Remember What Lasts
Text: Luke 16:1-9
In the
name of Jesus: Amen.
The
parable from our Gospel reading in Luke has to be one of the most difficult parables
to understand. That stated; we get a
little help from Jesus at the end of our reading where Jesus wraps everything
up, saying,
“And I
tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that
when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
But even this explanation leaves us asking some tough
questions. For example:
Why is wealth
unrighteous?
When does wealth fail?
And:
Who are these friends who
welcome us into the eternal dwellings?
Indeed, these are tough questions. Therefore, let us take some time to consider
them a bit more.
First, ‘unrighteous wealth.’ What does this mean?
Martin Luther once stated that the wealth in this Gospel
reading is called “unrighteous” simply because we so often use wealth in
unrighteous ways. Consider greed for a
moment. Greed comes about when we take
unbelief and mix it with wealth and sprinkle a bit of covetousness on top. In other words, greed makes wealth
unrighteous because our fists become tight with unbelief - we can’t let go of
money by giving it to others because unbelief says, “Who knows if there will be enough for tomorrow!” And then covetousness says, “You are right, greed! And we also need a new fancy widget to be
happy like the Johnsons down the street!”
Oh, dear friends, greed forgets the Old Testament lesson
about manna, how the Israelites would store up extra manna resulting in the
manna becoming full of maggots and beginning to smell. Indeed, greed goes the way of unbelief and
believes that there will never be enough in the future – that God will not
provide for us in the future, so we better get while the gettin’s good. And covetousness, well… covetousness makes
our eyes wander to other things and whispers into our ears, “Hold on to wealth, for you need that new
widget to be happy, whole, and secure!”
This is why the Lord’s Prayer teaches us to pray for “daily”
bread. That is to say; we pray for our
daily needs, not tomorrow’s bread, or next week’s bread, or next year’s bread. We pray for the basic necessities right
before us today, trusting that the Lord is the giver of all good things and
will sustain our bodily life by giving us ‘daily,’ the air we breathe, the
water we drink, the food we eat, the homes that shelter us, and the government
that protects us.
You see, there is great silliness in thinking that life is
all about accumulating stuff. All too
often, people learn this the hard way.
They believe bigger is better, so they get and get and get more
stuff. They buy so many things that they
have to buy bigger things to hold smaller things. And in the end, when they are dying, they
can’t take care of the big and small things that they have gotten. So, they are burdened with the struggle of
trying to get rid of these big and small things, because they know that they
can’t take it with them!
We forget our Lord’s words that life does not consist in
the abundance of one’s possessions. Even
the world realizes the foolishness of this way of thinking when bumper stickers
read: “He who dies with the most toys
still dies.”
But I wonder if the Lord calls it “unrighteous wealth” not
merely because of our bad use of it, but because wealth fails to make it into
the Kingdom of God? Keep in mind that
the Kingdom of God is not a new Mercedes, a gold Rolex, and an impressive
401K. No, the Kingdom is righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:7).
You see, what will make it into the Kingdom of God
is people - people who surround us all the time. People who stand in various kinds of need. People whom we can bless in countless ways
are what and who will make it into the Kingdom of God, not our meaningless
stuff.
Remember the dishonest manager from our parable? He was commended – not for his dishonesty –
but for his SHREWDNESS, his single-minded dedication to improving his
situation. He saw what was coming in the
future, and he made plans for people to welcome him when he lost the funds that
he once had management of. You see,
those funds would not be following him into the future; he would lose them
all. But the people to whom he showed
kindness and goodwill to – the people who benefited from his generosity would
be! He made friends by the means of his
stuff for he knew that friends would remain even when his stuff was gone.
Do you see Jesus’ point?
He says that even pagans seem to get this. And sometimes they get it more than us Christians. In other words, pagans can figure out that we
can’t take this stuff with us when we die, so why do we struggle so much with
this as the enlightened baptized?
Dear friends, your wealth will not make it into the
kingdom. There will not be any stock
portfolios, no dollar bills, no fat checking account, and no wallets. You exit this world as you entered it:
naked. You carry nothing out with you.
But on that Last Day, remember that you will be surrounded
by all the dead that the Lord will raise, and many of them will be people you
knew, people whose paths you crossed somewhere in this journey of life. They will be there with you.
And so, invest in your future, Jesus says. Invest in these brothers and sisters in
Christ – those who will be with you at the great last day.
Baptized Saints, it is quite simple! Look around in this church. These are your brothers and sisters in Christ
who will be with you at the great eschaton.
They are your brothers and sisters who will be with you for
eternity. Therefore, you get to love
them now! Share with them! Give to them!
Grab the dinner check from them; wrestle the check out of their hands! Buy them a great gift. Spoil them on their birthday, for these are
the people who will be with you in glory.
You cannot take your wallets with you into the Kingdom, but your brother
and sister in Christ? They will be with you in the Kingdom of God! And in the Lord’s Kingdom someday, with joy,
you will see them and you will both dance as they throw their arms around you
and welcome you into the Kingdom of God.
After all, dear Baptized Saints, that is exactly what the
teller of the Parable did. Jesus noticed
His neighbor – that would be us – in our need, and He didn’t count a single
thing that was His as His own, but He gave up everything that He had to
befriend us, to care for us, to provide us with that heavenly home.
And Jesus not only gave up all that was His, but He assumed
all that was ours – not only our flesh and blood but also the horrible debt of
sin – and He paid it as His own, with the righteousness that was His alone.
His cross is where He has made Himself friends for century
upon century. And He invites us into
this same way of living. He shows us
that giving up everything – even life itself – for the service of others is
what love does.
And the wonderful thing about love is that death cannot
destroy it – His love proved stronger than the grave. And He rose again to be the first to welcome
home His many friends into the eternal dwellings He prepared for them.
In His Supper today He reaches to you with the fullness of
that love, forgiving your sins – even those where you have used wealth unrighteously
in greed and covetousness. And in the
Holy Supper, He strengthens you to believe that a life lived in service to your
neighbor is the only sort of life that is worth the living. Because your neighbor in Christ – not stuff –
will be in glory with you!
Baptized Saints, remember what lasts and what doesn’t, and
by the grace of the Holy Spirit, use the stuff that doesn’t last to bless the
people that do last.
In the
name of Jesus: Amen.
Portions of the sermon
are indebted to Rev. Will Weedon’s sermon on Luke 16:1-9.
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