Good morning, everyone.
Nick asked us earlier about what you give thanks to God for in the past week.
And I got a message the other day from someone who was sitting in church last week
who, as a result of being convicted in terms of the message,
but also blown away by the gospel, decided to basically quadruple their giving.
And I just want to say that that's what this series is about.
It's about heart work.
It's about doing...
We're not seeking to raise funds for any particular project,
but to do heart work as one of the things that is closest to our hearts
in a materialistic world,
and to sort of rethink about that from a kingdom of God perspective.
That's what we're seeking to do in this series.
So if you'd like to come with me today, which would be great,
you've got an outline here with the Bible verses,
but also an outline in terms of where we're heading with this passage.
We could take some notes, but also on the St. Paul's app,
you can get the same thing and type it all in as well.
Let me pray, and then we'll launch into this text.
Gracious Father, we thank you for the abundance that you have given us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As we have sung this morning already,
in him we can be satisfied, totally satisfied.
As your prophet Habakkuk says,
that all other things can be stripped away,
but because we have Christ, we have God, our Redeemer,
then we have everything,
everything that we need to get out of bed in the morning and rejoice.
Help us to put our materialism, our money, our resources,
all good things that come from you in their proper place.
We ask that you would do heart work with us,
which would see transformation in our lives and our priorities, we pray.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
I want to begin today, as I've done a few times before,
reflecting on the life of one of the greatest philosophical thinkers,
one of the sharpest political minds,
one of the most gifted artists and one of the most quoted individuals of the past 100 years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger was born the son of a low-ranking Austrian police officer
and destined for a life of total obscurity, in fact,
until his hands wrapped around a barbell for the very first time at 14 years of age.
By the age of 18, he was living in London,
travelling the world, competing in bodybuilding championships,
and his coach through those years was a guy named Wag Bennett.
And one day, Wag asked the 18-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger,
what do you want to do with your life?
And he said Arnold's response for an 18-year-old was remarkable.
He said he just looked at me and said,
I want to be the richest and the greatest bodybuilder of all time.
I want to live in the United States.
I want to be an actor, a movie director,
own an apartment block,
and dabble in politics.
18 years of age.
This is my future.
This is what I'm gunning for,
and I'm going to go for it.
And those who trained with him said he was highly focused.
Highly focused.
One day he was doing some sort of press-up thingy
with one of his training partners,
and this training partner beat Arnold.
He did 150,
and Arnold did 149,
or something like that.
And Arnold looked at him and said,
you will never,
ever beat me again.
He said,
no matter what I did,
I couldn't do it.
So focused.
Luke 16.
Jesus tells a story about a man who saw the future.
He knew what he wanted,
knew what he wanted to do,
what he needed to do,
and he just went for it.
He's known as the shrewd manager.
Now,
in Jesus' time,
the manager like this
was like a COO,
a chief operating officer,
and a CFO,
a chief financial officer,
rolled into one.
They not only managed
the whole estate
for an owner of an estate,
but they also invested the owner's money.
They had control over the finances
and chose where it was going to be spent.
And it turns out,
according to this text,
that this manager's been doing a pretty poor job,
and so he gets a termination notice,
and he's now in trouble.
Word gets around that this manager
has not been making some wise decisions,
then it's unlikely that he's going to get
another management role.
And he's been sitting in an office for too long
to start digging trenches for a living,
and he won't lower himself to begging.
And what's more,
there are no social services.
There's nothing here in terms of
center link to fall back on.
So for this manager,
in this moment,
he has a life and death decision.
How's he going to live?
What's he going to do?
And so he makes a decision
in that moment
that will pay benefits for him
into the future.
Not immediately,
into the future.
And that's the point of this parable.
Living now,
making decisions now,
that have long-term benefits.
And what he does next
is the bit of this parable
that I think,
if you get caught up in the details,
gets a little bit distracting.
So here it is,
verse 5.
So he called in each one
of his master's debtors.
He asked the first,
how much do you owe my master?
900 gallons of olive oil,
he replied.
The manager told him,
take your bill,
sit down quickly,
and make it 450.
Then he asked the second,
and how much do you owe?
A thousand bushels of wheat,
he replied.
