Welcome to Truth for Life, where today we begin a study in the Gospel of Luke. We're going to take a look at some of the lessons and parables Jesus shared with his disciples as they traveled toward Jerusalem. Alistair begins with a parable that at first glance can seem puzzling, maybe even unsettling. We're studying in Luke's Gospel at the moment here at Parkside, and we have come to the 16th chapter, and we're going to read from there now. Luke chapter 16.
And we'll read from The first variance. Jesus told his disciples there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
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 my manager any longer. 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. I know what I'll do so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.
So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, How much do you owe my master? Eight hundred gallons of olive oil, he replied. The manager told him, take your bills, sit down quickly and make it 400. 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. 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. I tell you Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves.
So that when it is gone, You will be welcomed. into eternal dwellings. Father, as we seek your heart, thank you that we don't have to wonder where we should go. But we take our Bibles and we open them. And we discover that you have introduced your heart to us.
In the pages of your word.
So we pray now. that you will give us grace that we might understand. That in understanding we might obey, that in obeying we may make amazing discoveries. of the immensity of your love and provision for us. as we ask this in Christ's name.
Amen. I hope that you found it a little unsettling to read through these verses. Because I don't see why I should find them unsettling on my own. And I'd be greatly concerned if I was the only one unsettled by them. Lensky, a Lutheran commentator, says, no other parable has caused.
as much perplexity and has received as many interpretations as this one. And when you take a pause for a moment and allow your eye to scan it again. you can begin to understand just why that is.
However, as in each instance, we will be greatly helped by reminding ourselves always. that the main things are the plain things, and the plain things are the main things. that the Bible has not been given to us as a series of riddles to solve. But rather, it has been provided for us in such a way that by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit and the careful use of our minds, we would be able to understand what God is saying to us. Jesus is in the course of telling stories.
Parables are the word that we often use. He has just in chapter 15 brought his listeners along with three stories of lostness. Lost sheep. A lost coin and two lost sons. Luke tells us that he expressly addresses his disciples now as he goes on to tell them a further story about a rich man who had a business.
whose manager was found not to be towing the line. And this morning we are going to look at these first nine verses. They are directly related to what precedes and follows it, but our time will be such that we'll only be able to get to about the ninth verse. The story is a good one, it's a clear one.
Someone had obviously spilled the beans. This man in verse 1 was accused of wasting his Hmm. his uh owner's possessions.
Somehow or another, this information had got back to the owner. Uh somebody had been this man's accuser and the word had got blank. The manager was doing what the prodigal son had done. with the possessions that had been given to him by his father. You remember in chapter 15, the younger son got together all he had.
And set off for a distant country, and there he squandered or wasted the wealth that had been given to him. We turn the page and here is another individual who is squandering and wasting wealth. which does not belong to him. There's no immediate indication that the manager was involved in dishonest dealings. It may be simply that he was irresponsible with that which had been put into his care.
All of you who are in business know that all delegation involves risk. You pass on to the charge of others responsibilities, and they do not always treat them in a responsible fashion. Perhaps the man was peculiarly extravagant, Maybe he was pushing the limits just a little in terms of the expense account that he'd been allowing to himself and some of the other people that were employed in the business. And eventually somebody had blown the whistle, had gone into the owner and said, you know, I think that it's probably a good time for you just to call in Joe and ask him just what he's doing here in relationship to your accounts. And so that's exactly what happens, verse 2.
So the rich man called him in, and he asked him. What is this I hear about you? Give me an account of your management. You're fired. It's a very brief meeting and a very clear meeting.
I want you to answer this question. I want you to close up the books and get them ready for your successor because you're not going to be here much longer. Only those of us who have experienced getting fired will fully appreciate the impact of this brief meeting. I'm not going to ask for a show of hands of all who have been fired in their life. But I would imagine that it would be a fair assembly.
