If you have a Bible before you then please turn to Luke chapter 16.
As you do so let me say for a moment what a delight it's been for me to be with you this weekend.
Paul and Claire have welcomed me so warmly and open heartedly into their home and that's been a delight.
And it's been a joy for me to be here and to be part of a congregation that is God focused, Christ honoring and seeking in all that it does to live its life out of the word of God.
And I do trust that the Lord will continue to prosper your life, keep you united in heart, in mind, in soul and spirit and make you beyond all your asking a beacon of hope and light not only in healing but far beyond.
This is one of the most striking of Jesus' parables.
He says,
The sons of this world or this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon,
so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon.
It's a remarkable fact and probably I think to most people a surprising fact to notice that Luke devotes so much space
in his gospel account of the Lord Jesus Christ to the subject of money and possessions.
You hardly need to read far into the gospel of Luke to find yourself confronted by repeated teaching from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ
concerning money and wealth.
It's as if the Lord is saying to those who are beginning to follow him,
how you use the resources God has given you in this life is a test run for eternity.
Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The Lord Jesus speaks very practically about the nature of the Christian life.
The Christian life, the life that is lived in union with him,
the life that is lived out of union with Jesus Christ,
is a life, said Jesus, that will use the resources given to it by God wisely and well.
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
It's a very striking parable.
The ESV begins there,
Jesus said to his disciples there was a rich man who had a manager.
And that's a very prosaic translation.
Really it's the word steward.
Not someone who simply managed the property of his master,
but someone who had oversight over his house.
He had tremendous responsibilities.
He was someone who had been entrusted with great responsibilities.
And Jesus speaks about this man who is unmasked.
We are not told how he is unmasked, but he was unmasked.
And his master said to him,
You have been wasting my possessions.
And it's interesting that Jesus tells this parable immediately after
the parable, the very well-known parable of the prodigal son.
Or of the prodigal son and the elder brother.
If you look down to chapter 15 verse 13,
you will see the Lord saying that this younger son had gathered all he had,
took it on a journey into a far country,
and there he squandered his property.
The property given to him by his father.
He squandered it, he wasted it.
Now the same verb is used.
The prodigal son squanders and wastes the resources given to him by his father publicly and flagrantly.
But here is someone else who has squandered, wasted the possessions of his master.
But he has not done it publicly, flagrantly.
He's done it quietly, or so he thought.
He did it surreptitiously.
And I've little doubt that Jesus is expecting, or I should say Luke is expecting us as he juxtaposes
these two units of teaching to be confronted by this,
that we can be people who squander the privileges given to us by God publicly, openly, flagrantly,
or we can be people who squander what God has given to us in a hidden way, less obvious.
Maybe no one knows that we are misusing, ill-treating, wasting, squandering
the good things that God has given to us.
And Jesus is expecting us, I'm in no doubt, to grasp this, that God sees and God knows.
If we are someone squandering, wasting, abusing the privileges and the resources that he has entrusted to us.
And this man is exposed, and his master says to him,
you need to give an account, your time is up.
I'm going to dismiss you.
And this steward is deeply and profoundly upset.
What shall I do, he says, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me?
I'm not strong enough to dig, I'm ashamed to beg.
What am I going to do?
And the Greek text almost has it like a light bulb moment.
Ah, ah, I know what I'll do.
I've got it, he says, I've got it.
When I'm removed from my stewardship,
so that people will receive me into their houses.
Notice that phrase, who will receive me into their houses.
Because later on in verse 9, Jesus will speak about being received into the eternal dwellings.
I know what I'll do, so that I won't be a pariah.
I'll be received into their houses.
And so he calls his master's debtors.
What do you owe my master?
Oh, a hundred measures of oil.
Quickly, write fifty.
Oh, fine, yes.
To someone else, what do you owe?
I owe eighteen.
Cut it down.
Remove it.
Cut it by a quarter.
Great.
He's continuing to defraud his master.
He is a dishonest steward.
He is squandering,
continuing to squander
the resources of his master.
But what does the master do
when he hears about this?
Verse 6
The master commended
the dishonest steward.
Good for you.
