Make friends for your eternal home.

 

Sermon for Trinity 9, August 9, 2020

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Luke 16:1–9  Jesus also said to his disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager who was accused of wasting his possessions.  ²The rich man called him in and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you?  Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be manager.’  ³“The manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, since my master is taking away the management position from me?  I am not strong enough to dig.  I am ashamed to beg.  ⁴I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from my position as manager, people will receive me into their houses.’  ⁵“He called each one of his master’s debtors to him.  He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  ⁶He said, ‘Six hundred gallons of olive oil.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write three hundred.’  ⁷Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’  And he said, ‘Six hundred bushels of wheat.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill and write four hundred and eighty.’  ⁸“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.  For the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light are.  ⁹I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon, so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.” (EHV)

Make friends for your eternal home.

Dear Christian friends,

            Jesus certainly picked an interesting individual to make a point for His disciples, didn’t He.  In fact, this steward has become almost famous for his treachery.  Thus, we would normally think that this steward would have nothing for us to emulate, so why did Jesus tell this parable and what, really, was He trying to teach us? 

The steward managed a very wealthy man’s entire holdings.  He had complete control of the rich man’s wealth, but it appears that rather than use his position properly to help his master, he was cheating his employer, and likely everyone he dealt with, for his own personal comfort.

Now, that may sound a bit judgmental, and perhaps it is.  Yet, the steward didn’t try to defend himself of the charges against him.  He didn’t beg for mercy.  Nor did the master ask the steward to defend himself.  He simply demanded that the steward return his record books, because his employment was over.  If the steward could not be trusted, completely, he could no longer hold this position of trust.

The steward had an intriguing response, though.  He didn’t complain.  He didn’t panic.  He immediately realized that he didn’t have the capacity to make his living with physical labor.  Begging for his livelihood was beneath his dignity.  So, he considered that his best option was to make himself so appreciated among his associates that they would provide for his needs in his retirement.  The first debtor was told to cut his bill in half; the second had his reduced twenty percent, and so on through each of the debtors. 

Now, as shocked as we might be that the master wasn’t furious about this steward continuing to cheat him, Jesus tells us that the master was impressed.  He didn’t mention his own loss, but rather, complimented the steward for his shrewdness in taking care of his own skin.  So, considering all these ethical lapses, what is Jesus point?

As Jesus spoke this parable, He didn’t concern Himself about the guilt or innocence of the steward, or the debtors.  Rather, He said, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon, so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.” 

Now, as we begin to examine this parable, we need to understand that Jesus wasn’t telling us to cheat our neighbors or employers.  He wasn’t teaching that the end justifies the means.  His sole, and only, point is to instruct us to use shrewdly our position of stewardship of the riches of His grace to Make Friends for our eternal home. 

Jesus said, “The children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light are.”  From this we should understand that there are two types of people, those of the world and those of the light.  “The sons of this world” are the unbelievers who remain focused on worldly things.  You may see attitudes like “it’s just business” and “everything is business.”  This lends the idea that anything goes as long as their worldly goals are reached.  Scruples may become irrelevant.  Who gets hurt isn’t given much consideration, for the sons of the world are supremely focused on satisfying their own desires.

“The children of the light,” on the other hand, are all those people who have come to faith in Jesus as their Savior.  What Jesus’ points out is that the sons of light, the Christian believers, often aren’t so similarly focused on what’s truly valuable.  You see, while Christians have been entrusted with the stewardship of all the riches of heaven, we often get sidetracked from the true purpose we are given in this world.  Jesus wants believers to properly manage the spiritual riches God gives us.  Because our Lord “wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,” (1 Timothy 2:4), we must ask, how shrewdly are we using everything at our disposal to Make Friends for our eternal home?

The steward in this parable didn’t much care about his proper role as manager for his master.  He wasn’t particularly concerned about helping his neighbors, either.  He was mostly concerned with taking care of himself; thus, his end is banishment from the master’s house. 