He told him,
take your bill,
and make it 800.
Now the distracting bit is,
you're working on the assumption here,
that this manager,
is ripping off his master.
You pay me the money.
You give me 450 gallons of olive oil.
That's not really what's happening.
But what happens here is,
what's the crucial focal point,
is the outcome of his actions
creates friendships
that didn't exist before.
He now has connections and friendships
that didn't exist before.
In acting for the future,
he won the favor and the obligation
of his master's debtors.
And the master's response,
in verse 8,
is,
the master commended the dishonest manager
because he had acted shrewdly.
Why would the owner commend the manager
for his action here?
One of the best theories
is that this manager
was putting his own fees
on top of the investment,
getting his own interest share in it
as well as the owner of the investment.
And this could be the reason
why he's been called dishonest
in the beginning.
You are putting extraordinary fees
on top of my assets
and getting a cut yourself.
So he's entering into contracts here
with very high interest.
So the master's getting interest
and the owner's getting interest
and then it all gets found out.
And so what apparently he's done here
is he's now all of a sudden
taking his own cut out of it.
He's not getting anything more
from these deals.
Takes his own fees out.
Not only does he make his debtors happy,
but he also gives the master
a better name in town too.
Now that's,
well that's exactly how it worked,
but it appears that that's how it worked
in the first century Palestine.
But the point of Jesus here is
that this man
is living his life
and using his wealth
with an eye for the future.
This master commended him
because he had acted shrewdly.
It was a good decision.
You've made a wise decision,
a smart judgment.
You're astute.
Or what we might call a rat cunning.
Very, very clever move.
But the rebuke in the second half
of verse 8
is a little bit stinging.
It says this shrewd,
this wise,
this astute action
is one that the disciples
of Jesus fail in.
For the people of this world
are more shrewd
in dealing with their own kind
or with their own generation
than are people of the light.
Jesus is saying
that this manager
is wiser
in the use
of the master's wealth
than his own disciples
are in using
their master's wealth.
in making long-term investment
with their master's wealth.
And that's my second point.
We are God's investment managers.
That's the first thing
we learn here.
We are stewards
of someone else's resources.
The word manager here
is quite literally steward.
This man
is a steward
of someone else's resources.
He is a fund manager
if you like.
When you manage
someone else's funds
you can't do
anything you want
with it
because
it's not yours.
You don't own it.
So first up
Jesus is saying
that if you understand
that there is a God
at all
you've got any concept
that there is a God
you will know
that whatever you have
is not yours.
We are stewards
of God's money
of his resources
and so
we are
stop acting
as if it's ours.
That's pretty hard hitting
because we have
a strong attachment
to our wealth
and our possessions
because we've worked for it.
We have this sense
in the materialistic wealth
of the West
that we believe
in the self-made individual.
It's my money.
I've worked hard for it.
I've worked really hard.
I deserve this
because I work really hard.
How often have you heard
your self
say that?
Jesus says
no.
That's not yours.
If you're a Christian
there is a much broader context
to put all
of this truth into.
As Christians
we believe
that God made everything
that he sustains everything
that we have life
and skills
and opportunities
that he has gifted us with
and without those things
we would not make
any money
at all.
It's not because of us
it's because of him.
Let me just push this point
a little bit further.
It is a gift
that you happen to exist
in Sydney
at this particular time and age.
Absolute gift.
you would understand
it as a gift
if you were born
400 years ago
and living in a
third world country.
Without the gifts
we have no capability
of doing what we do.
Without the life
that he gives us
day by day
we have no ability
to have any form
of possessions.
Without life
it's extremely difficult
to do anything in fact.
If you have health
and able to work
that's a gift.
The fact that you're born
in this time and place
have these opportunities
those are gifts.
We work hard
for what we have
with the life
circumstances
talents
that God has given us
we are stewards.
And I think
that's where
1 Chronicles 29
is really helpful
for us
because this is
the prayer
of the fabulously
wealthy and powerful
King David.
Everything in heaven
and earth
is yours.
Wealth
and honour
come from you.
You are the ruler
of all things.
Who am I?
And who are my people
that we should be able
to give as generously
as this?
