Scripture: Luke 16:1-13
Now that it’s my last Sunday here… at the risk of stepping on some toes… can I just level with y’all and tell you the truth? Y’all need to hear this! [Sigh] Here goes… For the past six years that I’ve been here… I have not liked… the song “I Saw the Light” by Hank Williams. Nothing against the praise band’s performance of it, I promise. It’s beautifully performed! Wonderful harmonies. I know all of y’all love it, so I haven’t had the heart to tell you that I don’t like the song!
And if you know me and my passionate interest in music, it might surprise you that I don’t like it… Because I happen to think that Hank Williams Sr.—no exaggeration—is one of a handful of the most important artists in the history of American music! Amazing songwriter. And I love his voice.
Take, for instance, one of my favorite Hank Williams songs, which Junior also did a cover of, includes these words: “If the wife and I are fussin,’ brother, that’s our right/ ’Cause me and that sweet woman’s got a license to fight/ Why don’t you mind your own business/ Mind your own business/ ’Cause if you mind your business, then you won’t be mindin’ mine.”
Another favorite is called “Move It on Over,” about a husband who finds himself in the doghouse… literally. Sharing the doghouse with the family pet. Why? Because, as Hank Williams so often sang about, he went out honky-tonkin’… yet again. And his wife did not like it. So much so that when he came home late that night, he found that she had changed the locks on the doors. Good for her! So he slept in the doghouse that night. He sings, “Move over, skinny dog, ’cause the fat dog is moving in.”
I love these songs. I love Hank Williams. But I also know his story. And I have a hard time reconciling the hard-drinking, womanizing Hank Williams who O.D.’d on drugs and alcohol at age 29 with the man who also wrote and sang, “No more darkness, no more night/ Now I’m so happy no sorrow in sight…” To say the least, he had a lot of darkness and night, a lot of sorrow and unhappiness in his short life… long after he wrote and recorded that famous gospel song.
His life was, famously, a mess… And I think that’s why I don’t like singing that song. “Do we really want to be singing songs by someone like him?”
But who am I kidding? I’m someone like him! I’m not so different from Hank Williams—just a somewhat more “respectable” sinner, perhaps… Sure, my sins are a little less conspicuous, a little less self-destructive. But I’m still a mess, too… And I’m no less in need of God’s grace and mercy than Hank Williams! And just think: y’all had put up with me—warts and all—for the last six years. So thank you!
And just think: Jesus knows me infinitely better than any of y’all, so think of what he has to put up with! So thank you, Jesus!
So on second thought, I think I’m starting to love “I Saw the Light”… Written by my dear brother Hank Williams, a sinner saved by grace alone, just like me!
Still… my point is we want our heroes not to be messed up, not to be badly flawed, not to be morally compromised.
And we certainly want our biblical heroes notto be like that! Which explains in part why today’s “twisted tale” causes us so much consternation. Because the so-called “hero” of the story—like Hank Williams, like Brent White—is such a mess!
One indication of the parable’s difficulty is that commentators can’t even agree on what to call it: Is this the Parable of the Shrewd Manager or the Shrewd Steward or the Wise Steward… or is it the Parable of the Dishonest or the Unjust or the Unrighteous Manager or Steward? It’s been called both, depending on which aspect of the man’s character one chooses to emphasize!
To say the least, we need to figure out, as best we can, what’s going on in this parable…
First, we have a wealthy landowner who owns many properties. He’s hired a business manager to manage these properties—he might be the equivalent a CFO today. He handles the money. He keeps the books. He’s an accountant. He manages his boss’s investments. And he collects rent from farmers who lease his boss’s property and farm the land. And these are big farms. It’s a lot of land.
So this CFO, this business manager, is literally a “steward,” because he controls and manages the property, the assets, and the money that belong to someone else. This wealth that he controls doesn’t belong to him.
Anyway, the news gets back to his boss, the landowner, that this steward has squandered the man’s property—we’re not told how. Maybe the steward was lazy, maybe he was incompetent, maybe he was corrupt… We don’t know. But notice in verse 3, the steward doesn’t seem surprised that he’s getting fired. He’s not bothered that his boss was unsatisfied with his performance—he doesn’t try to defend himself or his work…
No, he’s only bothered that—once the word gets out that he’s been fired—he won’t be able to get the same kind of lucrative job somewhere else. His reputation will be ruined. And as he says, he isn’t strong enough to dig, and he’s too proud to beg.
