WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 I want to start with a story. I'm not sure it's 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:04.940 true, but I think it is. But it makes a great 00:00:04.940 --> 00:00:09.339 point, so we're going to go with it. At the beginning 00:00:09.339 --> 00:00:11.740 of one of the Crusades, the Christian leaders 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:13.880 worried if they had enough troops to defeat the 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:18.019 enemy. So they hired several thousand pagan mercenaries 00:00:18.019 --> 00:00:21.739 to fight with them. But then they worried that 00:00:21.739 --> 00:00:26.019 God might not bless their war if they had unbaptized 00:00:26.019 --> 00:00:30.210 pagans fighting for a Christian cause. So they 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:32.590 told the pagan soldiers they all had to be baptized 00:00:32.590 --> 00:00:35.969 to make them Christian. And reluctantly, they 00:00:35.969 --> 00:00:38.649 agreed. But as these soldiers went under the 00:00:38.649 --> 00:00:41.390 water, they all held their swords up out of the 00:00:41.390 --> 00:00:43.850 water, refusing to allow them to be baptized. 00:00:44.710 --> 00:00:47.969 When asked why, the soldiers said that while 00:00:47.969 --> 00:00:50.070 they were willing to take the step of baptism 00:00:50.070 --> 00:00:53.070 to satisfy their new masters, they wouldn't bring 00:00:53.070 --> 00:00:55.670 their swords under the authority of anyone but 00:00:55.670 --> 00:00:58.710 themselves. Their swords belonged to them, not 00:00:58.710 --> 00:01:01.109 Christ, and they'd use them the way they wanted. 00:01:02.270 --> 00:01:05.950 Fast forward to today, and many American Christians 00:01:05.950 --> 00:01:09.189 aren't a lot different. They'll go to church, 00:01:09.269 --> 00:01:11.950 sit in a pew, perhaps get baptized and join the 00:01:11.950 --> 00:01:15.849 church. But when they get baptized, they often 00:01:15.849 --> 00:01:18.310 hold their wallets above their head out of the 00:01:18.310 --> 00:01:21.709 water, signifying that while they don't mind 00:01:21.709 --> 00:01:24.469 joining the church, their wallets are theirs, 00:01:24.549 --> 00:01:27.129 not God's. and they'll use them the way they 00:01:27.129 --> 00:01:30.230 want. And that brings us to our message today. 00:01:30.890 --> 00:01:33.090 Today we're going to study one of the strangest 00:01:33.090 --> 00:01:35.849 and most difficult parables Jesus ever told, 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:39.290 the parable of the dishonest manager. And there's 00:01:39.290 --> 00:01:41.609 no end to debate about exactly what this parable 00:01:41.609 --> 00:01:44.730 means or how it applies to our lives. So I want 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:47.109 you all to turn to Luke 16. I'm going to read 00:01:47.109 --> 00:01:50.150 it to you, and I want you to listen to what it 00:01:50.150 --> 00:01:57.159 says. Luke 16, starting in verse 1. Now he was 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:00.500 also saying to the disciples, there was a rich 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:03.920 man who had a manager and this manager was reported 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.959 to him as squandering his possessions. And he 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.199 called him and said to him, what is this I hear 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.900 about you? Give an accounting for your management 00:02:12.900 --> 00:02:16.580 for you can no longer be manager. And then the 00:02:16.580 --> 00:02:19.879 manager said to himself, what shall I do since 00:02:19.879 --> 00:02:22.139 my master is taking away the management from 00:02:22.139 --> 00:02:25.620 me? I'm not strong enough to dig. And I'm ashamed 00:02:25.620 --> 00:02:29.360 to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:31.840 I am removed from management, people will welcome 00:02:31.840 --> 00:02:35.060 me into their homes. And he summoned each one 00:02:35.060 --> 00:02:37.219 of his master's debtors, and he began saying 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:39.919 to the first, How much do you owe my master? 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:43.599 And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.340 said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly 00:02:46.340 --> 00:02:49.560 and write fifty. And then to another he said, 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:51.960 And how much do you owe? And he said, A hundred 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:54.870 measures of wheat. And he said to him, take your 00:02:54.870 --> 00:02:59.009 bill and write 80. And his master praised the 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:02.069 unrighteous manager because he acted shrewdly. 00:03:02.250 --> 00:03:05.349 For the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation 00:03:05.349 --> 00:03:08.349 to their own kind than the sons of light. And 00:03:08.349 --> 00:03:10.830 I say to you, make friends for yourself by the 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:13.590 means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that 00:03:13.590 --> 00:03:16.610 when it fails, they will receive you into the 00:03:16.610 --> 00:03:19.830 eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:23.389 little thing is also faithful in much. But he 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:26.389 who is unrighteous in a very little thing is 00:03:26.389 --> 00:03:30.770 unrighteous also in much. Therefore, if you have 00:03:30.770 --> 00:03:33.509 not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, 00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:37.030 who will entrust true riches to you? And if you 00:03:37.030 --> 00:03:38.990 have not been faithful in the use of that which 00:03:38.990 --> 00:03:41.750 is another's, who will give you that which is 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:46.129 your own? No servant can serve two masters, for 00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:49.460 either he will hate one and love the other, or 00:03:49.460 --> 00:03:51.960 else he will be devoted to one and despise the 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:57.379 other. You cannot serve God and wealth. All right, 00:03:57.419 --> 00:03:59.939 what do you think? What in the world is Jesus 00:03:59.939 --> 00:04:03.039 trying to tell us here? And this really boils 00:04:03.039 --> 00:04:06.439 down to two basic issues. Why is Jesus praising 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:10.379 a crook? And in what way are we as Christians 00:04:10.379 --> 00:04:13.740 supposed to be like this guy? And I have to confess, 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:15.960 I have a love -hate relationship with this parable 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:18.769 because it strikes me as strange. I love the 00:04:18.769 --> 00:04:20.790 challenge of digging into it and finding out 00:04:20.790 --> 00:04:23.870 what's in this parable for our lives. But because 00:04:23.870 --> 00:04:27.209 it's hard to understand, it also means it's easier 00:04:27.209 --> 00:04:30.430 to get something wrong. And I hate making mistakes. 00:04:31.069 --> 00:04:33.730 Jeff Noe knows exactly what I'm talking about. 