Some of you who come and ask me, did you ever have a job before you started doing what you do? I can't imagine that Everight works. Um assuming that this is of course not work and uh that I could ever have been fired. But I did work a little and I was fired. I'm not proud of it, but I'm not sure.
I was fired for wasting possessions. Not stealing possessions, but wasting them. I can't go into all the details now. I may have told some of you before, but I was gainfully employed after school in a supermarket in the small town in Yorkshire in which we lived. And I had a responsibility peculiarly for the cheese.
It was a very high, high-ranking job, as you can imagine. And uh suitable to my gifts and uh intellect and uh On Saturdays, my friend and I, a guy called Warren, we would slice up large blocks of cheese. We would uh weigh them, we would wrap them in cellophane, we would uh put stickers on them and the way that you sealed the back of them was in putting them in a hot pad, and then you attached the the sticker which bore the weight and the price by means of the same hot pad. If one was less than diligent, it would be possible to leave the cheese on the hot pad for a little longer than is beneficial. And uh On a Monday afternoon, I arrived to fulfill my obligations to be met by a very stern-faced manager who was rooting around in the cheese cabinet.
And he said, look at that. and he began to turn the cheeses over and they'd begun to become toasted cheese on the back. Uh where I had left him. And it just struck me as incredibly funny. Which uh Which was not the response he was looking for.
And so we had a verse to encounter. And within ten minutes I was up the road to Woolworth's. Uh looking for another job. Because I knew if I went home without a job, I'd get killed, and so I I had another job before I went home. which actually paid Um half a crown more.
Which was uh Uh uh it was a I regard it as an immense triumph. But anyway, we're far we're far from the point now. Except to say those of you who've been fired will remember this kind of experience. I need to talk with you, and before you get a chance to say very much, you're out the door and you are on your way.
So the man, confronted by this change in his circumstances, Is fairly astute. He has been living a life of plenty and presumably of ease. It would seem that he had a pretty good job, and now he sees no chance. Of accepting the strenuous activities of digging ditches, and he certainly doesn't want to be humiliated by going out into the community to stand with a begging dish.
So he says, I'm not going to go out and dig. I'm not strong enough to dig. It may be that he was strong enough, but just was downright lazy, and I'm far too ashamed to beg.
So, quick as a flash, he comes up with a plan. He says, I know what I'm going to do. My job is finishing here.
So, what I'll do is I'll contrive an opportunity whereby I can put people in my debt. And as a result of that, then I'll be able to draw in the chips as I need them, and I'll be in fine shape, even though I'm not going to be working here for the rich man any longer. He's going to need friends, his circumstances are about to change, and his lifestyle with it.
So he devises this scheme. You see it unfold there. Jesus is telling the story. You can imagine that the disciples are listening with great care, as I noticed one or two of you are. And he called in each one of his master's debtors.
Apparently, he did this one at a time. What we have here, I think, is illustrative of a much larger number that would have come through. It's possible that the man only had two debtors. I think this is probably just illustrative. But he asked the first one, How much do you owe my master?
Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.
Well, the manager said, Why don't you take your bill, tear it up, let's write another bill, you sign it, and just do it for 400. You can imagine the guy saying, This is my day, this is a great day. And uh And he said, fine. And to the second, how much do you owe? 1,000 bushels of wheat?
Well, he said, take your bill, make it 800, tear it up, rewrite it, sign it, and we'll just process it from there.
Now, we needn't assume that these individuals were. uh immediately assuming that the man was up to his tricks. Because in reading a little of the background of this time, It was customary for notes to be changed. The reason they would be changed would be because of essentially a slide in the currency. But actually, if you like, the value of futures.
Or, if you like, that the crops were not as good as they had anticipated. And in order to keep the processes of business flowing along, sometimes as a strategic act, the rich man would say, look, rather than everybody go belly up, what we need to do is rewrite these bills so that we can keep everything going along. Those of you who are in business understand that kind of thing.
So it may well be that that was the thought on the part of these individuals. It doesn't really matter, but it's just to point out that we don't have to malign them in the process. The result was that either way The owner was caught. And so in verse 8 we read this staggering statement that the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.