So his boss calls him in to the office to fire him… But first his boss needs to take a look at the books…
But that will take a little bit of time… it’s not like all the spreadsheets and account information are online somewhere. There are physical ledgers that the steward has to go and retrieve and turn in. So he probably tells his boss, “My ledgers are at home. Let me go put them in order, and I’ll be back in a jiff.”
And here’s where things get interesting…
See… this guy’s clever… He hatches a plan, but he’s only got a short time to implement it… before he returns the ledgers to his boss… So he goes to each of his boss’s tenants and cuts deals with them. They owe enormous debts to his boss, and the steward reduces—significantly—each of their debts. And has them write the reduced amounts in the ledger.
Of course, the steward is not authorized to do this. He really is cheating his boss, he really is stealing from his boss, he really is cooking the books.
And his boss finds out… And the great “twist” ending of this most twisted of twisted tales happens in verse 8: “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.”
His boss commends the man—not for the fact that he cheated and stole and cooked the books, but because the steward’s plan was just so darn clever.
And what has the steward done that’s so clever? The steward is counting on the fact that these tenants will be so grateful to him for saving them all this money that of course they’ll welcome him into their homes—they’ll give him free room and board—when he’s unemployed. The steward likely figures that he can spend the rest of his life calling in favors, mooching off these new friends that he’s made. He may never have to work again!
That’s clever!And don’t we grudgingly admire people like him!
I mean, some of y’all are old enough for me to say with certainty that, at one time in your life, the prime-time soap Dallas was your very favorite show on TV back in the ’70s and ’80s. And you loved it in part because you loved J.R. Ewing, and you were kind of rooting for J.R., even though he was a terrible human being! Even if you hated him, though, you still kind of loved and admired him. He was your favorite character… not that goody-goody Bobby Ewing!
So the Shrewd Steward is like the “J.R. Ewing” of Jesus’ parables!
As clever as he is, however, the steward is still taking a huge gamble. After all, he has cheated his boss out of the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars. And the steward had to know that his boss would find out what he’d done. The steward had to know that his boss could easily have had him arrested. He was only fired at first; but now that he’s embezzled from the company, he might be facing jail time… or worse: he might be facing “Texas justice.” Who knows what a powerful and wealthy man might do to a scoundrel who cheated him out of so much money!”
So yes… This was a gamble… And yes… Any number of bad things could happen.
But the steward does it anyway because… he was acting on faith… He was risking it all because of his faith… He was wagering everything on his conviction that his Master would prove himself to be merciful… and gracious.
By all means, the steward’s actions risk getting himself killed… Or at the very least arrested and thrown in prison…
Or maybe… just maybe… his risky actions will prove to be of the greatest possible benefit!
But here’s the hard part: The steward won’t know for sure—he won’t find out for sure—until he steps out on faith and risks doing it.
There’s a lesson there for us!
In my personal Bible reading plan, just last week, I read Acts chapter 27… which is an exciting, cinematic chapter that could easily be part of an adventure movie… The Romans are transporting the apostle Paul from the Judean coastal town of Caesarea to Rome… on the other side of the Mediterranean. You may recall that they’re doing this because Paul has “appealed to Caesar.” As a Roman citizen, Paul has the right for his case to be heard before the emperor—and God has used this appeal as a way of giving Paul an all-expenses paid trip to the very center of the civilized world at the time. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, would soon bring the gospel to the capital of the Gentile world! For Paul, it was one of those “please don’t throw me into the brier patch” situations!
But first he has to actually make it to Rome… on board a ship… across the Mediterranean… during a season when ships shouldn’t be making that voyage. And Acts 27 describes this disastrous trip. Paul has heard a word from the Lord, which he shared with the captain, the crew, and the Romans soldiers guarding him: they will encounter a life-threatening storm, which will cause them to lose everything…including all the ship’s cargo… including the ship’s tackle… including the ship itself… if they are impatient and they follow the itinerary that they’re planning on following.
