Notes from Sunday Meeting - Luke 16 - 5-23-21

 

Give us your grace, Lord, as we now consider your words , taking in these inspired, ancient truths and help us to apply them in our lives on a personal level…We have a very difficult chapter before us in many ways.. Help us to decipher your word so that we may glean from it the messages that you have intended for us…

We ask these things in Jesus’s name..

Amen


      And we come to two stories in this chapter---some think two parables, others think one parable and then a story…

In any regard we have a very interesting and difficult chapter before us. The material that Jesus gave on ,that day that he gave it, was no doubt a shock to his audience. It was meant to be thus. And because of the material that has covered the subjects that are brought forth in this section, they are uncomfortable even to a modern audience, and perhaps especially so……

In chapter 16 he turns from the scribes and the Pharisees that he was addressing in the previous chapter now to his disciples. If you remember in the previous chapter, the Pharisees and the scribes, who at this point in Jesus' life are never far away. They are looking for ways to trap him by his language, by his words, hoping they will be inflammatory enough to bring a charge against him.

So, in the previous chapter, they noted that the tax collectors and sinners loved Jesus and pressed to get close to him. And so they brought an accusation saying, "This man eats with tax collectors and sinners

and he invites them," which was true. But then Jesus launched into three parables toward the scribes and Pharisees, three parables, three stories about three lost things: a lost sheep, a lost coin, a lost son.

With each parable the value was increased. A sheep was valuable, but a coin that was used on a woman's wedding day and her headdress was important because of the relationship it depicted.

And then a son who is lost was more valuable than the previous two items. And the Lord was talking about that they should rejoice when one person is found by God, and they ought to rejoice when there is salvation.

Now the Lord turns toward his disciples and he gives a story to them.

First, verses 1 through 13, is directed to the disciples. We will consider this parable this morning….

The disciples could hear, but anybody else could hear also. And so he tells the first parable to the disciples, the Pharisees react to it, so he tells the second story to them.

That we will cover in verses 19 through 31 on Wednesday evening.

In both of these parables there is the mention of money. It's not the central issue, but it is an issue. It certainly is central in the first parable. But it's interesting, because Jesus spoke so much about finances.

It's estimated that one parable out of every three parables Jesus taught was somehow related to our use of, or our relationship with, or the way we look at money.

The first parable, beginning in verse 1, is really a shocking story, because the hero in the story is a crook.

And this would get anybody's attention, and I believe Jesus did this in order to get their attention.

In this story there are other people involved than the main character; who are complicit in the conniving, in the-in the backroom deals that this guy is making with them. They're accomplices to it. And then, finally, there is the owner himself. The owner himself who is the victim, actually commends the crook for what he has done…

And then to make matters worse, Jesus himself extols him. This we need to look at carefully and understand… This has caused a lot of misunderstanding and misinterpretation over the years by lots of people. But here's what is important to know, and Luke was really good at bringing this up.

Jesus isn't saying be bad, be wicked, be scheming, and be conniving like this guy in the story, because we know that he is simply dealing with the way things really are in the world.

What our Lord is saying is that that's how worldly people act and comparing that with the commitment of believers….

We are called to a different life. We are called to a higher level.

As Jesus prayed in John 17, "Lord, I have chosen them out of the world. They are not of this world."

So, essentially, what we have in the first story, the first parable, which is a bad example. But we have a good lesson from the bad example.

Ok I will read beginning with:

Verse 1, "He also said to his disciples: 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward,

and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.'

" A steward is a manager. And he is the manager for a very rich individual. So rich that he has quite a number of debtors, and so rich that though he has many debtors, he is personally not involved with . He has the steward managing all that in proxy for him.

So here's a very, very rich man who has executives, so to speak, under him, and one particular guy who's managing his estate; managing most of his affairs. He has entrusted everything to him ; a man who is crooked ….

The owner is, the Donald Trump of the New Testament. Very wealthy and probably doesn't get involved in all the minutia of deals, but he has other people doing them for him, and he's at the top.

