Wednesday, September 28, 2011

What Jesus Said about Your Money, Part 9 of 31

GUEST: Jeff Manion

TEXT: "He also said to His disciples: 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." Then the steward said within himself, "What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" And he said, "A hundred measures of oil." So he said to him, "Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty." Then he said to another, "And how much do you owe?" So he said, "A hundred measures of wheat." And he said to him, "Take your bill, and write eighty." So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light'” (Luke 16:1-8).

IDEA: How we think about what we possess will change how we use what we possess.

PURPOSE: To get listeners to think of themselves as stewards of God’s gifts.

Imagine that you were given $10,000 to spend within the next 12 months. After that time, you’d lose what you didn’t use.

What would you do?

How would you spend it?

Imagine that you were given $10,000 to spend within the next 12 months, but you had to invest it for the benefit of Jesus Christ and for Christ’s cause. At any time you misused it, it would be taken away from you.

What would you do?

How would you spend it?

Would it all be spent on “religious” activities?

Would there be any difference between your two lists?

Jesus told about a man who faced that challenge:

“There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’ So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:1-8)

The manager “wasted” what was entrusted to him.

What do you think he did to waste it?

If we are “stewards” of what God has given to us, how can we waste what we handle?

Does it help you to think of yourself as a “manager” of what has been given to you?