luke 16

In my lifetime, I have had  14 different mailing addresses due to military moves when I was a kid, as well as moves with Paul after we married.  (Our time at Camp Tejas has been one of the longest stretches that I have been in one location.)  Each time I found out I was about to move, from that moment forward everything I did was in relation to moving.  I stopped buying more stuff because I knew I would have to pack it up and move it.  When invited to do something or go somewhere, my first thought would be “Will I be able to get everything packed up if I go to this?”.  We started saving bubble wrap, newspapers, and strong boxes in preparation for moving.  You have probably done the same.  Preparing for the future is one of the main lessons I take away from the first parable told in Luke 16.

The parable of the shrewd manager has always been a little bit confusing for me at first glance because on the surface it seems like Jesus is commending a dishonest person, and telling us to use money to “buy” friends.  However, the manager is not being praised for his dishonesty, but rather his foresight and strategy of looking ahead to his next stage of life.  Once the manager found out he was going to be fired for his dishonesty, he started to use his position to make friends quickly by reducing their bills, so that once fired, he would have people to take him in.  He was looking ahead to his future, and taking measures to prepare for his future in the present.  And that is one of the lessons Jesus was trying to teach us with this parable.

I like the New Living Translation of Luke 16:8-9: The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more shrewd than the godly are.  I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven. We are all going to die and when we do, we need to be prepared for where we go.  You’ve seen the bumper stickers that say “The man who dies with the most toys still dies”.  It’s true.  So instead of hoarding your “toys” or blessings from God , use them for God’s glory.  Live in such a way that when people look at your checkbook or credit card statement, they can see by how you spend your money that you love God.

This is just one of many parables that show us our money is 1) not ours – it’s God’s money that He entrusts us to manage properly and, 2) God wants us to use it for His kingdom’s glory while here on earth.  This means taking care of the poor, the orphans, widows, strangers, and anyone who can be considered “the least of these”, since that is how we show that we love Jesus…by loving His people.  (I did a word search at studylight.org and found 195 verses with “poor”, 44 verses with “widow”, 39 verses with “fatherless”, 70 verses with “alien”, so God definitely has a lot to say about them).

Jesus doesn’t leave us to wonder about the parable’s meaning – He breaks it down for us in verses 10-13 (NLT): “Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won't be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won't be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people's money, why should you be trusted with money of your own? No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

Jesus then, knowing the hearts of the Pharisees, singles them out and tells them God knows their evil hearts and contrasts what the world honors (outside appearances) with what God wants us to value (pure hearts).  Jesus states that the laws of Moses (or for us, the Old Testament) have not been thrown out now that a new gospel of grace through faith in Jesus is being preached.  Rather the Old Testament prophesies are fulfilled by Jesus and as it says in Romans 8:3-4, the righteous requirements of the law are met in us if Christ lives in us! God didn’t change His mind about His law.  He still requires justice and holiness.  But the answer to those requirements is faith in Jesus as payment for our sins.

The next parable about a Rich Man and Lazarus also drives home the point that we are to care about the “least of these” in our lives while we are here on earth.  I can’t even imagine being in Lazarus’ condition myself – having open sores and no energy to keep the dogs from licking them, having no medical help for his disease, having no friends, and passed by a rich man daily, only hoping to be able to pick through his trash and find something edible.  Yet I know that there are people today in this very situation, even in America.

When I read about the rich man, I am convicted of my own apathy and selfishness.  Like the rich man, I find myself too busy with my own agenda to be bothered by someone else’s misfortune.  And if the subject of helping the poor is brought up, I can easily rationalize my way out of becoming involved.  It is easy to become overwhelmed by the enormous task of solving world hunger and convince myself that if I can’t fix the big problem, there isn’t a point to trying to do anything at all.  Have you ever felt that way? We can think, “someone will always be starving somewhere and I don’t have enough to money to feed even a fraction of the hungry people for one meal” so we give up altogether.  But like the boy with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, God just wants us to give Him what we do have.  Be willing to bring your blessings back to God and let God multiply it for His glory.  Have faith that God can solve the problem of world hunger, and He is doing it one person at a time as each Christian focuses on what they do have and brings it to God.  It brings to mind the Capital One commercial that asks, “What’s in your wallet?”  God asks the same, but He also asks, “What’s in your heart?”

--Kelli Biles, Office Manager

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