The point of the parable of the unjust steward is not to do what the unjust steward does. The unjust steward is a scoundrel and a thief. He deliberately takes advantage of his master’s trust by cutting the balances of money owed to his master all for his own gain. That is wrong. But, still, he is commended. He is scoundrel and a thief, but still he is smart. He is a shrewd businessman. And he is commended for his single-minded zeal.
Now Jesus says, “Boy, if only I could get the sons of light to have that kind of zeal for eternal things. But, alas, the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” In other words, Christians pursue their life in Christ with less zeal, less shrewdness than unbelievers pursue their higher social status and standard of living. They love their money more than we love our soul’s salvation. And that, finally, because Christians themselves have learned to love their money. Jesus finishes, “You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Once again, Jesus is addressing our priorities. You see, what bothers us about this text is that Jesus is telling us what to do with our money and with our career. He is so very intrusive. Why such urgency when it comes to our jobs, such strain to improve our status and such lack of urgency when it comes to church? Fair question.
Look at how our work life dominates. We will accept almost any change in our lives if we can get more money. I remember a pastor in a lonely little Iowa parish who got another call to a thriving suburban parish in California. His eyes wandered over the call documents and landed on the differential in compensation. And finally, he said, “Hmmm, well I think the Spirit is moving me to take the call in California.” That’s us all over. We’ll move, we’ll uproot our families, we’ll do work we utterly detest, we’ll sacrifice our limited time with our families to go to school or get specialized training, we’ll cozy up to the “right” people, we’ll rearrange every part of our schedule in order to advance our careers.
If you were offered a huge promotion, right now, say, to be a vice president in your company – with a huge income and all the perks – would you take it? But what if you had to work every Sunday, and you could never come to church – would you still take it? If you had to essentially cut yourself off from the preaching of the gospel and participation in the Lord’s Supper – but you were looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars a year – would you take the job?
Would you refuse it outright and say: “No way!”? Or would you ponder it, roll it around your head a while, try to justify it by promising to give the church lots of money, or resolving to only do the job for a year or two – or three, or four…? What would you do?
Of course, we live for such promotions. We get advanced degrees and specialized training, we come to work early and leave late, we rack up sales figures, we get more things done than the next guy, and we keep our eyes peeled for the next rung on the ladder. And that’s not wrong. You have not sinned by making use of your talents to advance in this world. Just notice this. You have always been shrewd when it comes to your career, always diligent, always passionate for your status and for your income.
What is wrong is when it comes before God, when we have thought that we could be happy by it, and that we didn’t need God. And, which of us has not thought that? Typically, when we do come into more money, or when we do finally get the promotion – what is the first order of business? Additional possessions? Finally pay off the debt we’ve accumulated for buying the possessions we have now but couldn’t wait to pay for? Usually, the top priority isn’t to call the president of the church and tell him that the budget for missions can be doubled now.
And thus have we proven Our Lord right. We are weak. Our zeal is misplaced. Now, I should tell you that the point of the parable today is fairly simple. You should give money to the church. There are other places in the Bible that say you should support your family give to the poor. But, today, this is very specific about giving to the church. Have you heard people say, “Well, I don’t really mind Jesus; it’s the church I can’t stand. All they want is my money.” Well, in this parable Jesus is saying that he cares about his church and he wants their money. That’s what it means when He says, “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon” – that is, use your time, talents and treasures to extend the preaching of the Gospel and make Christians – “that when you fail” – that is, when you die – “they” – the friends who became Christians by your influence – “may receive you into an everlasting home” – that is Heaven. Use the resources that your Heavenly Father has given you of His own abundance to support the work of getting people into Heaven.
And, as if that instruction alone weren’t enough, Jesus uses the whole parable to teach that you should be more zealous about that mission than you should about anything else this short and sad world could offer. And that is where we are stopped in our tracks. The Law always accuses. Our motives are constantly a mixture between good and bad. We have given money to the church. Sure. Rarely have we made it a higher priority than a host of other desires, but even when we have, even when we have given sacrificially so that we’ve had to adjust our priorities and plan how we would give that much, sacrificed a vacation or a new car to do it, even still, we haven’t daydreamed and schemed about how we could give more the way we have when thinking about how we could serve ourselves. No offering, large or small, is given with perfect motives.
Dear Christians, your sins are forgiven you. You do not have perfect motives, but you do have forgiveness. Have you wrong Our Lord? Been wasteful, negligent or greedy? Acted selfishly? Have you sought your own way and your own pleasures? Are you sorry? You are forgiven. Think of no more. Your Father in Heaven has let it go so you should also. And now, your eternal and everlasting home awaits you. All things are complete. Jesus has prepared a place for you there. He has prepared that place and made all things right by sacrificing Himself for sin’s penalty. There is nothing left for you to do, nothing even that you have to pay.
You should support the work of the church, and if you bring an offering, that’s good. The Lord is pleased and He will use it. It is a good work and redounds to the glory of God and the good of your neighbor. But, if you didn’t, if you haven’t ever before, if it hasn’t even really mattered to you, or if you forgot, don’t be afraid. Let the plate pass on by, and don’t even feel bad or embarrassed. God will be fine. He is no richer when you make an offering and no poorer when you don’t. And more than that, He loves you the same either way, for no sin places you outside of His grace. The death of Jesus is enough. You are baptized and so your place is Heaven. He will bring you there for the sake of Jesus alone.
In the meantime, remember, that could happen at any time. Do not so treasure the things of this world, its possessions and wealth, that you imagine you’re going to be here forever… or even that you will stay here for very long. You won’t. None of us is ever more than a missed heart beat away from death. We can’t live without a beating heart, functioning lungs or brain or kidneys or a host of other things. Any of them can fail for thousands of reasons and without warning, because of genetics or a slip on the stairs or something in the water. We can be undone in a matter of seconds, dead before we hit the floor. We survive, and even prosper, by the providence and grace of Our Lord, whether we are aware of it or not.
God provides. Even today, the greatest offering that we place on the Altar this morning is the offering that Jesus makes for you, His own Body and Blood. Come and taste and see: the Lord is good. He commends you, is pleased with you and is eager to bring you to Himself in heaven.
Tags: trinity
