Luke 16
The parable:
- A rich man had a manager who he employed to look after his interests.
- He receives reports that his manager is wasting his resources – which presumably means spending them on himself with no concern for preserving or growing his employer’s wealth.
- He calls the manager to a meeting and tells him to present a final set of accounts because he is shortly to be fired.
- The manager had to quickly work out a plan for his future, because he realized he was about to lose everything. He was not cut out for manual labour and ruled out begging.
- He worked out a plan that would win him friends who would support him when he lost his job. This plan involved contacting all his master’s debtors and offering a chance for them to settle their debts at a largely reduced rate if they did it instantly. (He had to work quickly before the word got out that he was no longer manager.)
- When he presented the final accounts to the rich man it came to light what he had done, which was to use the resources at his disposal (in this case his employer’s) to win friends before his control of those resources was taken away from him.
- His employer complimented his dishonest ex-manager for his cleverness.
Jesus adds an observation about the way the world does business. He says (v8b) that the sons of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own people than the sons of light. He emphasizes the difference between the people of this world and people of the kingdom (sons of light). This comment is vital to understanding the parable. This is not a parable about how to be sharp in your business dealings!
People of the kingdom (Christians) are not supposed to be the same as the dishonest manager – we aren’t being encouraged to be deceitful or to buy friendship with money. But the gist of the parable is that if even the ‘sons of this world’ can see that it is wise to use material things to ensure you have friends and a future, then how much more should the ‘sons of light’ be showing the way by using money and material resources to establish a brotherhood which lasts for eternity. In other words the best use of money is to spend it in such a way that trustful, caring, everlasting relationship are built up. This is at the heart of the meaning of the parable.
Jesus clarifies this (v9) by teaching his disciples that the best use of material things (‘unrighteous wealth’) is to spend it on making friends who will welcome you into the eternal homes of the
- Because it is unrighteous wealth – i.e. money is not a measure of righteousness – having more of it is not evidence that you are being rewarded for being a righteous person. We each need the gift of righteousness – and money cannot buy it. Righteousness is a standing with God and ensures a place in his kingdom, grounded entirely on Christ. The Beatles rightly sang ‘Can’t buy me love’ in their very first bit hit. You can’t buy righteousness any more than you can buy love. Money can never make you the person you need to be in order to be welcomed into the ‘eternal dwellings’. It is unrighteous wealth. It is not that money is bad in itself. It is nothing. Money is actually just a promise that you can exchange it for ‘stuff’ of the value stamped on it. Having more of it is not a sign that God regards you as better than someone else. Money can be a curse, it can be an opportunity or it can be a distraction. But it can’t produce or buy what makes you acceptable to God. It is the world’s currency and the way to convert it into kingdom currency is to use it to serve Kingdom priorities.
- Because it is not a matter of if money will fail but when it fails. Its temporariness and its unreliable nature urge us to invest it in what can last – i.e. the unending relationships we enjoy as brothers and sisters in God’s family in the eternal kingdom. This parable aims to clarify the priorities of the kingdom in a graphic manner. If we love the Father, we will love his children and we will expend ourselves and use all our resources for the extension of and the good of God’s family. Money and the love of it, must never be allowed to be our motivation and rule our lives.
Jesus then mines some more learning from this parable. He says that the person who faithfully (that is, honestly, wisely and reliably) handles small matters acts the same way in major matters; and the person who is dishonest in small matters acts with the same dishonesty in major matters. This is true of money. If you are unfaithful in the use of money – which is not a measure of righteousness – why would God entrust that which is truly valuable to you? He is hardly likely to give you a personal stake in his kingdom if you have been unfaithful with the opportunities he lent you.
You must treat money as something to be expended in God’s service. Like everything else, money must bend its knee and confess that Christ is Lord! Our lives must not be controlled by and used up in the pursuit of money. Money must never be our master. For example, the person who says, “We can’t afford to get married yet, so we are just living together.” That person is serving money. The desire for money and a flash wedding has put what God expects marriage to be in second place. Money is sitting on God’s throne in that person’s life. Here’s another example:“I know my company represents some really destructive, godless attitudes – but I can’t afford to quit the company because I am on a good salary.” Money is sitting on God’s throne in that person’s life.
Summary of what the parable means:
Its main point is:
Even unbelievers recognise that money is best spent on having friends and a future in life.
How much more should believers invest whatever material possessions they have in making friends (brothers and sisters) with whom they will share the eternal kingdom?
In other words, it is not consistent with God’s kingdom, to waste your life building personal wealth and spending it in a way that suggests you think life in this world is permanent.
Sub-points are:
- Kingdom people have different values to the people of the world.
- We must use even the small opportunities we have to promote God’s kingdom.
- There is a direct link between how we use money, time and personal energy and the opportunities Christ gives us to do something big with our lives that will have eternal fallout.
- Money presents itself as a god to be served – we must dethrone its influence in our lives.
- In all the gathering, earning, using and spending of material resources we do in our lives, we must try to connect these directly to Kingdom objectives. Jesus has neatly summarized these objectives as making eternal friends. It seems that all our resources should be gospel-directed. In other words we should be able to explain how these things and our use of them promotes the good news by which people may connect with Jesus Christ and become our brothers and sisters forever.
- Never forget who your resources really belong to. We are held to account.
Note:
This parable was heard by the Pharisees. They are those who were wasting the Master’s wealth (not just material things but also: Scriptures,
The parable was a warning to the disciples not to fall into the Pharisees’ ways. (The church always needs this warning, because churches are tempted to waste their Employer's resources).
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