Readings: 2 Samuel 22:26-34 | 1 Corinthians 10:6-13 | Luke 16:1-13
Text: Luke 16:1-9
This parable has been making people squirm since it was first on the Lord’s lips. To some, it offends because it seems like the Lord is advocating that we break the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal.” The manager cooks the books at the expense of his master and for his own benefit. At the end, he’s commended by the master “for his shrewdness.” It seems as though Jesus is encouraging a “goals justify the means” method for the Gospel. It’s as if He said, “It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it results in ‘winning people’ for the kingdom.”
However, that’s not the right lesson to take from this parable. In verse 8, the manager is called more than just “dishonest”; he’s called “unrighteous.” That means he’s going to hell without a Savior unless he repents. His master commends his shrewdness, not his actions. In terms of mammon (worldly means), this unrighteous manager is a pro: He cleverly used earthly goods to reach an earthly goal. His brilliance is right up there with Charles Ponzi, Bernie Madoff, and corporations that shelter themselves from tax by locating overseas.
But, this is a parable for the sons of light. This is a lesson for unrighteous people who have been declared righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. This is a lesson for you and me. Our hopes are for more than peace and contentment in this decaying, dying world. We have been redeemed from futile pursuits by the Creator who poured out the priceless blood of His Son for us. If he’s secured “eternal dwellings” for us, how much more will He provide for the needs of this life![1]
Yet, the sons of light can learn a valuable lesson from this unrighteous manager: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Does that mean that we can buy our way into heaven? Does it mean that we should use bait-and-switch methods to get people to come to our church? Absolutely not! This parable isn’t a church growth strategy; it’s a message for our hearts. It’s another way that Jesus says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”[2] Money goes to what we love.
The sons of this world know how to spend their money on what matters most to them. They stay up at night wondering how they can make just a few more dollars, make their lives just that much easier, and help the people they love most.
And Jesus says Christians should do the same thing! Our mammon should go to what we love. Our eyes have been opened to recognize that we were “were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19). With that truth in mind, we now see that mammon, all we have, is provided by God: “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.”[3] Our hearts have been renewed to love God and our neighbor, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”[4] So, our money is just temporal and it’s aimed at temporal needs. Redeemed by Christ, and renewed in our minds, it goes to what we love: the spread of the Gospel and helping our neighbor.
And we do love God, don’t we? We love that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”[5] He willingly bled and died to take the wrath of God away from us. We love that He rose from the dead so that not only can we stand confidently on Judgment Day, but we will live eternally in His new creation. We love that He has called us to believe this Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. We love that He calls men to serve Him as pastors to preach this Gospel, that He equips missionaries and charities to spread His love all over the world. And to get extremely local, we love that we’re here right now and have a beautiful place to gather and receive eternal gifts from our Lord each week.
And because we love all of this, the sons of light—you and me—give our money so that it can continue. It’s important to us—more so than groceries, mortgages, bills, hobbies, and vacations—so we give the first of what we have to support it. St. Paul teaches the Corinthian Christians: “On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper,”[6] And we do this gladly, because “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”[7] We do it out of love for every one of them!
Yet, we also need to hear the rest of the text:
10“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Remember where we came from: we are the unrighteous who have been declared righteous through faith, but we come from unrighteous stock—we are by nature sinful and unclean and we openly confess that we are poor, miserable sinners.[8] It’s all too easy for us to say, “Lord, Lord” to our bank account or the job that funds it. So, the Lord tests our hearts to know what’s in them and to see that our faith is in Him.[9] Each of us ought to examine our own heart to see who we have been serving.
“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this just after, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” Don’t put your hope in mammon, because it is passing away or day or another. All the stuff of this life, the daily bread of the Lord’s Prayer, is for a time. Your God will truly provide for all of your needs of the body, just as He provides for your soul. So, reasonably speaking, why would you trust in something that will fail you? Put your hope in God and the heaven He has laid up for you in Christ.
It’s sound advice. But when it comes to mammon, we are not sound thinkers. Even Job, that great example of perseverance, faltered on this. Job lost his land, animals, money, goods, children, workers, health, good reputation, good friends, and faithful neighbors. He was left destitute. And having lost all that, he complained, “God has cast me into the mire, and I have become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me. 21 You have turned cruel to me; with the might of your hand you persecute me.”[10] Because he lost his mammon, he was sure he had lost his God.
And who of us can’t relate? But the true God challenges our attachment to the things of this life. He exposes our fear, love, and trust of money—our service of “Lord Mammon.” By taking things away, He puts our sinful nature to death by the commandment, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.”[11] and He comforts us with the truth, “5Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 6So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”” (Hebrews 13:5–6)
Fear not, fellow idolater. You are baptized into Christ; your sins are forgiven. He raises you up from dead works to serve Him, the living God.[12] He renews your heart and mind so that they love and serve only Him. He takes you from being a son of this world, “seeking all that mammon proffers”[13] and makes you a son of light. The sons of light are freed from serving mammon and chasing it into destruction. The sons of light have an inheritance which will never fade or pass away.
The sons of light live today with renewed minds and hearts. So, we let the money He’s given us serve others. Grateful for the Lord’s mercy toward us, we use our wealth—unrighteous as it once was for us—to spread the Lord’s righteousness. And when all that we see around us fails, God will graciously receive us as sons with an inheritance which has no end.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
[1] Matthew 6:33
[2] Matthew 6:21
[3] Psalm 24:1
[4] Romans 5:5
[5] Romans 5:8
[6] 1 Corinthians 16:2
[7] Romans 10:13-17
[8] Lutheran Service Book, 151, 184
[9] Deuteronomy 8:2
[10] Job 30:19-21
[11] Deuteronomy 6:13
[12] Hebrews 9:14
[13] “What is the World to Me?” LSB 730:3
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