Inside out & upside down

Luke 16:14-15…

The Pharisees heard what Jesus had been saying and responded with ridicule. They seemed to stay silent when Jesus had spoken of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. But when He spoke about their money, look out! Their scorn stemmed from their being lovers of money more than mercy. Much like today’s charlatan teachers, they esteemed wealth, and viewed their supposed keeping of God’s standard of the law as having earned God’s standard of living. They despised the poor as accursed people who were ignorant of the law (Proverbs 17:5).

Jesus tells them that while they may be able to fool other people into thinking that they were good and right, God knows better than that. You can fool yourself most of the time but you can never fool God at any time. We cannot hide what we are and who we are from God (1 Samuel 16:7 / 1 Kings 8:39 / 1 Chronicles 28:9 / Proverbs 15:11 / Jeremiah 17:10 / Acts 1:24, 15:8-9 / Hebrews 4:12-13 / Revelation 2:23).

Jesus took their value system and turned it around on them. The values of God’s kingdom are the opposite of what the world teaches. When the world says stop, Jesus says go. When the world says go for it, Jesus says no. Jesus says that you must give things away before you can truly have anything worthwhile. Jesus says that we must become fools to the world’s ways to become truly wise. Jesus says that we must lose our lives if we are to find them. The question isn’t whether or not God knows your heart; it is whether or not He has your heart.

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The quality of trustworthiness

Luke 16:9-13…

Jesus is teaching about how to live wisely in anticipation of His return. He urges us to invest in our eternal future by using our “worldly wealth” in an appropriate way. Money is for building treasure in heaven and you can’t serve both God and money. Our use of our resources is an indicator of where our true loyalties lie. The truth is that you cannot be trusted with truth unless you can be trusted with money.

Sometimes the worst thing that can happen to someone who isn’t building quality into their lives is for them to have some easy success. They may have some success, but they cannot handle success, and they wind up back where they started and usually even worse.  For many people, what they need isn’t success in their life, but stability in their soul.

Even small things matter; faithfulness to a little thing is a big thing. The little only becomes much when you use it (Mark 4:24-25).  Doing the right thing with what you have now shows that you will do the right thing if given more. Being a person who is faithful with someone else’s stuff proves that one is ready for their own stuff. If you can’t be a good subordinate, you won’t be a good supervisor. Invest in other’s lives and other’s will invest in yours (Luke 6:38).

Are you building up the things that make you trustworthy? Can people trust you because you take care of the details? Can people trust you because you know what is important? Can people trust you because you care about their stuff?  Can you be trusted with more things, with better things, with control of things?  

Your influence is beyond money, it includes time, talent, and treasure. You cannot serve both sides at once: who are you serving at this moment? Are you giving glory to God through the stewardship of small things, lesser things, and other people’s things? The most important ability is dependability. You can cultivate that, but are you serving yourself or your Savior? If all you do is act entitled, you won’t be a person who is entrusted. 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©

The merciful master

Luke 16:1-8…

The steward in this story was not careful with the stuff entrusted to him. He was apparently using the debtor’s payments for his own pleasure. The master heard the news and told him he was fired. But his master mercifully gives him time to prepare his books for an audit.

The steward struggles with what to do. He was caught and in trouble. His options are limited and he doesn’t like his choices. When the people found out he was a crook who would hire him?

He puts together a shrewd plan. Before the news spreads that he has been fired, he calls on the debtors, and quickly gets them to settle their accounts. They do so willingly because the steward gives them a substantial discount. In this way the debtors see the steward as a hero who had helped them negotiate a lesser fee for their final bill, instead of as a rascal who had been squandering their payments to his master.

The master realizes what the steward has done, but he considers what the alternatives might have been. He also realizes that the people will be praising the master for his generosity in lowering the bills. If he goes back and annuls what the steward had done, their joy in him will turn to anger. The master proves himself to indeed be a merciful and generous man. He allows the steward to go free and the accounts to be settled. The steward had risked everything on the master’s good nature, and he won. 

Jesus is not teaching people to commit fraud, compromise with evil, or act entirely in one’s own self-interest. He isn’t saying we can buy our way to heaven. The emphasis is on living in the light of eternity. We have been unjust, but we have been given a merciful “grace period” to settle our accounts. Like the unjust steward, we must recognize the hopelessness of our situation, and turn to the one source of our salvation, our generous Master.

There will come a day where we will be called to account. It does us well to make preparation before then. Are you placing your total trust in the Master’s mercy? 

“Living For Today With An Eye For Tomorrow”©