Speaker 1: 0:00

With all that said, welcome to our online audience. My name is Stephen Pieth, lead pastor here at Madison Church. I want to ask you something kind of heavy this morning. I know it's early still, but we're going to start right off the blocks here going deep. If you knew your time was running out, you knew you only had 24 hours left to live, or you had until the end of the day how would you handle what's in your hands? How would you handle what's in your hands? How would you handle what's under your responsibility, your career, your finances, your relationships? Would you do anything differently if the expiration date was sooner rather than later? Would you invest more wisely or start to invest, I guess, last minute? Would you give more generously or start to give? Would you prioritize the people in your life over the possessions in your life, or start to? And, like I said, I know that's a deep question for a Sunday morning, but we're diving into Luke 16, and we're going to see that that's exactly where Jesus is taking us. He challenges us to think about, or challenges how we think about, wealth and faithfulness and eternity. And so if you have a Bible and you want to follow along with me, you can go to Luke, chapter 16. And today we are talking about what Jesus has to say about money and why it matters, not just for today but for eternity.

Speaker 1: 1:33

We're in the middle of a series called Life that Matters, and this is the 12-week kind of part of this series through Luke, on the latter part of Luke's gospel I mentioned last week. I think we're up to some 30 parts going through Luke, and so this is just where we are at today and throughout this series. What we've been really looking at with Luke is trying to show us is that true significance in our lives, where we find meaning and where we find purpose, isn't in accumulating more stuff, more of whatever the world values, but in following Jesus more deeply. We find a life that matters through discipleship, through loving one another, being on mission, and if you've been with us throughout this gospel of Luke, you know that Luke brings up money a lot. I swear I'm not doing this. This isn't me, I didn't write this gospel, I can't be responsible for this but as we're going through Luke, he brings it up a lot and if you caught onto that, good for you. You caught something that scholars note.

Speaker 1: 2:36

One third of Luke's gospel either directly or indirectly deals with wealth and possessions. That's more than any other gospel writer. Luke is highlighting this. Luke highlights Jesus's radical teachings on generosity, wealth and social justice, not just as economic principles. You know Luke's not coming out here and he's not trying to be an ancient Dave Ramsey or financial advisor or anything like that. Luke is recording what Jesus said because these things are spiritually important, because how we deal with money has an impact on our souls.

Speaker 1: 3:11

Our approach to wealth management is an invitation to deeper discipleship, and so, as we step into today's passage, let's wrestle with this together. And if Jesus is right about money and I'm inclined to usually believe what Jesus says what does it mean for us to live today? Well, we begin again in Luke 16, where Jesus tells a parable about a manager who has been careless. He's not really good at his job and this is actually affecting more than just him. It affects his master and his master's resources. Word gets back to the master that his steward has been wasting his money, and now the master does what any of us would decide to do If we were trusting someone with our wealth and money and they were doing their job very poorly they're going to fire him. We're going to find someone else to do this. And so, beginning in verse 1, jesus tells his disciples this story.

Speaker 1: 4:08

There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that that manager was wasting his employer's money. So the employer called him and said what's this? I hear about you. Get your report in order because you're going to be fired. You know, essentially, he's you got till the end of the day. I need to know what I have. Where are my assets? What do I own? What do I still have? Who are my contracts out with? I need to know where all my money is. And if you've ever been fired and I have you know that this puts you in a crisis. Right when you hear those words, you're done. You pack your bags, get the stuff turned in.

Speaker 1: 4:46

In this society, he wouldn't have really had a safety net. He didn't have a whole lot of skills to fall back on. The one thing he was supposed to be good at was managing someone else's money, and apparently he's really not good at that. If you read in verse 3, in his own words, he says I'm too weak to dig ditches and I'm too proud to beg. Those were almost the exact words I used when I was about to get fired, you know.

