The Tale of Two Masters

today and look at a passage that at first glance it seems a little odd but once you get to the exposed meaning of the text it won't be as odd as it seems uh which is always what we want to get to all right and and that's one of the reasons why again as you know we we do expository teaching um if you're not exactly sure what expository teaching and preaching is uh most people see it as a preaching through books of the Bible which is what we do and that is one of the principles of expository preaching is preaching through books of the Bible

but there's actually a deeper meaning to expository preaching and it's actually found in the word itself it means to expose and so what what my job is is to expose the meaning of the text and so it's not taking our cultural um current kind of mood and moment of the time and then finding text to kind of apply to it or affirm it um in any way but rather what we are to do is take the original meaning of the text in which God wrote and then we apply it to our cultural moment um it is meant to uh change us not have us change

the text and so um it's it's our job to make sure that that is happening uh first and foremost and so that also means at times that the text that we preach is going to then correct and rebuke the current cultural moment all right and so that that's going to happen so don't be shocked by that um if you lead with emotions first because we feel based on what we're experiencing then a lot of times we're going to kind of imprison scripture and only pull from it uh whenever it meets whatever it is that we're feeling or or or experiencing in the moment but there

are going to be times where we need the scripture to to be kind of Unleashed and come into our moment that we are actually in prison to and correct and reuke so that it actually frees us from what we're experiencing and that's one of the main reasons why we do expository preaching and so um rarely I mean we do every once in a while we'll do some series that that kind of pull of way I mean we did a topical Series in January which was a vision series regarding um the mission and vision of our church but we still went through it in an expository

way in unleashing what is the scriptures declaring the church should be all right so there's going to be times in which we do that but this is going to be one of those moments where in this verse In this passage today um it it you got to get to the meaning or else if you just read it verbatim for what it's saying um you might be like this sounds heretical this sounds uh countercultural this sounds not like what I've heard Jesus say elsewhere and so with that in mind we're going to dive into this Luke 16 we're we're going to be looking at verses 1

through1 13 to make sure that we understand again what it is that Jesus is trying to say to us and not misunderstand it but starting in verse one he 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 he said to him what is this that I hear about you turn in account of your management for you can no longer be manager so Jesus is sitting down with with his disciples um for those who weren't with us last week in Easter we walked through

Luke 15 as well which were uh the parable of the lost coin the parable of the the lost sheep and also the parable of the Prodigal Son which usually everyone preaches those kind of in sync as one narrative story but three different examples of kind of the heart of God in seeing a a a sinner coming to repentance but he is in that moment talking to Pharisees he's talking to religious Elite religious leaders and he's trying to explain to them an issue that they're experiencing which is you're acting like the older brother and the prodigal son like in the prodical son story and what you're

not seeing is that what actually brings rejoicing to the heart of God is when a sinner repents and gets saved you are not you are not rejoicing in that you're not rejoicing in the fact that a sinner can actually get saved but rather you're rejoicing in your own self-righteousness your own self-worth your own self edification your own self-preservation you're rejoicing in that and so he's he's kind of combating them and that's what we looked at last week but now Jesus is actually turning his attention to his disciples so this story isn't necessarily a story that is interacting with the religious Le but rather is a

story where he's interacting with his disciples but I want to give you a little bit of the context of what he just said in those first two verses it's pretty straightforward Parable so far Jesus is giving his disciples a situation a situation Suppose there is a wealthy business owner and his main manager is just not doing a very good job the business is losing money and a change needs to happen so he calls the manager and essentially tells him that he needs to settle up and change um he needs to settle up what he is currently working on and then after that he is going

to be fired so that's the situation that we are seeing here in this Parable and then we'll continue picking it up in verse three and the manager said to himself well what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me I am not strong enough to dig and I am also ashamed to beg so now the manager is starting to panic a bit he knows he's going to be getting fired and so he's kind of worried about what his future is going to be he's trying to figure out how he's going to live if he's not the manager he says he's