But they don’t listen to Paul, of course. And they encounter this trouble. It seems, by all outward appearances, like all hope is lost. The ship is going to run into rocks; and sink; and everyone is going to die. In fact, some of the sailers try to escape by way of the ship’s skiff… which is a small boat used for short trips to shore… or to board other ships… or it can be used as a lifeboat in emergencies. That’s how these sailors intend to use it!
But Paul has heard another word from the Lord, who tells him: Not even one of the 276 men on board the ship is going die… so long as… they do the difficult thing… andhave faith… So long as long as they all all stay on board the ship… so long as they all trust that, despite outward appearances, despite common sense, despite the worldly wisdom of experienced sailors, they will be okay.
And most of the men are willing to put faith into action… So much so that when they see that some of the sailors are trying to escape by this lifeboat, the soldiers, in Acts 27:32, “cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.”
And the lifeboat floats away… and along with it goes the men’s last visible means of escape… of rescue… of salvation… so far as they knew. Everyone could see with their own eyes that this ship was going down; that they were going to drown.
But God… [dot, dot, dot…]? Remember that? “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” 1
Of course, God was only going to take care of these sailors, soldiers, and prisoners… and do this mighty work, and save them… on one condition: They had to trust him! They had to have faith!
And let’s face it: having faith is the hard part, isn’t it?
And by “faith” here, I’m not mostly talking about believing in a set of Christian doctrines… as important and necessary as it is to believe in them.
In fact, during my tenure at Toccoa First, this church had to be very deliberate in deciding how important our historic Christian doctrines are. Doctrines related to the authority and truthfulness of scripture in guiding our Christian faith and practice; doctrines related to sin, repentance, and God’s judgment; and doctrines related to the definition of marriage… among others.
Not all of you agreed that these doctrines were worth splitting our church over… And if you chose to remain part of this church in spite of your disagreement, you have nothing but my respect and admiration. I wish literally everyone would have stayed with us. After all, as I told many of them, they had been worshiping alongside their brothers and sisters in Christ right here at Toccoa First for decades, in some cases… and they had always disagreed with them on any number of issues. So I asked the people who left, “What’s changed? What do you think is going to be different now? The church sign out front? The logo? The letterhead? Give me a break!It’s the same church!”
That was my argument a couple of years ago… And you may be interested to know that my 50-year streak of never winning an argument remained unbroken… Sadly… And it broke my heart that people left. While I was relieved and thankful that the church voted and was allowed to disaffiliate… It didn’t ease my pain.
And as for church, well… there’s more than a few in this community for them to choose from, as you know?
But my point is, our church fought and won the battle over doctrines… That battle, however painful, was important and necessary…
But now we need to fight and win a far more difficult battle… a battle of faith… not a faith that merely lives in our heads, but a faith that lives itself out in our church and in our world…
I’m convinced that this is the battle of my life. See, I no longer personally struggle to believe the doctrines of the Christian faith. There was a time during seminary and shortly thereafter when I did struggle with doubt. And I’m sympathetic and want to help anyone who does struggle in that way… I’m not making light of it.
But my main struggle in life is tohave a faith that lives itself out no matter the consequences… a faith that’s willing to risk everything… a faith that’s willing to lose everything… if necessary… for the sake of Christ and his kingdom… and out of obedience to him.
That kind of faith is the hard part, isn’t it?
Jesus told us so… He told us it would be hard… He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”2 Luke 9:23 to 25.
But think of those words, “whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
I used to read those words and think, “Jesus is talking about martyrdom. Because we know that nearly all the twelve disciples and so many early Christians got killed because of their faith. And of course you’ve probably heard—it’s no exaggeration—that more Christians get martyred these days than at any point in history. Years ago, when Pope Francis was still alive, he said that the number of Christians being persecuted and dying in the world today may even be a sign that the Second Coming would happen soon! The pope said that! Not exactly a crackpot.
So I used to think that Jesus intended these words about “losing one’s life to save it” not for Christians like us… living high on the hog in the so-called “first world”… in the wealthiest nation on earth… among the five percent wealthiest people on earth… in a land that guarantees a very large measure of religious freedom, which of course we shouldn’t take for granted…
But Jesus’ words about “losing one’s life to save it”… they don’t apply to Christians like us, do they? They’re for other Christians, right?