Everything
comes from you
and we have only
given to you
what has come
from your hand.
All this abundance
that we have provided
for building you
a temple
for your holy name
comes from your hand
and all of it
belongs to you
still belongs to you.
So if we are stewards
it's not ours
and God calls us
to be radically generous.
And if we're not
radically generous
it's not called
stinginess
or a little bit
tight.
God calls it
robbery.
You're a fund manager
who's taking the funds
and investing it
elsewhere.
You're the dishonest
manager
is what you are.
It's not just a lack
of compassion.
It's not just a lack
of generosity.
It's a lack
of integrity.
Malachi 3.8
Will a mere mortal
rob God?
And yet you
rob me.
But you ask
well how are we
robbing you God?
In tithes and offerings.
As I said last week
the people of the
Old Testament
were told that
10% of their income
as a baseline
need to be given away.
That's the starting point.
That's the baseline.
And I'm not convinced
the standards of the
people in the New
Testament are any
lower.
Especially when they
have a greater hope
a greater revelation
a greater grace
greater benefit.
However
if you're sitting
there at the moment
you're thinking
10%
is a lot of money
then maybe
you're approaching
it from the wrong
direction.
Imagine
imagine this scenario
you go to work
on Tuesday
and
someone
asks you
to manage
their money
for them
and the
terms
of that
were that
every year
you get
to keep
90%
of the returns
and you've
got to give
the owner
10% back.
Do you
think that's
a good deal?
What fund
manager wouldn't
want to sign
on the dotted
line ASN?
You immediately
go
there's got to
be fine print
here somewhere.
There must
be fine print
here somewhere.
That's how
generous God
is
and that's
what God
is offering
us.
But if we
love money
more than
we love God
who gives
us those
things
even those
terms won't
be enough.
We won't
be generous
we won't
give
and it won't
be stinginess
it's robbery.
We are stewards
of money
that is
not
ours.
And I
would suggest
I want to
go a little
bit harder
here and I
would suggest
that includes
the estates
that you've
accumulated
over the
years.
I want to
ask whether
even in
your will
have you
included for
gospel ministry
after you
have long
gone.
Even the
estates that
are in
your name
are not
yours.
Imagine
stewarding
our resources
in such a
way that
in our
wills
we are
also
giving a
portion to
gospel ministry
and charity
after we
have long
gone.
Imagine
continuing to
build rewards
in heaven
when we are
already there.
Next point
investing in
friends.
There's
something even
more amazing
here.
This is the
connection between
wealth and
love.
Verse 9
is the
goal Jesus
has in
mind with
our stewardship
of his
resources and
the goal
is our
happiness,
our love
and our
security.
I tell you
use worldly
wealth to
gain friends
for yourselves
so that when
it is gone
you will be
welcomed into
eternal dwellings.
See what this
manager does
here which is
the astute
wise thinking
is he puts
aside short
term financial
gain for the
sake of gaining
something that
was long term
more valuable.
It's a wise
investment is
where you put
your money into
something that
will increase in
value.
That's called a
wise investment.
And so what can
we put our money
into that will
last forever?
Jesus gives
us a very
helpful perspective
here when he
says in verse
nine so that
when it is
gone.
He's saying
that no matter
what investment
you put into
in this world
it will go.
It will not
last.
You won't take
it with you.
There is no
material thing,
no asset,
no piece of
property where
you can put
your money
into that
will really
really really
last.
And he's
calling his
disciples to
put their
money into
something that
will literally
last forever.
Use your
money in such
a way that
there is glory
in the end.
need.
Now what I
love about the
way that Jesus
puts it here
is that he
doesn't say,
he doesn't just
stay there at
some sort of
abstract level.
Now because for
me personally I'm
logically convinced
I'm just kind of
the way that I'm
wired I think
long term about
most stuff.
And I'm
logically convinced
by the argument
for long term
investment that
grows in value
forever.
Logically,
yeah got that,
that makes sense
to me.
What Jesus
says next
however is
the thing that
if you like
moves the
heart and
causes me to
open the
wallet and the
bank balance.
And I hope it
does for you
too.
Look at how
Jesus describes
the eternal
dwelling in
verse 9.
friends.