not strong enough for any type of blue collar work essentially and he's also too proud to ask for help or handouts uh or pity from others so he's finding himself kind of in a desperate situation with little to no options uh as to what he should do but he he thinks of something that he believes will solve everything and it'll preserve him it'll secure his future and so let's see what he thinks he should do given this situation verse four I have decided what to do so so that when I am removed from management people may receive me into their houses now we need to

pause here for a moment and reconcile what he just said you have to remember the only person person this manager has wronged according to the text is the rich man the business owner the master but this manager is now concerned about what the people will think about him more than he is concerned about making right with the manager with the one whom he's actually wronged in the situation in other words his plan does not include making things right with the master but rather instead making sure that that the clientele of the master sees the manager as an honest and charitable man one that they would

want to welcome in their homes after he has let go so you can kind of begin to feel that this is probably not going to go well for the manager so let's see what his plan is starting in verse five so summoning his master's debtors one by one he said to the first how much do you owe my master he said 100 measures of oil and so he said to him take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50 then he said to another how much do you owe and he said 100 measures of wheat he said to him take your bill and write

80 no matter how hard you want to help some people this just seems impossible sometimes right and how's how's he going to get out of this situation remember he's done a poor job at his work he's getting fired what's his big plan to make things right to be sure that he secures his future but before I elaborate on that I want to make mention of one thing in the text that we sort of ran past why is this man still talking with the Master's clientele why is he still talking with the Master's debtors why is he still performing some of his managing jobs has he

not already been let go as manager well apparently there's still some time in verse two Jesus says the master gives the manager the chance to turn in his account and then even the manager says in verse four when I am removed from management shows that there is a process here that there's still some time it leaves just enough room for this manager to make things right to turn in an accurate account so that the accusation against him would maybe be proven false it gives him just enough time to do as the prodal son did and come to his senses come back to the master and

make things right for those who weren't with us on Easter again happy Easter to you but we looked at kind of the entire Bible in one hour so you missed a good one all right um but in all seriousness we looked at the story that the entire Bible is revealing to us us and it's how Luke 15 is really a mini mini picture of the entire Narrative of the Bible but the big thing we drew out of Luke 15 is how much it Delights the heart of God to rejoice in Sinners that repent like how much it de like it brings Delight to the heart

of God when Sinners accept the work of the Gospel that Jesus performed for them and what this manager is missing in this moment is that what would actually bring Delight to the master is if he reconciled and made right on the accusations that were against him but as we see he doesn't want to do that he doesn't want to do that Luke 16 is showing us that there's possibility of a little bit of time for him to do this a small doorway for the dishonest manager to make things right with the master but unfortunately he proves the accusations to be true not only is he

being dishonest to the master but he's now even deceiving the debtors of the master as well what's what's ironic is he says he isn't um strong enough to dig but he's digging himself a pretty good hole here what's also ironic is that he says he's too ashamed to ask but he's not too ashamed to drag others into his sin and deception as well John Piper once said the most dangerous thing in the world is the sin of self-reliance and the stuper of worldliness he goes on to say that Avalanches of evil begin with a single Pebble of sin this manager has taken what started out

maybe as just a pebble of sin a pebble of doing his job wrong and has turned it into an avalanche where not only is it just him that the manager is dealing or that the master is dealing with but at some point the master is going to also have to deal with those of his debtors his clientele the manager has taken what started out as something small and has now made it much bigger deceiving others as well they knew how much they owed but he's telling them no no no discount take 50% off take 20% off the manager has no regard for the well-being of

others but just his own even if they are ignorant as to what he is doing in Matthew 186 and I'll paraphrase it but Jesus says if you cause someone else to sin especially a child it's better for you to tie a stone around your neck and toss yourself into the sea and drown which is a bit dramatic right but true it's true sin at the end of the day is spiritual suicide for us because after all we're rebelling in our sin we're rebelling against The Giver of Life and so if you rebel against The Giver of Life what does he give you death and that's

