Trinity IX - Luke 16:1-9 - August 2, 2015
Order of Service - Pg. 15
Hymn #240 Father Most Holy, Merciful and TenderReadings
Collect
Let Thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Thy humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end.
Sermon on the Holy Gospel
1) A
certain rich man had a steward. This was a normal practice in the ancient
world. We see it elsewhere in Scripture. After Joseph is sold into slavery by
his brothers he is purchased by Potiphar of Egypt. Joseph rises to prominence in
Potiphar’s house. Moses writes that Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer
of his house, and all that he
had he put under his authority. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand,
and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. (Genesis 39:4, 6) As Potiphar’s
steward, Joseph was in charge of all Potiphar’s possessions. His job was to
oversee the property to make sure everything produced what it should and that
everyone did as they should. This stewardship ended abruptly when Joseph was accused
of seducing Potiphar’s wife. The stewardship was taken from him and he was
placed in prison. Years later, Joseph would be placed in another position of oversight,
this time for Pharaoh. After proving himself worthy to Pharaoh by interpreting his
dreams, with the aid of the Lord, Pharaoh makes Joseph his steward. He says,
You shall be over my house,
and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the
throne will I be greater than you. (Genesis
41:40) Once again Joseph is a wise and faithful steward, as was in
Potiphar’s house, directing Pharaoh’s possessions and saving Egypt from famine
because of his prudence and shrewdness.
2) So this is nothing new when Jesus says that a certain rich man had a
steward, someone he has set over his fields and property while the rich man can
attend to other business. The steward is to make sure those who work in the olive
groves produce enough olive oil. He is to make sure the farmers make their
quota of wheat. Stewards, like Roman tax collectors, would have made their
living by adding an additional amount to the master’s required quota. This
often led to extortion just like it did for tax collectors. This steward though
was more than your average scoundrel. He was so corrupt that someone made an
accusation against him of malfeasance in office, that he was wasting his master’s
goods. The master cares only that he gets his cut, but if goods are being
wasted, then the master’s cut could have been more. So the steward is wasteful
in his stewardship. He is called to give an account of his dealings and turn
over the ledger to his master. He is summoned for judgment. He knows that his
wastefulness is discovered, for why else would he be called to the master on
such term? His conscience convicts him. He knows He is found out. He rummages
through his options in his unemployment. He cannot dig, he says, for he is
accustomed to luxury. He is ashamed to beg, for as Sirach says, The life of him that dependeth on another
man's table is not to be counted for a life; for he polluteth himself with
other men's meat: but a wise man well nurtured will beware thereof. (Sirach 40:29) For a man used to such
lavishness, begging would be worse than death.
3) He speedily comes to a plan of action. For though this steward, in charge
of all the master’s property and possessions, has wasted so much, in light of
pending judgment he becomes prudent and shrewd to save his own skin. He calls
in his master’s debtors and slashes what they owe. He was either stealing
directly from his master’s pockets or he was eliminating his own cut. Either
way, this is a stroke of brilliance. His master looks generous beyond all
belief to his tenants. He makes the master look merciful and kind, thus
improving his master’s reputation. He also provides for himself in
unemployment. He does all this so when he put out of his stewardship they may receive him into their houses.
These tenants will be so grateful for his generosity than when they hear of his
termination they will invite him into their homes to live contentedly. He plays
the system. He bets big. And he wins. So
the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. He
doesn’t commend him for being unrighteous with his own property and goods. He
doesn’t commend him for wasting his possessions. He commends him for this, that
he uses his stewardship for the sake of others, so that
when judgment comes, the tenants will testify to his good works and welcome him
into their homes.
4) The
master of the house is our Lord Jesus Christ. He tells this parable to make His
Christians consider how they are using their master’s possessions and property.
He wants all of us to follow the example of the unjust steward, not in his
unrighteous wastefulness, but in his prudence and shrewdness. Christians often
fall into the trap of thinking that good works for our neighbors aren’t
necessary. We also are daily tempted to horde mammon and talents so that they sit
idle and don’t profit anyone. We are, even as the baptized, not as shrewd with
our master’s possessions as the children of this world are with their
possessions. For the sons of this world
are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. Jesus commends
this example of prudence and shrewdness to us, that we may consider two things.
First, what blessings He has so graciously given us already, and to whom they
really belong? Second, how can we use those blessings in order to serve our
neighbor, making friends with unrighteous mammon with our heavenly goal in
mind?
5) We
know and have learned in times past that everything we have belongs to the
Lord. Yet this is something that our flesh easily forgets. Our nature wants to
cling to these things as if they are our possessions. David says in 1 Chronicles 29:11-12, For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the
kingdom, O LORD, And You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, And You reign over
all. In Your hand is power and
might; In Your hand it is to
make great And to give strength to all. All that is on the earth belongs to the one
who created it. The Lord reminds us Psalm 50:10-12, For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the
cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild
beasts of the field are Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the
world is Mine, and all its fullness. Even the promised land itself was not
given to Israel to be their possession. They were still merely tenants of a
gracious master, as He reminds them in Leviticus 25:23, The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are
strangers and sojourners with Me. So we must remember at all times that
everything we have is a gift from our gracious God and belongs to Him. We are
merely stewards, caretakers of these gifts. Our bodies are His. Our homes. Our families.
Our wealth. Our talents. Our time. It is His. He gives it to us to oversee it,
to use it for the benefit of our neighbor and those in need.
6) How
can use our stewardship and not be wasteful, as the unjust steward was? That’s
the challenge of loving your neighbor. Loving your neighbor is not a
cookie-cutter program or a checklist of good works to do for others. Love for
neighbor is always individualized and personalized because the Lord has given
each one of His baptized children different gifts and blessings, talents and
treasures as so many like to call them. Loving your neighbor is a case by case
thing because each of your neighbors needs different things in life. Your duty
as a Christian is to look around you, consider your vocations, the places where
Christ has put you in this life, and ask, “How can I use what I have to help
those around me?” Your good works do not have to look significant in the eyes
of the world, either. Consider what the sheep are commended for in the Parable
of the Sheep and the Goats. I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I
was a stranger and you took Me in; 'I was
naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison
and you came to Me.' (Matthew
25:35-36) This is why I say that serving your neighbor in love is the Christian’s
challenge. There is nothing more proscribed than what the Lord gives us in the
commandments. Yet if we busy ourselves with fulling those for our neighbor then
we will never run out of good works to do for them. So
we are to use our stewardship from the Lord, our wealth, our talents, our
gifts, our time, for the benefit of our neighbor, so that when we come before
the judgment seat others may testify to our good works which flow from our
faith in Christ. This is what Christ means when he says, I say to you, make friends for
yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into
an everlasting home. Those whom you serve in love will testify of your good
works on the Last Day, and those good works will show your faith in Christ, for
only works that are done in faith please God.
7) Joseph ruled Potiphar’s
house and Pharaoh’s house with diligence and prudence because the Lord was with
him by faith. By the same faith, the same trust in God’s gracious promises, we
are called to exercise our faith, to practice it through the doing of good
works. There will be a judgment. Each of us will be called to account for our
stewardship of the Gospel and our possessions and wealth. Like the unjust
steward, we see our judgment in the future. But in mercy we are given time to prepare
by faith in Christ Jesus. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand
what the will of the Lord is. (Ephesians 5:15-17)
And the will of the Lord is this: that you believe in the one He has sent,
Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of all of your sins, and that you do good
works for your neighbor, not to merit God’s favor, but because your Lord Jesus
Christ has been your neighbor, loving you as He loves Himself. Amen.