Friends.
Use your money
now to gain
friends who
will welcome
you into
eternal
dwellings.
Let me quote
one commentator
who wrote on
this verse.
It is in his
view the main
point of this
parable.
although these
things,
your property,
ability,
time,
belong to
this life
only,
says Jesus,
yet what
will happen
to you
then when
you pass
into that
life will
depend on
what you
are doing
with them
here and
now.
Make sure
that your
use of
them brings
you into
a fellowship
of friends
which will
survive
beyond
death.
A
fellowship
of
friends
that
survives
beyond
death.
Now this
is definitely
what Jesus
is saying
here.
You see,
because we
look to
money to
give us
the security
and the
significance
in our
culture,
but genuine
security and
significance
is relational.
It's not
material.
In the
end,
the thing
we all
need is
love.
Every
single one
of us
needs
love.
We feel
truly
wealthy
when we
are loving
people and
are surrounded
by people
who love
us back.
The person
who has
got great
bank balance,
got a
secure piece
of property,
they got
their retirement
funds sorted,
but is
totally lonely,
doesn't think
for a
moment,
that they're
wealthy,
when all
the relationships
around them
are breaking
down.
And yet,
the love
that we're
seeking for
in this
life is
consistently
out of
reach for
us.
Money can't
buy you
love.
You can
get a
taste of
the love
we're
searching
for in
this
world,
but the
best is
yet to
come.
That's
what Jesus
promises.
The
thinking that
heaven is a
place of
harps and
crowns and
clouds and
gold doesn't
kind of move
me so much
in terms of
wanting to be
there as a
world of love
does.
Heaven is a
place of
friendships,
a place of
deep
relationships,
a place of
real love,
a place where
we love and
we are loved
without any
barriers at
all.
It's a place
to really hope
for and invest
in now.
The love we
experience in
this world is
a foretaste
of what will
be, but it
falls way short
of what it
will be in
heaven.
Love now is
all too often
a source of
pain.
There are
barriers of
loving and
being loved
in this world
that won't
exist in
heaven and
that makes
heaven an
incredible
prospect.
I've got a
list of a
variety of
barriers that
we have now
for love.
One barrier
that we face
now that we
want them is
that we are
often not
loved for our
own sake in
this world,
which the
person who
has got more
and more
possessions and
wealth always
has in the
back of their
mind.
Am I being
loved because
of what I
have or
because of
who I am?
It's painful
when we discover
that people are
not loving us
for our own
sake, but
actually using
us to get to
something else
or to someone
else.
It's very rare
for any of us
to love another
person totally
for their own
sake.
Most love in
order to get
something.
In heaven we
will be loved
absolutely and
completely and
fully for who
we are.
Another barrier
is the inability
to express love
without hindrance,
pride,
selfishness,
defensiveness,
pettiness,
coldness,
means that we
can't do it.
This is even
the case with
those who we
are the closest
to in this
world.
It's like having
an ocean of
love in the
heart that it
can only get
expressed through
a straw.
We can't
even get
close to
expressing our
love fully
without hindrance.
But in
heaven we
will love
without impediment.
All sin,
all pride,
all selfishness,
pettiness,
defensiveness will
be gone.
We also
struggle to
find a mutual
love in this
world.
Is there
anything more
painful than
to love
someone and
not to be
loved back?
It's very
rare for love
to be mutual
at the same
time.
In this
life,
many of
the people
that we
love,
we love
them more
than they
in fact
love us
back.
That is
nothing but
pain.
But in
heaven everyone
will love
everyone else
mutually and
fully.
There's also
the barrier
of the
happiness of
those that
you love.
Think about
this for a
moment.
Once you
start,
and if you're
a parent,
you'll know
this,
once you
start having
children,
for the
rest of
your life,
you are
no more
happier than
your unhappiest
child.
Well,
there's an
incentive to
have kids.
But you get
that,
don't you?
You're no
more happier
than your
unhappiest
child.
We can
never be any
happier than
the people that
we love,
and that's
the reason
why most
of us are
so miserable.
Their heart
becomes our
heart.
If you
love more
than five
people in
your life
at any
one time,
you're bound
to be
miserable.
