Meeting Jesus - Faithful In All Things
Out of all the parables, out of all the stories that Jesus tells – the story we are going to take a look at today has the highest likelihood that as we read it, you ask yourself – “What?” It sounds confusing at the first read, and the tenth read. But Jesus point is clear, and it is my hope and prayer that you will be challenged by this passage as I have been. I am the main cook in the house. Almost daily, I cook breakfast – Kristy packs the girls their lunches for school, and I cook dinner. That is a rhythm that we have found works great for our family. I like to smoke and grill foods, bake in the oven…
And for a family of six, I have to cook quite a bit of food, and I love to be creative and invent new dishes to introduce to our kids. For instance, in one week I introduced them to spicy baked chicken thighs which went well, and smothered pork chops in rice that did not go so well.
When the new dish does not go so well, inevitably I will hear, “I’m not hungry…” or “yuk.”
If I had sat down at the table with my grandmother and complained about the meal she had prepared, she would have jumped up, cleared the table, and told me, “Well, I guess you don’t get any food then…”
My Nana lived during the Great Depression. She not only learned the value of a dollar, but she also learned how to reinvent leftovers. She would turn today’s fried chicken, green beans, and rolls into tomorrow’s casserole. As much as I would like to say, “That’s what I do.” It’s not. We store the leftovers in the refrigerator…and shuffle things around…then forget what’s in there…and eventually throw it away.
Sometimes it feels like we throw away more food than we eat!
Jesus told a story about a man fired for wasting resources that did not belong to him. Let’s read this account in Luke 16
Luke 16:1-13 (NLT2)
1 Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’ 3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ 5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’ 7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’ 8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. 10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
This parable is difficult to understand fully. In most of the other Parables or stories that Jesus told, God is represented by one of the characters:
God is the shepherd searching for his lost sheep. God is the Father waiting for his son to return.
Or – the lost coin represents a relationship with God.
But in this parable – everyone is bad. It might be helpful to think of the rich man like the Godfather. If a person needs a little help? They go to the Godfather. They need more olive oil for their business? They go to the Godfather. They need more wheat for their bakery? They go to the Godfather…
But he doesn’t help just to be nice. He lends to get paid back with a high interest.
But the Godfather can’t do it alone, so he hires somebody to help manage, but the manager starts wasting money. And when he learns he is going to be fired, he makes back-room deals to protect himself. You owe the Godfather 800 gallons of olive oil? Now it's 400. You owe 1,000 bushels of wheat? Now it’s 800.
The manager makes deals with those who owe the Godfather money so that after he loses his job, they will owe him and take care of him. The manager was setting himself up as a Godfather! He was dishonestly using money that did not belong to him to make friends so that when he was fired, he would have places to live.
The Godfather – admires the actions of his manager – because that is precisely what he would have done in that situation. This parable was not being directed toward the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus was telling this story to his disciples.
And the first point I want you to understand is that followers of Jesus are to…
Use earthly possessions to bless others temporarily and eternally (v. 9)
Luke 16:9 (NLT2)
9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
Jesus is not teaching that we can buy our way into heaven. We know that forgiveness for sins only comes through faith. Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” And, you cannot pay for other people to get into heaven. But – you can use your resources to give you an open door to share the good news of Jesus with others.
If you choose to tip your server $100 for a $15 meal and tell them about Jesus or invite them to church – they may be more prone to listen to you…
See, there are ways that you can use your resources to bless others in this world temporarily and there are ways you can bless others eternally. The term resources indicate more than “money”. It is everything you have at your fingertips that you can manage. Use your resources from a big picture perspective.
Use your extra room to bless people who need a place to stay.
Use your spare vehicle to bless families who need transportation.
Use a portion of your business to bless others who could use some help.
And – as you live out your faith in Jesus through giving generously of your resources, God will use your generosity to point to his generosity toward forgiveness and a relationship with Him. So, understanding that God can use your resources to lead others to a life-changing relationship with Jesus, I have to ask you a question:
Do you live with an open hand or a clutched fist?
Luke 16:10-12 (NLT2)
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
Do you cling tightly to the worldly wealth that God has given you? Do you turn a blind eye to those around you who are hurting and in need?
As a follower of Jesus, if you truly want God to use you to “love your neighbor as yourself,” then consider they ways he has positioned you to use your resources to bless others. I am part of an online community that builds and teaches others to build “artificial pancreas systems” for people with Type One Diabetes.
Developers who are gifted with knowing how to write and develop code have hacked the technology in insulin pumps and rewrites the code so that Insulin pumps read blood sugar levels directly from a Glucose Monitoring System and increases or decreases the amount of insulin needed to control the blood sugar levels all by itself.
If the blood sugar is predicted to go low, the pump stops giving insulin.
If the blood sugar is predicted to go high, the pump gives more insulin.
These developers voluntarily spend hours developing this technology for FREE. No Charge. They choose to use their resources to bless other people. How they choose to use their resources may not matter to you, but for my family, their use of resources has changed our lives. And now, in my spare time, I voluntarily help other families hack their insulin pumps and rewrite the code so that their kiddos can live a healthier life. Living life clutching your resources is going to stress you out – so choose to live with an open hand. Give to others, help others as you can, and use whatever resources God has entrusted to you, to bless and help the world around you.
Because,
Your management reflects your relationship with God
Luke 16:13 (NLT2)
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus is teaching you and I that how we manage the resources God has entrusted us directly reflects our relationship with God. It is clear that the manager had been unfaithful in the little things of the Rich Man’s business, and then he was unfaithful in the large, backroom deals too. If God matters more in our lives than our resources, people around us are going to see God’s love flowing out of our lives. If we are faithful in the little things, God is going to trust us with more responsibility.
So, strive to be faithful in all things.