what the whole Bible teaches is that sin brings death and for this man he knows where he's at as a dishonest manager but now is starting to drag others into his deception as well so how does the parable finish what what's Jesus's response to this dishonest manager I'm going to give you a heads up it doesn't sound like a right response at first but we will work through it here's what the Master's response via the parable Jesus is teaching says verse 8 the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation

than the sons of Light like what like why would you commend this like commend is just another form of saying praise like affirm you know applaud in a way way and also just so you know like shrewdness is not a negative term it sounds negative but it's not a negative term like shrewdness just means clever it means like dealing wisely with a situation so how is he praising the way that this man has handled this situation the master has just praised this and we got to figure out what's really going on here well you got to remember for starters there's two categories of life right

there's there's righteousness there's doing things the right way there's God's design and it's called righteous and then there's everything else there's the Disobedience to God's design and it's considered unrighteous it's considered sin so if we just out of the gate with Adam and Eve if we just listened to God and obeyed him it's considered righteous there would be no sin we would be in perfect perfect union and communion with God we would be enjoying everything with only one rule don't need it the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and again as I've always said I believe that the one reason why the one

rule was there is to show that joyful submission to God leads to total freedom but there's got to be something in there that allows us to see that we are in subordinate to him all right that he is our King that he is our ruler that he is our God and we are his creation and we are in submission to him and the way that we are in submission to him is the fact that he says don't do this he gives us a limit in order for us to abide by it in order for us to follow in order for us to trust him that

he is good and gracious to us again it was not heavy-handed literally one rule which also meant to the the the um freedom to then do anything and everything else that was in creation just one rule but again we have the category of righteousness and we have the category of sin where we fell and what the scriptures do is it shows us that there's a way in which you can worship and be righteous in a clever way in a wise way but there's also a way in which you can sin that is considered clever or wise or as he says in Genesis 3:1 crafty so

just because Jesus is saying that the way this man handled the situation was clever is not meaning that he is saying it is righteous he is saying he is clever in how he is dealing wisely not in a righteous wisdom but in a worldly wisdom he's saying hey actually what you're doing is going to be really well for you taking care of your current situ ation but at the end of the day what we see is that it's for physical dwellings that he would be received into their homes it's a temporary situation it's a temporary situation for what does Jesus say next or as the

master goes on to say 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 what does he mean by that it sounds awfully similar to what the dishonest manager did is Jesus telling us to do the same thing no he's not look what he's saying in this one thing make friends for yourself all right by means of unrighteous wealth need to do a little bit of work on that don't exactly know what you mean by that and when it fails they may receive you into Eternal dwellings all right so

that last part sounds different than the other one because the other one is let me do this so that when my job fails they'll receive me into their homes but he doesn't reference that as being Eternal dwellings what Jesus is doing here is he's actually comparing and contrasting the parable he just shared the manager was seeking to make friends by means of the appearance of righteous wealth so that when his job failed they would receive him into temporary houses he's trying to go to these debtors and saying good news for you cut your debt in half I'm doing a good thing for you I'm giving

you a favor so that when I'm in need and and I need to draw on that favor you'll welcome me into your house because you'll remember I did something good for you Jesus then contrast that with hey go and make friends make friends by means of UN righteous wealth which when he references unrighteous wealth it's it's the similar of just worldly possessions worldly possession so we'll and you'll see it here in a moment but basically he's talking about your money all right what you possess make friends by means of what you possess your unrighteous wealth so that it's not just something temporary that you gain

from it but it's something Eternal that you gain from it it's a whole different motive motive in what he is calling us to do in this situation than the motive behind the dishonest manager what the motive behind the dishonest manager is let me deceive others take from them in order to secure for myself gain so that my temporary situation will be taken care of where Jesus flips it and says here's actually the wise way to live is to make friends by giving of yourself to them by means of unrighteous wealth so that by giving of yourself to them and by giving to them what you

