Lessons from a Little Rascal

Lessons from a Little Rascal

“Lessons from a Little Rascal”

(Luke 16:1-13)

Series: Show Me The Money

Todd A. Linn, 1-15-06 (2 of 2)

 

  •          I invite you to open your Bibles to Luke, chapter 16.

 

Today is the second message in my two-part series, Show Me The Money.  We’re beginning the year with a couple of messages helping us become better managers of our money.

 

Alright, anyone have a $10 bill?  Just kidding!  Several of you encouraged me last week by telling me that you appreciated my preaching on money—talking about tithing and giving—and some of you said you knew it wasn’t easy, and so forth.  You know, as a general rule I’ve never really had a problem talking about anything in the Bible.  Honestly.  My feeling is that this stuff is in the Bible and I preach the Bible.

 

Folks who don’t appreciate hearing messages about giving tend to be the folks who don’t give.  Like the group of construction men working in the heat of the sun.  They’re all working outside and a few of them begin digging a ditch.  One fella decides he’s going to slip out and he finds a nice, cool spot in the shade.  He gets a large glass of lemonade and sits down in a chair and sips that lemonade, leans back and closes his eyes.  The other men are digging in the ditch.  One of the men digging in the ditch knows how to get the job done better and so he hollers to all the workers, “Hey!  Everyone needs to get in the ditch and dig!”  Now, who do you suppose isn’t going to like that?  That fella who isn’t digging in the ditch.  Folks who appreciate hearing messages about tithing and giving tend to be folks who tithe and give.

 

But the Bible talks frequently about money.  We noted last time that Jesus talks more about money than He does about heaven, hell, faith, and prayer.  There are over 500 verses that deal with prayer in the Bible, but there are over 2500 verses that deal with money.  You start reading the New Testament and you discover that one out of every six verses talks about money.

 

Now this morning I want to read to you another parable of our Lord Jesus.  We read the parable of the rich fool last week.  This week Jesus teaches us another parable.  This one is often referred to as the parable of the unjust or dishonest steward.  One translation refers to him as a rascal.  I like that word.  That’s why I’ve entitled my message “Lessons from a Little Rascal.”  Let’s look at the Scripture passage now.  The text is Luke 16, verses one through thirteen.

 

  •          Stand in honor of the reading of the word of God.

 

1 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.

 

  •          Pray. “Dear, God, help us learn to be wise stewards, wise managers of your stuff.  In Jesus’ name, amen.”

 

Introduction:

 

Jesus begins this story by telling us that a rich man had a steward.  Now before we go any further we need to define what a steward is.  The original Greek word for steward comes from two words, the words “house” and “manage.”  A steward is a “house manager,” someone who manages the stuff that belongs to another person.

 

This is a principle we learned last week.  We are not owners of anything.  The Bible says God is the creator and sustainer of all things.  Everything belongs to Him.  Whatever we have in our possession belongs to Him.  So we are not owners of anything, but listen, we are stewards of God’s stuff.  We are managers of stuff that belongs to another person.  Let’s remind ourselves of that right now.  “I am not an owner.  I am a manager of God’s stuff.”  Say that with me, “I am not an owner.  I am a manager of God’s stuff.”  Amen.  It all belongs to Him.  We merely manage what is His for a short time.  Now that is the main point of this parable.

 

Now let’s look a little more closely at this story.  Jesus says there’s this certain rich guy who has a steward, a house manager, a fella who manages his stuff.  But what kind of manager is this guy?  Look at the last part of verse one.  He was a man who was “wasting” his master’s goods.  That word “wasting” there is the same word used in the previous chapter to describe the prodigal son.  Most of us know the story of the prodigal son who “wasted” his father’s inheritance.  It’s the same word here.  He wasted his master’s money.

 

Now somehow the master hears that the steward is mismanaging his master’s funds, so the master calls for the steward and gives him the two-word Donald Trump statement: “You’re fired!”  “Here’s a box.  Clean-out your desk.  Turn over the accounting books to me.”  Well, the steward is getting everything in order to turn over to his master and he’s talking to himself in verse 3, “What shall I do?  For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.”  What kind of work will I do now?  “I cannot dig; I am too ashamed to beg.”  He wasn’t too ashamed to steal, but he was too ashamed to beg!

