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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 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.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am 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 master's 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, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 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. 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. 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. 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 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.”(Luke 16:1–13)
We are all getting older day by day and hour by hour. Every birthday reminds us that we are older than were last year. Even a common cold reminds us that we are mortal and that some day we will die. We brought nothing into this world, and we can carry nothing out. Hebrews 9:27 says that it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.
We will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). On that day, what will you say? What will be the verdict? God knows all things. Nothing is hidden from Him. He knows your greedy heart and your lustful eye. He knows the idols that you made and the mammon that you serve. What should be the verdict upon us poor sinners? Guilty
In our Holy Gospel for today, the steward stands before a judge. The charges were read by the prosecuting attorney. The steward is guilty of wasting his master's possessions. The master says, “What is this that I hear about you?” The steward says nothing because he is guilty. He deserves to be arrested and put in jail. It's the kind of stuff that happens by presidents and CEO's of large corporations even today.
The steward is guilty. What should be his punishment? We would say, “Throw him in jail and sell everything he owns.” But it's interesting that the master does not have the man thrown in jail. The steward's property is not seized. The steward is to turn in the account of his management. He is to hand over the keys, get his stuff from the office, and go home. He is out of a job, but he was not thrown in jail. It seems to us that the master is very generous and merciful.
After all, things of this world are not like things in God's kingdom. The way the world runs business is not the way God runs His church. God operates by grace and mercy. What God does makes no sense to the “wisdom” of this world. Much of this parable is hard for us to understand because we are thinking in worldly terms.
Well, the steward is out of a job. What does he do now? He doesn't have the strength to do manual labor like dig. He's too ashamed to beg others for money. He needs to secure a future. So, he decides to bank on the generosity and mercy of his master.
Not having much time, and before the renters hear about his firing, the steward quickly goes to the renters and lowers the rent payment. Instead of owing the master one hundred measures of oil, it's lowered to fifty. Instead of owing the master one hundred measures of wheat, it's lowered to eighty.
The renters, not knowing that the steward is fired, think that this adjustment is coming from the mercy of the master. After all, the renters have come to expect this kind of mercy from him. But the steward helped the renters out, so that when he has no money, he can rely upon them for help. The steward made friends by misusing the master's money, so that when he is out of a job, they may receive him into their home.
When the master discovers what was done, he has two options. He can reverse the steward's decision and raise the rent to the original price, or he can let the adjustments stand. What does he do? In keeping with his character of mercy, he lets the adjustments stand.
The master, then, commends the steward for cleverly and skillfully planning his own survival, although it was done unjustly. The steward was commended not for his dishonesty, but for banking on the mercy of his master. The steward's future was secure.
God our heavenly Father is like the master. He is honest and trustworthy. He always keeps His promises. But the most unique characteristic is that God is merciful. The other thing about God is that He owns all things. After all, He created the world and brought all things into existence.
Just as the master in our parable hired a steward to take care of the farm, so also, we are stewards of God's possessions. All that we have belongs to our Lord. We are merely stewards of what God owns. He has entrusted us to take care of what rightly belongs to Him.
The steward in our parable wasted his master's possessions. Do you waste God's possessions? Do you give to God your first fruits, or do you give to Him your leftovers? Do you foolishly spend God's money? Are you ready for God's audit? Is money your master? Does it control you? No one can serve both God and money. If you love money, then you will hate God. If you are devoted to money, then you will despise God. After all, this parable was spoken against the Pharisees who were lovers of money and who devoured widow's homes.
On the day of judgment, what should be the verdict? Satan would say, “Guilty. Throw them into prison. Lock them up behind bars in Hades.” Our open accounts expose the nakedness of our sin. We justly deserve God's temporal and eternal punishment.
Just like the steward, we are in a hopeless situation. The solution to our problem of sin and death cannot come from money. The solution to our problem of sin and death cannot come from good works. But the solution to our problem must come from outside of ourselves. Our only source of salvation is to bank on our heavenly Father's mercy. So we cry out in repentance, “Lord, have mercy upon us.”
The good news is that God had mercy upon us sinners by sending His only begotten Son into our world. Jesus was born of a poor mother and was laid in an animal trough. During His ministry, He had no place where He could call home. He made no earthly investments. He did not serve money. When He needed money to pay a road tax, a coin could be found in the mouth of a fish.
Jesus did not come into our world for the sake of earthly investments, but Jesus came in order to make full payment for all of our debts — not with gold or silver but with His holy previous blood and His innocent suffering and death.
Near the end of His ministry, Jesus was arrested and stood before the Sanhedrin. The court was seated. The books were opened. They asked Jesus to give an accounting. What was the verdict? He was declared guilty of blasphemy. Later on, Jesus was sentenced to death upon the cross by Pontius Pilate.
Jesus doesn't deserve to be crucified. The steward in our parable was dishonest, but Jesus was honest in all that He did. The steward was, like Barabbas, set free, yet Jesus was chained like one led to jail. The steward wasted his master's possessions, but Jesus was faithful to His Father in everything. Yet, Jesus was crucified as if He was a thief.
Even though Jesus was innocent, He was covered with your guilt and sin. On the cross, Jesus didn' give 10%. He gave all that He had. He gave His whole life as a ransom payment for your sin and mine. In the end He cried out, “It is finished.” He died banking on His Father's mercy — that His Father would raise Him from the dead. And sure enough, three days later Christ rose from the dead.
On Easter Sunday, the resurrected Lord ordained His disciples to be stewards of the mysteries of God, namely stewards of the Word and sacraments. They were to baptize, teach, absolve sin, preach, and administer the Lord's Supper. From the Gospel, the sons of this world were converted to be sons of light. They lived repentant lives with faith in Christ.
Today, our Lord's ordained stewards distribute the eternal benefits Christ has won by His death and resurrection. Through baptism, absolution, preaching, and the Lord's Supper, God bestows to you the riches of His salvation. What does your bill say? What debt do you owe? I say, “Sit down and quickly write zero.” Write: “Paid in full by the blood of Christ.” God forgives all your debt because of Christ's righteous sacrifice upon the cross. In Christ, you are free. This freedom and forgiveness you can touch and taste here at this altar. Through this sacrament, God bestows to you the riches of His salvation and the fullness of His redemption.
Yes, here in this place, you can bank on God's mercy in Christ Jesus. You can stake your salvation and your future plans for heaven on God's mercy in Christ. For, by grace, you have been saved through faith in Christ.
Jesus once said, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36). We want to be merciful to others just as our heavenly Father is merciful toward us. Therefore, help the poor and the needy. Become their friend. Tell them about God's free grace in Christ Jesus so that they, too, may be received into our eternal dwelling.
As a response of thankfulness, financially support God's kingdom here and elsewhere. Make wise use of the possessions God gives you, not wasting them foolishly but using them for the sake of the Gospel. Give of your first fruits and do it joyfully out of thankfulness for God's mercy toward you. Don't let money master you. Show it who is boss and use it wisely for the sake of the Gospel.
Our text says to make friends so that they may receive you into an eternal dwelling. Jesus is your Friend and Savior. He is your real treasure. Faith trusts in Him to receive us into our eternal dwelling of heaven.
So, on the last day, when we will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, what will be the verdict? It will be, “Not guilty. Innocent. You are free.” Jesus will sit on the judgment seat, but He will sit as our Savior who set us free. On that day, we will receive what we don't deserve. We will be received into our eternal dwelling. Thanks be to God for His mercy on account of His Son. Amen.
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