The manager, the steward, would assign the workers their duties. The manager would give them their pay. The manager would collect debts owed the master, the owner.

And it was the manager or steward who would act in business dealings in proxy for the owner himself.

Now, if we go back in the Old Testament, we know that such stewards were not uncommon.

Abraham had a steward and we know his name. His name was Eliezer of Damascus, we are told.

Eliezer was sent to Haran to find a wife, a bride for the son of Abraham, Isaac. He entrusted him that much. So we have some context of what a steward was in those days and the level of trust that was attached to that position…

But as we return to verse 1 notice what it says .

An accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods." The word "wasting" is the same word in the previous parable of the previous chapter of the prodigal son where he wasted all of his father's wealth on wasteful or prodigal living. So "prodigal" and "wasteful," it's the same word.

This steward has betrayed a huge trust….

The word "wasting" is a present active participle. All that means is it denotes an ongoing activity.

This isn't a man who just stole from his boss one time. He has been doing that over and over and over again. It evidently has become a practice of his, a lifestyle of wasting his master's goods.

And the master finds out.

So he," verse 2, "he called him and said, 'What is this I hear about you?'

"giving him a chance to respond."'Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'

"Or in the infamous words of Donald Trump, "You're fired."

Verse 3, "Then the steward said within himself"---so he's thinking this in his head.

"The steward said within himself," the manager's thinking and he said," 'What shall I do?

For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig.' " So, he probably was sort of weak and flabby, and he's a white-collar worker.

And then notice this:He says "And I'm ashamed to beg." Now that's funny to me, because he's not ashamed to steal over and over and over again. But he says, "Well, I'm too proud of a man, I'm not going to beg. "I've resolved what I shall do."

"That when I am put out of the stewardship," when I'm kicked off of the staff as being

this high-profile executive manager, "They may receive me into their homes."So this guy's basically losing his job. And because he's losing his job, he's losing his pay check. He's losing the benefits that come with this position. He's losing his house, because his house would have been on the same estate as this rich man. He's overseeing the estate.

So he's losing everything, and he has to come up with a plan.

" 'When I'm put out of my stewardship, they"---that's key, because the "they" will be explained

in the next verse---" 'may receive me into their houses.' So he called every one of his master's debtors to him"---that's the "they" in the story, "his master's debtors," the people that owed his master an enormous amount of money.

He's now going to reap, at least in part, what he has sown.

This manager, this steward is now busted. So, but he's got a plan, and he calls his master's debtors to him.

Now here's what you gotta know: Jesus is giving a story that was common and is common to this day.

This is an example of how the world operates. The world operates on the basis of self-preservation.

Satan was right. In the book of Job he ascertained human nature well when he said, "Skin for skin!

Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life." He'll do whatever it takes. And so in worldly business, self-preservation is key.

And that's what this steward does.

"He called every one of his master's debtors to him, and he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' " So he gets the books out. He's going to change the accounts, as you're going to see, and give the debtors less to pay.

21:11

"And " the first guy said, " 'A hundred measures of oil.'

And so he [the manager] said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly and write fifty.'

" So notice two things. First of all, in this first transaction the manager is giving the guy, the debtor who owes the master, this much. He's giving him a 50 percent discount. The other thing, notice, he says do it quickly, "Sit down quickly."

You know, con men are always like this, right? They're in a hurry. They're talking real fast and they're telling you the benefits.

"Sign here. Sign here. Do it quickly."

"Then he said to another," this is the second debtor, " 'How much do you owe?'

He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' " So he gives him a 20 percent discount.

He writes "paid in full" on all the invoices.

I did a little research and a hundred measures of oil is between nine hundred and a thousand gallons.

It is worth three years' wages. And it is the product of olives that have been pressed in an olive press from one hundred and fifty olive trees.

A hundred measures of wheat is about a thousand-thousand bushels.

It would take a hundred acres to produce a thousand bushels, and it's about nine years' worth of labor all together that it would take to produce this.