As Jesus taught the people, He described Himself as the Light, and then He told the people, “While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:36)  As the sons of light, entrusted with the riches of heaven, we should be expected to be totally committed to growing God’s kingdom.  Yet, how often are we also forced to admit that we have cheated our Master?  Like the debtors around us, we all deserve to be cast out of the Master’s presence.  Yet, we are entrusted with the gospel of our Savior which means that all our sins have been forgiven in Christ Jesus, and Jesus wants us to use His great wealth of mercy to Make friends for your eternal home.

In our sermon text, Jesus tells us to be shrewd in our dealings with all the things God gives us, for the purpose of reaching those who are lost from God.  Jesus said, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with unrighteous mammon, so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.”  Two things we should understand.  First, the things of this world will come to an end.  Secondly, God wants us to be wise in our use of every worldly possession and talent, and the riches of His gospel, in order to win Christian friends with whom we can spend eternity.

Naturally, it’s time for a little self-examination.  How well are we each doing at using God’s riches to accomplish His goals for our lives?  Do we sit down each day and examine whether our behavior is a draw for the unbeliever to seek Christ?  Do we always carefully examine how we use our money to see if we are using it for God-pleasing purposes and to help spread the Gospel?  Do we carefully consider the words we use as we speak to neighbors and friends, or do we allow any old thing to slip from our lips in the course of the day?  Do our lifestyles proclaim to the world that we are God’s faithful servants?  Do we view every aspect of our lives here on earth as something God works for the good of those who love Him, or are we floundering about chasing selfish desires without demonstrating much faith in God at all?

With no concern for his master, the wicked steward focused solely on his personal, earthly comfort.  However, as professing Christians, we know that we will only be truly comfortable in the forgiveness of our Savior.  So, are we focused completely on the truth of the gospel?  If we have any honesty at all, we will confess that we sometimes lose our focus.  We all have to confess that not every dollar we have been given goes to a god-pleasing purpose, not every moment of our lives is spent in perfect harmony with God’s will, not every moment of every day has been spent in reaching out with the Gospel.

Dear Christian friends, we live in a country were the common goals are to get more riches, more stuff, and more pleasure: where individual freedom has become license to live in any way we want regardless of whether it pleases God.  Jesus’ words remind us that this world will end and warn us that if our focus is on gaining the things of this world, we will spend eternity with false friends whose focus was on things that lead to hell.  He also shows us that His goal of winning lost souls for His kingdom is also our goal to make friends for eternity.

The only way that anyone will be our friends for eternity is if they know what Jesus has done on behalf of all of us who owe God such a great debt.  We want the whole world to know that we don’t just reduce the debts of our fellow sinners, we mark them completely paid in full through Jesus’ sacrifice of death.  Therefore, for the Christian to Make friends for your eternal home, we will boldly and shrewdly share the riches of God’s grace through which He declares the whole world forgiven. 

A bit ago we examined ourselves and found that, yet again, we have failed to live as God expects.  Both stewards and debtors alike don’t always focus on the mission God has planned for us.  But dear friends, that’s why Jesus died.  Jesus came into this world and gave His life on the cross outside of Jerusalem so that our failures and sins would not cause our destruction in hell. 

Because we too often lose focus on God’s goals for our lives, Jesus suffered and died to cover our guilt.  Therefore, believe with full confidence that Jesus paid for every one of your sins, for every time you lose focus.  He paid for every time you and I have gone astray, and He paid, also, for every sin that anyone else has ever committed.  Do you want to make friends for eternity?  First, believe in Jesus as your Savior, then let the power of His light help others see that Jesus died for their sins too.  Use the material blessings God puts at your disposal: every talent, tool, moment, and opportunity to forgive to help people see Jesus.

In the Revelation of St. John, we were shown a glimpse of an eternal home where “there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing in front of the throne and of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and with palm branches in their hand.” (Revelation 7:9)  Those standing in that crowd are the former sinners who believed and trusted in the Lamb of God for salvation.  They all trusted that Jesus died for their sins.  Each one of those believers will be your friend for eternity when you are trusting in Jesus for salvation. 

My friends, as Christians, our goal is always to be one of those who are welcoming and being welcomed by eternal friends in heaven.  In our sermon text, Jesus teaches His people to remember that He died to give you everlasting life and it is our great privilege to share the riches of His forgiveness with others, thereby, to Make friends for your eternal home.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto everlasting life. Amen.