00:04:33.990 --> 00:04:40.230 All right. So I want you to think about the passage 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:43.389 we just read as we dig into Luke 16 and see what 00:04:43.389 --> 00:04:46.649 we can figure out. Jesus is really saying and 00:04:46.649 --> 00:04:48.930 what practical lessons we can learn from this 00:04:48.930 --> 00:04:51.550 parable of the dishonest manager. So we're going 00:04:51.550 --> 00:04:54.689 to start with the accusation. People were shocked 00:04:54.689 --> 00:04:57.329 in the early 2000s when they heard about the 00:04:57.329 --> 00:05:00.889 financial dishonesty at Enron and Arthur Anderson 00:05:00.889 --> 00:05:02.949 Accounting and some other large corporations 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:06.310 and how they cooked their books. The leaders 00:05:06.310 --> 00:05:08.970 of these corporations managed to steal billions 00:05:08.970 --> 00:05:11.250 of dollars from their stockholders and employees, 00:05:11.750 --> 00:05:14.509 and it was iffy for a time if any of them would 00:05:14.509 --> 00:05:17.730 spend any time at all in jail. And what it proved 00:05:17.730 --> 00:05:20.170 is there have been dishonest businessmen as long 00:05:20.170 --> 00:05:22.529 as there have been businesses. And they even 00:05:22.529 --> 00:05:24.769 had them in Jesus' day, and Jesus is going to 00:05:24.769 --> 00:05:27.290 use one of them as an example in this parable. 00:05:27.629 --> 00:05:31.629 Look at the first part of verse 1. Now he was 00:05:31.629 --> 00:05:36.480 also saying to the disciples, As the story unfolds, 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:39.699 Jesus is speaking to his disciples. The Pharisees 00:05:39.699 --> 00:05:42.699 are still hanging around, as verse 14 in this 00:05:42.699 --> 00:05:45.459 chapter makes clear, but Jesus isn't focused 00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.120 on the Pharisees at this point. This parable 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:51.720 is aimed at those who believed in him because 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:53.819 he had some important lessons he wanted them 00:05:53.819 --> 00:05:58.279 to learn. And by extension, it's also appointed... 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:01.540 pointed at us as well, those who believe in Jesus 00:06:01.540 --> 00:06:04.319 today. We need to learn those lessons from this 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.319 parable. Look at the second half of verse 1. 00:06:07.980 --> 00:06:10.579 There was a rich man who had a manager, and this 00:06:10.579 --> 00:06:14.139 manager was reported to him as squandering his 00:06:14.139 --> 00:06:17.800 possessions. It was a common practice back then 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:20.600 for a rich landowner to turn over the day -to 00:06:20.600 --> 00:06:23.720 -day running of his financial affairs to a manager 00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:27.220 or a steward, someone who was responsible to 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.810 manage his wealth. Occasionally those managers 00:06:29.810 --> 00:06:33.310 were slaves, as Joseph was when he managed Potiphar's 00:06:33.310 --> 00:06:35.990 affairs in Egypt, but often they were free men. 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.269 The key to understanding what a steward did is 00:06:39.269 --> 00:06:43.389 to remember that he managed somebody else's money. 00:06:43.810 --> 00:06:47.290 He was in charge of his employer's asset, and 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:50.410 his sole obligation was to do the best job he 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:54.360 could for his master. But this steward did a 00:06:54.360 --> 00:06:57.699 lousy job of managing his owner's assets. And 00:06:57.699 --> 00:07:00.459 one day word reached the master that the steward 00:07:00.459 --> 00:07:03.680 was squandering his wealth. That word squandering 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:07.519 is the same one used in Luke 15, 13 to describe 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:10.439 how the prodigal son squandered his inheritance 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:13.879 with loose living. But at least the prodigal 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:17.139 son squandered his own money. This manager was 00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:19.639 squandering his master's money and that spelled 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:23.680 trouble. Look at verse 2. And he called him and 00:07:23.680 --> 00:07:26.699 said to him, what is this I hear about you? Give 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:28.600 an accounting for your management, for you can 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:33.300 no longer be manager. Apparently, there was enough 00:07:33.300 --> 00:07:36.800 evidence against the manager that the master 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:39.660 felt he had to act. And so the master ordered 00:07:39.660 --> 00:07:42.600 the books open for a full audit and decided to 00:07:42.600 --> 00:07:45.680 fire the manager. Now the manager had a big problem. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:49.720 Look at verse 3. And the manager said to himself, 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:53.220 what shall I do? since my master is taking away 00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:55.959 the management from me. I am not strong enough 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.899 to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. This dishonest 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:02.600 manager is in big trouble. He was a lifelong 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:06.740 bureaucrat who loved his desk job, and he's too 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:09.660 old to do manual labor to support himself, and 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:12.300 the thought of begging people for help disgusted 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:15.060 him. What he needed was a way to maintain his 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:17.899 current lifestyle, even after he was fired as 00:08:17.899 --> 00:08:20.920 manager. And so this is our manager's dilemma. 00:08:21.449 --> 00:08:23.870 He's accused of squandering his master's money. 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:26.949 The books are about to be opened for an audit 00:08:26.949 --> 00:08:30.269 and his step is exposed, and his master has decided 00:08:30.269 --> 00:08:33.750 to fire him. This is a huge crisis. The question 00:08:33.750 --> 00:08:38.389 is, what would he do now? Listen, crisis often 00:08:38.389 --> 00:08:41.830 reveals our character, what's really in our hearts. 00:08:42.009 --> 00:08:44.509 It's during a crisis that we have to make some 00:08:44.509 --> 00:08:47.669 hard choices about whether we trust God, depend 00:08:47.669 --> 00:08:50.950 on his grace, and do the right thing. or panic, 00:08:51.029 --> 00:08:53.210 depend on our own cunning, and fall into sin. 00:08:53.549 --> 00:08:56.169 We've all been there, and we all know that crisis 00:08:56.169 --> 00:08:59.710 tends to bring out our true character. For this 00:08:59.710 --> 00:09:02.870 dishonest manager, he faces the choice between 00:09:02.870 --> 00:09:05.730 coming clean, turning from his sin, and seeking 00:09:05.730 --> 00:09:08.830 forgiveness and mercy from his master, or continuing 00:09:08.830 --> 00:09:13.529 his old habits of dishonesty and deceit. So let's 00:09:13.529 --> 00:09:16.190 see the answer he comes up with. And this is 00:09:16.190 --> 00:09:18.490 where we run into some controversy about what 00:09:18.490 --> 00:09:21.730 Jesus is saying in this parable. Is the manager 00:09:21.730 --> 00:09:25.309 actually changing his ways and repenting or is 00:09:25.309 --> 00:09:28.429 he simply doing more of the same? So I want to 00:09:28.429 --> 00:09:30.809 read this next part and then we'll talk about 00:09:30.809 --> 00:09:34.690 it. Look at verse four. I know what I shall do 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:37.669 so that when I remove from the management, people 00:09:37.669 --> 00:09:40.970 will welcome me into their homes. Suddenly it 00:09:40.970 --> 00:09:43.789 dawned on him. A way to take care of himself 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:46.190 after he's fired and to make sure he had some 00:09:46.190 --> 00:09:49.169 place to go. All it would take is a little bit 00:09:49.169 --> 00:09:52.149 of creativity. He would use the time he had left 00:09:52.149 --> 00:09:54.809 to buy influence among wealthy clients of his 00:09:54.809 --> 00:09:57.250 master to open the door for himself down the 00:09:57.250 --> 00:10:03.789 road. Look at 5 to 7. And he summoned each one 00:10:03.789 --> 00:10:06.090 of his master's debtors. And he began saying 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:08.809 to the first, how much do you owe my master? 