 

Then he says, “I know what I’ll do.  I’ve got an idea that will earn be room and board.”  Verse 5:

 

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.’ 

 

Now here’s what he’s doing.  Only he knows the precise amount that each person owes his rich master.  Remember, he’s been keeping the books.  He’s a dishonest fella.  He’s already been skimming off the top, so he says, “I’ll just skim a little more.  I’ll just cook the books one more time on a few of these accounts.”  And you see, he’s preparing for his future, making sure he’ll have other sources of income after he’s fired.  So he says to one person, “What do you owe my master?”  The guy says, “A hundred measures of olive oil.”  So the wily steward says, “Let’s just make a little adjustment, here.  Let’s cut that bill in half.  Don’t worry about it.  You and I can take care of that other fifty sometime later.”  Then he does the same thing to another guy.

 

Now listen.  He’s being even more dishonest!  He’s a criminal.  He’s an unjust steward.  And for that reason, we may be a bit surprised to read what Jesus says next in verse 8:

 

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.

 

Jesus says in this story that the rich man admired the unjust steward, commended the unjust steward, not for what he had done, but for how he had done it.  Let me say that again.  Jesus says the master commended the unjust steward, but he commends him not for what he had done, but for how he had done it.  The idea is that, when this rich man learns the way the unjust steward made provision for his future, a little smile breaks across the face of the rich man, he shakes his head, and says, “Well, that little rascal!  You gotta hand it to him.  He knows how to take care of his needs, doesn’t he?!”

 

Sometimes bad people do bad things so well you admire them for the way they do it.  One of my favorite movies is Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.”  Now those guys are bad guys.  They rob banks.  But you can’t help but admire the way they do bad things well.  I mean, you find yourself pulling for them, you know, hoping they’ll escape the law!  It’s ridiculous, really, but that’s the idea here when we read of the actions of the master.  He commends the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.  He commends him not for what he had done, but for how he had done it.  The little rascal!

 

And then Jesus makes this statement at the end of verse 8, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.”  That is, sometimes nonbelievers are better at preparing for their future than believers.  Sometimes non-Christians are more shrewd with their money than Christians.

 

Now what are some lessons we can learn from this little rascal?  Here’s the first one:

 

 

I.   Be Frugal With What God Gives You (1-8)

 

That word “frugal” does not mean cheap.  It means to be economical.  It means to be wise with what God gives.  The steward, the house manager, in this parable got in trouble in verse one when the master discovered that he was being wasteful with his stuff.  To be frugal with what God gives us simply means that we don’t waste what God gives us.

 

Now let me ask you a question, “Are you being frugal with the stuff God has entrusted to your possession or are you being wasteful with what belongs to your Master?”

 

When we received Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we said, “Jesus, You are Lord of my life.”  And if He isn’t Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all.  Is He really Lord over every area of your life, including your giving?

 

We taught last week on the tithe.  You remember we said that everything belongs to God.  100%.  We merely return to God the first 10%, the tithe, to acknowledge His rightful ownership of all that is in our possession.  After you return your tithe to the Lord, you give Him back 10%, that doesn’t mean that you just do as you please with the remaining 90%.  Like, “Well, I got that over with.  Here’s your stuff, God, 10%, now what can I do with the rest of this money—it’s mine!”  No, it’s not.  It’s God’s.  Never forget that.

 

You are a manager of God’s stuff.  You manage the tithe, 10%, and you manage what remains, 90%.  Be frugal with what God gives you.

 

The reason many folks are in money trouble is that they are not frugal, not economical, with what God has entrusted to their care.  Young couples are particularly tempted to buy big homes and drive new cars and amass an expensive wardrobe in order to impress others.  Someone called it “Buying things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”

 

Be frugal with what God gives you.  Now, I am not a financial whiz.  I can’t teach you the first thing about investments.  But I can talk to you about how to get out of debt.  One of the best things you can do is to do a little “plastic surgery.”  Get those credit cards and cut ‘em in half!  I mean, it’s okay to use a credit card.  We use credit cards.  But for many years now, Michele and I have said, “Let’s not use a credit card if we can’t pay off the balance every month.”  If you can’t pay off the balance every month, stop using it.

