You Cannot Serve God and Wealth

Luke Chapter 16

LUKE 16:1-13

[Lk 16:1] Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. [2] “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ [3] “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. [4] ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ [5] “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ [6] “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ [7] “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ [8] “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. [9] “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

 [10] “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. [11] “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? [12] “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? [13] “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

LUKE 16:1-2

“This manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.”

What Jesus does in this story is lay out – in extreme clarity – our rightful place in the universe and God’s rightful place in our lives. He is the owner and we – at our best – are hired managers. God gives us our time on earth and many squander the majority of it on self-interest. God gives us our talents and many squander the majority of them on greed. God gives us resources and many – like the fool in Chapter 12 – squander the majority of them on personal comfort and status symbols. Many get ahead while others are left behind and that – to God – is squandering his resources.

 Even at our best which one of us doesn’t squander precious moments on self-pity and blame? As I write this study I am at a men’s retreat and one of the other speakers just shared how his wife and three children had been killed. They were on the way home from a track meet when they were broadsided by a drunk driver. The speaker was supposed to be at that track meet; he was supposed to drive home with them but he didn’t make it to the meet because he was too busy. As I listened, I learned the cry of his heart wasn’t about a moment that he missed – it was about an accumulation of squandered moments: Days, weeks, and months of being too busy. He lost what he treasured but never treasured what he had.

 I felt deflated by what I’ve squandered, yet challenged to change even as this man spoke. Of all that God has granted me; how much am I squandering on myself?

 God sends us wake-up calls all the time; when am I going to quit hitting the snooze alarm?

LUKE 16:3-7

[3] “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. [4] ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ [5] “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ [6] “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ [7] “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’”

“He summoned each one of his master’s debtors...”

Here is the shrewd man who hears the Master’s wake-up call. It goes against our grain that Christ would use such a scheming man as an example of kingdom living, but let’s look at exactly what he did. “He summoned each one of his master’s debtors.”

 Who are our Master’s debtors [G5533 Chreopheiletes]? The word means “debt owed.” The root word [G3784 Opheilo] is used in the next sentence; “How much do you owe [G3784 Opheilo] my master?” Opheilo is also found in Matthew 6:12; “Forgive us our debts [G3784 Opheilo], as we have forgiven our debtors [G3781 Opheilete].”

 So who are our Master’s debtors? Sinners like me! Squanderers like me!

 This man is shrewd; but he gets it! He quits hitting the snooze button and leaps out of his stupor. He runs from associate to associate and offers them freedom from the Master’s debt. It is not his own debt he is forgiving – for he owns nothing – he has no reserve. However, he is crafty enough to realize that if he doesn’t get it he will be out on the street begging or shoveling dirt: “I am not strong enough to dig; I am too ashamed to beg.”

 We are spiritually in this situation and that’s what we need to wake up to. If we don’t start offering forgiveness of our Master’s debt we are also going to wind up in the place of shame.

 Forget demanding my debt, forget offering my forgiveness; what are my petty issues compared to how I have squandered God’s mercy?

 Notice what the shrewd man does; he first runs to the ones who owe the most money; the biggest debt. The more they owe, the more he forgives them!

 Am I shrewd enough to get it? Will I wake up from my stupor? Who owes the biggest debt in my community?

Who (besides me) has squandered the incredible gifts that God has offered them? If I am to be like this man, I will run to the worst sinner and forgive them the most; that’s the point of the story of the shrewd manager. The more you forgive; the wiser you are.

LUKE 16:8-9

[8] “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. [9] “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

“When it fails...”

The unrighteous man is praised for his shrewdness? And what does Jesus mean by; “the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light.” All of this is very confusing; and to whatever degree it is strange to us – imagine how confused the disciples must have felt!

 Or, perhaps they had begun to learn by this time to expect that Jesus would continue shock them with his teaching. Almost without exception, those who considered themselves “righteous and religious” Jesus found “off the mark (the root meaning of sin).” While we might condemn the worldly behavior of the manager, Jesus praises him because “he gets it.” Grasping his mistake, he uses every means available to forgive the debts of others.

