Today we will be reading from Luke 16:10-18:

¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,  who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”  ¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵ So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts, for what is prized by humans is an abomination in the sight of God.

¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets were until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is being proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force.  ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.

¹⁸ “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

For some reason, those of you who received Rooted through text didn’t get last Friday’s, so I wanted to give you a link to it because this passage is part two of what we read last Friday. You can read Fridays by clicking here.  

What do we see in the previous passage?  We see someone “faithful with dishonest wealth.”  The manager in the text above takes the things of this world and makes a way forward for himself. He serves the greater purpose, not the wealth at hand.  

Jesus tells us we can’t serve two masters, God and money. We can only serve one.  As Christians, we can’t serve God and money; we can only serve God.  We use money as a tool in our service to God, but money is not the purpose for which we exist.  God is. 

Let me say that again. Money is not the purpose for which we exist for. God is.  

The manager above, he used the money at his disposal for a greater good, and he wound up being commended by his boss.  He was faithful with the things of this world, so he would be faithful with the things of God. 

How do we use the things of this world?  How do we use our resources?  How do we use money?  Are we generous?  Do we give freely?  How do we use our homes?  Our possessions? All of our stuff?  

The things we have been given, the things we have earned, these things are tools to be used for the greater good.  They are tools we have to help others. To show kindness to others. To show mercy to others.  To be a blessing to others. 

The stuff of our life they are not there for their own purpose, they are tools given to us to help others. May we be wise stewards of our resources.  

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