Well, that’s what I used to think. And I now see how foolish I was!
These words are for each and every one of us Christians without exception! Because every single one of us, spiritually speaking, must lose our lives for Christ’s sake in order to be saved. It’s just most of us Christians spend a long lifetime learning how to do that. Most of us are in the process of learning to do that! That “process” is called sanctification. And if we’re truly Christians, it’s happening to all of us!
And that’s what Jesus is getting at in verse 13 of today’s scripture: “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.”
And you’re like, “Here we go with money again,” but it’s not just money! The word is a Greek word for “Mammon,” which is a broader word… Think of “Mammon” as any worldly treasure that we place our faith in, that we trust in, that we count on, that we work for, that we live for, that we depend on for our life, that we depend on for our happiness, that we depend on to feel good about ourselves… Think of “Mammon” as anything or anyone that we treasure other than or more than we treasure Christ and the things that belong to him and his kingdom!
Jesus wants to destroy our faith in those lesser gods and idols and treasures… which are rivals to him… those idols that so easily sit on the thrones of our lives and say, “I’m the king! I’m in charge! Not Jesus!”
God is a jealous God who wants to kill those things in our lives! And he will kill them when all is said and done… If not, we will die in our sins… apart from Christ… and we will go to hell!
But it takes faith to trust in God rather than all these worldly treasures… It takes faith to cut the ropes of that “lifeboat,” for instance, labeled money… or that “lifeboat” labeled comfort…or that “lifeboat” labeled beauty and fitness…or that “lifeboat” labeled “romantic love”… or that “lifeboat” labeled professional success…or that “lifeboat” labeled awards and recognition… or that “lifeboat” labeled popularity… or that “lifeboat” labeled addiction.
Our Lord is telling you… and me… It’s time… It’s time to cut the ropes of every leaky lifeboat in our lives and let it go. Let it float away. You don’t need it!
You need something real. You need something permanent. You need something eternal. You need something that satisfies the deepest longings of your soul. You need something that brings lasting happiness. You need Jesus Christ. Don’t settle for less than him!
But it takes faith!
This steward acted boldly on faith. And time was running out for him. Notice verses 5 and 6:
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.”
Notice that word quickly. This steward is in a hurry. He knows time is running out for him. He knows his mission is urgent… his mission to do whatever he can to forgive debts that people owe to his master. He doesn’t even love these people whose debts he’s forgiving… He couldn’t care less about them… They’re just a means to an end for him… Yet he’s on an urgent mission to get it done… because time, as he knows, is running out.
Time is running out for each of us, too… Don’t we have that in common with the steward. But there’s much we don’t have in common. For instance, we at Toccoa First Methodist love people in our community. We actually care about their welfare… especially their eternal welfare… They are not a means to an end to us.
But like the tenants in this parable, so many people in our community that we know and love—and many we haven’t gotten to know—owe a debt… a large, unpayable debt… to their Master, to our God… our Father… our Lord.
What are we going to do about it? [Pause…]
Remember the movie Schindler’s List?Remember the end of the movie. Just as the war was ending and the concentration camp was being liberated, Jewish workers from the camp express gratitude to Oskar Schindler for all the lives that he saved. They present him with a list of the hundreds of people he saved from destruction under the Nazis.
Yet, is Schindler happy or satisfied about it? No! He breaks down in tears… He sobs uncontrollably… as he thinks of the hundreds of more lives he could have saved, if he had only done this… or that… or given this… or given that…
Brothers and sisters, are we going to be like that on Judgment Day? Money in the bank… beautiful buildings… The favorable opinions of leaders in our community…
Those things don’t last… People’s souls, however… they last!
See, we can learn another important lesson from this steward in the parable, which is this… To use all of the resources at our disposal to help others find forgiveness for the debt of sin that they owe to God… To use all of the resources at our disposal, in other words, to save others… To use all of the resources at our disposal to fulfill the Great Commission…
And with that, my friends, time is running out… for me… So I leave you with this most important, most urgent request… By God’s grace, through the power of the Holy Spirit working within you… treasure Christ above all and help others do the same. Amen.