WEBVTT 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:07.440 Hello everyone. 00:00:07.440 --> 00:00:08.880 This is Pastor Benjamin. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to Sermon Audio from New City, Orlando. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.439 At New City, we long to see our Father answer the Lord's Prayer. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.079 For more resources, visit our website at Newcity Orlando.com. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:23.440 Let us stand for the prayer of illumination. 00:00:23.440 --> 00:00:33.200 Gracious God, full of life and truth, by your word and spirit, give light to ours lies. 00:00:33.200 --> 00:00:35.679 Through Jesus Christ we pray. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:36.640 Amen. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:40.159 Remain standing if you're able. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:46.000 Today we are going to be reading in Luke chapter 16, verse 1 through 13. 00:00:46.000 --> 00:01:00.159 He also said to the disciples, There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:05.840 And he called him and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:11.040 Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager. 00:01:11.040 --> 00:01:15.760 And the manager said to himself, What shall I do? 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.519 Since my master is taking the management away from me. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.239 I am not strong enough to dig. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:24.319 I am not ashamed. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:27.040 I am, excuse me, I am ashamed to beg. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:30.000 I have decided what to do. 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:35.599 So that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:45.120 So summoning his master's debtors, one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe, my master? 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:50.640 He said, A hundred measures of oil. 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:58.239 And he said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:03.200 And then he said to the other, How much do you owe? 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:07.359 He said, A hundred measures of wheat? 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:12.000 He said to him, Take your bill and write eighty. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.240 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:21.840 For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:33.759 I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, for sat for that when it falls, when it fails, they may receive you in the eternal dwellings. 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:40.400 One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. 00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:45.280 One who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:51.599 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you to true riches? 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:58.000 If you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:09.120 No servant can serve two matchers, two masters, for either will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:12.000 You cannot serve God and money. 00:03:12.000 --> 00:03:13.439 This is God's word. 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:15.199 Thanks be to God. 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:17.039 You may be seated. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:19.120 Thank you, Mandel. 00:03:19.120 --> 00:03:21.360 Well, good morning. 00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:28.319 My name is Jason, and I serve as one of the pastors here at New City. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:44.960 There is this well-known observation from landscape architecture that if you take a group of preschool children and you put them in a playground that's not fenced, they have a tendency to kind of huddle together and stick close actually to the teacher that's there. 00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:54.879 But if you take that same group of children and put them in a playground that has a fence around it, they go off and explore to the extent of that fence. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:57.120 So what is happening? 00:03:57.120 --> 00:04:01.199 Did the fence make them feel uh more secure? 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:02.719 That's my contention. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:09.199 They spread out because they know that they can enjoy the playground, knowing that they are secure. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:11.199 And what is it with all these fences? 00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:12.879 Fences are everywhere. 00:04:12.879 --> 00:04:17.680 Now I Google these facts, so they may not be completely true, but you guys get will get the idea. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:22.639 Strung together, the world's fences would likely reach from here into the sun. 00:04:22.639 --> 00:04:32.000 Just taking the American West by itself, the lattice work of fences, and I've built a few myself, would be over 600,000 miles of fences. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:36.480 That's enough to encircle the earth more than 75 times. 00:04:36.480 --> 00:04:39.839 What is it about all these fences? 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:43.120 One word security. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:50.800 We live in an insecure and a chaotic age, and we are unsure and scared about the future. 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:53.519 We all crave security. 00:04:53.519 --> 00:04:58.319 In our parable today, Jesus ties that human desire for security. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:08.240 That desire, he ties that desire for security for the in the temptation of unrighteous wealth or insecure wealth. 00:05:08.240 --> 00:05:18.720 This need for security, especially financial security, it either leads to despair, where the future collapses in onto the past. 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:27.680 And when we despair, we tend to have our heads down when our 401k is down, or our 403B, if you work in the nonprofit world, is down. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:37.680 Our hopes are crushed when that chunk of money that we have in our savings account is gone, and our agency is lost when we lose our job. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:39.759 This leads us to despair. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:45.759 Or the other way this need for security plays itself out is our frantic activity. 00:05:45.759 --> 00:05:53.519 We hustle, we drive to secure the future by any means, righteous or not, particularly through wealth. 00:05:53.519 --> 00:06:03.279 We build bigger fences, bigger walls, we save larger retirement funds or big builder, big, builder, uh big, we build bigger barns. