Luke 16

Read: Luke 16

In Luke 16, we have a couple of very interesting stories about money.  The first is somewhat difficult to understand. There is a manager who is squandering away his master’s possessions.  He was likely taking advantage of his master’s money for his own benefit. As a result his master fired him, but gave him time to get his accounts in order.  During this time he went to some of the master’s debtors who were also clearly very wealthy. The manager then offered to cut down some of their debt; he likely had a few things in mind when he did this.  First, giving a discount would have covered up some of his own squandering because it would have been harder to track. Second, forgiving their debt made his master look benevolent. If his master still fired him after that, people would think he was not so generous after all.  So basically, he was trying to keep his job or at least make friends with the other two guys so one of them might hire him to be their own manager.

Then skipping down to verse 19, Jeus talks about a rich man and a poor man.  The rich man spent his whole life living lavishly and selfishly while the poor man named Lazarus sat by his gate hungry and sick.  One day they both died; Lazarus went to Heaven and the rich man went to Hell. This passage doesn’t say anything about what these two believed.  Ultimately it is not your poverty that gets you into Heaven nor your riches that get you into Hell. It is Jesus Christ that gets you into Heaven or your own sinful stubbornness not to trust in him that gets you into Hell.  However, it is often easier for the rich to be stubborn and prideful while the poor tend to circumstantially be more humble. Regardless of that, we see that there is a Heaven and a Hell and the way we steward our resources and trust God impacts our destination.

So how do we apply these two stories?  Both the manager from the first story and the rich man from the second were using the things entrusted to them for personal gain.  Ultimately that didn’t go over very well for either man. Likewise, God has entrusted possessions to each of us. We can use what we have been given for ourselves or we can use it for God and others.  When we use it for others, we glorify our master in heaven and demonstrate his generosity to the world. In this season, it’s easy to find a lot of holiday sales and deals. It’s easy to even go into debt trying to get lots of nice things.  What are some ways that you could instead use some of what God has entrusted you with to help others? We cannot serve both God and money, so let’s look for ways to serve God this Christmas.