Luke 16:1-13
The Steward Who Failed
I hope you get the jest of the parable. A steward, one who was
given by his master a place of responsibility, was accused of wasting
his master’s goods. Maybe he had made some bad investments. Maybe
he neglected his duties. Maybe he just lived the good life at his
master’s expense. Whatever he had done, he was guilty and was about
to be found out. So he figured "in for a penny, in for a pound." He
decided to use his position to write off some the debt owed to his
master, hoping that would make him some "life-time" friends.
But this is an usual parable because in verse 8, when the master (who
is usually a picture of the Lord) finds out what was done, he does
not condemn the servant but commends him!
Luke 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust
steward, because he had done wisely….
But it gets even more unusual in that it appears in verse 9 as though
the Lord was telling the disciples that they needed to do that kind
of behavior too! That they needed to attempt to make friends with the
world and to expect to fail!
Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that,
when ye fail, they may receive you into
everlasting habitations.
Does Jesus want us to have a Plan B? Is it all right for me to
embezzle funds or to use my position in a shady way just in case I
don’t make it as a pastor or you don’t make it as a Christian?
Let’s gather 4 truths for this text.
I. There is to be no Plan B.
A. Jesus was NOT teaching His disciples to make friends with
mammon or to expect to fail.
B. How do I know that—especially since that is exactly what He
said? Because of what Jesus had already said.
Mr 10:21 Then Jesus…said unto him, One thing
thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou
hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross,
and follow me.
Luke 12:15 …Take heed, and beware of
covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in
the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luke 12:22 …Therefore I say unto you, Take no
thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither
for the body, what ye shall put on.
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is
more than raiment.
C. This is sarcasm or irony.
1. It is when you say one thing but mean the opposite.
2. For example: Jesus in speaking to Nathaniel
Joh 1:47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and
saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom
is no guile!
3. The truth was exactly the opposite of what Jesus stated.
4. Our problem we don’t typically think of God as being
sarcastic—but He was here.
D. Why?
1. \\#1\\ Jesus was speaking to the disciples on the road to
Jerusalem in and the cross.
Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples….
2. He wanted to get the disciples attention in order to some
truths across to them.
3. I’ll bet He got it.
a. What Jesus said was so opposite of what He would
normally say that the disciples probably did a
double take!
b. "What did He just say?" "Did I hear what I think I
heard?"
c. And so should we. This is important!
E. There is no Plan B in God’s kingdom.
1. We are not to think about failing or quitting or any such
thing.
2. To use a gambling term, the Christian life is an "all in"
lifestyle. We are going for broke. We either win and
rewarded by Jesus or fail miserably and have nothing.
3. However, our service for Jesus is not a gamble!
a. God has made it clear that He is not going to fail
us.
b. We need to be just as determined that we are not
going to fail Him.
c. This passage gives us the lessons we need to make
that desire come true.
II. Other truths:
A. Don’t Expect God to Bless Incompetence
Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is
least is faithful also in much: and he that is
unjust in the least is unjust also in much.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the
unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust
the true riches?
1. If you are going "all in" for Christ, you are going to
have to be honest and diligent.
2. In this parable, the steward was not faithful with what
had been placed in his charge.
a. From the parable, it appears that a large sum of cash
or perhaps some investments had been placed into his
care.
b. Instead of using his position to gain a return in his
master’s money, he used it to either "live the good
life" or to live the "lazy" life.
c. Because of that, he was about to lose his position—
maybe even his freedom.
3. Is there a lesson to be learned there? Yes! Several.
a. Don’t expect God to just give you any important
position. Go earn it.
b. Don’t expect God to start you at the top. Go earn it.
c. Don’t expect God to keep you if you get slack. Keep
earning it.
4. In Jesus’ challenge for us to be "faithful in unrighteous
mammon," some carnal Christian somewhere is going to
say…
a. "Ah-yah, I knew it. God wants me to take care of my
money. He is telling me that I can’t be trusted to
take care of spiritual things if I don’t take care
of my mammon."
b. No. Not exactly.
(1) He is telling us that we should not be dishonest
or even neglectful with our secular duties, but
Jesus was preparing the disciples to take care
of their treasures not their "trinkets!"
(2) Money, position, fame, materialistic possessions:
these are not our wealth but the weights that
tie us to a carnal and wasted life.
(3) The people who would think that way are the very
ones Jesus was trying to "shock" awake!
(4) What are the treasures? Two immediately came to
my mind.
(a) Your family is a true earthly treasure.
(b) The gospel is the greatest treasure that
every Christian has been given.
B. Bloom where your planted - even if it is in another
Christian’s vineyard.
Luke 16:12 And if ye have not been faithful in
that which is another man’s, who shall give you
that which is your own?
1. The steward does not get to make the decisions of his
stewardship.
a. In the parable, the man did not get to pick what he
was steward over.
(1) The master picked that based on his will and his
design.
(2) When it comes to our Master, God, He has designed
us for a place and a place for us.
b. By the way, sometimes the place God has put us is for
the purpose of completing His design for us.
2. There are no small fields of service in God’s kingdom.
a. Only small minds that do not want to serve where God
has placed them.
b. Some will not serve with or under another.
(1) That’s not your call!
(2) You call is to serve where God has placed you.
c. You do not have to be the pastor to serve God in a
church!
3. Find a place a bloom!
a. Get a spot and make that your spot.
b. Work it for Jesus like the people there will go to
heaven or hell based on what you do—because they
will!
c. And figure that when God wants you to be somewhere
else doing something else, He will move you there.
C. \\#13\\ You can only serve one master.
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for
either he will hate the one, and love the other;
or else he will hold to the one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
1. That is not someone’s philosophy. It is God’s declaration
of truth.
a. Jesus was teaching the disciples and us how NOT to
fail.
b. What is He saying?
(1) You won’t fail if you have one master.
(2) You won’t succeed if you have two.
2. What masters was Jesus talking about and who is He talking
about loving them?
a. It is pretty easy to pick out the masters Jesus was
referring to.
(1) He named them
Luke 16:13 …Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
(2) That would be God and the world or the world’s
goods and things.
b. And if we remember that Jesus was talking to His
disciples, it becomes easy to pick out who was to be
serving the masters.
(1) It would be Jesus’ disciples.
(2) It would also be us. We are Jesus’ disciples in
this age.
3. Jesus went further to tell us that we would end up hating
one master and loving the other one.
a. He made it very clear that that is what WOULD happen
not what MIGHT happen.
b. Jesus said the love and hatred shown will be very
volatile and evident.
(1) The words ""hatred" and despise" are strong
words.
(2) But it has been observation that most of us do
not see it that way.
(3) Most Christians do not see their love for "having
the nicer things in life" and "working hard to
have them" as a demonstration of hatred or
despising God.
(4) But then again, we are not the ones being
replaced by expensive cars, trips, and a
lifestyle of things.
This parable was given by Jesus not to encourage failure but to teach
us how NOT to fail. Let it be the parable that moves us to success!
<Outline
Index> <Close Window>