 Rather than wait dismally for justice to crash down upon him, rather than beg the Master for mercy, he does something that even the demanding Master had to admire; he uses what is at his disposal to create friendships in preparation of the time when his Master would call in his accounts.

 Am I using every resource at my disposal to build friendships and forgive debt – especially among those who “owe much?”

 This man understands basic business and Jesus would use examples like these far more than “religious” examples or quoting scripture to his audience. This was symbolism that debt-ridden people could understand. Most of our Lord’s followers would deeply identify with the concept of stewardship and not ownership. They understood what it meant to be unable to pay back a debt and to be left penniless or even enslaved because of debt.

 Jesus’ message was antithetical to the religious of his day and his words would still cause waves in many of our churches today. After all, how many pastors today would boldly preach; “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [Mt. 19:21].” How many would say that God is a hard Master and will demand an accounting of how we used every gift we’ve received – and more [Mattew 25:24-28]!

Although these are “the hard messages” of Jesus; we dare not gloss them over. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, the messages increased in intensity while the number of his followers diminished. Yet, our Lord does not deceive his followers with comfortable platitudes – he does not make discipleship sound easy. We need teachers of this caliber and depth.

 Earlier, in Luke 12, I said Christians often lack credibility because we often lack accountability. Am I a good enough friend to challenge others with the “hard messages”; to ask the hard questions and have them asked back? Or, will my faith be no deeper than Sunday platitudes and warm fuzzy feelings?

LUKE 16:10-12

“He who is unrighteous...”

There is an interesting contrast of words in this verse that needs to be examined. Jesus contrasts the word “faithful [G4103 Pistos]” with the word “unrighteous [G94 Adikos]” and portrays them as polar opposites. To be faithful is to be reliable or dependable – it was not necessarily a religious term. Jesus reveals that the opposite of faithful is not being irreligious – but being, “a” (without), “Dikos (justice).”

 Being unfaithful, unrighteous, is not about poor church attendance or forgetting to say one’s daily prayers; it is forgetting about justice. Once again, the words of Christ challenge our religiosity and focus us on how we should live – not piously – but passionately. We must be the ones who seek to see justice implemented not just globally; but locally, personally and relationally. The first action of the shrewd manager when he is confronted by his impending judgment is to immediately run out to his “business associates” and forgive their debts.

 In this “counter-religious” story, Jesus introduces us to the shrewd man who became righteous – not by begging for mercy and praying on his knees – but by forgiving the debts of others in the Master’s name.

“Who will give you that which is your own?”

This promise of Jesus harkens back to the promises of Isaiah. Israel had fallen into the hands of the few, those with generational wealth and power. This story and its promise would strongly resonate with the people around Jesus because they would know what it was like to be lost in hopeless debt; never hoping to possess their own fields or hoe their own ground.

 Tragically, for the poor, they would be just as miserably poor at the end of their day as they were every day before. Their labor would always be for another, the ground they tilled – never their own; and yet, some might remember the promise of generational hope given by the prophets of old. We can see these very same people in our lives everyday – they pick the fruit we eat, they ring up cash registers at our super-stores, they flip hamburgers at our drive-through window. They are barely just a touch or a “thank you” away from our compartmentalized lives. Jesus is the prophet – prophet and Messiah – renewing the promises of old. To be a follower of Jesus is to renew these promises as well [Isaiah 65:21-25]!

 Here on earth we labor, but not hopelessly. The promise of restoration is given to us – if we live “righteously” – with mercy as our guide and justice as our standard. Jesus came to renew the promise and restore the balance. In Jesus, the kingdom has come and we labor toward a reward that will be ours to claim; no more debt-masters. If we use this life to forgive the debts of others, we have the promise that our debt too will be forgiven. Indeed, we will be forgiven even as we forgive!

