September 23, 2007am  Your Matters Money!      Luke 16:1-13

By Ronald E. George Jr.  at the Fayetteville Baptist Church

What are we to do with our money?  Does God care about the money and resources that you have?  Does he note how that we use the resources we have been given?  In this parable Jesus gives us a very important principle of money matters.  This is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  It shows us how God watches his money.  That is the money and possessions he has given us. 

16     Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. ^2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

^{                3} “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— ^4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

^5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ^6 “‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’ ^7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

^{                8} “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. ^9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

^10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. ^11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? ^12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

^{                13} “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”^[1]

1.  Use God’s resources wisely.  Don’t waste God’s possessions.  Each of us has a responsibility.  God cares enough to count.  All that we have belongs to the Lord.  We have a tendency to feel that this is our money, but how did you get it?  Did you earn it?  Where did you get your strength and opportunity?  Where did you get your health?  Did you buy that or earn that.  What would you be able to do without it?  It is God’s.  

2.  God wants a profit.  How do we make a profit for the Lord?  Consider how we use the possessions that God has given to us.  Don’t bury it or misuse it or abuse it or neglect it, but spend it for the Lord.  To bury it or neglect it is to loose it.  Be wise.  God is watching. 

3.  Take advantage of the time you have.  The master was checking up on the manager and found that he was deficient.  The manager made a choice to get what he could but to try to get some help for himself.  Do what you can.  Don’t give up.  We are on the clock.  Time is limited.  How have you used what you have?  

4.  God is a God of second chances.  God gave a second chance to the debtors but also to the manager.  There is still time to make things right.  You don’t have much time and you don’t have much talent to make God a profit. So, do what you can.  Little is much if God is in it. 

5.  God rewards the wise manager.  The manager wasn’t rewarded because he thought of himself.  He was rewarded because of what he did.  He got a wake up call and he woke up.   He did the job.  His motives were questionable, but his actions were valuable.  God wants right motives and right actions. 

6.  Use what we have.  God does not require us to use what we don’t have.  God wants us to use what we have been given from him.  The manager used the responsibility of the money to help others.  He gave them a deal.  The more money you have the more responsibility and accountability. 

Higher Income Means Lower Giving

The Russell Sage Foundation several years ago published the results of a survey. In the United States, families with a net income of less than $3,000 a year gave more than 60% of all the money donated to charity; families whose income was less than $5,000 donated 82% of the total; families with an income between $10,000 and $20,000 a year gave only 1.9% of their income!

According to an Internal Revenue Service analysis, Americans who itemize their deductions give less than 3% of their adjusted gross incomes to church and charity. ^[2]

7.  Your actions reflect on you and your God.  He made himself and the master to appear benevolent thus securing the master’s favor.  How do we look in the eyes of those we know and do business with?  How do we look as a church?  Are we using the Lord’s resources for the most benefit?  How do we give our money to God? 

8.  Can God be trusted?  How big is your faith?  Little is much if God is in it.  Can you be trusted?  Does God trust you?  Will God reward your faithfulness?  He says he will.

9.  Are we passing the test?  V. 10-12 shows us that our lives are a test.  What kind of grade did you get on the test of life?  If we handle our lives, possessions, treasures, and time well we can then be rewarded by the Lord.  But if not then even what we have will be lost.   “A man is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot loose.”  Who is your master?  Can God be trusted? 

10.  Who is your God?  Have you given yourself to God including your money and resources?