How Jesus Wants You to Use Money, Part 1 | How to be a Faithful Steward

Luke 16:9

We’re in Luke 16, this morning and we’re following up on this intriguing and fascinating parable from Jesus, which is about the unjust steward. Turn to Luke 16 verse 1 and we’ll read from there up to verse, right in the middle of verse 8. “Jesus also said to the disciples ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg.

“I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his masters debtors, one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly and write fifty.’ And he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” We’ll stop there.

He commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. We don’t know what happened after that. Jesus doesn’t tell us. We don’t know what happened after that. The Master praised his steward, his unjust steward’s shrewdness, not his dishonesty, but his shrewdness. He praised his cleverness, but we don’t know what happened next.

We see that this dishonest manager dishonestly discounted rent payments for his master’s tenant farmers. There was a 500 denarii reduction of rents across the board for all the renters. So these two that he summoned before him, these are just representative of all the other renters. But by reducing rents by 500 denarii a piece, by doing that, he not only ingratiated himself to these wealthy farmers who were renting from the master but, as we saw last time at the end, he was also bringing honor to the master in the whole community.

This was a completely unexpected and incredibly generous gift from the landowner; one that he didn’t know he was giving. So what is the master going to do at this point? Is he going to risk shaming his business partners by reneging on the gift that he had supposedly just given them? Will he shame himself, admitting that he was outwitted by his steward? Maybe the master would choose to accept the social sacrifice, the shame, sacrifice his honor, expose the fraud. Maybe he would choose to protect his money and his money interests and renege on all the discounts and risk before the whole community appearing, even though he wasn’t, but appearing stingy, thereby embarrassing his partners.

Still, as I said, we really don’t know what happened because Jesus doesn’t tell us. He stops short of telling us what happened next. Jesus has everyone kept, at this point, in suspense and not filling into the conclusion for us, not telling us the rest of the story. Why does he do that? Well, because he wants to draw attention to what he wants to convey now. He wants us to see what he wants to teach us, that’s the observation that he makes at the end of verse 8.

It says in verse 8, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness,” for and here’s what Jesus wants his disciples to pay attention to, “for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” There’s a bit of sting in that observation. Jesus here is delivering something of an indictment against his disciples when he observes that the sons of this world, or literally the sons of this age, they are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light are.

JC Ryle calls this, “the one principle lesson of the parable.” Namely, he says, “The wisdom of providing against a future evil or a future bad outcome.” And he writes this, Ryle says, “The dishonest manager acted in a skillful way when he knew he had to leave. Dishonest as he was in reducing his master’s bills, he succeeded in making friends among his master’s debtors. Wicked as he was, he had an eye to the future. He plotted and planned with the result that when he lost one home, he gained another.”

Jesus’ parable has one aim and that is to grab our attention so that we will see clearly the contrast between ourselves as sons and daughters of light and the sons of this age. There ought to be a very significant contrast between the way we handle finances, and the way people this age handle money. We’re not supposed to mimic just to be very clear here, we’re not supposed to mimic the shrewdness of the dishonest manager. We’re not supposed to be dishonest like that. We’re not supposed to bend the rules or bend to honesty or propriety for the sake of the kingdom or any other means. It’s not the end justifies the means.

It’s not good old American pragmatism, which has really swept through the evangelical world and really does govern and define so many churches. But it’s not pragmatism that governs us, that’s not what we learn here. What do we learn here? We are supposed to consider our future, our true future, which is what the manager did. He was considering his future, which had some limitations to it. The limitations of this life. We’re to consider our future, which has no limitations because it’s an eternal future and an eternal life.

As the sons of light, the way we live our lives is to be informed by the light that we’ve received from God. Jesus brought the kingdom of God and we are children of that kingdom, so this is not our home, that is. This life is not our life, that life is. We live that life here and now. This life is really then a stewardship that we’ve received from God and pays dividends in the future.