 The lesson of the shrewd manager is this: It is the Master’s grace that we are spending when we forgive; so we might as well spend it lavishly. Grace is one of the few commodities that increase as we spend it – so spend profligately!

LUKE 16:13

[13] “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

“No servant can serve two masters...”

Jesus once again lays out two opposing issues on: God and wealth. We must view this in context of this story. The shrewd steward served wealth – that wasn’t even his own – until his Master’s sudden return. While his Master was gone, the steward acted in a way that revealed his disdain for his master. However, the steward neglected two things: 1) Who he was (what his role was in comparison to the Master) and 2) whose wealth he managed. The Master’s sudden return put an end to that behavior. What a wake-up call!

 Everyday we get a wake-up call from our Master as well. None of us can tell God we didn’t see daily opportunities for mercy around us. The problem is that the longer we ignore these opportunities; the more we resemble the shrewd steward: We too forget our “place” in relation to the Master and whose wealth we manage in this life. Look at the story of Lazarus and Dives (the rich fool). Every single day Dives walked by Lazarus; each day he had the opportunity to offer mercy. However, the more Dives walked by Lazarus; the more invisible Lazarus became in Dives’ eyes.

 Then, even after death – seething in hell – Dives doesn’t “get it.” He is still trying to boss Lazarus around [Luke 16:22-25].

(We will see more of this story in the following reading).

The idolatry of wealth begins when we forget whose we are and whose resources we manage. While the truly wealthy person is the one who uses all he manages to free the bondage of others.

The Man Who Wore Purple and Linen

LUKE 16:19-31

[Lk 16:19] “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. [20] “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, [21] and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. [22] “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. [23] “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ [25] “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. [26] ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ [27] “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house – [28] for I have five brothers – in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ [29] “But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ [31] “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

LUKE 16:19

[Lk 16:19] “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day.”

“Now there was a rich man...”

“Once upon a time...” The power of a good story is incredible, but this story – the story of Lazarus and Dives – is among the most wonderful religious stories in history; perhaps surpassed only by the Prodigal Son in it’s illustrative power. Stories seemed to flow from Jesus and were marked by brevity, timeless value and their enduring impact on listeners. Through the darkest periods of history and despite being passed on by word-of-mouth for decades, these stories remain largely unchanged. Books have been written about Christ’s analogies, artists have interpreted them, theologians have debated them but more than anything — they have changed lives.

 Stories are a powerful medium. Though a quote can be timely and statistics can underscore a point, a story moves people. Thousands followed Jesus because his stories made sense to them. Others hated Jesus because his humor often castigated the wealthy and powerful.

 Influential leaders are good storytellers. In fact, one leadership guru, Max De Pree in his book, Leadership is an Art [Leadership is an art, De Pree, M., Dell Publishing, © 1989 Max De Pree], tells us that the primary role of a leader is

1. Tell the stories

2. Model the behaviors that capture the vision of a corporate body

Dupree goes further to state that a company (or community) dies when the bean counters take over for the storytellers. Legal briefs and financial reports provide a snapshot of the present but not a compelling roadmap for the future.

 Navigators shouldn’t captain ships; for leadership is more than just knowing “where you are” – you could sit in a harbor and do that! Visionaries capture the hearts of people and move them beyond their comfort zones.

 Is my leadership visionary? Am I telling stories that capture the heart and expand the imagination of my people? Do I take people from where they are and give them a taste of how far a determined and directed group of people could go?

 Storytelling and modeling are practiced arts; nurtured gifts. Christian leaders need to be “in the practice’’ of moving hearts, we need to practice the “art of compelling leadership.” We need to be models and storytellers of the Gospel. We need to move beyond scripture quotes and secular jokes to telling the stories of our people.

 Recently, I had to counsel a pastor about this who was involved in one of our mentoring programs. Everything that the young man across from him said was met with the pastor’s pat response; “The bible says...”

 It was as though the pastor couldn’t take the risk of hearing the young man’s story and respond personally.

