Luke
16:1-15
New International Version 1984
(NIV1984)
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There
was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.(A) 2 So he called him in and
asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because
you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to
himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong
enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here,
people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one
of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Eight hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him,
‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’
7 “Then he asked the second,
‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your
bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are
more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the
light. 9 I
tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when
it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted
with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest
with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been
trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true
riches? 12 And
if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give
you property of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two
masters. 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 both God and Money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved
money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You
are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your
hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.
How do
we handle our money? Do we even have any
money? Which side of this equation are
you on? Are you one that owes so much
money that you can’t possibly pay it all back or are you the one that is in the
position to make sure that everyone is happy in the end? Or are you the manager of another’s
money? In any situation we need to be
shrewd or wise about how we handle each and every situation.
We see
in this passage that money can do one of two things. It can either drive people away or it can make
friends. I am sure we have all
encountered business people that have driven us away because of their concern
more for the money they make than their concern for us personally. These types of business people are not wise
in their dealings with the public.
Furthermore, if they claim to be Christian and are seen doing dishonest
acts, they are ruining the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus makes it clear that if we cannot be
honest with other people’s money they will not trust us in any other things and
especially spiritual matters.
Some of
us hold on so tightly to our possessions that we miss the opportunity to
befriend someone else with our generous hand.
We hold so tightly to our money that the only thing we do with it is
stash it in savings for a rainy day.
When the rainy day comes we find ourselves having to spend the money on brokenness
rather than spending it with joy. Jesus
makes it clear here that we should use our money to make friends. Why do you think He says this?
On this
earth, one of the possessions that everyone wants or has is money. Those tangible bills running through our
fingers, that bank account that either always has money it in or never has
money in it. It is the one thing that
people have in common, it is something that we all dream of having or that we
have. It separates people by class, it
is a status quo, it is a symbol of power, and the list goes on. We can all identify with money in some way or
another. Jesus recognizes this and says
to use the money we have to befriend people.
Once we befriend them and they know that we are honest in our dealings
with them, once they trust us with their money, we are more apt to win them
over to the saving power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Once we are willing to let go of the money
and truly serve Him we will realize that we have so much more in Him than we do
any earthly treasures.
If you
want to win souls to Christ, be honest with people in your dealings with them,
treat your employees with respect and dignity with fair pay for their work,
help those who need some help getting back on their feet, make your possessions
not yours but the Lord’s. Remember Jesus
words in Matthew 19:21
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and
give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Jesus
does not want us to be without, He wants us to be dependent upon Him. Wealth is often time equated with our
spiritual well-being which is not necessarily the case. What we do with our wealth is an indication
of spiritual well-being. We need to each
assess how we manage our money, do we use it to drive people away or to bring
them closer to the Father. Jesus does
not distinguish that only the rich need to do this, quite the contrary. If we have little we need recognize it is
from God and use it in such a way that it is pleasing to Him. If we have much we need to recognize it is
from God and use in in such a way that it is pleasing to God.
As you
seek Him may you find that you are using your resources wisely, that you are
treating others the way that Jesus would want you to and that through your
actions you bring Glory to God.
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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