Luke 16

Jesus tells another parable revolving around squandered possessions as Chapter 16 opens, like in the story of the prodigal son that we just read. But when the "unjust servant" is found out, he doesn't throw himself on the mercy of his master. Instead, he hatches a shrewd plan (v. 3-4). Cleverly giving his master's creditors large discounts caused them to settle their debts and indebted them to him (v. 4). Despite the fraud, the master praised his shrewdness (v. 8). 

So, what was Jesus getting at here? Was he commending the behavior of this servant, who first mismanaged money and then stole from his master? Let's talk Sunday about what Jesus might be saying in verses 8 and 9. By the way, I don't think he is commending mismanagement and thievery, based on his critique of the servant's actions in v. 10-13. 

Those verses speak of being faithful in very little and much (v. 10) along with unrighteous wealth and true riches (v. 11). I'd like to hear your thoughts about what those things mean for us today. Do those statements apply to our lives? 

They are followed by a big bombshell (something Jesus drops every so often) in verse 13: You cannot serve God and wealth! We can see in the next verse that this is aimed at the Pharisees, but it's very important for us as wealthy Americans to hear. 

If you're devoted to God, it will affect your relationship to money. If you're devoted to money, it will affect your relationship to God. You may be able to have wealth (whether at the middle class level or at the billionaire class level) and still serve God. But it's very challenging, and it takes continual examination of your motives and attitudes. It turns out, though, that's what is needed in the daily life of repentance that Jesus calls us to.

Jesus continues with the challenging sayings as he takes on the scoffing Pharisees. Take verse 15 and think about your own life. What is "highly esteemed" by you, your peers or your parents? What does it mean that the things we value are "detestable" to God? And in verses 16 and 17, Jesus tells us that the gospel of the Kingdom has succeeded the Law and the Prophets. Yet, that doesn't mean any of it is going away. How should we understand this?  Should we be reading the Old Testament more often? Should we be following the extensive laws and rules it lays out? He goes on in verse 18, telling us in no uncertain terms that remarriage after divorce is adultery. Notice how it focuses this charge solely on the man.

The chapter ends with another parable (v. 19-31) that ties together the other two sections, condemning the Pharisees' love of wealth and money (v. 14) in a very graphic way. A man flaunts his wealth (v. 19) and ignores the poor and diseased Lazarus (v. 20-21). In the afterlife, their fortunes are reversed (v. 22-26). This is an illustration of Jesus' saying about serving God or wealth (v. 13). Serving God would have meant caring for Lazarus, but instead the rich man was "joyously" oblivious to his plight (v. 19-21). And Jesus uses father Abraham himself to repudiate the Pharisees' idea that the Law and Prophets alone could bring the patriarch's descendants to the point of repentance and salvation (v. 27-31).

This parable is loaded with interesting afterlife imagery. I would love to hear what you think of that aspect of the story. Let's see if we can get a handle on the picture Jesus creates here.