 Let’s get beyond the leather-bound comfort of “the bible says...” and into the stories of each other’s lives. Sharing the story of Jesus Christ is a privilege I earn only when I have had the courage to listen to someone else’s life.

“He habitually dressed in purple...”

Very little is more condemning of Dives (the name customarily given to this rich man) than the fact that he “habitually dressed in purple and linen.” These were the clothes of royalty and the priesthood. In his ostentatious attitude, this man chose to dress as both royal and holy. In the two parables about wealth in this chapter and the story of the wealthy fool in Luke 12, Jesus shows us the meaning of kingdom foolishness and the deception of wealth. The greatest deception is that people start to believe they are owed a privileged status. They actually think they are exceptional and believe that they have become more valuable because they have more valuables. That is the very definition of a fool; a self-absorbed man.

 I was just driving to the airport and had to laugh, on the back of the brand new Humvee in front of me in the departing zone was a bumper sticker that said: “All my riches are in heaven.” It seemed ironic that I would see that specific bumper sticker on that particular car on the day that I would be studying this specific reading.

 Like the man who wore the robes of royalty and holiness; we can wear the robes or buy the bumper sticker – but it doesn’t change the truth.

 In truth; only one should have worn those robes and it wasn’t even Jesus Christ. If we tried to put those robes on Jesus he would have rejected them. The one in this story who deserved the royal robe was Lazarus. Jesus would have torn the precious linen to bind the poor man’s wounds and used the robe to cover his nakedness. What am I doing with our Lord’s robes today? Have I deceived myself into believing that the robes belong to me, that my possessions are for my privilege? Do I deceive myself with the belief that my valuables make me more valuable or important than the one lying wounded at the entrance to my gated community?

 When I begin to I believe these falsities, this story turns its point upon me. All too often, I am the man of privilege and self-deception. That man is me! I am the man of purple and linen.

LUKE 16:20-21

[20] “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, [21] and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.”

“A poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate.”

Just as with Dives, there are a number of subtleties regarding Lazarus’ situation that the people of Christ’s time would understand though we might not:

· Laid at his gate

The first thing we should examine is that Lazarus is abandoned at the gate of Dives. Someone – in a final cry for hope or gasp of desperation – thought that perhaps they could do best for Lazarus if they laid him at the front gate of a wealthy man’s house. This was someone’s desperate cry for help. The orphanage where I am spending the next few days is similar. Most of these children have parents (or a parent), but they are so impoverished that they lay their elderly or their children at Padre Norman’s door. Then, they disappear into the night, in the desperate hope their infant or child is in better hands with the orphanage than on the streets.  All too often we disdain this behavior (from behind our gated communities) and yet we are oblivious to the children on our own streets who seek to be arrested because there are no healthier alternatives to addiction or abuse. Lazarus still lies abandoned at our gates; he has never gone away.

· The “crumbs which were falling” and the “dogs were coming”;

Jesus took his disciples to the Syro-Phoenician lands across from Galilee; to a people the Jews called “Sons of Dogs.” One can imagine the disciples whining the whole time. At a roadside stop, Jesus rests for a meal with the twelve and a woman pleads to the disciples for an audience with Jesus. Her daughter is possessed by a demon and the mother is hopeless. So hopeless that she turns to an itinerant Jewish Rabbi for help. The disciples are wearied by the trip. They are tired of these foreigners. Can we imagine their attitude toward this woman? They ask Jesus to get rid of her [Matthew 15:23-28]. I see Jesus’ interchange with this woman as an affront to the disciple’s prejudicial attitudes.

· This woman – the apostle’s try to push away – is a heroine of faith to Jesus.

 This story seems as much a reminder to the close followers of Jesus as it was to the “Pharisees” who were “lovers of money [v14].”

 It is always important for me to remember that the stories of Jesus never allow me the comfort of pointing my fingers at others. Self-righteousness is never a proper attitude for the Christian.

· This is the only instance of a proper name appearing in a parable.

