Monday, October 3, 2011

What Jesus Said about Your Money, Part 12 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: To be shrewd means that we act with anticipation of the future.

PURPOSE: To get listeners to see the value of being shrewd.

Do you ever think of a “shrewd saint”? Does that sound like a put-down?

If it is an insult, then Jesus is responsible. That’s what He said should characterize His disciples. We read about this in Luke 16:1-8:

"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."

I. What does Jesus mean when he tells us that as "children of light," we should be "shrewd"?

This word is a key to the parable. It is important that we define it with some care.

The Greek word (phronimos) means “to act with foresight.”

It is used of men and women in different settings in the teaching of Jesus:

Matthew 7:24 - The wise (shrewd) man built his house upon the rock. What did he do that showed he acted with foresight, or was shrewd?

Matthew 25:1-13 - The five wise (shrewd) virgins made provision for their lamps. What did they do to demonstrate that they were shrewd?

Luke 16:1-8 - What is it about this manager that reflects that he is shrewd? He is a realist. He knows what awaits him in the future, and he does something about it.

While he was dishonest in his methods, he was honest with himself and about his situation. He faced up to the facts and acted on what he knew was about to happen.

II. Our image of the followers of Jesus may keep us from acting shrewdly.

We use words like “gentle,” “meek,” “loving,” “nice,” “patient,” kind,” etc. Those words are appropriate in describing the way we relate to other people.

There is another side that should balance these: realistic, astute, tough-minded, shrewd. These words describe how we relate to our circumstances.

Both are important to disciples of Jesus.