Luke 16:1-15 · The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
Lessons from a Shrewd Crook
Luke 16:1-15
Sermon
by Bill Bouknight
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There are certain scriptural passages that we preachers avoid, because they are difficult. One of those is my text for today. In my thirty-one years of ministry I have never attempted to expound this text. Why in the world would Jesus tell a story that makes a hero out of a thief? In most of Jesus' stories, the hero is a positive role model, like the Good Samaritan or the father of the Prodigal Son. But this story applauds a man who is obviously dishonest. Nevertheless, let's see if we can discover something useful in Jesus' story.

I heard about a young lawyer who was called in from the big city to represent a large railroad company that was being sued by a farmer. It seems that the farmer's prize cow was missing from a field through which the railroad passed, and the farmer was suing for the value of the cow. Before the case was to be tried, the lawyer cornered the farmer and convinced him to settle out of court for half of what he originally wanted. The farmer signed the necessary papers and then accepted the check. The young lawyer could not resist gloating a bit about his success. He said to the farmer, "You know, I couldn't have won this case if it had gone to trial. The engineer was asleep and the fireman was in the caboose when the train passed through your farm that morning. I didn't have a single witness to put on the stand!" With a wry smile, the old farmer replied, "Well, I tell you young feller, I was a little worried about winning that case myself because that cow came home this morning."

Both the farmer and the lawyer could have related to a shrewd crook Jesus told us about. Let me set the scene for you. In Jesus' day there were many absentee landlords. They would hire a steward or business manager to take care of their farm and their financial assets. The central character in this story is a steward. Remember also that the Old Testament prohibited Jews from loaning money and charging interest to other Jews. They could charge interest to non-Jews but not to Jews. This prohibition against usury in Deuteronomy 23 applied to money and commodities however, the real emphasis was against loaning money with interest. That created an opening for the steward. He sold commodities from the farm--wheat, corn, olive oil, or wine---and financed the purchases, charging interest.

The plot thickens because this steward was taking a bigger share of the profit for himself that his boss knew. But when the annual audit was done, the stealing by the steward became obvious. So, the boss fired the steward and told him to get the books in order for a final accounting.

Here is where the shrewdness of the steward comes into play. He got in touch with all of his business clients and gave them the wonderful news that since they had been such good customers, he was cutting their bills, in some cases by as much as 50 percent. Thus, the steward bought some good friends among the customers who might offer him his next job. When the boss learned what the steward had done, there was little he could do about it. If he reinstated the full amount, he would make his customers mad. Besides, the owner hated to admit that he had been aware that his steward had been charging interest.

Jesus does not hold up this dishonest steward as someone to admire. But he says that we can learn something positive even from a rascal. There are two lessons from this crook that Jesus points out:

FIRST, WE CHRISTIANS SHOULD BE AT LEAST AS SHREWD AND FAR- SIGHTED AS NON-BELIEVERS.

In verse 8 Jesus says, "...the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light." Being Christian is no excuse for being dumb. We Christians ought to be as good at anticipating the future and planning wisely as anybody. A hockey star, when asked about his secret of success, said, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been." He anticipates and he plans ahead.

Don't you suppose that Wal-Mart has a plan in place for planting new stores for the next twenty-five years? I'm sure they do, because Wal-Mart plans ahead. Don't you suppose that the United Methodist Church ought to have a plan in place right now for when and where we will plant churches for the next twenty-five years? Of course, we should. But we don't. The children of the Kingdom should be at least as shrewd and farsighted as the children of the world.

Don't most of us have a continuing education plan on our jobs? Most companies require it...a plan for seminars, reading, and schools. Shouldn't we Christians have a spiritual continuing education plan for each year? A systematic procedure for growing in the faith.

If you learned today that a close friend or relative has no health insurance, wouldn't you be concerned? Surely, you would, and you would give some assistance and advice to make sure he got coverage. But if you found out that that same person has no plan for eternal life insurance, no assurance of salvation, no personal relationship with Christ, shouldn't you be even more concerned?

Jesus used the story of a shrewd crook to teach us the necessity of being shrewd and farsighted in our planning.