Speaker 1: 5:10

But instead of panicking, he comes up with a plan. He says, okay, like I have until the end of this day or this week or whatever, I'm going to get fired. And before anyone finds out that he's going to be fired, he goes around to all of the people who owe his master money. He calls them all up and he reduces what they owe. Hey, I know you owe 10,000, but what if we made it eight grand and just called it good? You know what I'm saying. Hey, I know you owe him 500, ones of these, but what if we called it like 400? And if you could get that in by the end of the day, we'll just call it good once again. Now that makes them super happy, because I mean, if your bank called you and said, hey, we're actually going to knock off a whole bunch on your loan if you can just get the money wrangled up in a certain period of time, you'd be like, yeah, what a deal. I love that. You'd probably recommend that bank to everyone. You wouldn't believe what my bank did. So now he has a whole bunch of favor. He has a whole bunch of favor with all of these people and so, as a result, when he's unemployed, these people will feel maybe obligated, but return the favor, they'll see him in a different light.

Speaker 1: 6:17

And now here comes the shocking twist of Jesus's parable. They usually end in a shocking twist. It says the rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. I love those words. Luke is like, he can be very articulate and then sometimes he's like this dishonest rascal. And it's true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. So, it says this rich man. He's like hey, I mean first off, jesus is not like commending fraud. Okay, so let's just get that out of the way right now. That's a very surface level reading. You're like oh so if I'm dishonest and I make a lot of money, like that's what Jesus is saying is okay, right, and that's not what he's saying. Okay, you're missing the point.

Speaker 1: 7:00

The master doesn't praise the dishonesty, but his shrewdness. He respects the wisdom and putting together a plan at the last minute to take care of his life after he is fired. He has this urgent reality and he responds wisely. Now, many listening to Jesus, these disciples who are hearing this parable. They would have understood the world of wealthy landowners and their financial stewards. A steward wasn't just an employee, but he really acted on behalf of the master. He was an extension of the master. When the steward spoke, it was under the authority and the responsibility of the manager. What the steward said was just as important as the master. And when he failed at that responsibility, what did he do? He didn't feel sorry for himself and he didn't throw his hands up and quit. He went around and made some quick deals. He's like I got to take care of myself. And again, this isn't about highlighting fraudulent behavior, okay, it's about highlighting wisdom.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Jesus says here's the lesson Use your worldly resources to benefit others and to make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won't be honest in greater responsibilities. The heart of Jesus' teaching here isn't just about wisdom, but it's about preparation. And just as the shrewd manager used resources to secure his future, disciples should use our resources in a way that secures eternity.

Speaker 1: 8:44

Now, I'm not saying you can buy your way into this. That's not what I'm saying. That's not what Jesus is saying either. You don't buy your way into salvation, but notice what Jesus does say. I don't know if you picked this up as I was reading it and reflecting it. Jesus throws a little shade at you and me. If you're a follower of Jesus in here, he throws a little shade at us. If you're not a follower of Jesus in here, you get a little bit of a pat on the back.

Speaker 1: 9:09

He says you know the people who aren't followers of Jesus. You know they're better at money than us Jesus' words. He says it right in here. He says those who live apart from God are often more strategic with temporary wealth than believers are with an eternal vision. It says non-believers they have no vision necessarily for the life after this one. It's just when you die, it's over. And look how smart they are with their money. You, on the other hand, you know that this life isn't the only one, and look how foolish you are.

Speaker 1: 9:43

And what Jesus is saying is this should not be. What he's pointing out is. This should not be. He's saying this is the way it is. And that might make us uncomfortable I get that, so it's not always easy looking in the mirror at ourselves. But Jesus says this is it, the reality is. And he drives home the point he wants his followers to get it.

Speaker 1: 10:02

He says no one can serve two masters for. And he drives home the point he wants his followers to get it. He says no one can serve two masters for. You will hate one and love the other. You'll be devoted to one and despise the other. And then he says, for example, you cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

Speaker 1: 10:21

And it's an interesting point to make, because in Jewish thought, wealth was never an end to itself. It wasn't about hoarding it, generational wealth or anything like that. They always saw wealth as something that God gave them and they were supposed to steward. How one managed their money reflected their character and their priorities. Jesus makes it clear Wealth and possessions aren't bad, but they're meant for kingdom purposes, not personal indulgences.

