Trinity 9

Text: Lk 16:1-9

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

What do you care about? Do you care about this life or the next?

I

Our Lord tells us of a man who cares about this life. He cares about himself. He cares about his comfort. He was a steward. He was set up with a nice, comfortable job in a rich man’s house. But he abused his stewardship. He stole from his master to enrich himself. And so the master summons his steward and demands he turn in an account of his stewardship.

This steward abuses his stewardship one last time to secure his own wellbeing. As he says to himself, he doesn’t want to beg—that would be shameful—and he doesn’t want to dig—that would be hard. So he resolves on a clever scheme to make sure he can still have an easy life after he’s dismissed. He summons his master’s debtors one by one. He asks for their bills and he cuts them all a deal. He reduces their debts so they can pay them off. Now when the master finds out, he actually commends the unjust steward—not because what he did was right, but because it was shrewd. That means calculated, crafty, wise. The steward had the authority as steward to conduct his master’s business. Everyone knew that. By reducing the debts, he was making both himself and his master look very gracious. His master can’t go back on the deal because it would make him look foolish and cruel. The debtors knew that. So did the unjust steward. He knew that his master would fire him, but now he’d have somewhere to go. He’d have grateful people who would be willing to help him out.

The unjust steward was shrewd. He knew what he wanted and he knew how to get what he wanted. He cared about himself—about this life, about being comfortable. And he realized that being generous to others was the way to accomplish his purpose.

Now, Jesus goes on to say that “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” The sons of this world know what they want and they know how to get it. Unbelievers who care about wealth and comfort and a good life now know that generosity goes a long way in life. And so they are generous. They cut deals and give away money, they show favors and offer bribes, to make friends for themselves who will help them accomplish what they care most about—living this life to the full.

II

But what do you care about? As a Christian, you care about the next life. You care about the Lord. You care about His kingdom.

You are not a son of this world but a son of light. You don’t care about this life but the life to come because you know that this world is passing away. This life corrupted by sin doesn’t matter as much as people think. Indeed, except that life has been redeemed by Christ’s death, it matters not at all. You don’t care about yourself, either. You care about the Lord. That steward was selfish. Your sinful flesh is very selfish, too. Your flesh cares about itself, not God. But you Christian, have been called out of selfishness. You have been called to live for God, not yourself. You live to honor and serve your Creator and the blessed Lord Jesus Christ. He has saved you from sin for this very thing, to live for something bigger than your own sinful passions.

And as a Christian, you also don’t care about comfort but about the kingdom. That steward was most concerned with his own comfort. He didn’t want to work hard with his hands. He didn’t want the shame and uncertainty of begging. He wanted to take it easy. He wanted to enjoy himself. But your comfort is not the most important thing in this life. God’s kingdom is. And so you denounce the pleasures of the flesh. You denounce the sins of your heart. You bear the crosses, the sufferings of loss and hardship your Lord places into your life, because you hope for the kingdom to come in all its glory.

So repent of idolizing this life. Repent of caring about what doesn’t matter. But care about the kingdom, and your Lord, and the life to come because these matter and endure. And because you care about these things, Jesus tells you the point of his story. “I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” The one commendable thing about that steward was that he was in his shrewdness he was gracious with money to achieve his goals. Jesus’ point is that you should be all the more so because you are not a son of this world but a son of light.

As a Christian, you are steward over all God has given you. You are not to waste what He gives but use it for His kingdom in the age to come. And Jesus tells us to make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous mammon. That means we are to be generous with the money and things God has given us and use them for the sake of the kingdom. Money is not ours to waste but God’s to give. He gives it to us, and we in our Christian freedom get to give it others. We use what God has given us not to make friends for this life but friends for the next life. The simplest way we give is to give our offerings. God has not in the New Testament told us how much we must give. It is a matter of freedom. However, in the Old Testament, God’s people gave a tithe of ten percent. The church has always suggested that amount at least for a simple reason. The Old Testament was glorious but the New Testament is more glorious. Through Moses came the Law, but through Jesus Christ crucified has come grace upon grace to al. So, if in the Old Testament God commanded His people to do such a thing, how much more should God’s people in the New Testament freely give as much and more than God’s people in the old. So give generously for the work of the church we do here and support overseas.

The second way we use our money to make friends is by giving to our brothers and sisters in need. So think about having money set aside so you could help a brother or sister in Christ who’s struggling pay a bill or buy some food. Such generosity is well pleasing to the Lord. It’s one of the reasons He’s given it to you.

We don’t want to fool ourselves. How we spend our money shows what we care about. It can show that you care about yourself, about your comfort, about your life. If your money shows only that, repent. But how you use your money can also show your faith, your love for God and the Gospel, and your Christian care for your neighbor. May your stewardship of money show that. And when you fail, when you die and leave this short life, the friends you made through unrighteous mammon will welcome you into an eternal home. Those friends of yours, the people in your congregation you helped in their need, the people who heard the Gospel in your church because you gave generously so that your church could have a pastor to preach, the people you’ve never met who have come to faith through the missionaries we support abroad with our offerings, these people, these friends will welcome you into the kingdom. They will step up and say, “Here is someone who helped. Here is someone who was generous. Here is someone who was merciful—and all because he believed in Christ Jesus and loved His Lord. Here is a Christian who has shown his faith in his works of mercy and love.”

And then God will welcome you into your eternal home. Not because earned it through being generous, but because you believed that He was gracious to you, and so in your turn you were gracious and generous.

So what do you care about? Not this life. But the next. And you care above all about the Lord who in His grace offers you that life freely for Christ’s sake. He does not count your sins against you, but He forgives you all your sins because His own Son has paid the ransom price for the entire world through the shedding of His holy blood on the cross. By His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ has purchased God’s eternal favor for you, which is poured out on you in a ceaseless stream every day in the forgiveness of sins through the preaching of the Gospel and the Lord’s Supper. From His fullness and abundance you have received the gift of eternal life. From that same fullness you receive every earthly gift, down to the least penny, you have. So, mindful of that, you use unrighteous mammon not for yourself, but for Him.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.