A SECOND LESSON THAT JESUS TAUGHT US FROM THE SHREWD CROOK IS THIS: WE CHRISTIANS SHOULD USE OUR EARTHLY POSSESSIONS TO MAKE ETERNAL INVESTMENTS.

Notice verse 9. "Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Invest your money with an eye to eternal dividends. I attended a Methodist conference a few months ago in Rome. We had our dollars changed into liras...at that time the exchange rate was 1700 liras to the dollar. You had to have a pocket full of liras to buy anything. But when we prepared to catch the plane back to the good old USA, the last thing I wanted in my pocket was a lira. 10,000 liras won't even shine your shoes in Memphis. About the only thing you can do with an Italian coin in Memphis is to mark your ball on the green of a golf course.

Our U.S. dollars will be about as useful in heaven as liras are in Memphis. My money will do me no eternal good unless I change it into kingdom currency. What is kingdom currency? Any money that I invest in the Kingdom of God, God's rule on earth, pushing God's plans and initiatives.

Do you remember another story Jesus told about a rich farmer, recorded in Luke 12? His wealth kept growing. He tore down his barns in order to build bigger ones. Then he said to himself, "Man, relax. You've got it made, with plenty of wealth to last longer than a lifetime." But God appeared to him that very night and said, "You fool, you are going to die tonight and leave all your stuff. What will happen to it?" Search the scriptures and you will find that this is the only man Jesus called a fool. He was rich in earthly wealth but poor in kingdom currency.

What are you doing with the affluence that God has enabled you to earn? I'm not talking about just the top 10 percent of your income that belongs to God in the first place. I'm talking about the surplus we have beyond that which is required for adequate food, shelter, taxes, and other necessities. You are probably thinking, "What surplus, Bill? Our family budget is more often in the red than in the black." But isn't that because we are just as materialistic as the non-believers? We are just as hooked on jewelry, furs, country clubs, and BMW's as the pagans are. We have allowed the world to persuade us that luxuries are necessities.

And let me ask another question: If your friend who knows so much about stocks informs you today of a really hot tip that is virtually guaranteed to double your investment, wouldn't you scramble around and come up with some money? I suspect you would.

When will we ever become that eager to invest in kingdom currency? What percentage of your financial portfolio is in kingdom currency? Are you or your company investing anything in Habitat for Humanity or Lambuth University or St. Jude? Are you or your company investing anything in the "Love Thy Neighbor, Easter at the pyramid" movement?

Several years ago a couple in this church presented me a challenge: write and produce a little brochure or tract that will tell the simple story of the Gospel in language that people can understand. If you do, they said, we will find the money to print and produce lots of copies. Seven people invested over $5000 to make sure that those little tracts are distributed far and wide. I submit to you that this money was invested in eternal securities which are soaring on the heavenly stock market.

Do you have a will? If not, why not? Even the non-believers are smart enough to utilize the tax laws to their benefit. Surely the children of Light ought to do so for the Kingdom. It is sheer dereliction of duty for a Christian not to have a will and not to make any provision in it for the Kingdom of God. Gloria and I have specified in our will that 10 percent of the liquid assets of our estate will go to certain institutions of the United Methodist Church. What does your will provide in kingdom currency? Don't you want to be assured after you get to heaven that some of your assets are continuing to help Christ Church start new mission programs, new churches, and build needed buildings?

So you see, Jesus was right. We can learn something useful even from a rascal. The shrewd crook in Jesus' story teaches us two things: We Christians should be at least as shrewd and far- sighted as non-believers; and secondly, we Christians should use our earthly possessions to make eternal investments.

There is a retired accountant in this church who even in retirement has retained several clients for whom he prepares tax returns. One of them, an elderly lady, reported last year winnings of $6500 from the Tunica casinos. She claimed a charitable deduction for half of her winnings---$3250---which she gave to her church. No, she did not tell her pastor where that contribution came from. Some of her friends asked her why she gave 50 percent to the church rather than the customary 10 percent tithe which the Bible commends. She replied that "if God was good enough to let me win $6500, He ought to get half of it." This lady reminds me of the dishonest steward of long ago. We aren't supposed to approve of the way they got their money; but we have to admire the shrewd and farsighted way in which they planned for the future. Even a crook can teach us something.

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Bill Bouknight