Speaker 1: 10:52

Faithfulness in the small things leads to greater responsibility. If we cannot be trusted with temporary wealth, how could we be trusted with eternal riches? Well, let's be clear. Money is not evil. Okay, money's not evil, but it's never neutral. Money always pulls at our allegiance. Where we direct our resources, where we point our money, what we invest in reveals where our hearts truly lie. Jesus's challenge is clear Do I, do you, do we in Madison, around the world, those of us who claim to follow Jesus? Are we stewarding what God has given us with eternity in mind? I know that when I approach my budget, I think about how much money I'm going to make, I think about all the bills I have to pay and as I reflect on this passage, I think at the top of my budget, before I write how much money I should make, I should write the question am I budgeting with eternity in mind? And if I began and end with that thought, how might my budget look differently than it does right now? Because, in the end, our faithfulness in handling earthly resources reveals where our trust truly is.

Speaker 1: 12:10

I can remember when Megan and I moved to Madison and we really wanted to buy a house I mean we want Madison to be our forever home we felt like God was calling us not to start a church. And then, you know, take a promotion elsewhere or move on elsewhere. I mean we really felt God called us to start this church and that we would be here until I died and you know, given that I'd never go to the gym and I like bourbon, we'll probably be soon. But we wanted to buy a house, we wanted to live in Madison, this was our home, we wanted to invest in this place. Now, how many of you have moved here recently and you know that the housing market's just a little expensive, right? Yeah, like everybody, right, and as you can imagine, being the pastor of a church that was just getting started and my wife, who's a teacher, we were not very competitive in our market in terms of purchasing anything. I don't even think we could have got a tiny home in someone's backyard. You know we couldn't do it, and so we prayed and we asked our small group to pray, and for those of you who have been at Madison Church for seven, eight years, you know that You've probably been a part of a small group in which you prayed that we would be able to buy a house.

Speaker 1: 13:15

Now I reflect on this and I remember what we were giving to Madison Church and I remember what we needed for a down payment for roughly what we could afford as a monthly. All we would have to do, megan and I was stop giving to Madison Church for one year, 12 months, just pause, just temporary the conviction that we had and in 12 months you don't need to pray about this, you can just buy the house. But we had already gone through something similar to this. We had already come to the point where it's like for Megan and I, we knew that actually wasn't a compromise we were willing to make. We weren't willing to compromise faithfulness, obedience, our walk with God for a house, even though we felt like God called us here. We felt like God wanted us to have a house. But we were not going to sacrifice what we had already agreed our conviction to give to this community, to get a house sooner. It took like seven years, guys. It took forever for us to get a house. It took a pandemic and it took some stimulus checks, but we finally got it at some point and we're pumped about it. But we never stopped giving to this community and that's what I think.

Speaker 1: 14:34

I use that as an example, not to pat myself on the back, not for you to think, wow, he's awesome, not at all but as a relatable story that, like I know the pain that comes with waiting. I know the reasoning in your mind where you're like I'm not going to stop giving forever, just for the next year. God wants me to take care of myself. Remember? I remember reasoning that I'm like God's like, bro, you don't have to pray about it, just save your money. So I was like, ah, I don't know if that's God or if that's me, and if that's me as God like, just save your money.

Speaker 1: 15:03

That's the first parable that Jesus tells in this, and then he's going to tell another one and it kind of comes. It's the same coin, but he's coming from the other side. Now, if this first parable was about faithful stewardship and using wealth wisely in light of eternity, this one is about being a bad steward. This one's about neglecting stewardship. Jesus begins by telling us there's a rich man who had every opportunity to do good. He had every opportunity to do good, but he ignored the suffering that was right in front of him, outside of his gated home you know, he lived in a gated community right there was a poor, sick man named Lazarus laying in misery. He longed for even a scrap from the rich man's table. He was hungry. He wasn't feeling good. The rich man feasted daily, wrapped in luxury. Lazarus starved, covered in sores, unnoticed and unhelped. This is the story Jesus is setting up. And yet, let's note, the rich man is not condemned for being wealthy, he's condemned for his failure to see the needs around him and to respond to the suffering appropriately.

