USE WHAT YOU HAVE WISELY

 SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

Luke 16:1-13

16 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

10 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”



I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:9)



If you are like me, when you encounter this parable, it sounds like Jesus is promoting unethical business practices. Do you relate? However, this parable, like the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and is used to demonstrate a particular point that Jesus is making.

Some writers have suggested that the shrewd manager removes the interest charged on each invoice – or reduces the invoice to a fair price – as Israel had been commanded to not charge each other interest and be fair in their business practices. Thus, the master would not be able to be too severe with the manager as that would disclose too much about his own business methods. I don’t know if this is the case, but it is the shrewdness that Jesus wants us to consider.

We can easily fall into the trap of worshipping (or at least paying too much attention to) money and all the ‘stuff’ it can buy. Jesus is challenging us on this. We cannot serve both God and our ‘stuff’. Jesus suggested a solution, it is for us to be smart or wise and find ways we can use our money and our stuff to help others. Not so that we earn our way into God’s kingdom, but because we are already God’s children we will act in ways of compassion and care toward others.

I believe this story is meant to challenge us to ask ourselves some questions. Are there ways in which we could better use our treasure? How could what you and I have be used to help others and as an outcome or a result gain friends for the gospel?

This is a parable about using what we have wisely.

God, thank you for the many blessings you have given me. Help me, through your Holy Spirit, to be wise and generous with it all. Amen.