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:04.560 There it is. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:05.519 Thank you. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.600 Which is uh the rich fool I talked about uh a month or two ago. 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:13.600 We amass a net worth that is self-sustaining in itself. 00:06:13.600 --> 00:06:19.920 We wealth has a temptation to believe everything is going to be okay with enough. 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:28.319 And I read all the stats last time about how wealth does not tell you it's it you can keep gaining more and more wealth, but you'll never have enough. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:33.279 Wealth is an illusion of solving our need for security. 00:06:33.279 --> 00:06:37.600 And this is the dynamic that Jesus is very concerned with. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:44.959 If we read the gospels regarding wealth and material things, Jesus says more about money than he does about prayer. 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:45.920 Why? 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:54.720 Jesus speaks often about money, not because money is an ultimate, but money exposes what we think is ultimate. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:07:00.560 In fact, we believe money will secure our future, it will secure the ultimate. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:07.040 And Jesus teaches us here this morning that our security is in the God who is merciful. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:15.920 And in this text, Jesus will show us that our wealth and earthly means should be used for eternal purposes because we have gained security. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:23.600 Jesus wants us to understand the importance of how we secure our own future, but also the future of those around us. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:26.480 It's all based on the character of God. 00:07:26.480 --> 00:07:34.560 We'll explore those ideas through our text through these points: the shrewd steward and the merciful master. 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:44.800 If you have a Bible or device or a bulletin, and I'm sorry the bulletin doesn't have all the scripture, turn with me to Luke 16, starting in verse 1. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:08:02.639 He also said to the disciples, so he also said, This is that that word also there is a continuation of the story of Luke 15, of the lost things, and that sermon that Ben preached about the prodigal son. 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:06.560 There are so many different parallels between Luke 15 and Luke 16. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.480 I just want to name a few. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:12.560 First, the son, the prodigal son, betrays the father's trust. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:17.279 Here, the steward, I'm calling the steward or the manager, betrays the master's trust. 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:23.759 And the prodigal son squanders the father's wealth, and the steward or the manager wastes the master's possessions. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:25.279 Same Greek word there. 00:08:25.279 --> 00:08:29.920 Both stories, both parables end with a final scene missing. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:33.600 How will the older son respond to the father's invitation? 00:08:33.600 --> 00:08:40.080 And here in our parable, how will the steward or the manager respond to the praise of the master? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.159 I point this out for two reasons. 00:08:42.159 --> 00:08:51.200 One, you need to realize that this story that we're in today, it's a continuation of the story from last week of the Father's heart for you. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:56.080 And two, I really want you guys to be good Bible readers. 00:08:56.080 --> 00:09:00.399 And noticing to be good Bible readers, you have to notice small things in the text. 00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:03.120 And that actually helps you understand the text better. 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:09.200 Admittedly, I was talking to Stan before the service, and this parable is a difficult text to understand. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:14.799 But I think the context of the fact that it parallels Luke 15 is going to help us. 00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:18.799 And so now back in verse 1, what's the next context in verse 1? 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:21.039 Who is this story aimed at? 00:09:21.039 --> 00:09:24.960 He also said to the disciples. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:52.399 And he wants them, particularly around, to be shrewd around the or clever, that's another way to understand that word, shrewd, around their use of money in the kingdom of God. 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.559 Let's keep reading in verse one. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:03.759 There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:05.759 Well, what's happening here? 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:13.600 In biblical times, the rich, probably landowners, they employed others to manage their assets, to manage their estate. 00:10:13.600 --> 00:10:15.919 And what was he required to do? 00:10:15.919 --> 00:10:18.159 To manage, to steward. 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:28.000 In most translations, uh they use the word manager, but I'm trying to use the word steward here this morning because I think they both both basically had the same meaning. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:40.639 But I love how the KJV translates this in steward because there's this uh impression that when you're saying you're a steward versus a manager, you're actually stewarding somebody else's wealth that doesn't belong to you. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:44.080 And so what was this manager or steward supposed to do? 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:50.000 This person was to steward the master's wealth and track with the tenants who leased the land for farming. 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.480 And the steward he needed to keep an accurate account of all the details. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:04.080 But this steward, he is in a bind because charges were brought against him by a third party to the master or to the rich man. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:09.919 And these charges were about wasting the possessions, the wealth of the master. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.240 Let's keep reading in verse 2. 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:21.039 And he that is the rich man called him the steward, the manager, and said to him, What is this that I hear about you? 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:25.679 Turn in the account of your management, for you no longer can be manager. