'Stewardship Sunday, or The Money Follows What You Love'
Morning Service
The 9th Sunday after Trinity Sunday | August 9th, 2009
Dear Saints,
When we first hear this text we must think, “What in the world is Jesus talking about?” A parable about a crook who's found out and fired, and on his way out the door he cooks the books in the hope of a few kick-backs when he's unemployed. Most of the people in Jesus' parables who act like this end up being sent to the outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. You know what I'm talking about.
But listen this in the parable (Luke 16:8):
The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
Lest we think that the Lord is advocating a breaking of the seventh commandment, “You shall not steal,” we have these verses that come after the parable:
"One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 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." (Luke 16:10-13)
Our Lord expects and demands faithfulness in the things entrusted to us, this is sure enough, but this is not the point of the parable. The point of the parable that the Lord is telling is that we should be shrewd. “The sons of this world are more shrewd that the sons of light.”
The sons of this world, that is, the pagans, the unbelievers, the godless, those who don't give two cents about the church or the Gospel or the life-saving death of Jesus, they know how to spend their money in service to what they care about the most. They are constantly thinking and scheming and plotting what they can do to make a few more dollars, or make their lives a bit nicer, even what they might do to help the people they love. Christians, says Jesus, ought to be the same. We ought to be shrewd with the care of our money and our possessions, and with them take care of the things that we love the most: the Gospel and our neighbor.
I have this very simple understanding of stewardship: our money follows after what we love. And Christians love the Gospel. We love the forgiveness of our sins. We love the Lord Jesus and His death for us, and the promise that is ours because He hung on that cross and shed His blood to quench the wrath of God and cover our sinfulness. We love it, and so as Christians we give our money to see to it that that Gospel, that Good News gets preached and published in all the world, in our neighborhood and state and country and even all over the world.
But things can get a bit off track, and that is why Jesus is preaching this stewardship sermon to us. He is basically saying that the Godless are better stewards than the sons of light, the Christians. They know better how to send their money after the things they love, and this ought not to be the case. We should be wise, shrewd, thoughtful about the preservation of the Gospel. We ought to have a bit of foresight about the Lord's Word and how we can preserve and preach it. We ought to make for ourselves eternal friends with the money that the Lord has entrusted to our families.
Here's a parable from the old Lutheran preacher Johann Gerhardt that gets the point across nicely:
A man had three friends. The first friend he daily treated well with abundant food and clothing, leaving him lacking or wanting nothing, indeed, fulfilling his every wish. The second friend he treated well on occasion, but not as well as the first friend. The third friend he treated poorly, paying little heed to his needs; even when he pleaded for help and kindness, he was usually turned away empty handed. Now when the man was summoned before the court and had to defend himself before his accusers, he went to his first friend, whom he had treated so well, and asked for his support; but he was turned down. Then he went and asked for the support of his second friend, who had accompanied him to the courthouse; but this friend turned around and left. Finally, as the last resort, the man found it necessary to go to his third friend, though ashamed to seek his support because of the ill treatment. But the third friend, beyond all expectation, not only testified for the man and gave a good report but also paid the fine for all the charges against him.
In this parable the man’s first friend is to be understood as his own body, which he daily nourishes and clothes, but which will depart from him in death because his soul will be separated from his body and must appear before God’s court and countenance. The second friend is to be understood as the man’s relatives, who will accompany him to his grave site, but then will depart again. The third friend is to be understood as our Lord Christ, who speaks to us through His Word but whose voice is too often not taken to heart. He comes to us bodily, but we do not accept him or treat him well; yet He is the best and only faithful Friend who, on the final day of judgment, will be our advocate, absolve us from all accusations, and take us up into the eternal dwellings.
So, dear Christians, you have heard what you already know. You love the Gospel. You love it because it is your life and salvation and your sure and certain hope of passing through judgment to life eternal with your Jesus. And now in this life He has given you the marvelous privilege of seeing that Gospel spread throughout the world.
But even in this life when we often love ourselves and temporal things more than the eternal things of our Lord Jesus, we have the confidence that the Lord still takes care of us. Remember how we said at the beginning that our money follows after the things we love, well the same is true of our Lord. We can see what He loves when we see where He puts His resources, where He puts His life, where He spills His holy precious blood. This is our great comfort in life and death, the Lord loves us and has given His only begotten Son so that we might life eternal with Him forever. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
