All that we have, All that we are

September 22,2019 Luke 16:1-13 15th Sunday after Pentecost Year C All that we have, All that we are Children’s Sermon: Object: A dollar bill Good morning, boys and girls. Our lesson from this Bible is about a man who used his boss' money to win friends. People use money in all kinds of ways. This morning I am going to use a dollar bill to talk about God. Have you ever noticed the pyramid in the left circle on the back? Look at the top of the pyramid. Do you see that eye? The Founding Fathers of our country believed that our strength was rooted in God, and our progress must be under His watchful eye. And so, at the top of the pyramid which represents our strength as a nation, they placed an eye to stand for the eye of God. So, the next time you are feeling very lonely and unloved, ask your Mom or Dad to loan you a dollar bill. Take that dollar bill and turn it around and look at the eye on the pyramid and say to yourself, "God is watching me right now. He loves me so much that everywhere I go His eye follows me. I am never alone, because I am God's child." Stewardship Moment: There’s an old story you may have heard before – a $1 bill and a $20 bill meet each other in a bank teller’s drawer. The $1 bill asks the $20 where have you been? “ Oh I’ve been to places that you have never dreamed of says Jackson’s head to Washington’s head. I have been to fancy restaurants, casinos, shopping malls – every week there is a new place to explore. How about you? Oh my life isn’t nearly as exciting as yours says the one, every week it’s the same old thing: church, church, church. Actually the church dollar has the more exciting life – because it get used for the practical things in life, like keeping the ultility bills on, ensuring that we have a place to gather every week, helping those in needs. The church dollar has a meaningful life. people depend on it, and it helps us to prioritize the important things in life. the money that we give to God has special powers to open the doors of heaven to see past our needs, and know that we have an eternal home to strive for in heaven. Luke 16:1-13 Common English Bible (CEB) Faithfulness with money 16 Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. 2 He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’ 3 “The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses. 5 “One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’[a] The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ 7 Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’[b] He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’ 8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. 10 “Whoever is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and the one who is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much. 11 If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 If you haven’t been faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No household servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Footnotes: a. Luke 16:6 Or one hundred jugs (approximately nine gallons each) b. Luke 16:7 Or eighty measures (ten to twelve bushels each) Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible I have to confess that there are weeks like this when Jesus makes my life miserable. Sometimes Jesus says stuff that is just outrageous. And as a pastor I am expected to stand here and make sense of it. Most of the time, the commentators can do damage control and explain the craziness away. And this week they have really tried, but it has done no good. There is no helping this one. Jesus tells the story of a manager, who the boss discovers that he has been doing something wrong and is going to fire him. And he protects himself by calling on all of the people who owe the boss money and lessoning their bill. In their world – saving face and making money is everything so the owner leaves him alone. He actually pats the manager on the back and says good job. But in my bible, cheating is cheating is cheating. And this guy was a cheater. I have been fascinated at how many of the commentators have explained away his behavior – but none have really convinced me. Why would Jesus tell us a story about a cheater. Jesus has a way of telling people what they needed to hear, and saying it in a language that they would understand. The End of the Value of Money In his book, How to Preach a Parable, Eugene Lowry says that in order to understand a parable we must look for the itch before we can feel the scratch. We must sense the tension before we can receive relief from the tension. We must place ourselves in the puzzling setting before we can see the resolution to the puzzle. Lowry calls this "finding the focus of the story." All this talk about participation and finding the focus notwithstanding, what do we do with the steward who is a rascal, making deals with shady debtors and a master who commends the shrewdness of his steward for the deals he makes? What's the sharp point Jesus is trying to make? The sharp point of this parable is that the master commends the use of money for people, instead of for pride, power, position, and possessions. In other words, the value of money and possession comes to a dead end when we die. The sharp point of this parable is that money and possessions will do us no good when we arrive at eternity and face the judgment of God. Ron Lavin, Sermons for Sundays After Pentecost (Middle Third): Only the Lonely, CSS Publishing Company, Inc. I think that there are some important lessons for us as today’s church to get out of this scripture. Fall is the time for us to think about what it means to be good stewards – or wise managers – so we can think about these stories, and how we would handle these situations with all that Jesus has taught us. Like Running a Business There was an interesting legal question posed in The Saturday Evening Post recently. It seems that one lovely Sunday when the sermon was overlong, the congregation rushed, as usual, from its pews on the first syllable of "Amen!" Faithful Abigail, the only worshiper held entranced by the sermon, moved slowly and was trampled. She sued the church and its officials for damages. "Those in charge of the church knew that most of the congregation stampedes after long sermons," Abigail argued. "They should have recognized the danger in the situation. Not being prepared to cope with it, they were negligent." The church's attorney argued like this in response: "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business concern. Abigail, therefore, has no real claim." If you were the judge, asks the writer, would you award damages to Abigail? What I found interesting in this hypothetical situation was the characterization of the church. "A church is a nonprofit organization manned for the most part by volunteers. . . No one has a right to expect it to be run with the smart efficiency of a business. . . ." Why not? What if we were as good at what we do as McDonald's is at what they do, or Coca Cola or Microsoft? What if we were as committed to spreading the good news of the kingdom of God as American business is to winning new customers? This is the point Jesus is trying to make. He wants people who bear his name to not only be nice people but to be people who make a difference in the world. Imagine what the world would be like, if the church was just as determined to