This sermon was preached on the text Luke 16:1-13. This parable of Jesus has been given several names: the shrewd steward, the dishonest manager, the unrighteous steward, etc. It occurs in a part of Luke that contains a number of parables. The parables all generally have to do with discipleship – how to live as a believer in light of the grace God has given to us. The specific message here is how believers are to handle our possessions and it contains the instruction that we are to live generously, giving to others.

What can you learn from an unrighteous person? I think we all realize that we can learn things from unbelievers. But what about righteousness can you learn from the unrighteous acts of an unbeliever? Two thousand years ago Jesus gave his disciples a very important lesson on how to deal with their stuff, their possessions, their money, and he did it through the unrighteous example of an unrighteous person.

In this sermon we will be looking at Jesus’ parable of the unrighteous steward, found in Luke 16:1-13. This parable contains some surprises for us. Before we read it I want to tell you what we will learn from this parable and how it applies to our lives, then as we read the text you might see where these elements fit.

Jesus told his disciples this parable in order to teach them to be generous with those things that were not theirs in order to demonstrate their own faithfulness to God and in the process lead people into the kingdom of God. He did this by drawing three points of application from the parable. First, we need to recognize the value of people over things. Second, we need to serve God with the things that we don’t really own to begin with, and which are passing away, in order to receive the things that are eternal. And third, we need to keep God as the focus of our existence.

With that in mind, let us read the the text together, Luke 16:1-13.

Before we draw out the meaning of this text I want to go back and move through the details. Let’s recap the story and see what exactly is happening, looking at the first eight verses of our passage.

In the story we learn about a steward who is about to lose his position due to poor stewardship. We are not told if he stole his master’s money or if he was simply incompetent. Whatever the case, his master is going to dismiss him.

With the loss of his position immanent, the steward considers his options. He could become a hard laborer, perhaps a ditch digger, but he does not like that idea. He could become a beggar but he is too proud for that. So he comes up with an option which if it works will make other people receptive to him. With a little time remaining as steward, he summons people who owe his master money and he reduces their debts. He took their bills and cancelled a portion so that the people would look favorably on him and would receive him when his time of need came. In the process he relieved their own burdens. Their debts were great – the two individuals mentioned in the story each owed goods that equalled several years worth of income. Their gratitude was certain.

One might well imagine that the steward’s master would not be happy with the arrangement since this would put him out of even more goods. Here is where we have our first big surprise of the story. In the first half of verse 8 we read that the master “commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” What in the world? The master was just cheated of money and yet he praised the steward? Jesus gives us the answer in the second half of the verse, and here he begins to unfold what this parable means to believers: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” The word there for shrewd can mean several things. It can mean the person is wise, or perhaps crafty, or cunning. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament this same word is used to describe Satan in Genesis 3:1 who was more crafty than the other animals. It is also used in Matthew 7:24 to describe the wise man who builds his house on the rock. Be careful to note that in our passage the master does not praise the specific actions of the steward. Instead, he praises the steward’s shrewdness. He praised the cunning of the steward. The steward recognized his situation and was clever enough to work out a solution.

The master was able to recognize in the steward some quality or characteristic that is commendable to the sons of the world. The steward, knowing his dire situation, was willing to make use of his master’s resources in order to make his own future more comfortable. That kind of thinking is very popular among the sons of this world.

Consider all of the corporate scandals we have faced in the last few years. This is what they were all about! The primary scenario was companies lying to investors in order to get them to invest more money so that the corporate leaders could fill their bank accounts before people learned that the company was going bust. Publicly, one company might frown on another company that does this practice, but privately this was being carried out time and again. And one does not have to be a cynic to recognize that it continues to be carried out in many corporate settings.

But corporate businesses are not the only ones guilty of this. All people have the instinct of self-protection, even if it means hurting others. The common phrase looking out for number one demonstrates how this works in popular thinking.

Worldly people are able to commend this kind of thinking in other worldly people. But Jesus sees in this something that we can learn from. We will explore the meaning more in a few moments, but briefly what Jesus wants us to see is that even worldly people are able to use things that are not theirs in order to bring good to other people and in the process make their own futures brighter. The steward did this with selfish motivation. We are to do something similar, but unselfishly.

With this picture in mind, readers of the passage will be excused if they come away confused as to what Jesus is talking about. Does he want us to be dishonest? Does he want us to cheat others in order to make our own lives more comfortable? The actual desire of Jesus is quite the opposite, though what he does expect from us has several parallels in our parable. Let us read again verses 9-13 and see the application he gives.

Verse 9 contains the first point Jesus wants his disciples to see. That is, people are more valuable than things. Note how he describes money: unrighteous wealth. The word wealth is the word mammon and while it primarily refers to money it can include all of our possessions. In the ancient world your stuff could count as your money. Chickens had value. Cows had value. They were all mammon, possessions, wealth. Jesus refers to all of this as unrighteous. He does not mean money that has been obtained in unrighteous ways, for he is telling his followers to make use of this money, and he would not instruct us to obtain money in an unrighteous way. Instead, Jesus is revealing something of his view of our stuff. His view is echoed in Paul who in 1 Timothy 6:10 said, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” That is, money itself is not unrighteous but it can be the source of all kinds of unrighteousness. We know this from our own experience. How many of us have ever found ourselves doing the most unwise or despicable things in order to either gain more money or get our hands on something we wanted to possess? Money is not itself unrighteous but it can lead to unrighteousness. James says something similar about the tongue in James 3:6: “And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.” The tongue is not literally a world of unrighteousness but from it can come all kinds of unrighteousness.

From the start of the application Jesus is nailing home the point that our possessions are not as significant as we make them out to be. More than that, they are downright dangerous. They can lead each one of us astray. And if you have been alive for more than a few months, then you have already been led astray by things time and again, and fighting your attachment to your stuff is a struggle that will take the rest of your life.

