I get your attention?  (of course this is made up).

 

            Jesus tells about a steward, the Chief Financial Officer cooking the books for his benefit.  Then the guy goes out and brides others to put himself in a good light.  Jesus certainly got their attention then as he does to us today.  Both the listeners at Jesus’ time and us today have a lot of questions about this dishonest steward.  Then Jesus asks the tough question, “So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?  And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?  [v. 11-12]

 

            Jesus presents this parable designed to teach a specific concept.  It is not a story that merely derives from human experience.  Jesus (i.e. God) puts this parable together in order to teach his disciples, to teach his followers of all times to use earthly wealth, individual talents and ability, and the time God has given each wisely.  The wicked of this earth use their time, talents and wealth to accomplish their own purposes.  Jesus leads his followers to strive to use time, talents and wealth to accomplish God’s purposes, to save sinners.  Jesus concludes the parable with an analogy between earthly and eternal riches.  It is a very stern and upfront warning.  If you are not trustworthy in handling earthly wealth, how can you be trusted with eternal riches? 

 

            Through Paul, God reminds us that he has made us co-heirs with his son, Jesus.  All things in heaven and earth have been given to Jesus, therefore to all of his earthly brothers and sisters.  He has also told us that if it is for earthly things that we trust in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.  Yes, we do have responsibilities in how we handle the earthly gifts God has given. 

 

            In verse 9 Jesus commands us to, “…use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”  The worldly wealth given you is in two parts.  One part is the saving Gospel message of Jesus Christ.  The second part is everything God has given you so that in those things, the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is proclaimed to others as you gain their friendship in that Gospel.

 

            The shrewd steward used his access to the master’s account to gain short-term relief in his earthly life.  It was the “I’ll scratch your back for you to later scratch mine,” mentality.  “I’ll help you out of a jam if you do me a favor later.”  But God has placed us here at Immanuel for a different reason, “I’ll help you today so we will together rejoice in heaven later.”  That is God’s goal, that all hear his love in Jesus Christ for the saving of many. 

 

            Yes it is good to rejoice with each other here at Immanuel, to embrace each other in friendship and fellowship as we also join together in times of hardship and despair.  But we are not to be like the shrewd steward looking after self alone and short term alone.

 

            In Amos, God rails out against his people who have devoted their lives to their earthly and lavish living.  We see that it is not their social lives, but also their worship lives that serve their own self-indulgences.   In Timothy God’s will is that he “…wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men,” [1 Timothy 2:3-6]. 

 

            The bottom line in our lives is stewardship.  God has placed people in this world to take care of the world to his glory and to the benefit of all people.  God has placed his word in the hearts of believers to spread that word to all people in order to save all.  So we are invited, in fact commanded to look into the mirror for each one to see how he/she is using time, talent and treasure to God’s glory.  As a congregation we are commanded to look into that same mirror to measure whether we are using the time, human resources and monetary gifts effectively and efficiently to spread the Gospel of Jesus not just within the walls of this church and its school, but throughout this community, throughout this nation, and throughout this world. 

 

            Each year is the budget debate whether to give less than 3% of this congregation’s receipts to mission and ministry outside of our own.  Each day the members of this congregation look into their wallets and into the offering envelopes and make decisions about the importance of and the effects of their giving.  Each day the members of Immanuel struggle with the challenges each faces in the fierce world we live in. 

 

            These past weeks in Portals of Prayer many have been reading from Ecclesiastes.  Earlier this week was chapter 8.  In it the writer states, “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and dink and b glad.  Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun, [v. 15].  In the midst of a seemingly cynical understanding of the discrepancies in our sinful world, the author speaks gratefully of the good things God has given each one and how we are to be grateful for all that he gives.

 

            God’s word to us today is to follow the example Jesus set.  Yes, Jesus ate and celebrated with those around him from the wedding at Cana to the dinners he participated in.  Yes, Jesus was tempted with all wealth and power.  But he did at all times use all that his heavenly father gave him, including his very life, for one purpose, to bring you back to our father through him. 

 

            There are many examples in Scripture of those giving of their wealth and good fortune.  Abram gave a tithe (10%) to the priest Melchizedek of what he captured from the kings of Sodom.  David and Solomon used from their coffers great wealth to build the temple in Jerusalem.  But only one person is really commended by Jesus as to what was given.  It was the widow who gave all that she had.  Jesus commended her to lead each one here to strive for the same, loving God with all of your heart, mind and soul.

 

            Today’s reading pure law, straight and forward?  It certainly is.  That law is there as a mirror for each one to look intently into the self, to see all that God has given you, and how you may use your talents, your desires, your work, your times of pleasure, your personal possessions and wealth wisely to make friends on this earth, friends who will join you in knowing God’s unlimited love to you and them in Jesus Christ, his son, our risen and ascended lord and savior.  Amen.

 

            And this peace that transcends all of our understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.