00:10:09.289 --> 00:10:12.259 And he said, a hundred measures of oil. And he 00:10:12.259 --> 00:10:14.059 said to him, take your bill, sit down quickly 00:10:14.059 --> 00:10:16.820 and write 50. And he said to another, and how 00:10:16.820 --> 00:10:19.720 much do you owe? And he said, 100 measures of 00:10:19.720 --> 00:10:22.539 wheat. And he said to him, take your bill and 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:25.360 write 80. He was a shrewd man. He knew everybody 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.080 likes to save money. So he called some of his 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:30.919 master's debtors and offered them a chance to 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.320 discount their debt by rewriting their contracts. 00:10:33.659 --> 00:10:36.759 The amounts of food here are considerable, so 00:10:36.759 --> 00:10:39.720 the discounts made a huge difference. It seemed 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.779 likely as well that Jesus cited these as simply 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:45.399 examples of what he did, that at the same time 00:10:45.399 --> 00:10:48.000 he's rewriting other contracts for his master. 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:51.000 And it's easy to see how these other businessmen 00:10:51.000 --> 00:10:53.559 who made a nice profit from the deals might be 00:10:53.559 --> 00:10:55.700 grateful to him later on and willing to help 00:10:55.700 --> 00:10:59.289 him. Now, here's the controversy. Some scholars 00:10:59.289 --> 00:11:03.090 believe that in rewriting the contracts, this 00:11:03.090 --> 00:11:06.309 represents a change of heart, that what he was 00:11:06.309 --> 00:11:09.289 actually doing is removing his own excessive 00:11:09.289 --> 00:11:12.230 interest charges from the bills he had been extorting 00:11:12.230 --> 00:11:15.009 from his master's debtors. This is seen as a 00:11:15.009 --> 00:11:18.629 step of honesty. If it's true, it does make the 00:11:18.629 --> 00:11:20.929 master's praise of him in verse 8 a little more 00:11:20.929 --> 00:11:25.539 understandable. So what do you think? Does this 00:11:25.539 --> 00:11:28.500 view make sense to you? Do you think our dishonest 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.539 manager is actually turning over a new leaf here? 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.679 Well, as I've gone through this, I've come to 00:11:36.679 --> 00:11:39.080 the conclusion this isn't a sudden attack of 00:11:39.080 --> 00:11:41.919 conscience causing him to take a step in the 00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:44.700 right direction, and here's why. First, there's 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:48.179 no evidence of repentance. Nothing he does indicates 00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:51.110 he's repenting. There's no confession of sin, 00:11:51.289 --> 00:11:54.190 no admission of wrongdoing, no seeking forgiveness 00:11:54.190 --> 00:11:57.409 from his master. If this is repentance, it's 00:11:57.409 --> 00:12:01.450 carefully disguised repentance. And secondly, 00:12:01.750 --> 00:12:05.409 his motives are way off. As we just saw in verses 00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:08.610 3 and 4, he didn't do this because he felt guilty 00:12:08.610 --> 00:12:10.909 and wanted to make things right with his master 00:12:10.909 --> 00:12:13.610 and his creditors. He did it to save his own 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:16.870 skin so that he would be taken care of when he 00:12:16.870 --> 00:12:19.610 was fired. That doesn't strike me as the high 00:12:19.610 --> 00:12:22.389 moral conviction of a man who's trying to change 00:12:22.389 --> 00:12:25.990 his ways. Everything in these verses convinces 00:12:25.990 --> 00:12:28.669 me that this is simply more the same dishonesty 00:12:28.669 --> 00:12:31.470 that got him fired in the first place. Rather 00:12:31.470 --> 00:12:34.669 than face up to his mismanagement, the steward 00:12:34.669 --> 00:12:38.649 decided to be more dishonest. Creative, but dishonest. 00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:41.409 And he also knew that he could count on finding 00:12:41.409 --> 00:12:44.269 other businessmen who were as dishonest as he 00:12:44.269 --> 00:12:48.139 was. Crisis and pressure usually reveal what's 00:12:48.139 --> 00:12:50.320 really in our hearts. When everything's going 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.360 well and we're in control, it's easy to put up 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:56.620 a front and pretend we're so spiritual. Before 00:12:56.620 --> 00:12:59.000 this, I'm sure many people thought this steward 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.039 was a good guy, just as many people thought all 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:04.799 the corporate execs in the early 2000s were good 00:13:04.799 --> 00:13:07.779 guys. But when the pressure's on, what's in our 00:13:07.779 --> 00:13:11.139 heart comes out, and he became more dishonest. 00:13:11.500 --> 00:13:14.460 Pressure always forces our true character to 00:13:14.460 --> 00:13:17.759 the surface. So how deep does our faith in God 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:22.059 go? We won't really know until hard times come 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:25.139 and the pressure is on. And that's when our true 00:13:25.139 --> 00:13:27.580 character and commitment to God will either shine 00:13:27.580 --> 00:13:31.259 through or crumble. And the time to build our 00:13:31.259 --> 00:13:34.399 character is now so that when the pressure is 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:38.019 on, godliness will shine through. Crisis will 00:13:38.019 --> 00:13:40.840 reveal a lot about our character and how deep 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:44.299 our faith goes. All right, let's talk about the 00:13:44.299 --> 00:13:47.019 application of this parable. This is the fun 00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:50.220 part, how we apply this to our lives. But to 00:13:50.220 --> 00:13:52.220 do that, we're going to have to carefully sort 00:13:52.220 --> 00:13:55.860 out exactly what Jesus is and isn't saying to 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:58.600 make sure that we don't draw any wrong conclusions. 00:13:59.259 --> 00:14:01.740 But the heart of this parable is a challenge 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:04.690 to the people of God. to learn how to use their 00:14:04.690 --> 00:14:07.330 money for the glory of God and to build his kingdom. 