possess you're actually not necessarily storing up Treasures on Earth as a gain for yourself but you're storing up Treasures in Heaven as a gain for you in eternity what he ended up saying at the end of the day is be like the father be like the father listen to what Jesus said in Luke 12:32 fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom and so be like your father sell your possessions give to the needy so that it provides for yourselves money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where

no Thief approaches and no moth destroys for where your treasure is there your heart will be also knowing that God gives you all things now and in eternity which means you go without wanting knowing that we are free to give away to those in need because in doing so it also stores up Treasures for us in heaven where they will never fail they will never fail that's the ultimate message of this Parable is saying the dishonest manager is only focused on himself and his current situation and he is going to use you as a means to take care of himself Here and Now what God

is saying to us is no no no no don't worry about your current situation what you need to be worried about is your Eternal situation and the only only means by which you can handle your Eternal situation is looking at what the father has given you and then if you've received it give it to others so that you're not seeking your own gain but you're seeking their gain and you're also seeking what you receive in heaven it changes your whole perspective on how you ultimately Steward your life and that's why he goes on on to say in verses 10 11 12 and 13 how we

handle what we've received what we receiv received 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 at the end of the day you're not going to change the identity of the person based on the quantity in which they possess I if if if they're faithful with a little they're going to be faithful with a lot if they're dishonest with a little they're going to be dishonest with a lot if then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth who will entrust to you the true riches and

if you have not been faithful in that which is another's who will give you that which is your own no servant and he's where this is where Jesus just says this is what I mean 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 now money is not inherently evil it is the root of lots of evils as the Bible tells us money itself is not inherently evil but but the motive behind and the means by which we Steward money reveals

the motive of our heart and the identity of who we are and so if we're using unrighteous wealth if we're using possessions and worldly possessions as a means to establish ourselves with status and privilege and um the size of our house or our friends even from that worldly perspective then it only reveals that we are simp simply dishonest managers taking from others in order to gain for for ourselves but if we use money if we use worldly possessions whether little or a lot again it's not saying that that there's it's not wrong to be poor and it's not wrong to be rich it's how we

utilize our situation that determines really the motive and identity behind our heart towards the situation if we ultimately love God and we are serving God and not money or even being um more enslaved by it if we love God and he's our identity then again seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be given to you we will see that God is all that we need and that God possesses all that we need and that God's going to provide for us all that we need and so now we can Steward what we have by means of being like our father father who

is so gracious to give to us that we are now so gracious to give to others and that we will look for opportunities to do that why because it's not ours it's not ours like it it's yes we might have had a job we might have started a career we might have built a business and we might have done something to be able to like utilize and God is using all of those means in order to provide for you the needs that you have on a daily basis but where does it go beyond being provided for our needs and now it's just seeking our wants

and now it's just seeking our pleasure it's just seeking our own personal gain at what point do we not see that God so lovingly and gracious to us gave his son and then not only his son but you look at the life of Jesus homeless giving away all that he has even to the point of giving away his blood I mean like he gave away his life in order for us to have life it changes your perspective on what we're doing in life and how we're ultimately stewarding our life like you you at best depending on where you're at in the age bracket here 40

50 60 years what he is warning us about and I'm going to share a story about in in a moment back in Luke 12 there's going to come a day where you die and what you have doesn't go with you and what's what's the ultimate um just view of idiocy is if we get to that moment and our soul is required of us and we die and we go into judgment and he looks at us and he says all right what what do you have to say for yourself what do you have to say for your life well did you did you see that house

did you see how many cars did you see my 401k did you see all that wealth did you see my my trips did you see like did you see everything that I amassed for myself and God's going to say did you bring it with you well no it's back there well you can't use it as payment to get in so what are you going to do what are you going to do and honestly and and and again hear me say that even all those examples that I just shared are not inherently wrong the Bible even talks about the fact that it's wise and it's righteous