You think,
Lord,
are you commending his dishonesty?
Don't be stupid.
Jesus would have said,
commending his dishonesty?
I'm the one who is the truth.
Well,
what are you saying?
The master doesn't commend
the man's dishonesty,
but he commends him
for his shrewdness,
his sagacity,
his farsightedness.
He's speaking after the manner of men.
And here is the point
Jesus is making
and building up to.
For,
for,
the sons of this age,
the unbelievers
of this passing world,
are more shrewd,
more farsighted,
more sagacious
in dealing with
their own generation
than the sons of light.
He is,
in a sense,
rebuking his own disciples.
He's using this
dishonest steward
as an illustration,
not of the
wisdom of dishonesty,
but of saying to his disciples,
even in his
unrighteousness
and wickedness,
this man
looked ahead.
That's the thing.
He looked ahead.
He made preparations
for the future.
He was wicked.
He was unrighteous.
He was a defrauder.
He was a thief.
He was a deceiver.
But in all of that,
there was a shrewdness,
an ungodly shrewdness,
but a shrewdness.
He looked ahead
and he prepared
for the future.
And so Jesus says
to his disciples,
I tell you,
and that's always
a note
for us to sit up
and take something
very significant
to heart.
I tell you,
make friends
for yourselves
by means
of unrighteous
wealth.
Now the word wealth,
again,
mammon is
an Aramaic word.
It's broader than wealth.
Your possessions,
your resources.
Make friends
for yourself
by means of
unrighteous
money and resources
so that when
it fails,
when it runs out,
they,
we'll come to the day
in a moment,
they may receive you
into the eternal dwellings.
first of all,
what does Jesus mean
by make friends
of unrighteous wealth?
Well,
I think the Lord
is not saying
that possessions
in and of themselves
are unrighteous.
Nowhere in the Bible
do you find that.
It's not money
that is the root
of all evil,
1 Timothy 6.
It is the love
of money.
And Jesus
is highlighting,
I think,
here the propensity
of wealth
in whatever form
we possess it
and possessions
in whatever form
we have them,
the propensity
for it to be used
in an unrighteous way
and to come to us
from unrighteous sources.
There's nothing
untainted
in a fallen world.
And it's our calling
to use the taintedness
of a fallen world
to the praise
and glory of God
as God enables us
by his grace.
And so Jesus
is saying,
make use,
make friends,
use this unrighteous
wealth,
possessions,
use it wisely
and well.
Use it not
for your own
indulgence,
but use it
to spread
the kingdom
of God.
And that's why
he says,
so that when it
fails,
they,
may receive you
into the eternal
dwellings.
who are the they?
Well,
there are some
fine commentators
who say,
well,
it's really a
circumlocution
for God.
Those disciples
who use it
to use the
resources that
God has given
to them wisely
and well,
not first for
their own
pleasure and
indulgence,
not that we
are to be
monastic in the
way we live,
God has given
us all good
things richly
to enjoy,
but for those
who use the
resources God
has given them
wisely and well
for the extension
of his kingdom,
that good use,
that wise use
of money and
resources,
will be the
means God
will use of
bringing others
into his
kingdom,
of gathering
others out
of the dominion
of darkness
and bringing
them into the
kingdom of
light,
unbeknown to
you perhaps,
as you give
your offerings
here morning
and evening,
as you give
generously,
I would hope,
and sacrificially,
you just don't
know what God
might do,
you just don't
know what God
might do,
and I've little
doubt that it's
not so much God
as a circumlocution
that the Lord
is highlighting
by the word
they,
he is saying
there will be
people in the
glory waiting
to welcome you,
waiting to
welcome you,
because your
self-sacrificial
giving of the
resources God
has entrusted
to you as a
steward,
God used that
to bring them
into contact
with the word
of God,
with a gospel
tract,
with a book,
with an
individual,
with someone
who was sent
partly through
your givings
to the ends
of the earth,
to Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan,
or dark as
Glasgow,
and you
will not know
until you go
to the glory
and someone
will say,
I'm here,
brother,
sister,
because you
selflessly
denied yourself
and shared
your resources
so generously
and God
used that
in his
mercy
to bring me
to himself.