be the body of Christ, as Apple was to make money? If everybody was as excited about the church as they were about the new apple phone – think of how many people we could reach. This lesson is also about learning to make friends with the world. Everybody was greatful to the conniving steward because he did them a favor, they all wanted to be his friend and welcome him onto their homes. How can we help people understand that Jesus has done so much more for them and they should be grateful. Even in our own lives – where do we place God amongst our priorities? We give to our hobbies, we give to the interest that capture our hearts, we give to our lives – what do we give to God? It is not so much about how much we give, it is about how much of our hearts do we give to God? Do we put God in one corner, and our lives in the other, or do we realize that God comes first in all things. And that we can give to God from what we have. Jesus has a way of using real life examples to teach us, because he reminds us that we live in real life. the church is an institution here on earth, and we have to live in real life sitations. The situations are not different, but how we handle them are. Humor: You Took Me In Henry Ford was known for both his frugality and his philanthropy. He was visiting his family's ancestral village in Ireland when two trustees of the local hospital found out he was there, and they managed to get in to see him. They talked him into giving the hospital $5,000 dollars (this was the 1930's, so $5,000 dollars was a great deal of money). The next morning, at breakfast, he opened his newspaper to read the banner headline: "American Millionaire Gives Fifty Thousand to Local Hospital." Ford wasted no time in summoning the two hospital trustees. He waved the newspaper in their faces. "What does this mean?" he demanded. The trustees apologized profusely. "Dreadful error," they said. They promised to get the editor to print a retraction the very next day, stating that the great Henry Ford hadn't given $50,000, but only $5,000. Well, hearing that, Ford offered them the other $45,000, under one condition: that the trustees erect a marble arch at the entrance of the new hospital, with a plaque that read, "I walked among you and you took me in." Billy D. Strayhorn, Let's Make a Deal In the story of the shrewd manager, the manager was saved by taking a money transaction and making it a friends transaction. He made friends by doing a favor for them. He knew that in the future they would have to return the favor. He insured that he has a lot of friends for a very long time. I still don’t think there is any salvation for his actions. But I think that lesson for us is to conscious that in this world – money is important but it isn’t everything. There are many things in life that money cannot buy – like real friendship, real integrity, a real relationship with God, a real future that we can trust and be careful. We all have to face those decisions and we all have a choice to make. The final words of this verse – is that you cant serve two masters – either you follow the ways of God or the ways of the world. Place for Money Jesus seems to be saying there is a place for money in our lives. It would be foolish to imagine that we could get by without money in a society like ours. As we have noted before, there are some things only money can do. Pay for health care, for example. Many people in our society are facing a crisis because they either can’t get or can’t afford decent health insurance. Fifty years old? Diabetic? Laid off from your job? Just try to find a health insurer who will cover you . . . at any price! I guarantee you that even if you can find it, you can’t afford it. There are some things only money can do. Put a roof on our heads, put food in our tummies, fill up our car with gas. Try to do it without money. Impossible. There is a place for money in our lives. Jesus knew that. He was a most practical man. He knew that there are some things only money can do. Jesus is saying, however, that we are in deep trouble if money has first place in our lives. Money is a nice servant but a terrible master. King Duncan, Collected Sermons,www.Sermons.com As we begin to think about our church, stewardship and making decisions about how we support the church all good things to consider. Let us pray….. Additional Illustrations...... The sons of light Luke calls Christians the sons of light. For Luke, sons of the age where the Jews, sons of the world were others, and sons of the light were those who were able to put God first in their lives. When Shrewdness Wins the Day Dan Miller in his book No More Dreaded Mondays tells a delightful story about a farmer many years ago in a village in India who had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the village moneylender. The old and ugly moneylender fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter, so he proposed a bargain. He would forgive the farmer’s debt if he could marry the farmer’s daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal, but the cunning moneylender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. The girl would have to reach in and pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven. If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail until the debt was paid. They were standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. The sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble. Now, imagine that you were the girl standing in the field. What would you have done? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her? Careful analysis would produce three possibilities: (1) the girl could refuse to take a pebble--but her father would then be thrown in jail. (2) The girl could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from debt and imprisonment. Or (3) the girl could pull out both black pebbles in the bag, expose the moneylender as a cheat, and likely incite his immediate revenge. Here is what the girl did. She put her hand into the money bag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path, where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. “Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.” Since the remaining pebble was black, it would have to be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl would have changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one. Don’t we all love stories where the good guy uses his or her wit and cunning to defeat a villain? It may disturb us when a villain uses that same wit and cunning. And yet Jesus once told his disciples a parable about a dishonest man who did just that. Dan Miller, No More Dreaded Mondays, Broadway Books, 2008. Adapted by King Duncan _______________________ I Have Never Told the Half of It! Sometimes people tease me about speaking about God’s love and grace so much and when they do, I think of Marco Polo. In the 14th century, when he came back to Venice from his travels in Cathay, Marco Polo described the incredible wonders he had seen there. People didn’t believe him and for the rest of his life (and even on his death bed) they tried to get him to confess that he had lied and exaggerated about the wonders he had described. His last answer was: “I never told the half of it!” That’s the way I feel about God’s love and grace – “I have never told the half of it!” James W. Moore,www.Sermons.com