Now, this is the first point at which our antenna goes up because we say, Well, wait a minute. You would think that he would have gone stark raving mad and started running around the office and throwing things and saying, You rascal and everything else. But you know, I've discovered that businessmen, that entrepreneurs appreciate an entrepreneur. Even when the entrepreneur gets them. And this guy had some entrepreneurial skills.
I mean, this is a pretty good turnaround from a dreadful situation, isn't it?
Now there would be a real problem for us in terms of biblical ethics if Jesus was telling a story in which verse 8a read, the master commended the dishonest manager on account of his dishonesty. But it doesn't say that. It says that he commended him. Albeit He was dishonest in his dealings, but he commended him for the fact of his shrewdness. Because what this chap had done was to Contrive a circumstance in such a way working separately, destroying the old, involving these individuals in the new situation, depriving the owner, the rich man, of the necessary proofs and the necessary witnesses That would have been the basis for a legal proceeding.
He pretty well banked against the wall. And you can imagine him sort of rocking back in his chair in the office and saying, You got me. And then saying to himself, you know, that was pretty clever. That was pretty good. He got me good.
And walking out of his office and saying, you know, the manager that I just fired. Is one of the craftiest crooks that I've ever met in all my business dealings. In the same way as I told some of you before, I'm at the stage now of repetition, it's dreadful.
Someone says you've been at that stage for at least 10 years, but I'm aware of it now. in a way that I wasn't before. At least I think I am. Yeah. Um The story of the of the of the the thieves in Liverpool, remember?
Who stole the car from outside the house? Gave it back three days later, all nicely washed. With on the dashboard a little note saying thank you for the use of your car. Why don't you and your wife? Go to the theater.
Use the tickets enclosed. And while they were gone to the theater, they burgled the house. You say that's pretty good. It's bad. It's dishonest.
We're not commending the dishonesty, but we're saying, in terms of, if you want to look in terms of resourcefulness, in terms of theft, this is pretty good. I mean this is a cut above banging people over the head with a with a with a with a with a piece of piping or something.
Now that's this that's the whole point here. The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. He is not commending him for his dishonesty, he is commending him for his shrewdness. Incidentally, remember, Jesus was quite keen on shrewdness. In fact, in Matthew chapter 10, he says to his disciples, I want you to be as shrewd as snakes.
and as harmless as doves. In other words, I want my followers not to be the kind of people that kind of walk around with their mouth wide open, just swallowing anything that is going around, but I want my followers to be shrewd, to be wise, to be skillful. And in case that should take them into the realm of dishonesty or unloving activity, it is counterbalanced by the fact that we are at the same time to be as harmless as doves.
Well, this guy was as shrewd as a serpent, but he was not as harmless as a dove.
Now, it is at this point that Jesus apparently breaks into the story. At the end of the first sentence in verse 8, the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.
Now, the disciples are probably saying to themselves, I wonder what happens next? Because this is a pretty good story. In fact, it's a very good story.
Now we have Jesus And he makes this observation. For the people of this world, he says, are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. The people of this world Are expert at gaining advantages for themselves while often remaining undeterred by their consciences or by moral considerations. Incidentally, we shouldn't miss The contrast which is set up in this sentence by Jesus. The contrast that exists between the people of this world and the people of the light.
Who are the people of this world? All the people in the world. For we are born into the world. We're born into the world with a moral propensity that takes us to ourselves rather than to God. That seeks to secure our own benefit rather than the benefit of others, and that even when we do our best to be kindly, it is often an indication of our own selfish preoccupations.
Dreadfully honest.
So to be in the world is to be a child of the world. We're born in sin and were shaped in iniquity.