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:30.159 And the manager said to himself, What shall I do? 00:11:30.159 --> 00:11:33.440 A little sounds like a little bit like despair, right? 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.000 What's the first thing that happens? 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:39.919 What's the first thing that happens to you when someone accuses you? 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:50.080 Well, for me and my brothers, when we were younger, the first thing that happened when someone, one of my brothers accused me were there were lots of words that went back and forth, back and forth, lots of words. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:52.159 And my kids do it too. 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.039 It turns out to be a genetic thing, I think. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:11:58.240 But maybe that's not true in your house. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:04.159 But in reading the parable, we notice something that the steward has actually no words towards his master. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:07.279 The only words he has are to himself. 00:12:07.279 --> 00:12:10.000 His silence, I think, tells us something. 00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.879 His silence is consent that what the charges are are being brought to him. 00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:17.039 He is guilty, he has no defense. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:19.600 He knows that the master knows the truth. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:28.799 The master expected obedience, and the steward's disobedience makes him unworthy to be the steward, to be the manager. 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.200 So, what does the steward do? 00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:32.320 Let's keep reading. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:34.720 Look down with me in verse 3 and following. 00:12:34.720 --> 00:12:39.120 And the manager, the steward said to himself, What shall I do? 00:12:39.120 --> 00:12:42.799 Since my master is taking my management away from me. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:46.559 I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:54.720 I have decided, I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their homes. 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:59.200 So first, the first thing I noticed is that he thinks of the future. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:03.360 He says, My management, my employment is being taken away. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:05.440 How will he be received in the future? 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:10.879 This is him actually not looking outward, but turning inward, either to despair, what shall I do? 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.639 What as I already pointed out in verse 3. 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:17.679 But in this case, we'll see in verse 4, it turns out to be a game of hustle for him. 00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:21.120 Second, I think he realizes his limitations. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:28.000 And to me, as I studied the text, these limitations are actually more like sin issues than rather than limitations. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.720 He says, I am not strong enough to dig. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:37.039 Well, this steward is a dishonest man, and manual labor, let me tell you, is an honest man's work. 00:13:37.039 --> 00:13:40.639 And the second excuse says, I am ashamed to beg. 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:46.799 Well, this steward is prideful and unwilling to humble himself to his master and to his community. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:51.759 And then the third thing he does, so first he realizes and thinks of the future. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:13:55.679 Second, he realizes his limitations that I think are influenced by his sin. 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:57.440 And third, he comes up with a plan. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:13:59.600 Keep reading in verse five. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:07.039 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, How much do you owe my master? 00:14:07.039 --> 00:14:08.879 He said, A hundred measures of oil. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.919 He said to him, Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:16.480 And then he does it again for another one of the master's tenants. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:30.080 I don't know what you think of this plan, but my opinion is that he goes from being a bad steward, wasting the master's possessions, to even a worse steward because he's canceling the debt that is owed to the master. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.320 But the real the realization here is that he had a plan. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.799 He had a very clever plan. 00:14:36.799 --> 00:14:41.039 And this son of the world, the steward, thought of the future. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.679 He sought a clever way to secure it. 00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:46.879 And Jesus comments as much in verse 8. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:48.639 Look at me with verse 8. 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:57.679 He says, For the sons of this world, which is the steward, are more shrewd or more clever in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 00:14:57.679 --> 00:15:01.600 Now, if you look at the text, there is a chiasm here. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:04.240 There is this structure in the way the text is written. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:11.279 In verse 4 is the principle that Jesus is trying to form in his disciples, that he's training them in. 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:20.080 So likewise, Jesus is telling his disciples that they should be concerned about the future and they should decide what to do. 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:21.120 Verse 4. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:25.840 In fact, Jesus tells us to secure our future through unrighteous wealth. 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:29.039 We'll see in verse 9, which we'll discuss further in point two. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:48.639 The point is this Jesus desires that our wealth and earthly means be used in a clever way for the future, but not just for a future here in the earthly, in the earth, in the temporal sense, in the worldly sense, but for a future into glory, into an eternal sense. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:54.240 Jesus actually assumes that we'll use what has what we have been given because it belongs to God. 00:15:54.240 --> 00:16:00.320 Psalmist says in Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:06.480 This is a constant refrain from Scripture that all things that we've been given don't actually belong to us. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:10.320 We are just called to be stewards of what God has given us. 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:15.759 And so the sons of this world use material wealth to prepare for their earthly future. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:21.440 Why cannot the children of light use it to prepare for their eternal future? 00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:29.440 This means we cleverly take what has been given to us by God and we generously give it away. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:34.399 It's not our money, it's not our toys, these are not our lives. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.519 Remember the warning that we read in the last verse there. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:40.720 Turn with me to verse 13 of chapter 16. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:50.159 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:53.200 You cannot serve God and money. 00:16:53.200 --> 00:17:00.639 Jesus says, faithfulness in the little reveals what master you really serve. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:08.319 Either you serve God and steward what has been given to you generously and with mercy, or you serve money. 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.039 So here's a little diagnostic question for you. 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:13.039 There are a few questions, honestly. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.480 Does the future lead you to despair? 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:20.319 Or does the future lead you to be driven to hustle? 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:26.559 Are you avoiding what lies ahead, or are you trying to control what lies ahead? 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:32.880 Are you stewarding what God has given you for others or only for yourself? 00:17:32.880 --> 00:17:37.519 Your bank statement is a discipleship document. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.599 Your calendar is a guide to what matters most to you. 00:17:41.599 --> 00:17:44.160 Are you faithful in the little? 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:47.359 Now back to the parable. 00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.720 How do you think the master responded to this plan? 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:56.319 And some of you guys here, you guys work in the business world, some of you guys are owners of businesses. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.160 How would you respond to this plan? 00:17:58.160 --> 00:18:04.000 Or how would you respond if you're a coworker and you find out that somebody is stealing money from the company? 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:12.160 And on their way out, they they take all the cash that's in the back, and then they go to the accounts payable and they cancel all the debts. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:13.839 How would you respond? 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:18.799 Well, this leads me to my second point: the merciful master. 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.000 Look down with me at verse 8. 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:29.599 The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.519 What the master did what? 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:45.200 This response from the master in verse 8, and then Jesus' response or kind of in interpretation of this in verse 9, it makes it one of the most difficult passages to interpret. 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:48.640 And trust me, almost every commentator said this disclaimer. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.400 Everyone I read was like, yep, this is a very difficult passage to understand. 00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:57.920 So I'm just admitting right now, I am going away this morning, but I believe it's a very good way. 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:03.599 Interestingly, in the parables of Jesus have a surprising list of unsavory characters. 00:19:03.599 --> 00:19:10.720 In addition to the steward or the dishonest manager here in Luke 16, there is the unjust judge in Luke 18. 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:16.720 There's a neighbor who does not want to be bothered in the middle of the night in Luke 11, which you heard a good great sermon on that. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:21.599 And then there's a man who pockets someone else's treasure by buying his field in Matthew 13. 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:27.680 Jesus is using this rabbinic principle from the light to the heavy, which means how much more? 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:39.039 So, for example, if my kids get a cookie for eating three bites of broccoli, how much more should I get a bowl of ice cream for surviving a manic Monday? 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:45.680 Or we cheer, we do in our house, when a toddler throws away a piece of trash. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:50.960 How much more should heaven rejoice when an adult finally cleans out the garage? 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.000 Or, how about this one? 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:06.640 If we check our bank account just to feel secure for the weekend so we can go out and do the things we want to do, how much more should we entrust the future to the Father who holds holds all eternity? 00:20:06.640 --> 00:20:20.640 So, in this steward, in this story, if the dishonest steward solved his problem by relying on the mercy of the master, how much more will God help us in our crisis when we trust in his mercy? 00:20:20.640 --> 00:20:27.680 The entire scheme of the steward is built on the evaluation and the character of the master. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:32.160 We see that first in verses one and two, go back with me. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:33.519 What happened there? 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:40.960 The master hears the charges and he brings them to the steward, but he doesn't imprison the steward, which I think would be in his right. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:49.039 And so the steward knows this is not just the first time that the steward and the master are working together, but he knows the character of the master. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:55.119 The steward has an unshakable awareness of the master's generosity, of the master's mercy. 00:20:55.119 --> 00:21:01.440 And he acted his plan, his clever plan, because of the merciful master. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.480 He is condemned for his actions, right? 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:13.440 He loses his job in verse 2, but he's commended for his confidence in the master's gracious and merciful nature. 