What a
remarkable
thing that
would be,
would it not,
if you breathe
your last
breath in
this life
and the
Lord brings
you how
it will
please him
to bring
you into
his nearer
presence
and you
find there
people you've
never met
before,
you've never
heard their
name,
you just
have no idea
who they are
and they're
there as it
were to
welcome you
and you
say,
Lord,
who are
these people?
Oh,
they are the
people that
I brought
to myself
through you.
Lord,
I didn't
know that.
I didn't
know that.
That doesn't
matter.
You see,
Jesus'
parable here
is sandwiched
between the
parable of
the prodigal
son who
squanders
his resources
flagrantly,
publicly,
openly.
and the
chapter
concludes
with Jesus
speaking about
the parable
of the rich
man and
Lazarus.
And you
know the
story well.
Lazarus is
the poor
beggar who
sits at
the rich
man's
gate.
He's so
poor and
so benight
that even
the dogs
lick his
sores.
And they
both die.
Lazarus
goes to
heaven,
goes to
Abram's
bosom,
a picturesque
Hebraic way
of speaking
of the
nearer
presence of
God.
And the
rich man
goes to
hell.
And a
little doubt
as you
stand far
enough back
in Luke's
gospel,
the Lord
is saying
what an
opportunity
this rich
man had
to use
his resources
to minister
to this
poor,
benighted
beggar at
his gate.
It doesn't
need to be
as dramatic
as that.
But I
think the
Lord is
saying as
we read
through the
sweep of
Luke's
gospel and
as Luke
juxtaposes
under the
inspiration of
the Holy
Spirit these
various
encounters.
He was a
man who
had the
opportunity
to be
welcomed by
Lazarus.
I've been
waiting to
welcome you.
How kindly
you dealt
with me.
How generously
you cared
for me.
With what
godly concern
you lavished
upon me.
You opened
wide not only
your arms but
your heart to
me and
god brought
me into
his kingdom
through you
and I'm
here to
welcome you.
But the
rich man with
all the
privileges given
to him
hoarded
them.
I've little
doubt that
the Lord
Jesus is
highlighting a
very significant
thing about
authentic
Christian
discipleship.
Authentic
Christian
discipleship
is marked
significantly
by
self-sacrificial
giving.
Think of the
Lord Jesus
Christ.
Though he
was rich yet
for our
sakes he
became poor
so that by
his poverty
we may
become rich.
And so
the Lord
goes on
in verses
10 following
to say
one who
is faithful
in a very
little is
also faithful
in much
and one
who is
dishonest in a
very little is
dishonest in
much.
If then you
have not been
faithful in the
unrighteous
wealth, if you
have not dealt
wisely and well
and generously
and selflessly
with the
resources God
has given
you, who
will entrust
to you
true riches?
Now it's
not I think
easy precisely
to know what
our Lord means
here but most
likely he's
saying do you
think the true
riches of God
and of glory
will ever be
yours if you
have not used
wisely and
well to his
glory while in
this life the
little thing he
has given you?
Money and
possessions are
little things.
They are little
things.
The moment you
have them, the
moment they
began they were
subject to the
law of entropy,
the second law
of thermodynamics,
they were on
the road to
destruction.
You can't take
anything with
you.
If you have
not been faithful
in that which
is another's,
who will give
you that which
is your own?
No servant
can serve two
masters.
Do you see the
point Jesus was
making?
Who is the
master of your
life?
Who do you
live to please?
Is it yourself?
Or is it the
God who has
redeemed you and
made you his
own?
You cannot
serve two
masters.
You will either
hate the one and
love the other
or be devoted to
the one and
despise the other.
You cannot
serve God and
money.
do you
love the other
things?
What does all
that mean for
us?
That's brief
exposition.
What does that
mean for us?
Three things I
want to say this
evening.
Number one,
very obviously,
Jesus is
counselling,
encouraging and
pressing on his
disciples to live
their lives in the
light of
eternity.
You see,
this unrighteous
steward had the
news, the
foresight to
look ahead, to
prepare for what
was coming.
And Jesus said,
you know, the
sons of this age
are wise or
more shrewd than
the sons of
life.