So the question is, are we living according to that light or are we not? Are we wise and effective stewards of what God has entrusted to us or are we not?  Think very carefully about how the Lord wants us to use our money.We have a stewardship of so many things, but Jesus boils it down to really put the target on our money, because as he said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” You’ve a very good indication of where your heart is if you just take a look at your bankbook or your budget software, or your checking account, or whatever it is. Where you spend is a good indication of where your heart is.

I’ve got three points actually for this sermon. The motives of our stewardship, the manner of our stewardship, and the master of our stewardship. Motives, manner, and master. The central focus of the parable, according to its literary structure, is the steward’s motive. We saw that back in verse 4 as the steward came to himself, and he crystallized this bright idea. He says, “I have decided” back in verse 4, “I have decided what to do.” Or literally, I know what I’ll do so that when removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. So the central focus of the parable is in the steward’s motive. It’s in what is driving his thinking.

As we come to verse 9,we see that verse 9 is parallel with verse 4. We see that verse 9 also is addressing motive. So in the same way that verse 4 helps us see the focus of the parable, helps us to see the motive of the steward, verse 9 helps us see the focus of Jesus instruction, the implication of the parable. Helps us to see what he wants our motive to be. It says in verse 9, “…and I tell you…” Jesus saying to his disciples, “…and I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” That’s the motive.

There’s the command, “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth,” and then the motive, “so that when it fails, they may receive you into eternal dwellings.” Those verses, verse 4 verse 9, crystallize the point of comparison for us. How, by contrast to the steward, Jesus wants his disciples to act. The steward acts one way, driven by one motive in verse 4. We’re to act in another way, driven by a different motive, in verse 9.

The dishonest manager, compared to us, he planned for the future. Jesus’ disciples are to plan for the future as well. Look closely at the parallel structures in verse 4 and verse 9. I want to show you that, and we’ll contrast the ideas that are in parallel phrases so you, you can see in verse 4 in verse 9, you can see instead of the steward’s bright idea, “I know what I’ll do,” we see that Jesus has an idea of his own, “…and I tell you.” The steward comes to himself and Jesus helps us come to ourselves by saying, “I tell you.” Instead of temporal circumstances that drive the action, like a steward losing his job and that driving his action, Jesus wants us to consider eternal realities, a sphere in which money has no power. Earthly money has no power. Earthly money has no solution. The time when wealth fails.

So we’re not to be thinking about, like the steward did, how money is gonna buy him his future. We’re to think about how money won’t do that for us here on this earth or in the life to come. Instead of scamming unsuspecting farmers like the steward did, deceptively acting friendly in order to ingratiate himself, Jesus says to us, “make friends for yourselves.” That is, real friends, true friends, and use your money to do that.

Another contrast in the parallel idea is in verse 4 and verse 9, instead of aiming for a temporal goal like the steward did, trying to secure future employment, Jesus says seek a final home. Seek a permanent place of rest where you will be received into the eternal dwellings.

Four parallels between verse 4 and verse 9, which give us four contrasts. Which give us four points for the outline this morning. Four motives for our stewardship and if these four points are motivating your stewardship listen, you’re going to be charting a course toward Christian maturity. You’re going to become mature as a Christian if these four motives drive the way you spend your money.

So let’s talk about those four motives for our stewardship, number one, first motive, the motive of discipleship. The first motive for our stewardship should be discipleship. As Jesus’ disciples we’re learning to practice obedience to him as our Lord, that is what discipleship is, is to follow our master, to listen to his teaching and obey it, to hear what he says and to do it.

If you’re hearing what he says and filling your head with knowledge, but you’re not doing anything with it, you are not a disciple of his. If you are listening with a view to obeying and you’re putting into practice and there’s change in your life, there’s a progression toward greater Christlikeness. That is obedience. That is true discipleship, and that’s what Jesus is calling for here.

The unjust steward, as we said verse 4, he has a bright idea. We call this his eureka moment, “I know what I’ll do.” Jesus gives us an idea of his own and it’s one that’s grounded in the reality of the kingdom of God and he always thought in terms of the kingdom of God, because he is the king of that kingdom. So he says, “I tell you.” Listen, whenever Jesus says, “and I tell you,” or “and I say to you,” write it down and get ready to change the way you live.

