Take your stewardship job seriously

Sermon for Trinity 9

1 Corinthians 10:6-13  +  Luke 16:1-9

In the whole chapter of Luke 16, Jesus warns His hearers about getting caught up in wealth. Earlier this Trinity season we looked at the last verses of this chapter—the rich man and poor Lazarus—and we saw how foolish men are to get wrapped up in their wealth, because the temporary pleasure wealth can bring is nothing compared to the suffering of hell. God doesn’t love wealth nearly as much as we human beings do. And it’s God’s estimation that counts. As Jesus said in the verses after our Gospel text this morning, What is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Keeping that in mind, we turn to the beginning of Luke 16, our Gospel for today: The parable of the unjust steward. Jesus has a severe warning for His hearers. Remember that you are stewards of God’s things. He is the owner. You are the managers. And you will be held accountable for your stewardship.

The steward in the parable wasn’t a hoarder, wasn’t a greedy man, like other rich men who show up in some of Jesus’ other parables. The steward was a careless man, a thoughtless man, a negligent man. He took his position for granted, which led him to not work very hard or very shrewdly at his job. He didn’t give enough thought to using his master’s wealth wisely, for the betterment of his master’s business. His negligence was so obvious that he was reported to his master. And when he heard that his master was upset, when he finally realized that this was serious, he was about to lose his job, he finally changed his ways and quickly went about doing favors for those who might help him in the end. He reduced their debts in order to endear himself to them. He used his master’s wealth to gain friends for himself, friends who would love him and take care of him when he lost his job. He finally became shrewd, became intentional with his master’s wealth. And there was urgency to his shrewdness. He knew he had little time. He had to make friends quickly. For this his master commended him. Finally he is taking his stewardship seriously!

For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. That is, non-Christians are often more shrewd among non-Christians than Christians are with their fellow Christians. How so?

We have been given a place in God’s kingdom, purely by God’s grace. We didn’t deserve to be His employees, His stewards. We deserved everlasting death for our many sins against God. But He went looking for each one of us, found us, had us baptized and catechized, made us members of His family and coheirs of eternal life with Christ Jesus. And while we wait for Christ’s return, God has given us work to do in this world, including more or less wealth to manage.

But what happens sometimes? Christians begin to take their position in God’s kingdom for granted. They know they’re saved by grace, and the devil knows it, too, so he tempts us to laziness and carelessness, as if our stewardship didn’t really matter, and then we begin to neglect the works to which God has called us. Worse yet, even when we’re warned, sometimes people still don’t change their ways.

We have a horrible example of that in today’s Epistle. Paul recounts for the Corinthians how the Israelites of old were given every blessing by God. He had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt and brought them safely across the Red Sea. They had been “baptized into Moses” in the cloud and in the sea. God had promised that He would bring them safely into the land of Canaan and give it to them to inherit. And then, at Mt. Sinai, He gave them His holy Law. But instead of being all the more careful to obey the Lord’s newly given commandments, they took His grace and promise for granted. They thought they could do as they pleased. They could grumble and murmur against God with impunity. They could disobey Him securely. They even took their wealth—the gold they had collected from the Egyptians—and used it, not to serve God or their neighbor, not in line with God’s commandments, but to make a golden calf, an idol to bow down to, a direct violation of the commandments God had just given from the mountain.

The Apostle Paul reminds the Corinthians of how God treated His Old Testament people when they became complacent and secure, because the Corinthians were in danger of doing the same. He says, Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

Many of the Israelites never did correct their errors, never did admit their sins and turn from them. But the unjust steward in today’s Gospel did take the warning and finally took his job seriously.

Jesus would have you do the same. Today’s Gospel is a call to repentance, not so much to the unbeliever as to the believer who has begun to take his duties in God’s house for granted. It is possible to fall from grace. That happens when you think you stand firm and could never possibly fall. So hear Jesus’ warning and flee to Him, the Throne of Grace, for mercy. He forgives you for your negligence and neglect. He forgives you, freely, for not taking your duties as Christians seriously.

And now He gives you yet another chance. He restores you to His service. It’s not too late to become shrewd. It’s not too late to pour your heart and soul into serving God faithfully in all the duties He’s assigned to you, including this duty of managing His wealth for the benefit of your fellow servants.

What does He tell you in the Gospel? I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. Make friends for yourselves. It’s OK to use money to be kind to your fellow man, especially your fellow Christian. It’s more than OK, it’s shrewd. It’s wise. Go ahead and be generous and purchase the favor of your brothers and sisters. It should matter to you, what your fellow Christians think of you. You should have it as a continual goal to make them like you, not by groveling, not by flattery, but by showing kindness, in tangible and intangible ways. Because whether or not they can repay you in this life, they will be waiting in the next life to thank you for the help you gave.

So learn today from both the Epistle and the Gospel. You have been baptized into Christ. Good! Through faith in Christ, God has forgiven you your sins and has promised to lead you safely into the next life. We are citizens of heaven and are journeying there. But we’re not yet home. This earth is not our goal. The Lord has given us directives about how we are to live during this pilgrimage here below. Take his directives seriously. Take your job seriously. When you falter, repent and rest in Christ’s forgiveness. And when you’ve been restored, work all the harder and all the more urgently to manage your master’s things wisely. Amen.