00:14:07.669 --> 00:14:10.190 And as you will see, this parable is really a 00:14:10.190 --> 00:14:13.490 call to financial faithfulness among the followers 00:14:13.490 --> 00:14:28.210 of Jesus. Look at verse 8. Now, several key points 00:14:28.210 --> 00:14:31.600 need to be made here. First, Because the steward 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.879 still had authority to act when he discounted 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.159 the bills, the contracts he signed were valid 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.179 and the master would have to honor them. And 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:42.840 second, the master isn't praising him for his 00:14:42.840 --> 00:14:46.539 dishonesty. That's important to remember. What 00:14:46.539 --> 00:14:49.740 he praises the manager for is his shrewdness, 00:14:49.820 --> 00:14:52.840 for his quick thinking and using his position 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:56.259 to buy influence among wealthy people who would 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.429 be in a position to help him later. What he prays 00:14:59.429 --> 00:15:01.889 for is knowing how to use the financial resources 00:15:01.889 --> 00:15:05.470 of this world for his own good and to get what 00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:08.269 he wanted in the world. That's the heart of Jesus' 00:15:08.429 --> 00:15:10.409 comment at the end of this verse when he states 00:15:10.409 --> 00:15:12.490 that the people of the world know how to use 00:15:12.490 --> 00:15:15.610 money and resources at their disposal to win 00:15:15.610 --> 00:15:18.750 friends and buy favor among the people around 00:15:18.750 --> 00:15:21.830 them to get what they want. They understand money. 00:15:22.269 --> 00:15:25.049 and power, and influence, and how to use money 00:15:25.049 --> 00:15:27.750 to get their own way. That is how the game is 00:15:27.750 --> 00:15:31.509 played. Look, it's no secret in Washington that 00:15:31.509 --> 00:15:33.950 there is a pay -to -play mentality of many of 00:15:33.950 --> 00:15:36.389 our office holders there. That if you give enough 00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:39.070 money to the right campaign, you can buy influence 00:15:39.070 --> 00:15:41.649 and favors. What did we find out this week during 00:15:41.649 --> 00:15:46.029 hearings with RFK Jr.? Virtually every senator 00:15:46.029 --> 00:15:48.049 and congressman on the committee he was sitting 00:15:48.049 --> 00:15:49.950 before had taken money from the pharmaceutical. 00:15:51.830 --> 00:15:54.090 Interesting. I wonder why they gave all that 00:15:54.090 --> 00:15:58.049 money. It's a running joke in Washington. And 00:15:58.049 --> 00:16:01.330 Jesus is saying, worldly people know how to play 00:16:01.330 --> 00:16:04.169 that game, and they play it really well. There 00:16:04.169 --> 00:16:06.610 is a shrewdness to how they go about using their 00:16:06.610 --> 00:16:10.090 money to buy favors and influence. And this manager 00:16:10.090 --> 00:16:12.669 knew how the game was played, and he played it 00:16:12.669 --> 00:16:16.240 well to his own advantage. But what Jesus wants 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:19.500 us to understand and what he is about to go on 00:16:19.500 --> 00:16:22.740 to explain is that his followers need to learn 00:16:22.740 --> 00:16:24.960 how to be shrewd with their money and resources, 00:16:25.220 --> 00:16:29.919 but not in a dishonest way, and not for themselves, 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:33.039 and not to gain power and influence in this world, 00:16:33.100 --> 00:16:36.360 but to use that shrewdness to build the kingdom 00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:40.659 of God. And so often God blesses us with resources 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:44.039 that he wants us to use for his kingdom. And 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:47.259 it never dawns on us that God might have a higher 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:49.960 purpose in blessing us than just satisfying our 00:16:49.960 --> 00:16:53.240 own wants and desires. The people of God need 00:16:53.240 --> 00:16:55.399 to learn how to use their money to the glory 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.700 of God and the kingdom of God the same way the 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:00.940 people of the world use their money for their 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:04.480 own desire and power. And in the next few verses, 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:07.460 Jesus is going to make some very insightful applications 00:17:07.460 --> 00:17:11.359 of what it means for his followers to be shrewd 00:17:11.359 --> 00:17:14.039 with their money. Remember, though, shrewd does 00:17:14.039 --> 00:17:17.900 not mean dishonest. And the core idea that comes 00:17:17.900 --> 00:17:21.940 up again and again is faithfulness. Are we being 00:17:21.940 --> 00:17:24.660 faithful with the finances God has given us? 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:28.420 Are we using his money wisely and shrewdly to 00:17:28.420 --> 00:17:30.960 build his kingdom and accumulate treasure in 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:34.099 heaven? Or are we spending it on our own wants 00:17:34.099 --> 00:17:36.640 and desires without any real thought to what 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.420 God wants us to do? So let's go through the next 00:17:39.420 --> 00:17:42.299 few verses and see what applications Jesus makes 00:17:42.299 --> 00:17:46.220 for us. First, we have to make sure we're buying 00:17:46.220 --> 00:17:48.799 influence in the right place. Look at verse 9. 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:02.119 dwellings. So let's define some terms here so 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:04.240 that we make sure we understand exactly what 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.619 Jesus is saying. The wealth of unrighteousness 00:18:07.619 --> 00:18:10.059 or the mammon of unrighteousness should be understood 00:18:10.059 --> 00:18:13.079 as worldly wealth. The money and resources the 00:18:13.079 --> 00:18:16.500 people of this world seek so passionately. It's 00:18:16.500 --> 00:18:19.319 unrighteous because it's uncertain, unstable, 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:24.079 easily lost, destined to perish, and it corrupts 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.960 the heart. But Jesus also recognizes that Christians 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:31.559 need to learn how to use worldly wealth in an 00:18:31.559 --> 00:18:35.680 otherworldly way. And the French mention here 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.099 could be a way of referring to God who welcomes 00:18:38.099 --> 00:18:40.359 into heaven those who learn to use their resources 00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:43.940 wisely. But friends could also mean the people 00:18:43.940 --> 00:18:46.339 we've touched for Christ here on earth through 00:18:46.339 --> 00:18:49.220 using our finances wisely for the kingdom of 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:51.700 God, that they will welcome us into heaven one 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:54.970 day. I always think of that Ray Bolt song from 00:18:54.970 --> 00:18:57.930 years ago, Thank You, where a man is standing 00:18:57.930 --> 00:19:00.130 in heaven and someone comes up to him who he 00:19:00.130 --> 00:19:02.950 never met on earth and tells him how God used 00:19:02.950 --> 00:19:06.289 the money he gave that missionary and who preached 00:19:06.289 --> 00:19:09.990 the gospel to him and led to his salvation. If 00:19:09.990 --> 00:19:13.250 we use our money wisely, people will be touched 00:19:13.250 --> 00:19:16.029 for eternity and we may well be welcomed into 00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:19.599 heaven someday by friends we never knew. I believe 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:21.799 many people at Heart of the Canyons will be welcomed 00:19:21.799 --> 00:19:24.680 into heaven one day by Nashi believers from China 00:19:24.680 --> 00:19:27.099 because they helped send our mission team there 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:29.559 a few years ago and had a part in their salvation. 