Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL September 22, 2013

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1 Proper 20 (Pentecost 18), Series C Rev. Darrell Debowey Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL September 22, 2013 Luke 16:1-15: 1 He also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager. 3 And the manager said to himself, What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. 5 So, summoning his master s debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master? 6 He said, A hundred measures of oil. He said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. 7 Then he said to another, And how much do you owe? He said, A hundred measures of wheat. He said to him, Take your bill, and write eighty. 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 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. 10 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. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 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. 14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15 And he 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. The Shrewd Christian TEXT Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for today s message is the Gospel reading from St. Luke, the 16th chapter. INTRODUCTION Everyone knows that the NFL is all about money that s why it s called Pro Football. But would anyone like to venture a guess as to what a premium seat will go for at next year s Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey? Page 1

2 This from last Tuesday: The NFL, not content to take a few hundred dollars from a fan attending the Super Bowl, is now hiking its ticket prices on a variety of seats, saying it wants to close the gap should the lucky fans who get the tickets choose to flip them on the streets. Tickets that went for $1,250 last year in New Orleans will be $2,600 at MetLife Stadium this February, and $950 tickets are now $1,500, according to the Wall Street Journal. The NFL says higher ticket prices are justified because the game is in the New York market. There s good news, though the cheap seats, which were $600 last year, are only $500 this year. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told the Wall Street Journal that the NFL was hiking prices because tickets end up getting resold for far more anyway, and the NFL wants to recoup that money rather than let scalpers get the extra hundreds. We re looking to close the gap between the face value of the ticket and the true value of a ticket to what has become the premier sports and entertainment event, McCarthy said. In the grand scheme of the game, raising prices doesn t seem likely to calm the scalper market. With tickets already out of reach for most average fans and resale prices regularly in the thousands, the NFL is still going to get bit on the street. The Wall Street Journal article quotes one sports and entertainment firm that says Super Bowl tickets are actually underpriced by thousands of dollars. The article also noted that indoor suites at MetLife Stadium, which have 30 tickets apiece, are already selling for $500,000. MetLife Stadium in February is going to be cold. Anyone have a half million bucks laying around for a warm seat at next year s game? You have to admit, when it comes to making money, the NFL is a shrewd operator. Page 2

3 In today s Gospel reading, known as the Parable of the Unjust Manager, the Unjust Manager was a shrewd operator he knew how to use money to his own advantage! At first blush you might think Jesus commends such dishonesty when He says, The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, but that would mean God applauds sinful behavior which He never does. In Holy Scripture, sin and faith are never compatible and Jesus never commends sinful behavior. To understand what Jesus is getting at in this parable, we need to focus on these words: For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 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. The main point of this parable isn t to be shrewd like the manager in his dishonest use of money, BUT TO SHREWDLY USE OUR EARTHLY WEALTH FOR HEAVENLY PURPOSES. Using earthly wealth wisely is to use God s material blessings to support the Gospel, so that through our spiritually shrewd use of earthly riches others may come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior, and together we may rejoice with them on the day we are welcomed into the eternal dwellings of our Heavenly Father. I. Enslaved to Money, Freed in Christ Let me begin by saying that money is an important part of our lives. With it comes comfort and security, power and even happiness if you had enough money you wouldn t have to worry about Obamacare! Jesus knew the importance of money in our lives. 16 of His approximately 38 parables dealt with money. One of every seven verses in the first three Gospels in one way or Page 3

4 another deals with money. In fact, Jesus spoke about money more than about any other single subject except the kingdom of God itself. Because money can bring a person comfort and security and power, if it s not everyone s god, it comes pretty close. Thus, Jesus warned: You cannot serve God and money and, For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Mt. 6:21). Yet, money is not in itself bad. Money is one of God s gifts that help us live our lives. Money isn t the problem. St. Paul teaches that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Because of the love of money, people lie and cheat and steal, take advantage of the poor, cheat on their income taxes, embezzle, build inferior products the list is endless. As sinners, we use our wealth in sinful and unrighteous ways to benefit ourselves. That s when money becomes unrighteous mammon. The world is enslaved as much to the love of money as it is to sin. Yet God in His grace has freed you from the enslavement of sin. Jesus came to this earth not as a rich and powerful king, but as a poor and ordinary man. He didn t depend of money for security and comfort He depended on His heavenly Father. And when He died on the cross for our sins, He put His life squarely into His Father s hands. Jesus has redeemed you from the love of money. He s given you eyes to see that people are more important than money, that money isn t a god, it s merely a tool. By love and action He s shown us that our heavenly Father provides all that we need for this body and life, and that includes the jobs and the vocations that provide for us and our families. Because we are manage and not owners of all that we have our heavenly Father is the owner Jesus wants us to be shrewd not wasteful not selfish with our money. He wants us to use money for a heavenly purpose: For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing Page 4

5 with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 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. As unbelievers use money shrewdly though unrighteously for the advancement of their own goals to acquire personal wealth, power and comfort, Jesus asks Christians to use money just as shrewdly though righteously for the advancement of God s goals the temporal good and eternal salvation of souls. By grace through faith we know that God cares for our needs. Our comfort and security don t depend on how much money we have, but on the goodness of God. This heavenly, Christlike attitude towards money frees us to use earthly wealth in ways that please God, advance the Gospel and help the poor. II. Our unrighteous and God s righteous use of mammon. But we aren t always shrewd or righteous with money and wealth. That s evidence that Old Adam still clings to us. We still use money and wealth wrongly in unrighteous ways. We re selfish with it. We waste it. Sometimes that s all we think about. We look at money and say, it s mine! instead of, It s God s. Sometimes money is more important than life itself. Perhaps some of you remember the comedian Jack Benny. He cultivated a reputation for stinginess. In one of his skits, a robber holds Mr. Benny up. He brandishes a pistol in his face, and demands: Your money or your life. For the longest time, Benny says nothing but looks extremely pained. Finally, the robber demands, Hurry up! To which the comedian responds: Don t rush me. I m thinking it over. Page 5

6 When money becomes our god, everything takes second place, including God. Though a person may make money hand over fist like Super Bowl scalpers, when money is more important than people or God, our use of it is no longer shrewd, but foolish. But when dealing with us sinners, God doesn t use money. He uses a something vastly more precious. In our Epistle reading, St. Paul writes: [God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all In God s economy of grace, the currency of salvation isn t gold or silver, but the holy and precious blood and innocent suffering and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By paying the price for our sins, Jesus freed us from sin and death and He freed us from the idolatries of life, including our enslavement to money and wealth. With the love of God guaranteed and the resurrection certain, we need nothing more for ourselves either here or in eternity. All of human and earthly wealth cannot measure up to the richness of God s grace ours through faith in Christ. CONCLUSION: God in His grace has given us talents and abilities to earn money, godly wisdom to use money, and godly vision to see the needs of other. Today s parable teaches us that God wants us to be shrewd with our money for His righteous purposes what Jesus called laying up treasure for heaven to be as shrewd in dealing with God s economy of grace as we are in our earthly economies. The Good Samaritan is and example of using our time, talents and worldly treasures in a righteously shrewd manner. By helping the stranger in need, we show the love of God to our neighbor the love of God that Jesus has shown us. Page 6

7 And we re no poorer for the giving, because we still have the One who gave us all things in the first place. And on that day when unrighteous wealth fails when Jesus returns in judgment part of that heavenly treasure will be those souls who will be there to welcome us into God s eternal dwelling because they had the opportunity to hear the Gospel the Gospel we supported with our shrewd and righteous use of earthly wealth. In Jesus Name, Amen. Page 7