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:27.920 In fact, it is the master who pays the price of the steward's salvation and commends him for his shrewdness, for his cleverness, for him depending upon his own character, the master's character. 00:21:27.920 --> 00:21:32.319 Do you know the character of the master? 00:21:32.319 --> 00:21:36.319 This reminds me of a story of Le Miz. 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:40.720 Uh it's a story written by Victor Hugo and a story of Le Miz. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:44.240 And I know this is one that you guys may all recognize and know. 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:47.680 I have never read the book because I've tried, but it's very long. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:58.720 But uh there are movie interpretations of this great work, and there is two characters at the very beginning of the story Jean Valjean and the Merciful Bishop, I'll call him. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:04.640 Don't know the story, Valjean is he's newly released convict from prison. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:09.279 He's hungry, he's homeless, and he's rejected everywhere he goes. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:14.079 But he comes to a town and someone points him to the door of the bishop. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:15.839 And what does the bishop do? 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:20.240 The bishop welcomes him in, feeds him, gives him a bed. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:22.480 And then how does Valjean repay him? 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:31.279 In the middle of night, he gets up and takes the silver from which they had dinner with, and he steals that and he runs out into the middle of the night. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:37.519 Well, the police catch Valjean the next day and they bring him back to the bishop's house. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:39.759 And Valjean is exposed. 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:41.920 He's guilty, he's condemned. 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:45.279 His security is gone. 00:22:45.279 --> 00:22:55.680 But the bishop says to the police, he says, I not only gave him the can the silver that we had, the dishes, but I also gave him the candlesticks too. 00:22:55.680 --> 00:22:57.680 Why did you not take the candlesticks? 00:22:57.680 --> 00:23:01.680 And Valjean asked the bishops, why are you doing this? 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:05.119 Because he quite didn't understand the master's character. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:10.480 And the bishop says, My brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:14.160 I have purchased your soul and I have given it back to God. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:29.039 Valjean was saved not because he was innocent, but because someone, someone's merciful character, someone's someone in their own, uh, the bishop himself rather absorbed the cost of the payment. 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.119 Valjean didn't understand the bishop's character, but he experienced it. 00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:36.720 He experienced the character through that act of mercy. 00:23:36.720 --> 00:23:39.599 Isn't this how we all come to God? 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:45.680 Experiencing the character of God, but not always understanding his character. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:52.000 And that's the unshakable confidence that the steward has in the mercy of the master. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:54.720 This is the unchanging character of our God. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:23:57.519 And we read it through the scripture promises when we did the baptisms. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:24:02.400 In Exodus 34, the Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:03.279 Merciful. 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:09.359 God is merciful and gracious, slowed anger and abound in steadfast love and faithfulness. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:13.039 This is God's own self-description of Himself. 00:24:13.039 --> 00:24:15.680 I call it His calling card throughout Scripture. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.400 It's the most quoted scripture in all of the Bible. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:18.960 Why? 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:22.720 Because it reveals the true character of who our God is. 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:32.559 And I think the only way for us to experience that character and to know that character of our God is to be united to him by Jesus by faith. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:35.119 And it's in daily communion with him. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:40.720 One of the primary ways that we do that here is through daily scripture reading. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:44.720 Here's something I just read last week in 2 Corinthians from our plan. 00:24:44.720 --> 00:24:46.319 You'll see that in your bulletin. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:48.480 From 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 3. 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:57.359 It says, Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:00.240 Our God is the Father of mercies. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:05.279 Just like in Luke 15, there was an invitation to come to Him, come home to Him. 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:15.200 And this is who you get when you pick up your Bible and daily reading and you say, By faith, I want more of you. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:18.400 And you get to experience the mercy of our God. 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:26.720 So the question that I have then is do you entrust your security, your future to the to that which does not fail? 00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:29.839 Turn with me to verse 9. 00:25:29.839 --> 00:25:34.319 And Jesus, he's interpreting the parable here. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:47.680 And he says, And I tell you, make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into eternal dwellings. 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:55.839 If the parable was difficult to understand, which I thought it was, this verse is kind of like icing on that cake. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:00.960 I'm going to define a couple terms and see if I can get somewhere with it. 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:03.680 Because this is how Jesus interprets the parable. 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.119 So first, make friends. 