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:32.960 There may well be people in Madagascar who will 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:35.759 welcome Oak Hill people into heaven one day because 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.500 we helped expand and repair their church and 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:40.900 help them buy a school with the money we sent. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.640 And it's just a small amount of money here, but 00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:46.779 the fruit of it may go well beyond anything we've 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:51.960 ever thought of. So the first application Jesus 00:19:51.960 --> 00:19:54.380 makes for us is that we better make sure we're 00:19:54.380 --> 00:19:57.319 buying influence in the right place, in heaven, 00:19:57.460 --> 00:20:00.740 not on earth. The dishonest manager used his 00:20:00.740 --> 00:20:03.740 master's money to buy influence with the wealthy 00:20:03.740 --> 00:20:06.900 and powerful on earth. Jesus wants us to learn 00:20:06.900 --> 00:20:09.440 to use our money to buy influence in heaven. 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:12.619 That's the shrewdness Jesus wants us to have, 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:15.779 that we can take something very worldly and unrighteous 00:20:15.779 --> 00:20:18.859 like money and use it to influence people for 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:21.700 eternity and gather treasure in heaven one day. 00:20:21.779 --> 00:20:24.339 We are to seek treasure in heaven more than treasure 00:20:24.339 --> 00:20:27.519 on earth. And did you catch that remark about 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.799 worldly wealth failing one day? It won't last 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:34.059 and it's destined to perish. Money can't save 00:20:34.059 --> 00:20:36.700 us. We can't take one cent with us to heaven. 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:40.160 But we can use our money to invest in treasure 00:20:40.160 --> 00:20:43.240 in heaven that will last for eternity. And we 00:20:43.240 --> 00:20:45.859 can touch people for eternity with our money. 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:48.779 We can't take it with us, but we can send it 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:54.640 ahead. Second, learn faithfulness with this small 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:59.799 responsibility, money. Look at verse 10. He who 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:09.920 is faithful in a very little thing. My first 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:11.779 thought when I read this is that money doesn't 00:21:11.779 --> 00:21:14.519 seem like such a small thing to me. It seems 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:17.579 like a very huge thing at times in my life. But 00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:19.720 remember, the values of heaven are the exact 00:21:19.720 --> 00:21:22.880 opposite from the values of earth. Gold, the 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.140 thing so many wars in human history have been 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:28.000 fought over, is used to pave the streets of heaven. 00:21:28.809 --> 00:21:31.849 From God's perspective, money is one of the small 00:21:31.849 --> 00:21:35.289 areas of responsibility that he uses to evaluate 00:21:35.289 --> 00:21:38.589 our faithfulness. It seems pretty clear from 00:21:38.589 --> 00:21:40.509 this verse that Christians who can't learn to 00:21:40.509 --> 00:21:43.509 use their money wisely for God's kingdom will 00:21:43.509 --> 00:21:46.069 be way off in other areas of their lives as well. 00:21:46.470 --> 00:21:49.490 If our faith in Christ doesn't affect how we 00:21:49.490 --> 00:21:53.349 use our money, it won't affect these other areas 00:21:53.349 --> 00:21:55.970 either. Money is one of the weather vanes God 00:21:55.970 --> 00:21:59.259 uses to measure our faithfulness. And it's very 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:01.660 simple. If we aren't trustworthy with the money 00:22:01.660 --> 00:22:04.680 God gives us now, then we won't be very trustworthy 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:06.759 with the more important things of the kingdom 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:09.200 of God, like caring for people and using our 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:12.519 gifts and walking in integrity. Money is a weather 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:16.259 vane, how deep our faithfulness in God goes in 00:22:16.259 --> 00:22:19.319 the things that really matter. Money is a small 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:22.519 thing in God's eyes, but it's a very big indicator 00:22:22.519 --> 00:22:25.559 of the depth of our trust and faithfulness to 00:22:25.559 --> 00:22:28.720 him in the kingdom. Faithfulness with money indicates 00:22:28.720 --> 00:22:31.359 fitness for greater responsibility in the kingdom 00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:35.059 of God. You wouldn't promote an employee who 00:22:35.059 --> 00:22:37.660 couldn't handle the small responsibility of his 00:22:37.660 --> 00:22:43.099 job. Neither will God. Third, money opens the 00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:57.210 door to true riches. Look at verse 11. Do you 00:22:57.210 --> 00:23:00.329 know that God has great plans for us? He wants 00:23:00.329 --> 00:23:02.549 to use each and every one of us to extend his 00:23:02.549 --> 00:23:05.789 kingdom and impact people for eternity. And he 00:23:05.789 --> 00:23:08.250 wants to reward us for our faithfulness with 00:23:08.250 --> 00:23:11.329 true riches, with treasure in heaven, with responsibility 00:23:11.329 --> 00:23:14.609 for souls here, and effective ministry here and 00:23:14.609 --> 00:23:18.049 now. God has great plans for all of us. But if 00:23:18.049 --> 00:23:21.069 God can't trust us to be faithful with worldly 00:23:21.069 --> 00:23:23.619 wealth he has given us, And he can't trust us 00:23:23.619 --> 00:23:27.019 with eternal resources. Learning to use our worldly 00:23:27.019 --> 00:23:29.740 wealth shrewdly for God's kingdom opens the door 00:23:29.740 --> 00:23:32.079 to greater riches in our lives, both financial 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:34.980 and otherwise. And we forfeit those true riches 00:23:34.980 --> 00:23:37.559 when we misuse our money and squander our resources. 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:43.119 Fourth, we are all stewards. Look at verse 12. 00:23:44.960 --> 00:23:48.539 And if you have not been faithful in the use 00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:50.539 of that which is in others, who will give you 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:53.829 that which is your own? This is a key concept 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:56.730 throughout this passage. We are all stewards. 