And I find
that a huge
challenge.
How honestly,
how realistically
do I live my
life in the
light of
eternity?
It's so easy
to live as if
this life would
simply go on and
on and on.
Yesterday,
yesterday, it
seems to me,
yesterday I was
37.
I know I was
67.
I look in the
mirror and I
think, who are
you?
Do I know you?
Are you my
dad?
What's happened
to you?
Why do you look
like that?
I don't feel as
though I should
look like that.
But I do.
Life is
swifter than a
weaver's shuttle.
And soon
and very
soon, we
will meet
the Lord.
About 30
years ago, in
New Mills, I was
a parish minister
in Ayrshire for
20 years.
The lovely
couple we
supported and
still support in
different ways,
church planting in
France.
They've been
church planting
for over 50
years with
WEC.
and they
have no
great education.
They're two
of the godliest
people I've
ever met.
And they
came and
spoke at our
prayer meeting.
And I'll
never forget
something he
said.
He quoted
two lines of
a little poem.
It's almost
doggerel.
The poetry's
not very good,
but the
theology's
wonderful.
Only one
life, soon
it must
pass.
last.
I've
never
forgotten
that.
It
pricks my
conscience
then.
It
pricks my
conscience
tonight.
Only one
life, soon
it must
last.
Only what's
done for
Jesus will
last.
Now, Jesus
isn't encouraging
us to opt
out of life.
Far from it.
We have to
live in the
midst of this
world, the
salt and
light.
But at the
same time, we
have to live
pilgrim lives.
This world
is not our
home.
And one
day we
shall stand
before the
Lord and
give an
account of
our lives.
We must
all appear
before the
judgment seat
of Christ,
2 Corinthians
5.10, and
give an
account of
the deeds
done in
the body.
And Jesus
is saying,
look ahead.
Look
ahead.
who's
well done
are you
aiming for
in life?
Are you
living in
the light
of eternity?
Because life
is very
swift.
You're in the
fullness of
it, and
before you
know it, in
the blink of
an eye, it's
just disappearing
through your
fingers.
Live in the
light of
eternity, Jesus
is saying, be
shrewd like
this dishonest
steward.
Have
foresight.
But then
secondly, remember
that we are
all stewards
of everything
we possess.
You do not
possess one
iota.
Hands up if
you own a
house.
I do.
Hands up.
No, you
don't.
It's God's.
You say, well,
I pay the
mortgage.
You may pay
the mortgage.
Every penny
you pay is
given to you
by the
sovereign Lord
in his good
pleasure and
kindness.
You say, I've
got no mortgage.
That's because
of the good
pleasure of
God.
The clothes
you wear, the
food you eat,
the children
you have, they
are all the
lords.
But you have
them as
stewards.
He has
given them to
you as a
trust.
They are
entrusted to
you.
And one day
the Lord is
going to say,
what did you
do with
those precious
little lies
that I gave
to you?
What did
you do with
that home
that I
entrusted to
you in my
bounty?
What did
you do with
this, that
or the
other?
Whether we
have little
or much
is of little
consequence,
but what did
you do?
Because nothing
we have is
our own.
What do we
have that we
did not first
receive?
we would be
penniless beggars
with nothing,
not an
iota,
not an
iota of
clothing,
if it were
not for the
good pleasure,
kindness and
goodness of
God.
We are
stewards and
we have an
account to
give.
I don't
think that
means that
we are
to say,
oh well,
I shouldn't
go holidays,
I shouldn't
do this,
I shouldn't
do that.
We each
live before
God,
we are to
live
before the
face of
God.
We are
not to
judge other
people,
not to
stand in
judgment
saying,
ah,
you are
not using
the
resources
God
has
given
you.
It's
enough for
us to
be asking
ourselves
every day,
am I
using the
resources
well and
wisely that
God has
given to
me?
I'm a
steward.
Are you
being a
wise,
godly
steward?
And then
thirdly,
I think we
need to
understand that
Christian giving
and Christian
serving in
the new
covenant is
sacrificial and
not proportional.
You may not
agree with me,
and that's
fine, I
don't get
everything
right.
