Luke 16 - God Is Not Against Being Smart With Your Money!
The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
This parable Jesus told reminds us that Jesus has nothing wrong when we make good business decisions. God gave us a brain and expects us to use it with all the resources we have been entrusted with either personally or in business. The manager was on thin ice, because he was wasting his boss' money. Instead of throwing the towel, he figured he would do his best to settle his accounts with outstanding debtors. Rather than collecting nothing from no one, he reduced their bills so as to collect as much as possible. The discounts he gave the debtors paid off, as he collected 50% of the olive oil owed and 80% of the wheat which was owed. If you do the math that is 65%, which is certainly better than nothing.
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
How we handle our money is a good indicator of how responsible we will be with God's riches. The things we invest in now have a temporary influence, but the investment we make in God's kingdom through our time, talents, and treasures will yield eternal dividends. God doesn't have anything against being successful, especially when done ethically and the money is used wisely including giving back.
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” 4 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
There is nothing wrong with having money, but the more money one has it seems to lead to more worry and stress. Sometimes having enough is elusive and people are driven to earn more and more to support their lifestyle. Soon this pursuit of wealth starts crowding out the things God would have us be about.
One can have both money and God; but one cannot serve both money and God. (Guzik)
Additional Teachings
16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17 It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law. 18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
Many people confuse the relationship between Jesus and the Old Testament Law. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. Matthew 5:17 The Law is holy and just, because it was revealed directly by God to Moses, who delivered it faithfully to the people of Israel. He uses the example of sex to illustrate that it will always be wrong to have sex outside of marriage.
People can be temped to use the concept of grace to disobey the Law, which totally cheapens the grace Jesus gave us by dying on a cross.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
Jesus follows up the story of the shrewd manager with the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was one who was given great riches but hoarded it to himself. Lazarus laid at his gate day in and day out and was happy to just get a scrap of bread. Apparently the rich man didn't think to give him anything out of his store of wealth like a real meal or place to sleep. Maybe he justified it by saying that he worked hard for his money, and this man didn't deserve any charity.
Lazarus died and went to Abraham in heaven, which assumes he was a child of Abraham, Meanwhile when the rich man died, he went straight to "hades" (aka "hell"). The tables had turned. The fire was so intense, and his thirst so pronounced that the rich man called on Father Abraham. He asked to send this same man Lazarus to dip his finger in the water to cool his tongue. While Lazarus only got food scraps when they fell off the table, the rich man was asking Lazarus to intentionally help him in his time of need.
“Here are two men, and day after day there is not the space of twenty yards between them, yet a distance like the sea divides the two.” (Morrison)
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
Abraham recounted the rich man's life story. The rich man gave an account for what he had done with what God had given him. Because of his decision to not show the man the generosity God given him, he was separated from God by a great chasm.
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ 29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ 30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
Since the rich man could not save his own life, he begs father Abraham to go and warn his five brothers. The story takes an ironic turn. Abraham says to the rich man that they had been given Moses and the prophets, and they did not listen to them. The rich man directly or indirectly points to the resurrection of Jesus and says that if someone rose from the dead and went to them, they will repent.
The rich man's tune has changed quite a bit from not caring about anybody but himself, to being worried about the welfare of his brothers. But if someone's heart is hardened so much it will not listen to God's Word, it is unlikely that even resurrection of Jesus will change it.
How do you keep yourself open to God's Word and willing to do what it says? Though we are saved by grace that doesn't mean we are not called to obey God's word, which includes the Ten Commandments. It is easy for the pendulum to swing from all law and no grace from all grace and no law.
Importantly without the grace of God in Christ Jesus, we don't have the power to obey the Law through the Holy Spirit. What the Law could not do for us, Jesus did on the cross conquering sin, death, and the power of the devil forever!
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