Luke 16:1-13 "Investing in Eternity" (Carlton 10:30am)

Good morning, everybody. It's good to see us all. I'll invite us to keep Luke 16 open there. As we come to think about this part of God's Word, how about we pray and ask for God to help us? Our gracious Father, we do praise and thank you for the gift of your Word.

And we pray now that as we come to think about this part, we pray, Father, that your Word would be our rule and guide, that your Holy Spirit would be our great teacher, and your glory our supreme concern. And we pray this for Jesus sake. Amen. Well, as we've said, we're continuing today in our series in Luke's Gospel. And today we come to the largely unknown and often misunderstood parable of the dishonest manager.

And I do wonder what you were thinking as we just heard that read a couple months back when the preaching roster came out, I saw that I was down for this week and that I was down for Luke 16. So I turned it up and I read it. And I thought, as maybe we just did, what on earth is going on here? Because on the surface, it seems like Jesus tells a story about a dodgy man who did a dodgy deal and he got commended. And for weeks I've been trying to work out why I've been given this particular passage.

And maybe if Phil is trying to say something to me, that I'm dodgy. But can I tell you, having spent some time in Luke 16, that this is a brilliant parable. And it's a brilliant parable because here Jesus puts his finger on something that we all care very much about, and that is money. And that's the subject of this parable. Money.

Money makes the world go round. We work to have it, we save to keep it. We love to spend it. Some waste it, some invest it, some save it. But in the end, no one gets to keep it.

And money for Christians has often been quite a taboo subject. Not because I think we find it hard to talk about money in general, but because we find it hard to talk about our money. And yet that's exactly what Jesus wants to talk to us about in Luke 16. How do we use our money? And this is really what this parable asks us.

How are we investing? And what I want to say to us this morning is that if we really get our heads around what Jesus is saying and we let it get into us, it won't just change your Christian life, it will revolutionize it and it will change how we invest. So come with me to this passage. When it comes to our Money and possessions. There's two things that Jesus wants from us.

He wants us to one, be wise. Verses 1 to 9 be wise in what we invest in. And secondly, be faithful. Verse 10 to 13 be faithful with what we've been given. So firstly, be wise.

Let's look together at the parable. Come with me to verse one. Jesus says there was a rich man who received an accusation that that his manager was squandering his possessions. The manager has been taking clients out for lunch. He's been using the company card, he's been spending way too much.

He's been buying gifts for friends. He's upgraded his car. And after a while, verse two, his boss finds out. And he rightly says to the manager, you're fired. And so verse 3 the manager says to himself, well, what will I do?

End of verse three I'm not strong enough to work, I can't go get a blue collar job, and I'm too ashamed to beg. What will I do? And then he thinks to himself, it's not what I know, it's who I know. And mindful of the future, he's about to lose his job. He makes a plan in the present to make friends.

To make friends who will look out for him in the long run. And so whilst he can, he logs onto the work spreadsheet. He finds out who owes his boss money. And then he makes some phone calls. And so he calls up the first one, verse five, and he asks, how much do they owe?

And they say, I owe 100. And he says, make that 50. Be friends. He calls up the next one, verse seven how much do they owe? They say 100.

He says, how about a 20% discount? Make that 80. Let's be friends. Now what this manager has done is incredibly dodgy. He is dishonest.

He's probably criminal, but he is no fool. He uses money now to make some friends who will look out for him. And then his master comes, verse eight and what do we think he's going to say? I'm calling the police. Verse 8 no, the master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly.

He praised him and it's important to ask what was he actually praised for? And it's not for being dishonest. Jesus makes it very clear elsewhere that there's no room for making money in a dodgy or dishonest way. No, what he's being praised for is for how he thought he thought about the future. He's about to lose his job and he acted very wisely in the present.

And Jesus says, verse 8, that was shrewd. And that's what he's praised for. He's praised for his shrewdness. Now, we may not use that word shrewd much, but to be shrewd is to be crafty or sharp. It is to be far sighted, it is to be smart or canny.

It is to be wise. And it's as though his master comes to him and says, you crafty, cheeky boy, how very wise. And he was wise. He thought about his future and he used money shrewdly in the present to make friends that would last. And it is this wise acting in light of the future that Jesus commends to you and I.

So verse 8, Jesus says, the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light. That's Christians in dealing with their own people. And Jesus says this as if to say, if the secular business person knows how to use money to make friends for the future, well then how much more should the Christian use their money now to make friends not just for the future, but for eternity? And so Sundays Jesus, verse 9. And this is his, this is, this is the crunch.

He says, I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. Now what does that mean? Well, I think that what Jesus is saying is this. He's saying, in light of eternity, use your wealth now to make friends for eternity. Because who are these people in verse nine who will welcome you into their eternal dwellings, into their eternal homes?