I think we
can take
comfort in
saying,
well I
tithe.
But if
the Lord
Jesus
Christ is
our
exemplar in
everything,
he gave
everything for
us.
He didn't
tithe himself,
for you
know the
grace of
our Lord
Jesus
Christ,
and this
theology
comes in
the midst
of this
lengthy
exposition
on Christian
giving in
2 Corinthians
8 and
9.
You know
the grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
that though
he was
rich,
yet for
your sakes
he became
poor,
so that
you by
his
poverty
might
become
rich.
Christian
giving and
Christian
serving is
not
proportional,
it's
sacrificial.
It should
cost us
not
but
that can
be taken
wrongly,
I know,
but I don't
want to
qualify,
I could
qualify it,
hopefully
helpfully,
but I'm
not going
to.
Christian
giving and
Christian
serving should
cost us,
not
9 to 5,
not saying,
given my
tithe,
maybe 1%
is sacrificial
for some
people,
I absolutely
mean that,
I believe
that,
maybe 99%
for other
people who
live before
God,
that's why
read 2
Corinthians 8
and 9,
Christian
giving and
Christian
serving is
to be
sacrificial,
the church
of Jesus
Christ is
worthy of
our highest
and our
best,
to use
the well
worn
old
phrase,
we're to
lay all
on the
altar
for the
Saviour,
we're to
be living
sacrifices,
we're to
be daily
oblations,
giving all
that we
are to
him who
gave
everything
and beyond
for us.
I remember
some years
ago reading
the biography
of William
Borden,
it's called
William Borden
of Yale,
he was a
young man,
a very
wealthy
young man
who was
at the
University
of Yale,
the third
best
university
in the
world,
two ahead
of Oxford
and two
behind
Cambridge,
you can
work that
out,
and he
was converted,
he came to
faith in
Jesus Christ
and for
some reason
he set
his heart
on going
to the
land of
Burma,
Myanmar,
and he
prepared to
go to
Burma,
he graduated
but he
was persuaded
to spend
some time
travelling
throughout
America
encouraging
young men
in particular
to give
up their
small
ambitions
and to
go out
east and
preach the
gospel
and he
did that
for some
two years
or three
years,
I can't
remember
and then
the day
came
when
William
Borden
set sail
from
New
York
heading
for
the
land
of
Burma
and in
those
days
the
first
great
port
of
call
was
Alexandria
in
Egypt
and when
he got
to
Alexandria
William
Borden
was struck
down
with
cerebral
encephalitis
he was
going to
die in
Alexandria
he would
never see
Burma
he had
lived to
go to
Burma
since he
was
converted
but he
would
never see
Burma
he would
die
and be
buried
in
Alexandria
as he
lay
dying
three
medical
men
gathered
round the
bottom
of his
bed
and one
of them
said
what a
waste
they knew
about his
life and
his promise
wealthy young
man
what a waste
and you
understand that
humanly speaking
what a waste
and with the
little strength
he had left
William
Borden
raised
himself
and simply
said
no retreat
no reserve
no regrets
no retreat
no reserve
no regrets
that's a life
that understood
that he had to
give everything
and even
though the
Lord would
take him
to glory
before he
ever saw
Burma
that was
for the
Lord
that's what
Jesus I think
is teaching
his disciples
be sons of
light who live
in the light
of eternity
recognize
you are stewards
with an
account
one day
to give
and understand
that belonging
to me is
not proportional
but sacrificial
you see in the
light of the
Lord's
giving of
himself for
us
how can we
dare not
give everything
we are to
him
I did
this
for you
and eternity
will be an
exploration
of what that
meant
in 10,000
times 10,000
years
we will be
no nearer
plumbing
the immensities
and the
infinities
of what it
meant for
the Son
of God
to become
flesh
and become
a curse
on Calvary's
cross
I did all
that for
you
what did
you do
for me
wouldn't
you want
to be able
to say
Lord
I didn't
do much
but by
your grace
and by
the enabling
of your
spirit
I sought
to give
my own
tis the
least
I could
do
as we
come to
the Lord's
table
we're going
to sing
!