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Pastor Jeremy Schultz
September 19, 2010
The story is told of young Chuck, who moved to Texas and bought a Donkey from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the Donkey the very next day. The next day he drove up and said, 'Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died.' Chuck replied, 'Well, then just give me my money back.' The farmer said, 'Can't do that. I went and spent it already.' Chuck said, 'Ok, then, just bring me the dead donkey.' The farmer asked, 'What ya gonna do with him? Chuck said, 'I'm going to raffle him off.' The farmer said, 'You can't raffle off a dead donkey!' Chuck said, 'Sure I can. Watch me. I just won't tell anybody he's dead.' A month later, the farmer met up with Chuck and asked, 'Whatever happened with that dead donkey?' Chuck said, 'Oh, I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $998.' The farmer said, 'Didn't anyone complain?' Chuck said, 'Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.'
Chuck now works as an investment broker for one of the world's largest firms!
It is sometimes thought that Jesus had nothing to say about how we invest our money. But today's parable has that as its specific job.
In the story Jesus tells, the manager of a wealthy man's estate is about to get fired. For some reason - laziness, disorganization, or maybe even corruption - this manager has done a lousy job and this has at long last come to the attention of the boss. So he summons the manager, tells him to prepare one final report to be handed in at his exit interview, and that would then be that. Too weak for manual labor and too proud to beg, this man has to think fast. Since his boss wants one last presentation of the ledgers before the manager gets canned, the manager decides that now is as good a time as any to cook the books in such a way as to feather his own future nest. So he calls his boss's clients and cuts some their debt loads up to half!
Now is about the time that we expect Jesus to deliver the point. "See...don't cheat your Master! See, don't deceive others!" But unbelievably none of that happens. Instead, the Master actually commends the dishonest manager for being shrewd. And the lesson for the disciples is, "See...the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the sons of light."
To understand this parable then is tricky business. And we'll begin with what we know and we'll move on to Jesus' words of explanation. What we know is this.
God is the Master and we are the managers. We know this from Genesis, Chapter 1, where God creates the world and gives mankind dominion over it. He says, "Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the whole face of the earth!" He is the Master of all! And part of what it means that Adam was created in the image of God is that Adam was God's representative as the caretaker of all that has been entrusted. And that's a Scriptural truth that now applies also to us. God has entrusted to you everything that you have in your possession. There's nothing in your possession that He has not entrusted to you. He is the Master of all; you are the manager of all that is rightfully His. The only question for you is what kind of manager are you?
The dishonest manager has only one redeeming quality, but it's the one Jesus strikes on! He uses everything at his disposal to win people to his cause and to curry their support and favor. He's the kind of guy that will make a thousand dollar profit on a dead donkey! And he'll win friends in the process. And in this way, the sons of this world, Jesus says, understand better how to deal with their own kind, than do, we, the sons and daughters of light!
You are a son and you are a daughter of the light. Christ Jesus is the Light of the World and all the darkness of your sin and error has been exposed by His light. And what happens is that when you confess your sins, the light of His grace immediately shines on you. And the forgiveness of sins, won for you at Calvary and the empty tomb becomes your own. You are children of the light. But children of the light have something to learn about making the most out of every opportunity! Friends do you want to invest in the Kingdom? Do you want to learn how? Jesus will show you.
He says, Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. Unrighteous wealth simply means money. Paper money. It's not that big of a deal. In fact, if you're going to rank all of the gifts of God like: family, friends, forgiveness...air...then money is pretty far down on the list. But Jesus says, use it! Make friends with it and the implication is...invest in the Kingdom with it!
About a week ago, I was chatting with a couple of school parents out in the pick-up line. Their children are new to the school this year and one of the things they wanted to know was, "How can you at St. Paul can even reduce the tuition rate for non-member children?" And I was able to look them in the eye and say, "It's because the people over there at the church LOVE their school ministry! Friends, by use of your offerings, you are making friends with young families like that who want the Christian support offered through our school. Through unrighteous wealth, you make friends with Christians all over the world! On Thursday, several ladies were packing school bags to go to children in third world countries. And each child who gets one will have paper and pencils and erasers and crayons and glue. When the Haiti earthquake took place, your door offerings were collected with Christians world-wide to support medical care and compassion ministry to rebuild homes and lives. When you bring diapers in for Care Net ministries, that means that there is a single mom close by who can now meet her budget. And you better believe that these people are your friends! They love you and thank God for you! Jesus says, that's how you are to use unrighteous wealth - to make friends for eternity!
Jesus also says, 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. I have two bills with me this morning. Can you see these? One is a $1 bill and the other is a $100 bill. Now Jesus says that what a person does with this one is indicative with what she'll do with this one. If you're faithful with this one, you'll be faithful with this one. But if you're dishonest with this one, then you'll be dishonest with this one. And Jesus says if you're not faithful with this, who will trust you with true riches.
In Matthew 6, Jesus says, "See first His kingdom and righteousness and all these things will be added to you as well." The all these things mentioned there is basically, food, clothing, shelter and basic provisions. So if you seek first his kingdom, God says, "I've got all the rest covered. I'll take care of you. I'll see to it that you have everything that you need.
See you have a Master who has disqualified you for nothing! Neither has He taken any of your true riches away! You have your Jesus. You have your salvation. And you have the means, whether small or great, whether little or big to make investments for His Kingdom.
I want to assure you that the goal of this sermon was not to pad the offerings. Rather, the aim of this sermon is to make you filthy and stinking rich in all of the things that money cannot buy. And the path toward that is faithfulness...faithfulness with whatever the Master has entrusted to you! That's an investment in the Kingdom! Amen.
© St. Paul Lutheran Church 2010