Speaker 1: 16:11

And then Jesus' story turns. It says the poor man died and was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the heavenly banquet. The rich man also died and he was buried and he went to the place of the dead. Okay, contrast two different places One's with Abraham, heavenly banquet, one's with the dead. Contrast two different places ones with Abraham, heavenly banquet, ones with the dead.

Speaker 1: 16:29

And there, in torment, the rich man saw Abraham in the far distance, with Lazarus at his side. And the rich man shouted Father Abraham, have some pity, send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and to cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames. But Abraham said son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted and Lazarus had nothing. So now, here he is being comforted and you are in anguish.

Speaker 1: 17:04

It's after death that the roles of the rich man and Lazarus are reversed. It's Lazarus who is comforted and the rich man who is in torment, and this echoes, of course, jewish wisdom literature, where God humbles the proud and he lifts up the lowly. But Jesus isn't saying okay, don't mishear me please. Jesus is not saying that poverty guarantees salvation or that having wealth is sinful. That's not what Jesus is saying. He's not saying that having wealth is sinful and that being poor is somehow better. The issue in the story, it isn't money, it's what they did with it. The issue in your and my life, it's not money, but it's what we do with it. Earthly wealth means nothing if we don't use it for justice and compassion. Nothing if we don't use it for justice and compassion.

Speaker 1: 17:52

The parable took a dark turn. The rich man now in agony is begging Lazarus to warn his brothers so they don't end up in the same fate. He says please let Lazarus go back. Tell my brothers we screwed up, we messed up. Just have them go back and they'll change things. And Abraham's response is chilling. He says if they won't listen to Moses and the prophets, they won't be persuaded. Even if someone rises from the dead A little foretaste into what is to come in Jesus' own life, right, he's going to die on a cross. He'll be resurrected. People still won't believe it. He says just send someone back. I think we say that in 2025. Don't we know? People are like why doesn't God just say it? Abraham answers it. He says you know what? It's already happened, we've already talked about it. If they don't believe it now, they're not going to believe it then Now.

Speaker 1: 18:38

This parable shattered the assumptions of Jesus's audience, especially the Pharisees, because they they equated wealth with divine favor. If you were wealthy, it's because God loved you. God was showing that like, hey, this is a good person, this is a great investment. If you were poor, if you were disabled, well, god must have cursed you. Your family must have done something wrong. But Jesus makes it clear that what you do with whatever wealth is in your possession matters more than how much of it you simply possess. Wealth can blind us to the needs of others and deafen us to the voice of God. It's a warning, and if we ignore God's word, no sign, no miracle is going to change our hearts. We have what we need already right in front of us or at our fingertips. Let's make it clear that this parable isn't just about money. It's about awareness, responsibility, it's about eternal consequences. Are we seeing the needs around us or are we too comfortable to notice?

Speaker 1: 19:46

I think at times the reason we didn't really give a whole lot of thought to pausing or giving to buy a house comes from a story like 20 years ago when Megan and I first got married and we were super, super, not doing great financially. Our monthly income was about $1,500, $1,000, $1,500. I was working as much as I could work, megan was full-time at school. She has a work study which limited her to like six hours a week or whatever, and we were bringing in a ton of money. And so, for those of you who are in a similar position now, you know what I'm about to say. We paid bills based on who had the bigger late fee. We didn't have enough money to pay all the bills every month. So we would sit down and we would say, well, this one's 35 bucks, this one's 20 bucks, let's pay the one that has the $35 fee, not the $20 fee, because we'll have to pay for that later.

Speaker 1: 20:39

A hot date for Megan and I I write about this in a book I wrote but a hot date for Megan and I was when our father-in-law, ray. He would send us some money and and it was like 20 bucks and we would go to the Little Caesars and they had the $5 hot and ready. Right, not good and delicious, hot and ready. Those were the two promises they made. It was going to be there when you walked in and it would still be warm, and then we'd go right next door in the same building. For some of you remember this, it was a family video, our little romance alive and I don't know how much romance is alive after a Little Caesars pizza and watching some Nicholas Sparks movie.

