Luke 16:10-13
This is the second of my sermon series on stewardship.
Crown Financial Ministries says that there are 2,500 verses on
finances and possessions in the Bible. This is actually more verses than all
the thirteen letters of Paul in the New Testament, or 1/10 of the whole Bible
(which has 25, 145 verses), or 1/3 of the New Testament (which has 7,957
verses). That the discussion about possessions occupies a large amount of space
in the Bible might sound excessive, because we might think that surely there
are better things that the Bible can talk about, like spirituality, morality,
holiness, etc. So it is a bit surprising to realize that 1/10 of the whole
Bible deals with possessions. What is important to realize here is that God
cares about how we view and use our possessions.
That God cares so much about how we view and handle possessions
is also evident in the Ten Commandments. In fact, three of the Ten Commandments
are related to how we handle our possessions and the possessions of others.
4 Remember the Sabbath day and keep it
holy.
8 You shall not steal
10 You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, servants, or
properties.
Considering that stewardship of possessions is so central in the
Bible, there should be more preaching about it. In fact, every ten sermons
should be about handling our possessions. But the problem is that we do not
hear a lot of preaching about money and possessions because it is truly an
awkward topic. Preachers like myself often shy away from the topic because this
topic can offend many people. Even I am guilty of not preaching on this topic
more often than I should.
We will be looking at Luke 16:10-13:
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?
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.”
“Someone Else’s Property”
(16:12)
“If you have
not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give
you property of your own?” (16:12)
The first thing we need to realize about possessions is the
principle of ownership. First and foremost, we must recognize that “the
earth is the Lord’s, and
everything in it” (Ps 24:1). Everything that we
think we own are from the God who gives (John 3:27; James 1:17). This includes
our wealth and honor: “Wealth
and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things”
(1 Chron 29:12). Even our employment or the means we gain income are
from God: “You
may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced
this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to
produce wealth” (Deut 8:17-18). As dependent
creatures, “we
brought nothing into the world” (1 Tim 6:7). There is a
spiritual and economic significance of the fact that we are born naked (Ecc
5:15; Job 1:21). Everything we have is only given to us.
The fact that we own nothing in this world is highlighted by the
fact that when we die, we cannot take anything with us.
“Everyone comes
naked from their mother’s
womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands” (Ecc
5:15).
“We brought nothing
into the world, and we can take nothing out of it (1 Tim 6:7)
“They will take
nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them” (Ps 49:17)
There was gold in the Garden of Eden and everything great (Gen
2:10-12), but when Adam and Eve were driven out, they did not take anything
with them (Gen 3:24). Like them, we can enjoy everything on earth, but when we
die, there is nothing we can take with us (Job 1:21; Ecc 5:15; 1 Tim 6:7).
Whatever we have, whether a 5M handbag or a 25-yr old car, they all remain. We
do not own them.
This realization is important because it leads to two other
realizations:
1. That since it is God who gives, it is He who
also can take: “Naked I came from my mother's
womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may
the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).
2. When we give back to God, it is not as if we are
doing Him a favor. Don Moen’s
song poignantly makes the point when it rhetorically asks, “What can we give that
You have not given? What do we have that is not already Yours?” Therefore, we should
not develop pride when we respond to God’s graciousness by giving a little of what He Himself
gave. We would not want the mighty God to echo His words recorded in Psalm
50:9-12:
I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
for every animal of the forest is mine,
for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.”
When we think what we have is our own, we are tempted to protect
them. If we think that what we have are things we have accumulated on our own
strength and capability, we will try our best so that they are not taken away
from us.
“True Riches”
(16:11)
“If you have
not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (16:11)
The word “steward”
is a compound of two old English words, stig (house) and weard
(ward). In its original meaning, the steward is the protector of a house,
which is not too distant from the Oxford definition today of the steward as
someone “employed to manage another’s property, especially a large house or estate.”
This is who and what we are with the earthly possessions that we have.
What is interesting about Luke 16:11 is this: It would appear that
God uses our stewardship of earthly
riches to determine how much He can trust us with “true riches.” God is grading us or testing with how we use our possessions,
and in the light of how we manage materials things entrusted to us, He will
entrust us greater things. This means that for us, every financial decision is a
spiritual decision.
Some people interpret Luke 16:10-11 as a foundation for a
so-called prosperity gospel. Although it is not entirely inaccurate to say that
God gives more earthly blessings to those who are faithful, the passage points
to something greater. God is looking for people He can trust with real and
eternal things, and He evaluates us through our management of entrusted money
and possessions. As such, how much we have is not an indication of our
spirituality; how we manage what we have is an indication of our spirituality.
Our possessions and money can become something like a spiritual thermometer.
How can this be? Jesus said, “Where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also”
(Matt 6:21; Luke 12:34). What we do with our money and our possessions
reveal our real priorities. Jesus is right: “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” (Luke 16:13).
Conclusions
There was on older lady who was protective of her property,
and was prepared to act violently if someone dares to take advantage of her.
One time, she finished shopping and went to her car. She found four men inside
the car. She dropped her shopping bags, drew a handgun, and shouted: “I
have a gun, and I know how to use it. Get out of the car!”
The men got out and ran like crazy. However, when she went into the car,
she realized that the car is not hers. Her car is parked four of five spaces
away. Like her, we can make terrible decisions and act terribly, just
because we think something is ours. In reality, what we think is ours belongs
to someone else. Many people ruin their lives in pursuit of something that they
cannot really own, leading to their own downfall.
Because many are unwilling to let go of their earthly riches,
they become destitute of spiritual things. Because they serve Money and their
selfish wants, they are unable to serve God wholeheartedly. They pursue earthly
riches at the expense of true riches. Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and
vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where
thieves do not break in and steal” (Matt 6:19-20).
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