Well, it must be other Christians and Christians who are partly there because of how we invested. Why does Jesus call it worldly wealth? Well, I think he calls it that because in one sense all wealth really is of this world. And verse nine, it will fail. We can't take it with us.

Makes me think of the journalist who asked the family of a rich man who recently died, how much did he leave? And the family said, he left everything. We can't take it with us. But Jesus says that worldly wealth can be invested and invested in the only thing that will last, which is people.

I can remember being told as a young Christian, and I've never forgotten this, but if I was to give you a packet of red stickers and a packet of green stickers and you were to go throughout your life, and on all the things that weren't last, you put a red sticker, and on all the things that will last, you put a green sticker. I wonder what we'd do well. We'd walk around the house, there's a red car, there goes a red sticker. The tv, there goes a red sticker. My holiday, there goes a red sticker.

The phone, there goes a red sticker. My bank account, my super fund. All good things, but they won't last. And then the only thing that would get a green sticker is people. And I could go around today, couldn't I?

Green sticker, green sticker, green sticker, green sticker. Because only people last. And because only people last. Well, Jesus wants us to invest now into the eternity of others. Now I want to ask, and this might mean that we have to think quite hard here, but I want to ask, why is this parable in Luke's gospel, of all the thousand things, thousands and thousands of things that Jesus said and did, why does Luke include this?

Well, he does it because of what comes before and please stay, and please stay with me here. But we are in a section in Luke 13:17 that is all about the question, who are Jesus people? And Luke shows us who are Jesus people? Chapter 13 they go through the narrow door, they come to Jesus. Chapter 14 who are Jesus people?

They're not the self righteous, not the Pharisee. They accept the invitation, they come to the banquet. Chapter 15 who are Jesus people? Jesus people are the lost who get found. And then chapter 16 who are Jesus people?

Jesus people are those who invest and who invest in the eternity of others. And it's so fitting that this comes right after the parable of the Prodigal Son. Because what brings God joy? It's when the lost son or the lost daughter repents and they turn back to him. What does Jesus care deeply about?

It is seeking and saving the lost. There is joy in heaven when one sinner turns back. And in Luke 16, it's as though Jesus says to us, well, if we really care about what he cares about, the lost getting saved, well, we'll put our money where our mouth is and we'll invest our wealth, which is really all our possessions, our assets, even our time, into helping others to hear and believe and be saved and grow. And if we do well, when we come to heaven, there will be people there, verse 9. There will be friends who welcome you.

And just picture that being in heaven. And you meet someone. You meet someone who was a young university student in Japan, a young woman from Paraguay, a man from Vietnam, a family from the south of France, even someone from Sydney. And when you ask them, how did God bring you to know Jesus? They will say, Partly because of you, because of how you invested in my eternity, because you gave to a ministry or to a church or to Christian work that God used to tell me about Jesus.

And then they'll say, my friend, verse nine. Would you like to come to my place, to my eternal dwelling? What joy. What a wise investment. And of course, giving to church or to a missionary is not the only way that we can invest in the eternity of others, but it is a very, very key way.

And so the question for us here is this. In the light of eternity and knowing that only people last, what are we investing in? We might invest now in gold or Bitcoin or the housing market. Not all bad things, but they won't last. Only people will.

And if we really care about what Jesus cares about, well, we won't only be wise in how we invest now in the light of the future, but. But we'll be radical. We'll be radical in our giving, even costly. And secondly, we'll be faithful and faithful with what we have. Come with me to verse 10 to 13.

Now, verses 10 to 12 can sound a bit confusing, but what Jesus is saying is this. If we're faithful with the small things God gives us, we'll be faithful with the big things. And if we're unfaithful with the small things, we'll be unfaithful with those big things. And if we've been unfaithful with worldly wealth now, which fails, well, verse 11. How will he trust us with what is genuine?

With eternal riches? And verse 12. If you've not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? And isn't that striking? Jesus says, with what belongs to someone else.

Now, I know this is a dangerous thing to do in a sermon, but here is my credit card. And I can see some people starting to look very closely. And my numbers are 5326. That's none of your business. And but I want to ask you what's wrong with my credit card?

What's wrong is that it says my name, which can trick me into thinking that what is in there belongs to me, but it doesn't. It should say the Lord Jesus Christ, because it belongs to him. We are all really like the manager, sorry of Luke 16. He didn't use money that belonged to him. It was his Master's.

And if my possessions and my assets and my time belong to him, well, how am I using what he's given to me? And who am I really serving? Because, see, verse 13. No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Serving God and money is like having one foot on the riverbank and one foot in the canoe. You can stand there for about two seconds and then one of them will have to give. You'll love one but hate one. And I confess to you, and maybe you find this too. But when I hear Jesus say, you cannot serve both God and money, there is something in me that says, but I can.