Speaker 1: 21:16

But that's where we were at, that's what we were doing, and I remember thinking, I remember feeling very deeply convicted, going over a passage like this and being like God, how can I give? We can't even pay the people we owe money to. And I remember just had this deep conviction which was like God's like, do you trust me or not? Do you think I can do something with this if you would just trust me? And I'm like no, I mean like honestly, that was it. No, I don't trust that. I'm a reasonable person, I'm a logical person. It makes no sense that if I already don't have enough money to give more away, god, don't you want me to be responsible? I reason Again. This is me reasoning.

Speaker 1: 21:59

But it got to the point where Megan and I were just so depressed and unhappy with our financial situation so, like, just tired of everyone. Like all those late bills you ever get yeah, for some of you, you know what it's like You're getting that. You see that email pop up from Capital One. Or you get that letter from Chase and you get the anxiety attack. You don't even know what they want, but you know it's not good. They're not telling you they increased your limit, okay, like they're not sending you money back. Hey, guess what? You overpaid? No, not that.

Speaker 1: 22:24

So we would have those panic attacks and I just remember being like I hate the way we live right now. Something's got to change. So we're going to put our trust in God. And it was through there. We started giving and weird stuff happened. God did provide for us. I don't want to over spiritualize it, but I can just tell you from my experience when we got faithful to giving to our local church community, which wasn't a lot, but when we got faithful, things started to change for us. Even if it started with anxiety and we get those bills in the mail, there'd be a little less of a panic attack. We just kind of were hey, we're trusting God, we're investing in things that matter. If we couldn't do that then we wouldn't have said no to a house later on when it was right in front of us. Megan and I had to be faithful in the little stuff first before we could be faithful in the bigger stuff. Jesus will absolutely.

Speaker 1: 23:13

Especially, you're an American. Most of you are, if not all of you watching or listening Americans. We have a ton of wealth, especially compared to the world's standards. We have a ton of wealth here. Even the poorest one in here. You're doing pretty good by global standards and if we talk about the history of the world, you are the 1% of the history of the world. You're 1% of the current world. That's us. So I know when you look around in Madison and housing's expensive and you have a ton of student loans and you're barely getting by and making those minimum credit card payments, it definitely can feel like we read ourselves in the story as Lazarus and in our culture that's appropriate to do. You can absolutely resonate with Lazarus, but let's also be humble enough to recognize that globally, in the grand scheme of things, globally, in the grand scheme of things, we're the rich man. All of us are the rich man.

Speaker 1: 24:12

Let's take Jesus' warnings, his teachings, seriously about wealth, about stewardship, about eternal priorities. Let's learn from him. Let's ask ourselves this morning who do we really serve? Do I serve God or do I serve money? What do I spend more time thinking about, worrying about? Am I living for eternity, or just this week, or just this year? These aren't theoretical topics that really do shape how we live, how we spend, and if we give, money does reveal what we truly value, and so are we using what God has entrusted to us for his kingdom, or are we letting money control us? Let's talk about some discipleship challenges to help us cultivate a life that matters.

Speaker 1: 25:04

In Jesus's time, wealth was largely inherited and economic mobility was rare. You didn't get to just change your job, your career, mid-life. You didn't get to do that. Whatever your dad did good or bad news you're going to do it too. He's already paved the way, and so we're just going to continue to do that. But today, the financial systems have largely changed, but the principle still remains Everything we have belongs to God. 100% of what you have belongs to God. 100% of what you have belongs to God. 100% of the paycheck, of the car, of the house, of the PlayStation 5, whatever it is that you own 100% to God.

Speaker 1: 25:39

So first discipleship challenge is can we just acknowledge that? Can we just start there? Can we just acknowledge that everything I have belongs to God? Yes, you worked hard. Yes, you went to school. Yes, you were wise, but at the end of the day, it's God's. Let's let go of the illusion that wealth is mind control and instead of viewing wealth as personal security, god calls us to manage resources with his kingdom in mind. True disciples, true followers of Jesus, see money as a tool for eternal impact, not just personal gain.

