Let us
pray, Lord Jesus Christ, there are times where we hear Your parables and stories
and think, I am glad I am not a manager, storekeeper, steward or one with lots
of possessions. But then You reveal that
the story isn’t for one group or another, but for everyone. Enable we Your servants to be faithful with
what You have entrusted us, because one day we will be asked to give an account
of what we have done with the little or the much You have given us. Yes,
You offer us the free Gospel in and through Your death on the Cross of Calvary,
but enable us to not serve wealth and worship You as the saints of Emmanuel
gathered here this morning. AMEN.
One of
the joys of pastoral ministry is visiting members in their places of
business. I have enjoyed riding combines
during wheat and corn harvest, checking cows in Thomas County or on the ranch
and even chatting with a member in the middle of a garage at one of the local
auto dealerships. I have also sat at
kitchen tables or in living rooms of many families and heard the tales of the
times. If you would like for me to visit
you, put a note on the attendance card and I will make it happen. But this week, I took the opportunity to
visit a place I had not been to previously.
I visited an accountants office and it struck me how our Gospel this
morning was so applicable.
From our
Gospel this morning we hear about a manger who worked for a rich man. This was someone who had to give an account
for everything he did. And the rich man
was apparently told that his manager was ‘squandering his possessions’. It is not told how the manager or steward is
‘squandering’, but the rich man must believe and take as creditable the
allegations against his manager. It is
clear what the outcome will be for the manager from what the rich man tells the
steward, ‘for you can no longer be manager.’
Basically, ‘you are fired’. This
position of authority and responsibility is being taken away from him. But before I let you go, the rich man says,
‘Give an accounting of your management’.
Knowing
he is in deep trouble, because the stories are probably true and he has not
been wise with the rich mans possessions, the steward or manager realizes he
has a problem. There wasn’t any
government agency looking over his shoulder, nor a certified organization he
was a part of as a ‘steward’. So the
steward reasons, he is to weak to work for a true living and to ashamed to beg
probably because of his previous life style and ‘power’ he leveraged as
manager. So he begins to call the
debtors of the rich man in and ‘shrewdly’ cut the bills of all the debtors,
whether it was oil, wheat or other commodity.
Yet, Jesus says it correctly, “for the sons of this age are more shrewd
in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” The manager was trying to win favor, not only
with his boss, but also with the people he had dealt wrongly with, so when he
would be put out of his position, the people might have pity on him. But Jesus uses a word that we need to
understand clearly. The decisions we
make with what we have today will have ‘eternal’ consequences.
This is
why Jesus then continues saying, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is
faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is
unrighteous also in much.” We have a
human and a divine responsibility to be faithful with what we have been given. This not only means our own personal
property, but also the responsibilities of others we are entrusted with. I know the farmers here at Emmanuel
understand this clearly. When they enter
into a contract with their landowner to grow crops, care for the land and be
the steward of what was entrusted to them, the farmer is clearly responsible as
steward of the property entrusted to his care.
We as
Christians also have a responsibility to be faithful with what we have been
entrusted. Jesus continues saying,
“Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who
will entrust the 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?” That
is a very profound saying. Jesus clearly
says if you can’t be trusted with others property, wealth or riches, how can
you be entrusted with the ‘true riches’?
For landowners, it could mean more land to rent, more responsibility and
more trust that could in fact mean greater prestige and greater responsibility,
but also a larger pay check at harvest or when paid their wages or what was
agreed upon. However, the true riches Jesus
speaks of in the parable are not specified, but clearly the riches are alluded
to in the next sentence. “You cannot
serve God and wealth.” The true riches
are what God will give us as a reward.
Remember I mentioned the word ‘eternal’, our ‘eternal reward’ is what we
need to be concerned with.
But it
does not end with our possessions or things that can pass away. Jesus says, “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.” Truly our wealth is something
that can be here today and gone tomorrow.
I have heard stories of wheat harvests that with combines on the field
were hailed out because of a freak hailstorm, or like this year a very dry year
that causes both the dry land and irrigated corn harvest to vanish with each
passing day without rain or lessening of the oppressive heat. This begs the question, where do we place our
treasure and emphasis on the things of this world or on the things in
heaven? On the things that are temporal
like corn and wheat, land and house? Or
on the treasure that will not pass away, like eternal life?
Truly the steward in our
story attempted to serve himself, was caught and then tried to protect
himself. Are we no different? Have we served ourselves in the societal
mindset of gaining wealth at the cost of the eternal treasure in heaven? In some regards I think we have. And I am again, like last week saying with
Paul, “I am the greatest among sinners” in this regard. As a Pastor, this is difficult to confess,
but I have placed earthly reward, acclaim and ego above God’s divine plan and
purpose. And this does have eternal
consequences. For Jesus words ring true
in my ears, “You cannot serve God and wealth”.
Are any of us here today
any different? I would venture to say,
we are all under this judgment, because of our fallen sinful nature given to us
by our parents, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What then can we do? By ourselves we can do nothing. Paul says it clearly, “for all have sinned
and fall short of the Glory of God.” We
are unable to save or redeem ourselves.
Thus, even the steward who tried to ‘cut’ the losses for the rich man,
could not regain his reputation, nor his office. We are no different.
But, Paul in the very
next verse of Romans (3:23-24) champions the cause saying, “being justified as
a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus”. Jesus Christ through His sacrificial life,
death and resurrection offers each of us eternal life. Though we cannot follow the law and our works
condemn us, when we rely upon the free gift of Grace offered by Jesus Christ on
the Cross of Calvary, our treasure no longer is on this earth, but is in
heaven. When we do our work, our
business and our actions for the glory of God as our focus, we begin to understand
that redemption is found, not in our individual actions, but in what Jesus
Christ did on the Cross of Calvary for all of mankind.
Consider if you will, in
the movie “Avengers” Captain America asks a question of Tony Stark when they
are in the lab with Bruce Banner and Black Widow. Could he make the sacrifice play? Would Tony Stark be able to do something for
others no matter the cost to himself?
Jesus Christ did exactly
that when He was nailed to the Cross.
Jesus Christ offered Himself as the living sacrifice in order to offer
all of mankind the greatest gift of eternal life. In that one moment upon the Cross, Jesus
Christ accounted for all time and all place the entirety of the sins of
mankind. Jesus Christ did this freely
and offers each of us today who believe in Him and His sacrificial death on
Calvary eternal life. Jesus Christ did
this not just for the steward he told the story of, the rich man or only for
the Jews He was trying to teach. Jesus
Christ accounted for the sins of the entire world of all time and all place,
including all of us saints gathered here at Emmanuel this morning. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord, our Savior and our perfect atonement.
AMEN.
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