So, this manager shrewdly---that's the keyword here, you're going to see "shrewdly"---comes up with a plan to get the debtors that owe his master an enormous amount of money and he cuts their bill down.

He's very, very clever. It's wrong, it's unethical, it's illegal, but in the world of self-preservation and survival of the fittest, it's shrewd, as you will see.

Now, this would do two things. First of all, the debtors would be very grateful, because they don't know what's going on behind the scenes.

So they're going to be very grateful to him, which means later on if he needs a favor,

He will say , "Remember what I did for you?

The second thing it did is make them accomplices. So now he has leverage. So, if they were ever to say, "You know what? You're a dirty, rotten scoundrel." He'd say, "Well, you were part of it. You paid it.

You did it with me."

Okay, so, here's a bad guy, but the worst is yet to come, because now the boss, the victim will compliment him.

That's shocking enough, to make it even more shocking, Jesus will compliment him.

"The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly," cleverly.

And then Jesus remarks, "For the sons of this world"---that is, unbelievers---"are more

shrewd in their generation than the sons of light"---that is, believers.

25:06

Now this is shocking, because you would think the owner, the man who has the estate, would want revenge for this.

Anyway, he didn't do that. He compliments the steward .

Why?

Not for being a crook, but for being shrewd. He complimented him for having foresight, for thinking of his future.

And then Jesus says, "The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light."

And here it is, here's the basic thrust of it: If believers were as determined in their spiritual lives about spiritual things and their future as unbelievers are in their physical, temporal lives, things would be a lot different, but they are not. Unbelievers will serve their goals often with more passion and more devotion.

Think of the businessman, I've seen so many in the airport---Wall Street Journal, cell

phone, computer---making deals until the stewardess finally says, "You gotta put your phones away now." And then as soon as they touchdown and you can use your phone, they're on the phone and they're sealing the deal. And they're just really devoted to thinking about their future, managing their future.

They've got the foresight to put all of that energy into motion.

If an unbeliever will be that devoted to his or her future, then what kind of-of seriousness and effort should believers be putting into preparing for their future?

Now, this is not teaching that you work your way to heaven. But it does teach us that our blessings in the next life will be based on this one. We will get out of it what we put into it. But should we not be ashamed to think that the efforts of unbelievers to make there lives work, demonstrates more will and more dedication than our own. Than the children of light… here's what Jesus said: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven."

Jesus wants us to be shrewd in a different way.. Jesus calls us to be ‘as shrewd as serpents’ and ‘as harmless as doves.’ A serpent seeks prey. A dove is prey. We must be both the hunter and the hunted. We must be the hunter seeking out ways to shape our age – to be more energetic than worldly culture, to be more stimulating, to be bolder. If we were actually that shrewd our blessing will be many in heaven… Jesus wants us to look to the future not just in this life but also the next. . We should seek to give life, preserve life in God’s way. We are called to act as doves. We are called to do no harm, we

called to be gentle, kind, to offer 2nd chances, to exercise forgiveness to essentially carry the light of Jesus as we live our lives as best we can, and stand our ground against the forces of Satan …This requires wisdom and is a balance that can only achieved through God’s grace and guidance…

And so he tells the first parable to the disciples, In the chapter, the Pharisees react to it because they are standing by listening trying to catch Jesus in something.

As Jesus is aware of this he then turns and tells the second story directly to them. This we will be covering on Wednesday evening. It will be verses 19 through 31…..

Lets pray….

Our Father in heaven we are thankful this morning for this gathering of souls and the fellowship that it brings to us all.

We ask for your blessing on our bible study and as we continue to study your word…. we ask that you guide us so that your precious gifts will find their way into our hearts and minds. We ask that our lives be shaped by a deeper knowledge of you and that it be evident for all to see… Remember those in need this morning both physically and spiritually and touch them, heal them and help them as you will… Thank you for prayers answered and for the ability to communicate with you through prayer….

We express our gratitude and ask all in Jesus name..

Amen