Shrewd Stewardship

 Sam & Ed were running for the same seat on city council. Enjoying coffee at a diner's counter, Sam turned to Ed. "I'm gonna win. Know why? I tip really well, then ask the server to vote for me." Ed replied, "I leave a nickel tip & ask them to vote for you, too." They were using their money shrewdly. Jesus would commend Sam. But Ed's method was dishonest. I don't think Jesus would commend Ed. But He did commend a dishonest steward. Why? Let's look at Lk 16:1-13. 1aJesus told his disciples a story. 1b"A rich farmer accused his manager of squandering his farm's resources 2a& called him in. Uh-oh! 2b'What's this I hear about you? Give an account of your management. Go get your books. You can't be manager any longer.' Just what we expect for a bad steward. 3a"The manager is upset. 'What'll I do? He's taking away my job. It's all I know. 3bI'm not strong enough to dig (manual labor). I don't have a trade. And 3cI'm ashamed to beg. As his bondservant, I live in his house. I'll need a new place to live. 4When I lose my job, who'll welcome me into their houses? Where will I live? Ah! I know what I'll do!' He has a plan... 5a"He called in each of his master's debtors, one by one. Debtors? Uh-oh. Ex 22:25, Lv 25:36, & Dt 23:19 all forbid interest on loans. But who makes a loan & doesn't make money? At times people do need to borrow. But how? Borrow goods, not money. Bury the interest in the loan. Need $800? Write an IOU for grain worth $1000. Hand it to a lender & walk away with grain worth $800. No loan, no interest. Everyone wins. Everyone did it. How'd his boss make money? Bigger IOU values than the value of goods loaned. How'd he squander his boss's resources? Theft? Too low a profit? "Finder's" fees? We don't know. 5bHe asked the 1st debtor, 'How much do you owe my master?' Interesting! The manager has the IOU & the books. So, he already knows. Why ask? Psychology. If the borrower recounts how much he owes, he'll be much more grateful for the relief! And their culture guarantees reciprocity. The manager is creating debts they'll pay him back with room & board after he's fired. Shrewd! He has a plan. 6" '800 gallons of olive oil,' the debtor replied. "The manager said, 'Take your bill, sit down & quickly make it 400.' Olive oil's so cheap lenders might ask 100% profit. But an IOU for 800 gallons? That'd take >150 olive trees >3 years to produce! (Never mind living expenses.) It's a huge debt! The debtor? No common day laborer! He's Big Oil for olive oil! And the rich boss? He isn't just the Jolly Green Giant of produce. He's a J. P. Morgan bank, making bank-sized loans. Having the debtor rewrite the loan amount? Genius. He wrote the IOU. He writes in a new amount & it looks original! Who'll know? (Maybe not even the rich master!) 7a"Then he asked the 2nd, 'How much do you owe?' He already knows. But again, having his debtor recount the debt guarantees gratitude & future room & board. 7b" '1,000 bushels of wheat.' Again, huge! To repay takes >100 acres, all farmed by hand. To buy 1,000 bushels? 7 years earnings for most workers. It's another huge debt! He, too, is no common day laborer! And again, it's a bank-sized loan! "He told him, 'Take your bill & make it 800.' Why only a 20%? Not 100%? Is he removing a "fee"? Not likely. He lives in his master's house & doesn't have any saved wealth for after his job. Most likely, he's reducing his master's profit. (half for each debtor?) Olive oil's markup was much higher than grain's. Once again, he's squandering his rich master's resources. He's reducing his master's profits. Word that he's fired hasn't reached his rich master's customers. (His master doesn't yet have the books.) So, he's still his master's agent. What will his rich master way when he finds out? 8a"The master commended the dishonest manager. Jesus calls him dishonest. How can the master commend him? By law, he isn't liable for illegal actions of a rogue employee. He can view objectively what his dishonest manager did. And a rogue always recognizes another rogue. What did the master admire? 8bHis servant had acted shrewdly. The manager used everything available to him to ensure his future. What's Jesus' point in telling us the story? 8cThe people of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. Huh? Worldly people know how to use money to influence others. Generous tips, e.g. (even when our law calls them bribes). 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so when it's gone, you'll be welcomed into eternal dwellings. We're all stewards of whatever Jesus gives us. Our time on earth. Our skills & spiritual gifts. All our material resources (houses, cars, savings, income). He gave us all of it. And Jesus is warning us. We won't be his managers here much longer. We all face death & can't take it with us. We'll be in the afterlife for a long, long time. Guess what! We'll want friends, there. And Jesus says now is the time to make them. Jesus trusts us as stewards of all we are & all we have. Little or lots, He's trusted us with it. 10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, & whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. He told the parable of the talents to encourage us to work hard at being faithful. The harder we work at it, the more He'll reward us. 11If you haven't been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who'll trust you with true riches? Eternal wealth? 12And if you haven't been trustworthy with someone else's property, who'll give you property of your own? Yet eternal wealth is what He promises the faithful! What's the crux of the issue? Christians, people of the light, already stand on eternity's edge. But we don't act like it. We lack vision, foresight, & will. Especially for our relationships with others. If only we'd pay as much attention to eternal things as we pay to worldly business. If only we acted as shrewdly spiritually as the corrupt manager was shrewd in the here and now. All through life, we'll face competing masters. Wealth & Jesus. The problem? 13"No servant can serve 2 masters. He'll hate the one & love the other. Or he'll be devoted to the one & despise the other. You can't serve both God & Wealth." Many have tried. But in all human history, how many did serve both successfully? To date, none. A master Carpenter was getting old. Finally, he was ready to retire & told his boss. "I want more time with my wife & family. I'll miss the paycheck. But my body also says to retire. We'll get by." They'd worked together for many years. His boss was sad to see him go & asked, "Would you build just one more house for me? As a personal favor?" The old carpenter replied, "OK." But his heart just wasn't in it. For the 1st time, his craftsmanship was sloppy. Worse, he used low quality materials that were faster & easier to get. It was a poor way to end his career! When he finished, his boss came to look at the house. He looked it over, then handed the house's keys to the old carpenter. "This is your house. It's my gift to you." Lord calls us to be shrewd in how we use all he's given us. Use them all shrewdly so in heaven others will welcome us. Earlier, I implied that the others who'll welcome us are friends we make now. That's true, but there's one more friend we need to make. Jesus called His disciples friends. He's the most important friend of all that we need to make. What are we doing with all He's given us? How shrewd & calculated are we in using what he gave us? Are we using it all to gain eternal friends, including Jesus? Will He & the other friends we make now welcome us to Heaven? By the way, wonder what Jesus is doing with all the treasure we're laying up? He's building a house for us, but like the old carpenter, we aren't aware that's what he's doing with it. Shrewd stewardship is what it'll take to lay up quality materials for Him in heaven. How? Make sure our "craftsmanship" is top notch as we use our stewardship skills. Consider all our resources His. Send Him only the best materials to work with in building our house. We're stewards of all our resources on His behalf. Spending them all shrewdly for others, all in His Name. Shrewd Stewardship - Luke 16:1-13 Page 1 of 1