Things are not significant. What is significant is people. What you have is to be used with a focus toward ministry. This doesn’t mean everything has to be given away. It does mean our lives are focused on ministering to people rather than on accumulating stuff. The point of this stuff is to “win friends for yourselves” – and to win them for the kingdom of God. Jesus does not value stuff, he does value people.

One more word about our stuff. Jesus is not yet making this point, but he will in verse 12 – that is, the stuff you call your stuff, it isn’t really your stuff to begin with, it really belongs to someone else. This is the second point Jesus makes. So all of our clinging, all of our grasping, all of our scrambling for more mammon, more worldly goods, is all for nought because we can never own any of it. We need to serve God with the things that we do not really own to begin with and which are passing away. Through this we will receive the things that are eternal.

But while we have mammon within some sort of control, while we have this stuff God has entrusted to us, Jesus instructs us to use it to win friends for ourselves. He does not want us to buy people’s affections. Rather, we are to display generosity. Be a person of generosity, a person known for how open your hands are and not for how tight your fist is. Give it away. It isn’t yours anyway, and if you hold onto it too tightly it will lead you into unrighteousness. Live generously. Help the needy. Give to the poor. Feed the hungry. Give the waitress a good tip. In doing so you will win their friendship and in doing so you will display the love of God to the world. There is a missional purpose here. A gospel-lived-out purpose. It is displayed by the end of verse 9: that they (the ones who received your generosity) may receive you into the eternal dwellings. By your witness, by your life, you made hearts ready to receive the gospel. They will not be able to receive you into Heaven if they have not reached it. By your work, they might reach it. Also, the gospel itself is one of the things you have been given which you are called to share. Share it all!

We are reminded in this verse that our lives will come to an end. This is what Jesus means when he says when it fails. Your stuff can only get you so far in life. The day will come when it will fail to sustain you any longer and you will die. Everything you built up in this life will be over. It will be gone. But did you build into eternity? Did you by your life prepare for a life that will never pass away? Jesus does not guarantee that people will be saved by our witness – he only says they may receive you, not that they will. They may be there to welcome you, but they may have rejected the message despite your love and witness. You are not responsible for the result. But you can be certain that if you do not give away that which is not yours, no one will be there to receive you. In 1 Corinthians 3:14-15 Paul talks about our works on earth being tested when we are received into Heaven. Some works will survive into eternity, others will not. He says: “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” Jesus is not talking about salvation. We cannot buy our ticket to Heaven. He is talking about living a life of meaning and value. My favorite preacher John Piper has a little motivational series he does called “Don’t Waste Your Life” and that’s what this is all about – living for eternity. Living so that the works of your hand do not burn up on the day of testing.

And so Jesus in verses 10-11 tells us to be faithful. Be faithful in the little things. Your money, your stuff – those are the little things. I don’t care how much you value them, they are little in the eyes of God. And he has much greater things he wants to give you. Things that last and are eternal. But if you are not faithful with those little things – if you are not generous, if you do not give away that which is not yours, then how can anyone expect you to be faithful with the truly great things? God has entrusted you with a bunch of stuff. Have you used it faithfully to his glory? Is God glorified by how you handle his stuff? If not, how can you expect him to entrust to you deeper, fuller ministry in his kingdom?

It is in verse 12 that Jesus drives home the point that none of this stuff is ours to begin with. We on earth are like ants in someone’s ant farm, scrambling to build our own great domains, struggling for power and position, seeking recognition and prestige, completely ignoring the fact that just beyond the glass is something far greater than ourselves, something that shows how insignificant we all really are. The difference here is that God has entered the glass. God has revealed himself to us. God continues to dwell and walk with us. And still we seek our own domains. But nothing we have is our own. We only have that which God has allowed us to have, and someday he will take away everything and burn it good. Your favorite car – ash. Your prize iPod music collection – ash. Your dream home – ash. Everything. Ash. The only things that will last are those things done in the service of and for the glory of God.

The promise of verse 12 is that we will have the chance for good things that last into eternity. Jesus does not elaborate on what this is. Are these the crowns that we will lay at his feet? Is this the eternal appreciation of people we led to the gospel? Is this our inheritance as faithful children of God? I don’t know. But it will be good. And God desires it for us. Will we give up our petty possessions and seek that kind of reward?

Finally, Jesus reminds us that we need to keep God as the focus of our existence. We can only have one master. Either we will serve God or we will serve possessions. If we serve God then our possessions are simply a means of service. If he calls us to enjoy them, enjoy them to his glory. If he calls us to give them away, give them away with a joyful heart, knowing you are bringing him glory.

There are so many ways you can serve God with the things he has entrusted to you. Share the gospel which has been entrusted to you. Use your talents in the church. Use them out in the world, to draw people to Christ. Use your resources to spread the gospel. Give money to missionaries. Fund trips to Africa or Peru or Kentucky. Sponsor children through Compassion International. Find ways that you can help the poor in your community. Volunteer to serve the needy at a homeless shelter. The list goes on and on. Jesus once said that the poor will always be with us, and he was right. The world is a needy place and it grows needier by the day. Gas prices skyrocketing around the world. Food riots in India and Haiti because parents can no longer feed their children. The environment becoming more erratic causing problems for farmers. With all of the troubles many people see this as a time to draw all their stuff even closer, to hold it tighter. Protect themselves. They try to keep what is not theirs. But it is a time for Christians to be all the more open, all the more generous, serving a world that is so very needy. You might suffer. You might feel want yourself. Jesus never said this would be easy. But you are just passing through this world, a pilgrim headed for your eternal dwelling. Do not build on the crumbling foundation of this world but on the eternal foundation of Christ your King.