In Proverbs 14:12, and repeated it again, verbatim in Proverbs 16:25, it says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” There is what seems right to people, seems right to the unjust steward. He represents all the sons of this age, the way all unbelievers think, but by contrast, by a very stark and radical contrast, there is what Jesus tells us. What will we believe? Which voice will we hear? Which voice will we obey? What seems right to us, or what Jesus says when he says, “And I tell you?”

Faithful stewardship really is as simple as that. Are we going to believe and follow our natural fallen impulses about how we ought to spend our money or are we going to listen to, and submit to, and obey, and practice, spending money according to the perfect will and command of our Lord Jesus Christ? At its heart, faithful stewardship really is a matter of faith, isn’t it? It’s a matter of faith, it’s a matter of what we believe or don’t believe. As Jesus said, back in Luke 12:34 he said, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” How you spend money is a truthful indicator of what you really believe.

At the very least, you can say the same thing about time. How you spend your time is a truthful indicator of what you really believe. What you give yourself to, what you invest in, what your energies are poured into, is a truthful indicator of what you truly believe. At the very least, how you spend money as a measure of your Christian maturity. Whether you are a mature saint or a mere infant in the faith. Whether you’re all grown up or you’re kind of more like an immature child in the faith still spending all your quarters on bubble gum. Or worse, do you squander money like a prodigal?

The sons of this age, the unbelievers of this world, they truly are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light are. That’s the observation Jesus makes there. There’s a reason for that, that observation: for unbelievers, the sons, or the children of this age, for those who are bound to this temporal passing world, for the unbelieving, those who remain slaves of sin who are under the dominion of the devil, who are led around by the nose, by their various lusts and sensual desires, what they do aligns perfectly with what they want.

What they do, or what they want, drives what they do. The two are in lockstep with each other. They continue on in darkness. They’re in an unenlightened state. They’re carried along by sensual animal instinct. They’re fulfilling desires of the body and the mind, and they go along, pursuing one futile ambition after another. They’re like a dog chasing its own tail or like a hamster running on a hamster wheel going nowhere, living for pellets.

But nevertheless, for the unbeliever, for the unenlightened, they do what aligns with what they want. They seek what they hope for, whether it’s fulfillment or satisfaction or meaning or whatever it is. Their desires and their hopes, and their ambitions and their actions, are all perfectly aligned, going in the same direction. Even like our dishonest manager, even when crisis hits; when they lose a job, when they see the end of a marriage, when they see the breakup of a family or whatever it is that happens to them, they do whatever they have to do to get things back on track, to mitigate the hurt and the pain and, and maximize the happiness and the satisfaction and the meaning. They want to get back on track with the plan.

Some sons of this age have the intelligence and even the brazen audacity to do what this dishonest manager did, to pull off the seeming impossible. The remarkable, daring feat of protecting interests and keep life heading in the right direction. But the sons of this age, the unbelieving, they do what they know. They act in accord with their beliefs. They are diligent and consistent, hardworking in gaining money and getting money, and using it then to get what they want. It’s all lined up, isn’t it?

By contrast, the sons of the light, when we act like they do, we’re acting out of step with what we know to be true, aren’t we? We are walking contradictions and they can see it: You say you believe this, and yet you live like I do, what gives? Many of the sons of light are using money not according to the light that they’ve received, instead, they act more like the world and act as if they are unenlightened.

But when we look carefully at our lives, and our priorities, what we think about, what we’re concentrating on. We look at our bank accounts that are giving statements. Are we living that way? Are we living by the light that we’ve received or are we living like the rest of the world? Do we really believe the light? Do we really obey the truth that our Lord has given us in his commands?

Again, JC Ryle presses the point when he writes this, he says, “The diligence of worldly men over earthly matters should put to shame the, the coldness of professing Christians and their lack of concern over the things of eternity. The enthusiasm of businesspeople traveling across the seas in their work reproves the indolent believer who is so slack about heavenly treasures. Our Lord’s words are solemn and worth weighing. People of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.”