to leave a legacy for your children's children like there's there's there's a view of wealth in Legacy that is a part of scripture so I'm not saying don't amass wealth I'm not saying don't earn money I'm not saying like don't build businesses and and build kingdoms and I'm not saying don't do those things I'm just saying what's the motive behind why we do those things is it for the fact that we are wanting to leave a Christian generational Legacy that goes on for centuries then yes and amen amass and build that but if what we're building is just to be experienced for our own pleasure

for the here and now which really is just showing an impatience that we can't wait for Glory well then that just reveals something about our motive it reveals something about our heart and our identity it just shows that we're dishonest with ourselves and we're not being honest with God but instead he wants us to be like the father who has given graciously to us so at the end of the day who are you serving are we serving God or are we serving money which is our Lord which do we worship with our lives because that which you worship whatever it is that you worship you

share like that's what evangelism means it's a proclamation it's a sharing of good news that's why I like anytime you've seen a good movie and you go and you tell tell a friend you just evangelize that movie if you've eaten at a great restaurant and you share it with someone else you've evangelized that restaurant that which you worship you share you evangelize it you give it away and so if we worship God knowing that he's provided for us means to share then no longer do we look at our stuff and our unrighteous wealth or our worldly possessions no longer do we look at those things

as lock the door on them or store them up in our own barns but we look at them as tools to make friends in the kingdom of God that when our time is up and our life fails that there's Eternal dwellings for us and our friends because we're utilizing these as means to bring them to an honest Master turn me to Luke 12 go back a few chapters Luke 12 we covered this couple of months ago don't remember when it was but there's a parable of a rich fool and I just want you to see it in light of of this Parable this teaching as

well because I think in the middle of this um there's good application for us for every single one of us regardless if you're doing really well in business and life and whatnot or if you're you know at the start of your careers and you're like man we're pinching pennies and um Dave Ramsey is you know on podcast all the time and you're just still figuring it out this is good news for all of us regardless of where we are Luke 12 starting in verse 13 just let this just just let this fill your soul all right someone in the crowd said to him teacher tell

my brother to divide the inheritance with with me but he said to him man who made me a judge or arbitrator over you and he said to them take care and be on your guard against all covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions and he told them a parable saying the land of a rich man produced plentifully and he thought to himself what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops and he said I will do this I will tear down my Barns and I will build larger ones and there I will store all my grain

and my goods and I will say to my soul soul you have ample Goods laid up for many years relax eat drink be merry but God said to him fool this night your soul is required of you and the things you have prepared whose will they be so is the woman one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God and he said to his disciples therefore so in light of that Parable he turns his attention to his disciples and he says because of that I tell you do not be anxious about your life what you will eat nor about your body

what you will put on for life is more than food and the body more than clothing consider the Ravens they neither sew nor reap they have neither Storehouse nor barn and yet God feeds them of how much more value are you than the birds and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life if then you are not able to do as small a thing as that why are you anxious about the rest consider the lies how they grow they neither toil nor spin yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not AR raid like

one of these but if God so clothes the grass which is alive in the field today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven how much more will he clothe you oh you of little faith do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink nor be worried for all the nations of the world seek after these things and your father knows that you need them instead seek his kingdom and these things will be added to you fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom sell your possessions and give to the needy provide yourselves

with money bags that do not grow old with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail where no Thief approaches and no moth destroys for where your treasure is there your heart will be also I remember when we preached on that we we talked about the idea of investing and and there is something to what you inherit in heaven based on what you do with the worldly wealth here and so sometime I mean we used to joke back in the to day where it was like anytime and again there's different like motives so don't hear me where it's like I'm building my mansion in

heaven but but there is something to storing up Treasures in Heaven I mean like that's what it says you either use the means of the world to store up Treasures on Earth or use it to store up Treasures on heaven where moth and rust do not destroy would you rather store up Treasures on Earth where moth and rust destroy I mean that vehicle your driving right now is going to need to be replaced in about I'll say 60 years because of what I'm driving um it's going to need to be replace it like it cannot unless you have all the money in the world and

