There are two sermons on this page and my brief, blog.

From the "blog", 2007:-

Jesus was not commending the dishonesty of the manager but his foresight and wisdom. Everything we have is loaned to us by God. We are stewards of "our" possessions. How are we using them to:

- further the mission of our church;  

- help those who are hungry, sick, imprisoned, without water or clothes - see Matthew 25:34ff;  

- avoid polluting our earth.

This is to be our response to the gift of faith, not what makes us right with God. It shows our citizenship is in heaven.

23/9/07 Year C Trinity 15 : Luke 16:1-13

^{LK 16:1} 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.' <sup>3</sup> "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?' <sup>6</sup> " `Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' <sup>7</sup> "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."

I imagine we are all aware of the problems concerning the Northern Rock bank. It showed what people trusted in. Not the financial institutions or the word of the government, but money. If there was the slightest risk to their money, many people withdrew it.

Everything we have is a gift from God. Life, health, our family, abilities, energy, strength, possessions and money. How we use these things shows what is important in our life.

In today's gospel Jesus was not commending the dishonesty of the manager but his foresight and wisdom. He looked to the future.

Today's gospel shows God expects his followers to use the gifts He graciously gives us in the light of eternity, not just for the short term.

Everything we have is loaned to us by God. We are stewards of "our" possessions.

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.

Jesus explains the parable in this way. Use the money at your disposal to make friends who will welcome you into heaven when you die.

Does this mean that you should give money to fellow believers to bribe them into being well disposed to you?! No. It suggests that believers should use their money, and probably any other resources at their disposal, to bring others to trust in Jesus. Then it is envisaged that the ones who had come to faith would welcome into heaven the ones who had used their resources to help them get there.  

You could also see this verse applying to wealthier Christians who helped fellow believers who were hungry, thirsty, sick, in prison, without  a home or clothing ( see Matthew 25:34ff ).

Can lead us to ask. How are we using our resources to:

- further the mission of our church;  

- help those who are hungry, sick, imprisoned, without water or clothes.

This is to be our response to the gift of faith, not what makes us right with God. It shows our citizenship is in heaven.

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."

This shows that we must be absolutely, wholeheartedly devoted to God. Relying on him, not our money, the government or a bank.

God gives His Holy Spirit to everyone who trusts in Jesus. We should rely on God's Spirit to lead us from seeking material things to seeking to do the will of God. Especially to bring people to trust in Him.

A rich man wanted to help a poor, local carpenter. The rich man hired this carpenter to build a house on the hillside and went away on a long journey. The carpenter said to himself, "My boss is away and I can use cheap materials for the parts of the house which will not show. The house will be weak and undesirable but nobody will know except me."

But when the rich man returned he said, "The house is not for me: it is for you!"  The carpenter accepted the key in astonishment. Instead of a first class home he now had a fourth-class home.  

God gives us a job, a life to build. We have to live in the house we build. If we do a shoddy job, we cheat one person - ourself. We are called to put God first in gratitude for what he has done for us and what he gives us. If we do this we will be welcomed into "eternal dwellings", verse 9.

19/9/04 Year C Trinity 15 : Luke 16:1-13

PRAY

There was once an absent-minded professor who became so absorbed in his work that he forgot the simplest details. One morning his wife said, "Now Henry, remember, we are moving today. Here, I'm putting this note in your pocket. Don't forget."
The day passed by and the man came home to his house. He entered the front door, and found the place empty. Distraught, he walked out to the curb and sat down. A young boy walked up to him, and he asked him, "Little boy, do you know the people who used to live here?"
The boy replied, "Sure, Dad, mother told me you'd forget."

Sometimes we become so absorbed in "the little things of this world" that we forget who we are and whose we are and where we are going.

Jesus tells this parable to show his disciples that they must use the resources at their disposal wisely to show that God is their friend. Then, when their money is of no use to them they can look forward to being with Him.

An initial reading of this parable may suggest that Jesus is commending dishonesty, because it can appear that the steward is giving away his masters effects to secure a good standing before he becomes unemployed.

What was probably happening was that the steward was deducting from the amounts owed to his master the interest that he, the steward, had added to the original bills. The amounts owed were recorded in commodities rather than money, perhaps to hide the interest he was charging. Now that he faced dismissal he had no prospect of receiving this interest so he reduces the amounts owed to earn the favour of the debtors. This would also help the master's reputation as well, even though the master was probably unaware at first of what had gone on.

The steward was looking to the long term, planning ahead. He realised that he had 'burned his bridges' having been inefficient or dishonest with his master's goods. So he tries to earn favour with his master's creditors.

Jesus is saying that people of the world act wisely and diplomatically to further their own, selfish ends. They fix their eyes on accumulating position and wealth. In a similar way Christians should act wisely and wisely and diplomatically to ensure that they store up treasures in heaven. We should use everything at our disposal to do this.

This does not mean that we can buy our way into heaven, to bribe God, if you like. What this is saying is that, having received salvation we should carefully use what is at our disposal to ensure that we do not neglect or throw away our salvation.

When we come to faith we should realise that all we are and all we have are not ours but God's. He has bought us at a price, the blood of His only Son shed for us on the cross. He loans everything to us, our time, health, talents, possessions, families, friends etc. We are called to use God's gifts wisely. Some of them will wear out before we do. One day all these things will be gone and we will be naked before God, called to account for our use of his resources.

There are two ways in which a Christian may view his money, "How much of my money shall I use for God?" or "How much of God's money shall I use for myself?"

This passage revolves around what is important to the Christian. It does not mean that we are to be unwise with our possessions and make no provision for the future for ourselves or our families. It does warn us against covetousness and trusting in things other than God.

In what way can we use the resources at our disposal for God?

We can use our hearts, minds and wills to obey God's will in the power of His Spirit. Living righteous lives that will please him and bring glory to Him. This will include: witnessing about Him in deed and word; suffering for Him; forgiving others; helping to feed the hungry, giving the thirsty water, clothing the naked, welcoming strangers, and visiting the sick and imprisoned ( cf. Matthew 25:31-46 ).

This issue is relevant for our church today. We are expecting a deficit of £3,000 this year unless things change. The P.C.C. is looking at ways to reduce expenditure and increase our income. We have spent a lot of time discussing this but, in the end it could easily be solved with some simple maths. We need £3,000 more. We have approximately 100 people if not more, who regularly attend our churches. That is £30 each per annum, or 60 pence per week. If we Gift Aided it we could raise more.

Someone once asked Wayne Gretsky, the great hockey player, how he managed to become the best goal-scorer in the history of the game. He simply replied, "While everyone else is chasing the puck, I go where the puck is going to be."

We are to have the same, far-sighted attitude and follow God rather than following the crowd. You see, Jesus teaches that the things of this world are small compared to the treasures that await those who follow Jesus. We show who, or what we truly rely upon in how we live our lives. Our wallet is perhaps the best reflection of how radical our conversion really is. 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?

The heart of the steward was no longer in his job, he had just been sacked. His heart was looking to the future. As believers our lives should be devoted to God and looking to the future. 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."

PRAY