I know that others can't, but I can. Jesus says, no, you cannot serve both God and money. And if we are convinced today that we can serve both God and money, can I say, you're probably serving money and it will fail you. It will let you down. There was once a newspaper that held a competition for the best definition of money, where people would write on what they thought.

And the winning definition said this. It said that money is a passport to everywhere but heaven, to everything but happiness. And isn't that right? Jesus says, we cannot serve both God and money. And so says Jesus, be faithful and be wise and serve God and steward well the assets that he has given to us well in the time that we have left.

What I want us to think about is what this might mean for you and I. And firstly, can I say that if you're here for the very first time, we do not want your money. It's great that you're here. I promise that we don't preach on this each week. It's great.

It's great to have you. What Jesus offers is completely free. So, yeah, I just wanted to say that but for us here today who do follow Jesus, the question is, how am I investing in the eternity of others? And am I being faithful and generous with what I've been given? And it's worth asking ourselves, and I hope I say this with a huge dose of humility and reverence as a young man conscious that in this room there are very different circumstances and different pressures.

There are mortgages and rent and school fees and care for parents and paying for gas and power and for all those things. But I think the question to keep asking ourselves is, is my giving to the Gospel reflective of what I've been given? Maybe much, maybe not much. It seems to me that every second person I meet in Sydney is redoing their bathroom. And I want to say, there's nothing wrong with redoing your bathroom, but there is something wrong if that becomes our God and if the priority of our investing is here and now and not in eternity, does it mean I can't go on that holiday or redo the kitchen or buy the nicer toilet paper?

No, it doesn't mean that because we're not ascetics. But I think if we take to heart what Jesus is saying, well, it very well might mean we cut back on those things, even forego them, so that we can invest more in something even better, the eternity of others.

And perhaps we might say, but does my giving really do much? In a hundred years time, you'll know there will be people there who will say because of you.

So what does this mean for us? Well, for those of us here this morning who are not yet giving to Christian work, it will certainly mean that we start giving. Who are Jesus people? They're those who invest. And I know for many of us here this morning, there will be those of us who have been giving to gospel work for 10, 20, 30 years, even longer.

And Jesus says, keep investing, but don't forget in what it's in helping other people to be saved. We don't give just because there is a budget that needs to be met. We give to Christian work to contribute to the work, the help of others, of other lost sons and daughters coming home.

And it's worth asking ourselves, when was the last time that we rethought or even increased our giving? Online giving is a very helpful tool, but it's very easy to set up and then forget about. And then months and years can go by without us considering to ourselves, is my giving to the Gospel reflective of what I've been given? Am I being faithful?

And I could suggest some numbers for us this morning of what we could give weekly or monthly. But really for each of us before the Lord, it is our duty to sit down and work out, how am I going to be faithful?

And can I say I don't think it's a bad practice to put in the calendar at least once a month or once a quarter or once every six months to sit down to consider our budget, what's coming in and consider, how can I be generous and invest well what I've been given? And for some of us, might it be possible that once a quarter or once every six months I sit down with one or two close Christian friends and I just let them ask me, how am I going at investing in eternity?

I can tell us this morning of people I know who have literally given millions to the Gospel. And what they have given has funded church plants, it's put people into Bible College, it sent people overseas, it has done immense good for the Gospel. But I can also tell you this morning of the poor university student, of the single mum, of even the Sunday school boy who out of their not much gave much and they invested in the eternity of others.

I love later on in Luke's Gospel, in Luke 21, there's a scene where the widow comes to the temple with her two cob copper coins. And while all the people around her are giving loads of money, she puts in her two coins. And Jesus said she gave much because out of her not much, her poverty, she gave much.

And dear friends, I think it's important to say that I hope we never give to Christian work just because someone up the front says so. I hope we give because we love Jesus and we care about what he cares about, the lost getting saved. And we realise how much in him we've been given. Jesus, who went from very rich to very poor, so you and I might go from very spiritually poor to eternally rich in him. It's not that we give to get into the kingdom, we give because we're in the kingdom.

Well, as we close, having thought about quite an unknown passage, can I ask you, how are you investing?

And how are we being wise and being faithful with what God has given us in helping others to hear and be saved and continue into eternity? This is a brilliant parable and the person who takes it to heart is someone who might be mocked and friends, family, colleagues, the world around us, people will say, how foolish, how silly, what a total waste, but not Jesus. Now Jesus says, how shrewd, how very clever, how wise. Well, how about we pray together?

Jesus said, you cannot serve both God and money. And so we pray this morning. Our Father, please help us to be those who are wise and are faithful with the things that you have entrusted to us, that what we give and invest in would be the eternity of others. We praise you that there is joy in heaven when the lost son or daughter comes back to you. And we pray, father, help us to steward well, to be costly, even radical.

And we pray for your help and ask this in Jesus name, Amen.