again you're investing it into it it's going to die all right it's going to rust out are we diving in and investing into that which at the end of our life doesn't go with us and also when our soul is required of us if that's where we're looking for our satisfaction well that's not going to go well for us either because if we're Sinners and not Saints and we've put all of our eggs in this basket well then not only did we really get to enjoy it here because it dies but also we go to hell or do we receive the goodness of God and

what he's done for us in our lives by sending the gift of his son Jesus the greatest gift that you ever get to receive and by him coming to live inside of us and abide in us the one who owns the that the cattle on a thousand hills the one who owns and and literally created everything the one who breathes into existence trees which we print money off of like the one who owns everything abides in US therefore we don't want for anything like if you you receive him and then not only that he went and he goes to the grave and he dies and

he's resurrected and he goes to ascend to the right hand of the Throne of God and there is receiving an inheritance from God and tells us that if you believe in me and you trust in me he is a sharer of his inheritance that Romans 8 says we are co-s of Christ that everything that belongs to him for eternity belongs to you and me and so in that regard it takes us looking at our our shabby lives and says why in the world would you ever consider trading what you can get there for now for here I I can't remember who um who it was

that used this illustration but it was basically in all modern it I've used it before I just can't remember who it came from um but they Ed the idea of say my grandfather was Jerry Jones and Jerry Jones was going if you don't know Jerry Jones he's the owner of the Dallas Cowboys he's he's he's not a great owner of the Dallas Cowboys obviously because they're not great but um but the Dallas Cowboys are the wealthiest franchise in the world of all sports so thank you for that I'm a Cowboys fan if you don't know that um if Jerry Jones was my grandfather and he's

getting old and age he's almost 90 if he were to say hey I'm leaving you I'm G to skip a generation but I'm Gonna Leave You everything like you get the whole thing Texas stadium it's yours could you imagine me in my truck driving in Dallas seeing the stadium off in the distance and then my truck just decides like it normally does I mean 60% of the time it works all the time but if I was driving to the stadium and it dies on the side of the road could you imagine me getting out of the truck knowing what I'm about to inherit and just

complaining the whole way there my truck my truck I can't believe my truck I'm about to be able to replace it a hundredfold like how idiotic would that be but yet that's how we act do we not Our lives our lives our house our cars our possessions our wealth our money like we don't have enough we know and he's like do you not [Music] remember that you are coair with Christ which just means everything that is his is yours and so why are you worryed about what you have now why are you worrying actually what you should worry about is that you have too much

what you should worry about is how can I utilize what I have to make friends that come with me into Eternal dwellings that's what I'm worried about is your heart with the richest man to ever exist the son of God is it with him is your heart treasuring Jesus or is your heart treasuring the stuff Jesus made I mean could you imagine like seeing the Mona Lisa but then seeing Leonardo da Vinci in front of you and like pushing him out of the way to get to the Mona Lisa just to be in awe of it like that's what that's what we're doing with God

get out of my way I I need your stuff I need your stuff our soul will be required of us and so who possesses it the treasures of this world or the one who formed the world into being I pray we all choose the wise way to obey God and not the clever way to continue in sin and Disobedience let's pray together father we thank you so much for your word this morning we thank you for the scriptures we thank you for this message that sometimes is um it runs contradictory to our world right now and this is a message that is hard for us

because we're discipled by our world we're discipled by our situations we're discipled by the American dream and it's so hard to to navigate that line of of amassing wealth for ourselves and for future Generations as well but at the same time what's the fine line of being able to make sure that we're not enslaved to that but we're actually generous with making friends um by means of our stuff and our wealth and our generosity and our giving to others that brings them into Glory because it is a way for us to show them the giving nature of the father of you God we need that

help we we need that because by Nature we are selfish by Nature we want for ourselves and we need to be transformed we need to be conformed to the image of your son who was willing to give of himself and give all of himself so that he would bring friends into heaven thank you Lord for what you have done it's in your name we pray amen as we come to