They say that the statistic for death is currently standing at 100%—for every one person who is born one person will eventually die. How does that statistic affect how we live? Does the fact that we every day we live is one closer to death affect how we use our possessions? Do we forget that we will not be able to take any of our money with us into eternity? However there are ways in which we can use what we have that will have an impact upon eternity. That is what we are thinking about as we study this morning’s passage. The Puritan Thomas Adams once said, ‘To part with what we cannot keep, that we may gain what we cannot lose, is a good bargain.’
1. Invest in life beyond death
On Tuesday morning, when I read this parable, I immediately thought of preaching on something else. Not because money is an awkward topic to talk about, but because this passage seems to be morally confusing. Jesus seems saying that we are to follow the example of someone he labels a dishonest manager.
But we are only to follow his example in one respect. We are not to follow his example by wasting his boss’s possessions, and so earning the sack. We are not to follow his example in deceiving his boss’s debtors. We are to follow his example in how he prepared for the future. He prepared for life beyond being sacked, we are to prepare for life beyond death.
This man said to himself, “My master is taking away my job.” He hadn’t many prospects for getting another job and was too proud to beg. So he uses his remaining time of influence to call in his boss’s debtors, offer them knock-down rates on their debts. He is winning people’s favour so that after his job has gone people will welcome him into their homes.
Jesus declares that the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light. When we see people who are determined to take care of their earthly well-being, we should be reminded to take care of our eternal well-being. When we see people making great plans for retirement before death, we should be reminded of our plans for eternity beyond death. Instead of storing up riches that will spoil and fade we should be storing up treasure in heaven.
At this stage I must warn those of you who have not yet taken up
your cross to follow Christ. Have you
made the basic preparation for life beyond death? Have you put your trust in the Jesus who takes
our guilt upon his cross, and so enables us to be reconciled to God and accepted
into his presence? At your funeral will
your loved ones be comforted by the belief that you have gone to be with
Christ, which Paul says is far better than life (Phil.
2. Invest in people for Christ
Kraft Foods has been in the news recently with regard to its takeover of Cadbury’s. The founder of Kraft, James L. Kraft, was a Christian. For many years Mr. Kraft made it his practice to give away twenty-five percent of his enormous income to Christian causes. On one occasion he spoke of his attitude to worldly wealth saying, ‘The only investment I ever made which has paid consistently increasing dividends is the money I give to the Lord.’
Jesus teaches something similar. ‘I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.’ Is Jesus telling us to buy friends? Is he saying that we can buy our way into eternity?
No! He is telling us that we are to use our possessions for the well-being of others, gaining friends as we care for their material and spiritual needs. Then it literally says ‘that they may receive you into eternal dwellings.’ This may be pointing to the reunion we will have in the next life. Think of the joy there will be when Christians, who in their giving shared compassion towards one another, are reunited for eternity. How glad we will be that we gave for the sake of others! Imagine someone coming up to you in eternity and saying, ‘the money you gave contributed to me being here, for I heard the gospel through that missionary you supported.’
As a church we want to minster to our members and seek to reach those who are not. One of the ways that we partner in this work is through our giving.
How generous are we with our possessions? When we sit down and think through our finances how much of a priority is giving to Christian causes? Have we ever had to go without something for the sake of our commitment to giving? Do we see our home as a fortress to guarantee our space or an asset that could be used to exercise Christian hospitality? Would we be willing to spend less on ourselves to care for a Christian in need? Have we allowed ourselves be excited about what God might do with money that we have given to missions?
We could make the same application to our prayer life. Don’t we believe that prayer makes a
difference? I love that description of
Epaphras who wrestled in prayer for those in the church in
3. Invest with a generous
heart
In the Law of Moses provisions were made for giving. We often refer to this as tithing. In particular we remember how the people were to give ten percent of their income. In fact they were to give more than ten percent when we factor in other offerings that were commanded. I don’t believe that tithing is commanded in the New Testament. Instead the Apostle Paul writes, ‘Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a generous giver’ (2 Cor. 9:7). It is between ourselves and God what we give!
There is actually a risk with tithing. The Pharisees were experts at tithing, but they loved money. We can think that if we give a certain percentage then we are free to do what we like with the rest. Notice, however, that Jesus refers to our worldly possessions as someone else’s property—the Christian should realise that all we have belongs to God and we should aim to please him with everything. We should be aiming to please Jesus in how we use all our money and possessions.
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
How we use our money demonstrates whether we are actually saved or not. Does our use of our resources show that we have taken up our cross and are following Christ? No matter how wealthy we are in this life, it is nothing compared to the riches that the Christian will be entrusted with in eternity. If we have simply lived for ourselves with the things of the world we will not be entrusted with the riches of heaven. We ought to be seeking to please Christ in how we spend every pound.
Maybe you are sitting here listening to a sermon on giving and you want to say, ‘I don’t actually have much to give.’ Don’t worry. God’s economics are different from the worlds. Though the amount may be little God rejoices in what you give out of your poverty. Think of Jesus’ words about the poor widow at the temple, ‘this widow has put in more than the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put all that she had to live on’ (Luke 21:3-4). God looks at the heart—we should be seeking to please him in how we use all of our possessions and all of ourselves.
Conclusion
Lynda Sittser concluded a letter to friends with a line that reflected her philosophy on life. She said, ‘I am trying to live my whole life in the light of eternity.’ Days latter a drunk driver crashed into their family car and Lynda died. Are we living our whole life in light of eternity? Her husband later wrote, ‘An eternal perspective will affect how we make choices. It stresses the important over the urgent, need over want, service over pleasure, people over things. A seminary professor told me just as I was beginning my first pastoral charge, “People and the Word of God are eternal. Most everything else in temporal. Make sure you invest in the eternal.”’
Imagine that we were to die one year from now. What would Jesus say about how we used our wealth in the twelve months between now and our death?
Is he likely to say, ‘I am so glad you saved hard to upgrade your car’, ‘I admire the fact that you always kept your wardrobe up to date’, ‘I thought it was a good idea to neglect family and church commitments to put in the hours to get that promotion’, ‘paying that more-than-a-little extra to go on that little more exotic holiday was a good idea’? No! None of these things, which are often such a priority to us, has any eternal significance.
But he might say, ‘I saw that money you gave to that Christian
friend you knew was struggling to make ends meet—what you did for him, you did
for me (Matt. 25:40)’, ‘I am glad you used your home to show hospitality to
others’, ‘I know you missed out on a pay up-grade because you wouldn’t
sacrifice your duties as a Christian parent’, and ‘the money your gave to
missionary work contributed to people who have come to me through the
gospel.’ On that day we will know which
investments have an eternal value!
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