A Study of Faith and Works
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Ninth Sunday in Trinity
A Study of Faith and Works
August 1, 2010
TEXT: (Luke 16:1-9 NKJ) 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. 2 "So he called him and said to him,`What is
this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no
longer be steward.' 3 "Then the steward said within himself,`What shall I do?
For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed
to beg. 4 `I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the
stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' 5 "So he called every one
of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first,`How much do you owe my
master?' 6 "And he said,`A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him,`Take
your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 "Then he said to
another,`And how much do you owe?' So he said,`A hundred measures of wheat.' And
he said to him,`Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 "So the master commended
the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are
more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. 9 "And I say to you,
make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may
receive you into an everlasting home.
This parable has some unfamiliar words and contains a teaching that appears to
conflict with other Biblical teachings—we will focus our attention on the last
two verses of the text
TEXT: (Luke 16:8-9 NKJ) "So the master commended the unjust steward
because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in
their generation than the sons of light. 9 "And I say to you, make friends for
yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into
an everlasting home.
As I consider the text I ask myself—What is mammon?—it is an ancient word,
perhaps Aramaic and/or Hebrew, meaning riches or wealth—it is whatever you own
that is over and above your needs—goods, services, or money that might benefit
others without injuring yourself
Next we must consider the meaning of the parable—Jesus had been speaking to the
Pharisees in a series of parables—remember a few weeks ago we spoke of these
Pharisees and their disgust with our Lord Jesus—they wouldn’t even say His name
because “THIS MAN” eats with sinners—so Jesus spoke first the parable of the
lost sheep—then the parable of the woman and the lost coin—and, finally, Jesus
closed His discussion with the Pharisees with the parable of the prodigal
son—then Jesus changes His audience and speaks this parable of the unfaithful
servant—and He is speaking only to His disciples—what is Jesus trying to teach
us?
We can begin by contemplating the parable itself—what does it mean?—the parable
makes reference to unrighteous mammon—that is, riches or wealth that are beyond
the needs of the individual—in the case of this parable—that would be the
servant—if God is the Master—and Jesus is speaking to the disciples—then the
servant must be the disciples or Christian believers in general—and that would
be us—the goods would be all the resources God places in our control—none of
which is really ours—and all of which belongs to God—we are responsible for
knowing God’s expectations for us—and we are responsible for doing God’s
will—and we will receive the reward of our actions
(Luke 12:47-48 NKJ) "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did
not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes,
shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will
be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
If this parable is speaking to us and about us—we should remind ourselves of
what we have been given—EVERYTHING!—we are Christians—sons of God—coheirs with
Christ
(John 1:11-13 NKJ) He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of
God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of
the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(Galatians 4:7 NKJ) Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if
a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
(Romans 8:17 NKJ) and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint
heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified
together.
There are many interpretations of today’s parable—and each has its own
difficulty—but we can examine the parable in the light of Scripture—the Prophet
Ezekiel gave us some information about Sodom
(Ezekiel 16:49-50 NKJ) "Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom:
She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness;
neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. 50 "And they were
haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw
fit.
(Genesis 13:10 NKJ) And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of
Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward
Zoar.
The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah are used as examples throughout
Scripture—a reminder of what happens when we anger God through our
disobedience—Sodom had the ability to help the needy and serve their
neighbor—but instead she used her “free time” to do nothing of value—and God
punished her
(Genesis 19:24-26 NKJ) Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom
and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities,
all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Lot’s wife looked back at the life she had in the sinful city—she had to leave
her earthly possessions and flee in obedience to God—but she could not seem to
let it go—she submitted to the worldly things of this world instead of being
focused on the things of God—by looking back she hindered God’s plan—and forever
she is known for being turned into a pillar of salt—a few steps more and she
would have experienced God’s mercy and grace—but she stopped walking in the path
of God and she turned again to the things of this world—could that be part of
our lesson today?—do not sit idly by and watch the poor starve and suffer—do not
become attached to the things that are not yours—everything belongs to our
Creator God—and He gives to us to give to His plan
(Matthew 10:8 NKJ) "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead,
cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
And now we should address the apparent conflict of our lesson—“make friends for
yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into
an everlasting home”—most commentators speak with authority on these words—but I
have difficulty with their interpretations—the nearest I can come to explaining
these words is to use the example of Jesus telling us that our charity will be
rewarded by God
(Matthew 6:3-4 NKJ) "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your
left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 "that your charitable deed may
be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
(Matthew 25:37-40 NKJ) "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying,`Lord,
when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38
`When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39
`Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King
will answer and say to them,`Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to
one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'
Surely there are those in heaven to give testimony of our kindness as
Christians—giving as a true act of love—a fruit of our faith—and when we
fail—that is when we die—when we end our journey called life—those saints who
passed before us will welcome us in heaven—our home
(Philippians 3:20 NKJ) For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we
also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
ALL GLORY BE TO GOD!