If we combine John’s Gospel with Luke’s it seems apparent that the healing of Lazarus occurred sometime around the telling of this story. It was that incident which prompted the high priests of Jerusalem to seek Jesus’ death [John 11:47-50].

These were the men who wore the linen and the holy robes of Israel. God was not at the core of their mission, their primary concern was; “The Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

The one who came to restore God’s people was killed by God’s priests for the purpose of expediency. Lazarus was at the center of this story because he was at the center of the high priests deception. In giving life to Lazarus, our Lord’s life would be taken from him.

Why is the name of Lazarus used in this story, the only story where a proper name is used? Because Lazarus was not actually Jesus’ death sentence – it was ultimately the death sentence of Caiaphas, the high priests and Jerusalem. The high priests would be judged by their treatment of Jesus – not in their lifetime – but historically and eternally. Dives would be judged for his treatment of Lazarus – also not in his lifetime – but eternally through this parable.

What judgment will be used against me? Will I someday be judged for my choices of self-aggrandizement and expediency like the wealthy priests of Jerusalem? Will I someday be judged for my self-importance and disregard like Dives? Or, will I have the sense to use my purple robe to warm Lazarus and my linen for his bandages?

LUKE 16:22-24

[22] “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. [23] “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. [24] “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ [25] “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. [26] ‘And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’”

“Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus...”

The implication of this story is stark and clear. Salvation, laid less than one act of mercy away from Dives, yet he never took the invitation to right the wrong on his own doorstep. Now he had all eternity to explain why he was too busy, had too many other pressing matters or deserved to enjoy his wealth and not help others.

 However, none of those statements would save him now. He was in continual “torment,” the word used is “basanos’ [G931]” and was literally a dark stone used for testing the quality of metals. Lazarus was Dives’ touchstone and he had been found lacking.

 Even in death, Dives still didn’t “get it.” In his thirst, he wants Abraham to command Lazarus to fetch water and bring it to Dives.

 Everyday of his life, Dives had the chance to prove his metal against a touchstone — the suffering of Lazarus. Death did not alter his attitude; it merely eternalized it. Dives dug the chasm between Hades and himself everyday that he turned away from justice and deceived himself about his own values. Dives didn’t fall into hell; he slipped into it day by day for years.

 Everyday we are provided with opportunities to “test our metal.” Our daily paths are filled with touchstones, opportunities to build a bridge or a chasm between Lazarus and myself. Which one will it be?

LUKE 16:27-31

[27] “And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house – [28] for I have five brothers – in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ [29] “But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ [30] “But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ [31] “But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”

“They will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.”

Dives had every chance to choose mercy and he walked by it until it became invisible to him. Didn’t the brothers of Dives step around or over Lazarus on their way to family parties? They had the law, they had the prophets and rather than being moved to compassion they turned away from mercy. A good haunting by Lazarus would not convince the brothers – it would simply be passed off as indigestion or a bad dream.

 Because we do not know the exact timing of when this story was told (before Lazarus was raised or after); we do not know if this story was a prophetic warning or a statement of judgment. The religious leaders had either seen or would see Lazarus return from the dead and his presence would not convince them of Jesus’ claims; rather, the Sanhedrin would use it to condemn the Lord.

 They had seen the miracles of Christ; they had heard the preaching of Christ and studied the writings of the prophets and the law. Rather than opening the door to compassion, they slammed the door to salvation. Lazarus walked among them, Lazarus returned from the dead, and Lazarus became their touchstone. They had every sign of salvation laid before them and they still chose self-deception.

 We have every sign too. We have the scriptures, we have the Messiah and we also have Lazarus. We have every tool needed to make the choice and we must get it right. However, let’s be clear about the choice!

 The choice isn’t to view all the evidence and decide whether we will call Jesus the Messiah or a fake. How ridiculous it would be to walk away from this story with that conclusion! Jesus is still Lord whether I believe it or not. The choice Dives made incorrectly was to leave Lazarus at the gate. The choice for me is whether or not I will take off my purple and linen garments to cover and care for the Lazarus at my gate.