Why is that? Again I’d argue that though we profess to believe the kingdom of heaven is more important than this temporal passing world. Our actions reveal more about what we really believe than our words do. In all the mundane, everyday choices of life they reflect how we routinely spend money and that is what we really believe.

That’s at the heart of our stewardship, an obedient faith that drives our discipleship, that’s the first motive of stewardship is discipleship. Are we disciples of his or not? Following Jesus Christ as true disciples, that’s our first motive in stewardship and here’s a second motive, number two: The motive of wisdom.

The motive of wisdom. You can see how it follows naturally from this command the Lord has given us. But the second motive for our stewardship is wisdom that is to walk wisely as sons of light, that is to put in practice the light that we’ve received. That is the essence of wisdom is to put what we’ve learned from the light, to take knowledge and righteously apply it to our lives.

Wisdom is taking the truth of Scripture, putting it into practice in our lives. That is a motive of stewardship, is to be wise, to walk wisely. The unjust steward was driven by temporal matters. He was compelled to act because of negative forces that came to him. He lost his job. In fact, the sons of this age are driven, often from a state of inertia, by negative forces that act upon them, that’s the way legalists live, by the way; they’re not drawn by the love and grace of God, but they are compelled by an external force, by the rule of law. And if they’re not compelled by law, then they’re drawn along by covetousness and greed, it’s only two forces acting upon them.

But for the sons of light, temporal matters are the more trivial matters for us, jobs, income, what we eat, what we drink, what we wear on our bodies, any experiences that we have, places we go and see. We know, according to 1 John 2:17, that “The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God that one abides forever.” So we don’t need, we don’t want to hitch our wagon to what is temporal and passing away. We’ll pass away along with it; want to hitch our wagon to what abides forever.

So that means we’re not going to act merely according to temporal concerns. We’re not going to be driven from a state of inertia by negative forces alone. We’re not going to be pulled along by covetous forces. We’re sons of light, and the light of divine truth is shined in such a way as to reveal that there are eternal realities. There is an eternal realm in which money has no buying power, where money provides no fixes, where money has no solutions. As Jesus put in verse 9, in light of truth, we see ahead to a time when worldly wealth fails. Fails.

So as sons of light, we know the truth about reality. We know that unseen things are permanent. They are permanent. They are the eternal things, whereas the things which are seen, they’re only temporary. The really good news about our stewardship, about spending money, is this, that Jesus says we can spend now as an investment on future eternal gain. What good news! This is the gospel of stewardship. Take what you have now, that’s gonna burn up anyway. It’s gonna be gone one day anyway. No, no U-hauls attached to hearses going to the graveyard right? Can’t take it with you. And any fool that’s buried with his wealth, though the wealth sits there with his rotting body, rotting along with him, but you can take that and invest it for future gain, for future dividend, eternal dividend.

What good news, again Luke 12:33, “Sell your possessions, give to the needy, provide yourselves with money bags that don’t grow old, a treasure in the heavens, that,” what? “does not fail.” Same verb Jesus uses in verse 9 about fail. Unrighteous wealth will fail. Guaranteed, you can’t take it with you when you die. But treasure in the heavens, that kind of wealth never fails, does not fail. It’s an eternal wealth that has purchasing power for all of eternity.

Listen, if you’re relying on money, if you believe your money, your investments, your stocks and bonds, the appreciation in your retirement accounts, the size of your bank accounts, if you’re trusting that mamonas will never fail you, man, think again, ’cause Jesus promises it will! Who you gonna believe? What seems right to man or what Jesus says? If you believe what Jesus says, listen, if you’ll obey him in how you spend money, and if you’ll walk in wisdom, then true riches are yours. That is wisdom; to walk and act according to the truth, that’s wisdom. True riches are yours, a wealth that will never fail you.

So wisdom dictates that you stop squandering money in this lifetime. Wisdom dictates that you stop investing in the things of this world. That you stop spending to indulge the self. That you stop wasting money on futility. When wisdom dictates your spending, you spend on what yields eternal rewards. You spend on what accrues to treasure in heaven, a treasure that never fails.