 

Another thing is, stop giving your money away to things you don’t need.  If you’re in debt, do you really need the biggest home on the block?  Do really need a new car?  If you’re paying just the monthly balance on credit cards, do you really need cable television and those magazine subscriptions?  If you’ll stop giving your money away to those things, you’ll have more money to pay off your debts.  Be frugal with what God gives you.  That’s lesson number one.  Lesson number two:

 

II.    Be Friendly With What God Gives You (9)

 

Look at what Jesus says in verse 9:

 

9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon (that is, with worldly wealth), that when you fail (this is better translated, “so that when it fails,” that is, “when your money is no more”), they may receive you into an everlasting home. 

 

Use the money God has entrusted to your care to “make friends” who will “receive you into an everlasting home.”  Use the money God has given you to invest in spiritual blessings.  Just as the nonbeliever, the unjust steward, the little rascal, used worldly money to make worldly friends who welcomed him into their worldly homes, you use your money to make spiritual friends, who will welcome you into a spiritual home.  Be friendly with what God has given you.

 

The idea seems to be that of using your money for evangelistic purposes, for the furthering of the kingdom of God.  Now, here’s a soul-searching question.  You get your paycheck.  First thing you do is what?  Return the tithe.  Return to God the first 10% to acknowledge His rightful ownership of all the stuff He has entrusted to your care.  Now what do you do with the remaining 90%?  The Bible teaches that you are to be frugal with what God has given you and be friendly with what God has given you.  So here’s the question.  Of the remaining 90%, how often do you think of using some of that to “make friends” who will “receive you into an everlasting home?”

 

Jesus may have in mind the picture of a welcoming committee in heaven.  When you and I die and we enter into our everlasting home, imagine people there meeting us saying, as in the Ray Boltz song, “Thank you, for giving to the Lord.  I am a life that was changed.”  Imagine how you can use God’s money to advance the kingdom of God, investing in the spiritual lives of others by giving them money or gifts or possessions in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

I thought about the little yellow cards we use.  This is one way you can “make friends” who may “receive you into an everlasting home.”  See, you don’t use your tithe for this.  You use the remaining 90% for it.  You buy someone’s meal either at a restaurant or a drive-trough and you ask the cashier to present this card to the person.  They read, “We just wanted you to experience the love of Jesus Christ in a practical way.  First Baptist Church Henderson.”

 

That’s just one example.  See, “You can’t take it with you,” but there’s a sense in which you can send it on ahead by investing in the spiritual lives of others.  You can, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:19-20).  You can invest in the spiritual lives of others beyond the tithe by sponsoring a seminary student or a missionary family.  Every special offering we have here, like the Lottie Moon Christmas offering or the Annie Armstrong Easter offering, is an opportunity to “make friends” who will “receive you into an everlasting home.”  Imagine getting to heaven one day and there being a bunch of people who are there because of you and they say, “Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.”

 

Be frugal with what God gives you.  Be friendly with what God gives you.  Number three:

 

III.    Be Faithful With What God Gives You (10-13)

 

10 “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. 

11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (again, worldly wealth), who will commit to your trust the true riches? 

12 “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own? 

13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

Look again at verse 11.  “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon (worldly wealth), who will commit to your trust the true riches?”

 

You know what I believe Jesus is saying here?  The reason some of us do not have more of the true riches is because we haven’t been faithful with worldly riches.  The reason we don’t enjoy more spiritual blessings is because we’ve not been faithful with material blessings.

 

Would you like to have a more meaningful prayer life?  Would you like to be more confident when you share the Gospel?  Would you like to have more faith, more wisdom, more love, more forgiveness, more spiritual power in your Christian life?  Then be faithful with what God has given you.  Then He will commit to your trust the true riches.

 

Jesus sums up the teaching very succinctly in verse 13: “ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

 

*Stand for prayer.

 

Is Jesus Christ really “Lord” of everything in your life?  If so, you tithe.  You return to God the first 10% to acknowledge His rightful ownership of everything.  If Jesus is Lord of all, you do that.  But you are also faithful with the remaining 90%.  He is Lord over everything.

 

Like the steward in this parable, our master will come one day and we’ll have to give an accounting for how we have lived our lives.  You and I are accountable to God.  Whether we believe in Him or not, one day we will stand before Him and we’ll give an account for what we have done.  And most importantly, we’ll give an account for what we have done with His Son, Jesus Christ.

 

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