00:23:57.170 --> 00:24:00.309 And all the financial resources God has given 00:24:00.309 --> 00:24:03.950 us belong to him, not us. We are the managers, 00:24:04.049 --> 00:24:07.789 not the owners. And the key point Jesus is making 00:24:07.789 --> 00:24:10.390 in this verse is that nothing we have right now 00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:13.789 is ours. None of it belongs to us. It all belongs 00:24:13.789 --> 00:24:18.140 to God. We have that which is another's. And 00:24:18.140 --> 00:24:20.279 if we aren't faithful with it, God will never 00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:23.599 give us any real resources of our own. We are 00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:26.960 all stewards of God's money. And we will forfeit 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:29.799 treasure in heaven one day if we misuse God's 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:32.440 treasure here and now. If you found out your 00:24:32.440 --> 00:24:34.660 accountant was living high on the hog on your 00:24:34.660 --> 00:24:37.140 money instead of investing it for you, you'd 00:24:37.140 --> 00:24:39.900 do one thing. You'd fire that accountant. Why? 00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:43.140 Because he's wasting money that belongs to you 00:24:43.140 --> 00:24:46.720 and not him. And if we show ourselves unfaithful 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.420 to God by squandering his resources, he certainly 00:24:49.420 --> 00:24:51.720 isn't about to give us more resources of our 00:24:51.720 --> 00:24:58.099 own. And finally, we can only have one God. Look 00:24:58.099 --> 00:25:01.599 at verse 13. No servant can serve two masters, 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:04.940 for either he will hate the one and love the 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:07.400 other, or else he will be devoted to one and 00:25:07.400 --> 00:25:11.059 despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:14.410 Here's the crux of the issue. Why does God put 00:25:14.410 --> 00:25:17.089 so much emphasis on measuring our faithfulness 00:25:17.089 --> 00:25:19.910 with money? Why is he so concerned about how 00:25:19.910 --> 00:25:22.990 we spend our money? Because when you cut through 00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:25.650 all the facades and all the excuses, how we use 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:29.650 our money reveals who our God really is. Remember, 00:25:29.769 --> 00:25:32.730 our God is who we serve, who we trust in, who 00:25:32.730 --> 00:25:35.970 we lean on in hard times. And for most people 00:25:35.970 --> 00:25:38.750 in America today, money is their God and their 00:25:38.750 --> 00:25:41.619 faith is in their affluence. That's why so many 00:25:41.619 --> 00:25:44.220 people get so rattled when the stock market tanks. 00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:47.220 And while it's possible to have both God and 00:25:47.220 --> 00:25:49.940 money, it's impossible to serve both God and 00:25:49.940 --> 00:25:52.859 money. One will reign supreme and dominate all 00:25:52.859 --> 00:25:55.180 our decisions. And for most people today around 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:59.319 us, money dominates. And Jesus is warning us 00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:01.700 to make sure our faith and trust are squarely 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:04.599 in the one true God and not in money like so 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:07.579 many around us. It's a call for us to be different 00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:10.299 from the unbelieving world we live in. We are 00:26:10.299 --> 00:26:12.819 to constantly check our hearts because the lure 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:16.099 to trust money is so subtle and destructive in 00:26:16.099 --> 00:26:19.339 our lives. So putting all these verses together, 00:26:19.440 --> 00:26:22.779 we can get an accurate picture of how God views 00:26:22.779 --> 00:26:26.019 money in our lives. First, We need to be sure 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:29.119 we are using our money shrewdly to buy influence 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:32.599 in the right place, heaven, and that we're using 00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:36.420 it to affect people for eternity. Second, money 00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:39.859 is a small area of our lives, but one that reveals 00:26:39.859 --> 00:26:42.200 our fitness for greater service in the kingdom 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.640 of God. God is looking for faithfulness. Third, 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:50.119 when we use our money the right way on earth, 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.920 it leads to greater treasure in heaven and usefulness 00:26:52.920 --> 00:26:56.940 now. And fourth, we are all stewards of God's 00:26:56.940 --> 00:27:00.259 resources and our money belongs to him, not us. 00:27:01.119 --> 00:27:03.779 He expects us to use it wisely for his kingdom 00:27:03.779 --> 00:27:07.220 and he will reward us if we do. And finally, 00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:09.660 how we use our money reveals who our God truly 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:12.859 is. If we are truly seeking after God and his 00:27:12.859 --> 00:27:16.519 kingdom, it will be clearly seen in our checkbooks. 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:20.220 All right, so let's talk about the action. If 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:22.400 all this is true, what does God want us to do 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.670 now? See, it's not enough to know these things. 00:27:24.730 --> 00:27:27.509 You're blessed if you do these things. So God 00:27:27.509 --> 00:27:33.130 wants us to begin to examine how we use our finances 00:27:33.130 --> 00:27:35.650 and to make sure that we are using our resources 00:27:35.650 --> 00:27:39.589 in a way that reflects our commitment to him 00:27:39.589 --> 00:27:41.950 and his kingdom. So here are some principles 00:27:41.950 --> 00:27:44.210 we need to put into practice if we want to make 00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:47.710 sure we are trusting God and not our money. Some 00:27:47.710 --> 00:27:50.980 of these principles are from 2 Corinthians. and 00:27:50.980 --> 00:27:53.920 I'd encourage you to read those chapters where 00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.579 Paul talks about giving. First, we must give 00:27:57.579 --> 00:28:01.599 faithfully. Giving is not a matter of what we 00:28:01.599 --> 00:28:04.839 make. It's a matter of how much we trust God. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:08.339 That trust must be reflected in faithful giving. 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:11.220 That means every time we get paid, we need to 00:28:11.220 --> 00:28:14.140 set aside what we're going to give to God. We 00:28:14.140 --> 00:28:16.900 have to establish a heart and a habit of faithful 00:28:16.900 --> 00:28:20.440 giving in our finances. That's why Paul encourages 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:23.920 the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 16 .2 to put 00:28:23.920 --> 00:28:26.960 aside money on the first day of every week to 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:29.920 give. And don't fall for the lie that says, well, 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:32.420 when I'm out of debt or when I pay off this bill 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:34.559 or when I get a raise, then I'll start giving 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:38.180 to God. That day will never come. God is not 00:28:38.180 --> 00:28:40.460 interested in grand promises about what we will 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:43.339 do tomorrow. He is interested in our faithfulness 00:28:43.339 --> 00:28:46.200 today. And if we aren't giving now, odds are 00:28:46.200 --> 00:28:48.000 we won't give tomorrow either, no matter how 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:51.460 much we have. Faithfulness starts today with 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:55.019 what we have now. So set an amount and start 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:58.779 giving. Besides, maybe you're in debt because 00:28:58.779 --> 00:29:01.460 you've never trusted God and you aren't giving 00:29:01.460 --> 00:29:05.000 and he can't bless you. Oftentimes, giving is 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.500 one of the first steps out of debt. Second, we 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:12.670 have to give to God first. If you're not in the 00:29:12.670 --> 00:29:14.690 habit of giving to God, then you need to start 00:29:14.690 --> 00:29:18.049 by giving to God first. I guarantee you that 00:29:18.049 --> 00:29:19.869 if you always wait to see what you have left 00:29:19.869 --> 00:29:23.490 before you give, you'll never give. We can always 00:29:23.490 --> 00:29:26.390 find ways to spend everything we have and more. 