Speaker 1: 26:18

Now, the next thing is that many in Jesus' time equated wealth with divine favor, whereas poverty was seen as a curse. And Jesus flips that teaching upside down, teaching that faithfulness is measured not by accumulation, but faithfulness is measured by generosity and justice. So when we look at our budgets, do we budget for generosity? Do we budget more for just accumulation? But is there something in your budget that's about justice? We just post about justice, we just wish our government did more for justice. Or do we individually say, hey, either they do or they don't. But I am Either they do or they don't, but I am Budget for generosity. Invest in people over possessions. This will require that you live a more simple life, but the way of Jesus is often simple Make financial decisions through the lens of eternal impact.

Speaker 1: 27:15

Faithfulness isn't about how much you have, whether you're a millionaire in here or your net worth is minus $300,000. Wherever you're at, faithfulness isn't about what you possess, but it's about what you do with what you have. And finally, in biblical times, caring for the poor was a societal expectation. Today, poverty is more hidden and responsibility is easily shifted to someone else Again the government or the non-profit organizations. It's someone else. But Jesus doesn't just condemn greed, he condemns indifference else. But Jesus doesn't just condemn greed, he condemns indifference. Jesus does not want you to be complicit. The rich man wasn't cruel. Did he do anything bad to Lazarus? He didn't help Lazarus, he was neutral. His failure wasn't malicious, it was just neglectful.

Speaker 1: 28:08

So we are called to not just give from a distance, but to personally engage with those in need. Who is in your life that this community cannot reach? Who is in your life that the government will not reach? Who is in your life that the nonprofits are unable to help? But you are in a unique position to do something to help. But you are in a unique position to do something. So will you look around and see the needs around you and will you respond and can you act personally, build relationships. Don't just donate from a distance. Generosity isn't just financial, it's relational.

Speaker 1: 28:49

Jesus' teachings in Luke 16 is not just about money. Jesus says who do you really serve? Is it me or is it the cash? Oftentimes, in my experience anyway, money wasn't the problem, it was my heart. It was the way I thought about things. My own insecurities, my own anxieties. These were questions about Stephen. Who do you trust? Will we let God use what he's given us for his kingdom or will we block him from using it for his kingdom? Randy Alcorn puts it this way God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of generosity. I like that, not so I can have a newer, nicer car, a bigger, better house, but so I can make a bigger positive difference for Christ and his kingdom.

Speaker 1: 29:42

Can you imagine what would happen if watching, listening online, this faith community, not all represented here we mentioned people not being here, not being sick, whatever If every single one of us took the talk from today and we took it seriously, like we took it to heart. We put our hand to the plow in biblical speak. Imagine being a part of a church that was so generous that people don't just hear about God's love but they experience God's love. A church that doesn't just talk about generosity, but a church that helps people experience generosity. Imagine having a church community in which the people sitting around us isn't carrying, or are not carrying, their financial burdens alone. That'll take all of us. It's not the responsibility of someone in here who's super wealthy. It's the responsibility of all of us. Imagine with me the responsibility of someone in here who's super wealthy. It's the responsibility of all of us. Imagine with me, if you will.

Speaker 1: 30:33

Madison Church had a fund that could help families put a down payment on their first home. Hey, I moved to Madison. I feel like God called me. Here I'm teaching, I'm doing this, I'm doing that. I don't make a ton of money. I really want to buy a house. I can't afford it. Madison Church has a budget for that, because when we come together, we help. What if we could help people pay down student loans instead of them just drowning in debt? What if we could help them do it? What if generosity wasn't just something that we talked about, but it was literally something that transformed lives, people, families in this space. I mean, that gets me excited, I get pumped about that. What an awesome thing that we could do together. And that's the invitation Not just to believe in generosity, not even just to practice generosity, but to embody it, because in the end, when we all have an expiration date, I pray for you. It's not the next 24 hours, but our faithfulness with earthly wealth reveals where our trust ultimately lies.