Someone's
going to be
unhappy.
The great
C.S.
Lewis said,
if you
don't want
your heart
to be
broken,
then just
stop loving
people.
Maybe you
know those
kinds of
people who
have got
that happening
for them.
That is the
only option,
and some
of us,
in fact,
find it so
difficult to
love anyone
because we
are so
broken in
our hearts
inside.
We are so
damaged.
And of
course,
you become
a hard
person,
and let
me say
it clearly,
you are
right on
your way
to hell.
Love is
such a
source of
pain,
but not
in heaven.
Everyone
will be
perfectly
happy and
filled with
a never
ceasing
joy.
The
greatest
barrier to
love would
have to be
the separation.
We want
a love
where we
will never
be separated
from the
people that
we love.
It is
painful knowing
that when
you marry
someone,
it is
highly likely
that one
of you
will bury
the other.
In my
case,
I've got
five people
sitting around
the table
at home,
and it's
highly likely
that one
of us
will be
sitting at
that table,
will see
everyone else
dead and
gone.
One of us
will be put
in that
position.
And as
a type
one
diabetic,
it's
unlikely
to be
me.
I think.
That's
my mother's
experience in
the last
couple of
years.
One of
four
sisters,
all gone,
only one
left.
And that's
the way of
our relationships
here,
love.
But not
there.
Not
there.
We are
made to
desire the
kind of
relationships,
friendships,
and love
that is in
the kingdom
of God.
We have
been designed
for what
Jesus says
heaven is
going to be
like,
knowing and
experiencing the
pain of
relationships in
this world.
It is hard
for us to
imagine it,
hard to
believe in
fact.
Just imagine
what it would
be like to
completely believe
in it,
though,
that that
is what
heaven is
going to
be like.
That is
my future.
Imagine what
it will do
to your
life day
by day
when you
grasp that
that is
the joy
and the
reality that
I'm
shooting for.
Imagine what
it would be
like to be
completely sure
of the future
because of
Jesus Christ
and what
he's done.
Imagine that
to believe
in Jesus
is to be
able to
live with
God and
friends in
absolute
perfection,
perfect love
forever,
love without
any boundaries
forever.
Just imagine
what it will
do with the
way you
live now.
Imagine what
it will do
to your
possessions
and your
money.
Knowing that
real,
what really
lasts is
love,
people,
relationships,
friends,
do not
put your
money
before people
which is
what our
materialistic
society says
you must
do.
Put your
money into
solving people's
needs.
Use your
money to
create a
fellowship of
friends that
will survive
beyond death.
love.
When people
find hope and
love and
faith in
Jesus,
they will
be your
friends forever.
They will
love you
and be loved
by you
without any
barrier.
That's the
radical investment
that Jesus is
calling us
to.
To put the
money that
you are a
steward of
into connecting
people with
their God
who loves
them in a
way that
is incomprehensible
to them.
Now all of
this hope
and joy
is possible
because we
ourselves are
recipients of
this ultimate
love and
friendship.
In
1 Corinthians
8,
the Apostle
Paul is
encouraging the
church in
Corinth to
give generously
to a great
need in the
same way that
other churches
had done.
And he
doesn't order
them to do
it.
He showed
them how
they can do
it.
And what he
does is he
shows them
love.
He says
just think
about Jesus.
Think about
Jesus Christ
that though
he was rich
yet for
your sake
he became
poor.
He divested
himself of
everything so
that you
through his
action of
diversity
himself of
everything that
you might
become rich.
You might
know true
wealth.
You might
know love
without barriers.
Jesus is the
one friend who
emptied himself
of everything to
turn his
enemies into
his friends.
Jesus is the
true steward.
As
recipients of
the ultimate
friendship we
get to live
with him
forever in
perfect love
and he's
calling us
here in
this passage
to use your
money in a
way that is
controlled by
that knowledge.
So friends
right now
you and I
sitting in this
room while we
have breath in
our lungs
we're in
exactly the
same boat
as the
shrewd
manager when
he got his
termination
notice.
The books
are still
open and
you've still
got a chance
to act right
now in view
of the future.
make your
eternal joy
complete and
invest in
eternal
friends.