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:29.950 So commit to give to God first by writing your 00:29:29.950 --> 00:29:32.410 first check to God before you pay the bills. 00:29:32.990 --> 00:29:35.349 That way you can make sure God is not shortchanged 00:29:35.349 --> 00:29:38.069 or overlooked, and it can help you develop that 00:29:38.069 --> 00:29:40.769 habit of faithful giving. God wants our first 00:29:40.769 --> 00:29:44.890 fruits, not our leftovers. Third, we have to 00:29:44.890 --> 00:29:48.029 give freely. God is not interested in our money 00:29:48.029 --> 00:29:51.730 if he has to pry it from our iron grasp. If we're 00:29:51.730 --> 00:29:54.569 giving grudgingly and with resentment, God can 00:29:54.569 --> 00:29:57.589 live without it. He wants us to give freely out 00:29:57.589 --> 00:30:00.210 of gratitude because we understand what he has 00:30:00.210 --> 00:30:03.539 done for us in giving us his son. And because 00:30:03.539 --> 00:30:06.420 we realize what God can do through our gifts, 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.640 our gifts to God need to be given freely out 00:30:09.640 --> 00:30:13.519 of love and gratitude to him. God loves a cheerful 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:17.859 giver. Fourth, we have to grow in our giving. 00:30:18.039 --> 00:30:20.680 If we're serious in our walk with the Lord, we 00:30:20.680 --> 00:30:23.119 will grow in our giving over time. When we get 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:25.970 a raise, our giving should increase. And quite 00:30:25.970 --> 00:30:28.450 honestly, I don't know anyone who's serious about 00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:30.869 growing in the Lord and seeking him who doesn't 00:30:30.869 --> 00:30:32.970 come to the place somewhere in their lives where 00:30:32.970 --> 00:30:36.690 they're tithing. This is me, not O 'Kill. Let 00:30:36.690 --> 00:30:39.450 me make that clear. And I know there's some debate 00:30:39.450 --> 00:30:41.609 on whether tithing is taught in the New Testament 00:30:41.609 --> 00:30:44.789 or not. And that's something you'll have to wrestle 00:30:44.789 --> 00:30:48.589 with in your walk with God. But even more, every 00:30:48.589 --> 00:30:51.269 serious Christian I've ever met ends up tithing. 00:30:51.980 --> 00:30:54.240 You may not be there yet, but let me encourage 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:56.799 you to begin to work toward getting there. Some 00:30:56.799 --> 00:30:59.180 of you know this is true because God's been burdening 00:30:59.180 --> 00:31:01.460 your heart with this, that this is something 00:31:01.460 --> 00:31:05.160 you need to do. It's an issue of faith. But remember, 00:31:05.339 --> 00:31:08.799 tithing is a floor. It's not a ceiling. It's 00:31:08.799 --> 00:31:10.480 not like once you're tithing, you never have 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:13.279 to give any more. Once you've experienced the 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:15.799 joy of giving to God by tithing, we may end up 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:19.029 giving way more than a tithe. God wants us to 00:31:19.029 --> 00:31:21.730 grow in our giving as we grow in our faith, and 00:31:21.730 --> 00:31:24.430 tithing may well be a part of that for you. Again, 00:31:24.529 --> 00:31:28.210 that's me. That's not Oak. All right. And fifth, 00:31:28.349 --> 00:31:32.309 we have to give sacrificially. At times, giving 00:31:32.309 --> 00:31:35.089 should hurt. We should feel compelled to give 00:31:35.089 --> 00:31:37.009 even if it means we have to go without something. 00:31:37.130 --> 00:31:39.470 And I don't mean giving up a Starbucks once in 00:31:39.470 --> 00:31:42.869 a while. Paul praises the Macedonian believers 00:31:42.869 --> 00:31:45.970 for giving out of their poverty and beyond anything 00:31:45.970 --> 00:31:49.089 Paul expected them to do. They gave an overwhelming 00:31:49.089 --> 00:31:52.230 gift. You know, my old church Cornerstone, we 00:31:52.230 --> 00:31:55.130 had a family that went to Nekus, Uzbekistan as 00:31:55.130 --> 00:31:57.829 missionaries for five years. It was a brutal, 00:31:57.869 --> 00:32:02.119 hard place to serve. And we were a small church, 00:32:02.259 --> 00:32:04.799 but our people gave faithfully and sacrificially 00:32:04.799 --> 00:32:07.400 to support Scott and Dortha the whole time they 00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:10.000 were there. And after four years, they had seen 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:13.839 the church grow from about 50 to about 90. And 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:16.779 then something amazing happened. Over their last 00:32:16.779 --> 00:32:19.900 year there, the church exploded to almost 1 ,000, 00:32:19.900 --> 00:32:23.480 and this in a Muslim country. It was a great 00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:26.839 work of God fueled by the sacrificial giving 00:32:26.839 --> 00:32:31.190 of a small church in Saugus, California. I reminded 00:32:31.190 --> 00:32:33.690 what David said when he wanted to buy the threshing 00:32:33.690 --> 00:32:36.009 floor from Arunah to make a sacrifice to the 00:32:36.009 --> 00:32:38.470 Lord. And when Arunah offered to give him everything 00:32:38.470 --> 00:32:41.289 for free, David refused and said, I will not 00:32:41.289 --> 00:32:43.990 offer to God something which costs me nothing. 00:32:44.930 --> 00:32:49.289 We need to give sacrificially. Six, we have to 00:32:49.289 --> 00:32:51.789 change our habits. How do you know if your spending 00:32:51.789 --> 00:32:54.569 habits are wrong? If you're American, they're 00:32:54.569 --> 00:32:58.759 probably wrong. Look, most Christians don't struggle 00:32:58.759 --> 00:33:01.220 with giving because they don't have enough. They 00:33:01.220 --> 00:33:04.039 struggle with giving because they mismanage what 00:33:04.039 --> 00:33:06.400 they have. We eat out way more than we should. 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:09.740 We buy more house than we need. We drive cars 00:33:09.740 --> 00:33:12.380 that cost a fortune when we could be just fine 00:33:12.380 --> 00:33:14.960 with something less. Or we trade them in every 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:16.819 two or three years because we're bored with them 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:20.000 when we could drive them for 10 or 12. We buy 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:22.000 all these toys because our friends have them. 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:25.200 And we spend ourselves into credit card purgatory 00:33:25.200 --> 00:33:27.960 because we haven't learned to say no to our appetites. 