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:14.079 This kind of seems obvious, but we should seek those who are outside of the master's house, outside of the father's house, Luke 15. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:19.039 Those lost things, they need to be found and they need to be invited in. 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:23.839 So evangelism, church planting, garden city, you know, we're doing a church plant. 00:26:23.839 --> 00:26:24.880 Talk to Kenny about it. 00:26:24.880 --> 00:26:28.960 He's not here this morning, but is a relational activity. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:36.079 Evangelism and church planning is making friends and finding those lost people and inviting them in. 00:26:36.079 --> 00:26:37.920 Unrighteous wealth. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:47.119 I quoted Timothy last time: wealth is not evil, but it should be used in a way to do right, to do right by others. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:53.200 Wealth has this temptation to trust in it rather than in the merciful master. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:59.039 Jesus contrasts unrighteous wealth with true riches in verse 11. 00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:08.079 Unrighteous wealth could be another way you could describe it, is just worldly wealth, which is wealth that is temporary, wealth that fails. 00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:10.000 Eternal dwellings. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.319 The last word I'll I'll try to narrow in on. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:15.920 Literally just means eternal tabernacles or tents. 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:21.920 This phrase only appears here in the New Testament, and it points to our eternal home that never fails. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:23.759 So what is Jesus saying? 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.039 Can you buy your way into heaven? 00:27:27.039 --> 00:27:31.039 Can you become, can people become your saviors? 00:27:31.039 --> 00:27:33.839 Is salvation this transactional reality? 00:27:33.839 --> 00:27:34.480 No. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:37.839 Jesus is contrasting here in verse 9. 00:27:37.839 --> 00:27:41.119 Temporary wealth will fail. 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:43.920 Eternal dwellings will not. 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:44.720 Verse 11. 00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:46.480 True riches is another way to say that. 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:50.960 This truth is echoed by the psalmist in Psalm 49, verses 7 and 9. 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:55.519 Truly, no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. 00:27:55.519 --> 00:27:59.359 For the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice. 00:27:59.359 --> 00:28:04.319 Will we trust wealth and abundance of riches for our lives? 00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:14.640 The biggest savings account in the world cannot stop cancer, cannot stop you losing your job, cannot stop a car accident. 00:28:14.640 --> 00:28:17.200 All of this will fail. 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:18.799 Money fails. 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:20.559 Our health fails. 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:32.000 Jim Elliott, a missionary to the unreached people in Ecuador, understood what it means to make friends with temporary things, with unrighteous wealth, to be received into eternal glory. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:42.000 Six years before he was martyred for his faith, he wrote, He is no fool who keeps what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:46.160 Jim Elliott trusted in the mercy of the master. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:49.839 He knew that that mercy would not fail. 00:28:49.839 --> 00:28:52.000 And what did fail? 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:53.359 It's his life. 00:28:53.359 --> 00:29:06.720 And in response to that mercy, he gave his life away. 00:29:06.720 --> 00:29:12.640 Jesus is also the one who trusts in the God, the Father of all mercies. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:21.440 God, the Father of all mercies, sends Jesus to claim, to purchase our debts, not just cancel them, but to purchase our debts. 00:29:21.440 --> 00:29:30.319 Jesus and Jesus, when he was here with his disciples elsewhere in John's Gospel, John chapter 14, he talks about preparing a way for us to eternal dwellings. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:37.519 He will go on ahead and prepare a place for us with his own wealth, with his own obedience. 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:39.200 Jesus was the better steward. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:41.440 Jesus was the faithful steward. 00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:44.400 He trusted in the Master's mercy. 00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:49.839 He trusted in his father's mercy that he would be resurrected and raised. 00:29:49.839 --> 00:29:54.079 That mercy of God would not fail Christ. 00:29:54.079 --> 00:29:57.440 And he canceled our debts with his own body and blood on the cross. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:01.920 His blood, it says in 1 Peter 1, his blood ransomed us. 00:30:01.920 --> 00:30:03.680 It paid for our debt. 00:30:03.680 --> 00:30:06.559 And he prepares for our coming home to him now. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:19.119 And now he sends the Spirit to help us to give our worldly wealth, this temporal wealth, away, as good stewards, making friends to join us in eternal dwellings. 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:23.519 Beloved, trust in the merciful God. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:26.640 His mercy will not fail. 00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:31.680 It is only his mercy that truly secures a future for yourself. 00:30:31.680 --> 00:30:33.440 Let us pray. 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:41.920 Father, you are the Father and the good giver of all mercies. 00:30:41.920 --> 00:31:01.519 We are grateful for your love and your mercy for us in this, that you have given your son, the true servant, the true steward, to ransom a people by paying our debt, by paying our debt with your blood, Jesus. 00:31:01.519 --> 00:31:13.839 And Jesus, you are the one who not only uh pays our debt, but you welcome us into your arms, to a life, an eternal life with you, in communion with you. 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:15.759 We are grateful for that. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:21.680 And Spirit, we ask now that you would fill us with peace, that you would fill us with joy, that you would fill us with security. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:26.160 Help us to trust in the merciful character of our great God. 00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:28.000 We give you the glory. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:28.960 Amen.