Well then who Are the people of the light? And how does somebody cease to be described under the category of the people of the world and now find ourselves described under the category of the people of the light? Oh, remember, Jesus said in John 8:I am the light of the world, and he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. In other words, the darkness of our existence as it is represented in sin. Needs to be transformed by our becoming the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we begin to follow him when we understand who he is and why he's come. This Lord Jesus came to die upon a cross. Not to put together a religious club, but to call sinners to himself. And when a man or a woman has this truth dawn upon their mind, In such a way as to make them understand their need of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then they cry out to him for mercy and for forgiveness.
And although they continue still to live in the world, They are no longer of the world. Because being placed now in Christ, He who is the light, they have become People of the light. That is why Jesus has so much to say and the New Testament has much to say to the people of the light about the incongruity of declaring ourselves to be people of the light and then walking in darkness. For example, in 1 John. If we walk in sin and we say we're the people of the light, then we confuse everybody, not least of all ourselves.
We noticed that just in passing. It is a very important point because some of you are here this morning and you may never have come to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. And you may not like the designation of yourself. But you would see that this is one that Jesus is using, not something that we have contrived. We are either this morning people of the world.
Or we are by God's grace today people of the light. We need to think that out.
Now it is in this contrast that then Jesus makes this observation. The people of the world, in their normal everyday routine, are often far more shrewd in dealing with things. than are the children. of the light.
Now, we can leave that sit just as it is, but I think it's perhaps helpful for us to think out just how that might be. This is a fact that Jesus is stating here. It's not uh a conjecture on his part. In reading a commentary that goes back at least 150 years from Scotland. The commentator said that there were four key areas in which he could see indications of this fact.
I want just to mention them to you again as we proceed to the point of application. In what way are the people of the world more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than our people of the light? The observations of this Scottish minister were: number one, in their ingenuity of contrivance. I am using the phrase that he used. Most of us need a dictionary now to find out what his first point was.
Such as the demise of the English language. But what he's saying is that when sinful people set about to contrive a strategy They tend to be far more ingenious in their methodology and in their application. Than the average half a dozen Christians getting together to devise a plan for reaching the world for Jesus Christ.
Now it may not strike us as a very nice observation, but it is the observation that is made first by Jesus. If the average business took as much raw material to get as little return as the average local church does on the basis of 12 months, it would deserve to be completely bankrupt. Let's just apply it as straightforwardly as we can. You think of all the people that come through our doors here. All the visitors today and last week.
And the week before that, the hundreds and thousands of people that have passed through here as visitors. All in business terms, potential clients. If we simply were an organization that had a product to sell, and we had the opportunity to bring people in. uh at such in phenomenal levels We really should be hung up for missing the opportunity in the way that we continue to do. They say, but it's not a product and we're not trying to sell.
I understand that. This is an eternal issue. And the people of the world Are more shrewd in their dealings. With maxors that are completely earthbound, Than are the children of the light in dealing with matters that are of eternal significance.
So says Jesus. You're listening to Alastair Begg on Truth for Life. We'll hear more about Investing for Eternity tomorrow. I often mention that our mission at Truth for Life is to teach the Bible. We know that God works through the faithful teaching of His Word to bring unbelievers to saving faith, to strengthen believers, and to build up local churches.
Our mission is not only fulfilled through this daily program, but by making clear relevant Bible teaching available in other ways, such as through free multi-day reading plans, e-books, audiobooks, study guides. Today we're making Alistair's popular book titled Pray Big, Learn to Pray Like an Apostle available as an audiobook. You can download it for free, and it comes with a study guide. In the book Pray Big, Alastair gives us a model to follow. He examines the prayers of the Apostle Paul, and what you'll discover about Paul's prayers is that his focus wasn't on personal or temporary needs.
It was about building up God's kingdom. for the eternal needs of his followers. You can follow the same pattern and enhance your prayer life by praying with a larger vision and with greater confidence. Ask for your Pray Big audiobook along with the study guide. Again, it's available for free.
Go to truthforlife.org/slash Pray Big. By the way, the book is read by Alastair. Thanks for studying God's Word with us today. Tomorrow, we'll get some free investment advice. from Jesus himself.
The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