00:33:28.400 --> 00:33:31.200 Giving faithfully to God for most of us means 00:33:31.200 --> 00:33:33.779 we'll have to do some radical surgery on our 00:33:33.779 --> 00:33:36.539 money management. It will mean evaluating your 00:33:36.539 --> 00:33:39.559 spending by God's standards, not Madison Avenue's. 00:33:39.680 --> 00:33:42.319 And it will mean obeying God's command in Romans 00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:45.680 13 .8 to stay out of debt by doing some plastic 00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:50.390 surgery and cutting up those credit cards. so 00:33:50.390 --> 00:33:52.970 that we get ruthless about avoiding new debt. 00:33:53.970 --> 00:33:56.430 But financial freedom at the end of the process 00:33:56.430 --> 00:33:59.049 will be worth it. And if you want some practical 00:33:59.049 --> 00:34:01.069 help learning how to manage your money, I encourage 00:34:01.069 --> 00:34:04.049 you to find a copy of Dave Ramsey's Financial 00:34:04.049 --> 00:34:06.890 Peace University. You'll find some great information, 00:34:06.890 --> 00:34:10.869 some great steps you can take on how to be better 00:34:10.869 --> 00:34:13.710 stewards of what God has given you. Giving faithfully 00:34:13.710 --> 00:34:16.699 means we'll have to change our habits. Finally, 00:34:16.699 --> 00:34:18.619 this isn't in your notes, but I wanted to say 00:34:18.619 --> 00:34:21.860 this. We live in a society that is absolutely 00:34:21.860 --> 00:34:26.920 filled with covetous people. Whether that's people 00:34:26.920 --> 00:34:29.400 out to get every nickel they can from anybody 00:34:29.400 --> 00:34:32.300 and everybody, or politicians out to take everything 00:34:32.300 --> 00:34:34.519 they can from anybody and everybody to use it 00:34:34.519 --> 00:34:39.619 on their own whims. Covetousness is a disease 00:34:39.619 --> 00:34:44.219 in our society. But you know what? Giving kills. 00:34:45.430 --> 00:34:48.809 covetousness in our lives. One way to defeat 00:34:48.809 --> 00:34:52.369 the coveting is by giving freely to develop that 00:34:52.369 --> 00:34:55.190 generous spirit that goes so counter to the spirit 00:34:55.190 --> 00:34:58.769 of the age. Learning to give will help kill coveting 00:34:58.769 --> 00:35:03.750 in our hearts. Is all this easy? No, it's not. 00:35:03.889 --> 00:35:06.650 But that's the wrong question. The question we 00:35:06.650 --> 00:35:10.239 have to ask ourselves is, is this right? And 00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:12.320 if it's right, then it doesn't matter whether 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.719 it's easy or not. We need to do it because it's 00:35:14.719 --> 00:35:18.139 right. We all know in our hearts that we haven't 00:35:18.139 --> 00:35:20.679 been as faithful as we should. We all know when 00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:22.880 we've squandered a lot of our money and resources 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:25.840 on trivial stuff that's destined to perish and 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:28.360 worthless in light of eternity. The trouble is 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:31.539 they're not our resources to squander. They're 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:34.079 God's resources. And like the dishonest manager, 00:35:34.219 --> 00:35:36.760 we have to give an account to God one day for 00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:40.960 how we have used his money. Better to start changing 00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:43.519 our habits now so we will not be ashamed later. 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:46.460 Now, there's an old saying that when you start 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:49.659 talking about money, you stop preaching and you've 00:35:49.659 --> 00:35:53.000 gone to meddling. But the problem with that is 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:55.500 if you're committed to preaching Jesus, you have 00:35:55.500 --> 00:35:58.300 to talk about money. Because Jesus talked more 00:35:58.300 --> 00:36:01.480 about money than any other topic. And maybe he 00:36:01.480 --> 00:36:04.480 knew just how big a struggle money is for people. 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:07.420 And any preaching that fails to bring to light 00:36:07.420 --> 00:36:10.139 what God says about an area that so many of us 00:36:10.139 --> 00:36:13.280 struggle in is not biblical preaching. And the 00:36:13.280 --> 00:36:15.860 scary part is, if it was a struggle to keep money 00:36:15.860 --> 00:36:18.260 in perspective back in Jesus' day, when most 00:36:18.260 --> 00:36:21.579 people were dirt poor and barely got by, how 00:36:21.579 --> 00:36:24.579 much bigger a problem is it today when affluence 00:36:24.579 --> 00:36:28.039 corrupts so much of our society? I hate to think 00:36:28.039 --> 00:36:31.139 what Jesus would say to our society about its 00:36:31.139 --> 00:36:33.699 attitude toward money. And the tension between 00:36:33.699 --> 00:36:36.699 needs and want, between coveting and contentment, 00:36:36.699 --> 00:36:39.500 is a harsh reality we all have to wrestle with 00:36:39.500 --> 00:36:43.440 every day. And it's time we learn the lessons 00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:46.639 Jesus wants us to learn from this parable. That 00:36:46.639 --> 00:36:49.679 God wants us to be good managers of the resources 00:36:49.679 --> 00:36:53.719 and learn how to use our money shrewdly and wisely 00:36:53.719 --> 00:36:57.119 for his kingdom and his glory. How we use our 00:36:57.119 --> 00:36:59.940 money is a test of our faithfulness, and we all 00:36:59.940 --> 00:37:03.300 need to ask God honestly to examine our hearts 00:37:03.300 --> 00:37:06.619 and help us begin to change what we need to change. 00:37:07.400 --> 00:37:25.519 Let's pray. Father, I know whenever we talk about 00:37:25.519 --> 00:37:28.739 money, it always hits close to home, and it always 00:37:28.739 --> 00:37:31.840 hits close to our hearts, Lord. We live in a 00:37:31.840 --> 00:37:36.400 society that measures everything by dollars and 00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:40.400 affluence and possessions and all those kinds 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:42.420 of things, Lord, things that are superficial, 00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:45.539 things that are destined to fail and don't last. 00:37:46.260 --> 00:37:49.969 And yet God... You want us to learn how to use 00:37:49.969 --> 00:37:53.250 the unrighteous wealth of this world for a righteous 00:37:53.250 --> 00:37:56.650 cause. To be shrewd in how we use these things 00:37:56.650 --> 00:38:00.829 so that, Lord, we can build your kingdom, lead 00:38:00.829 --> 00:38:03.889 people to Christ, and gather treasure for eternity. 00:38:04.929 --> 00:38:07.510 Father, I pray you would help each of us to take 00:38:07.510 --> 00:38:11.369 a deep look in our own hearts and that you would 00:38:11.369 --> 00:38:16.239 show us how we can grow. And how we handle our 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:18.320 finances. That you would help us to grow in our 00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:21.159 giving. That we would give faithfully. That we 00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:24.079 would give sacrificially. That we would give 00:38:24.079 --> 00:38:27.679 to you first. And that we would put you first. 00:38:27.800 --> 00:38:32.679 That you would be our God and not money. So Father, 00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:35.159 we ask you to do a work of grace in our hearts. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:38.880 Work this through our lives over this next week. 00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:42.019 And convict us in where we need to change. And 00:38:42.019 --> 00:38:45.570 help us to grow in our giving. and in our understanding 00:38:45.570 --> 00:38:48.590 of how we use our resources to glorify you and 00:38:48.590 --> 00:38:51.469 build your kingdom. And we thank you now, Lord, 00:38:51.510 --> 00:38:53.650 for this. In Jesus' name, amen.