Luke 16:1–15

17th Sunday after Pentecost

¹He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ²And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' ³And the manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.' ⁵So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' ⁶He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' ⁷Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' ⁸The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. ⁹And 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. ¹⁰"One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." ¹⁴The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Years ago, in a garden called Eden, a woman was tempted to disobey God. The tempter told her, “You shall become like God if you eat the fruit of this tree.” So she ate it and gave it to her husband to eat as well. And since then man has thought he was god. Man has convinced himself that he can do whatever he wants, whether it is to build a tower to heaven, a ship that cannot sink, or a bridge that will not fall, or earn his way into heaven.

Thousands of years later, in Mesopotamia, the descendents of Nimrod built a civilization with such great cities as Nineveh and Babylon. There on the plains they made bricks and decided to build a city with a tower that reached to the heavens in order to make a name for themselves and to show that they could do anything they wanted to do. It was an attempt to prove that they indeed had become gods.

On May 31, 1911, the RMS Titanic set sail from Southampton, England. It was designed to be the largest and most luxurious ship ever. Thought to be “unsinkable” it was a monument to man’s ingenuity, creativity and technological capabilities. It proved that men had become gods and were master of the depths of the sea and the fury of the storm.

In 1961 the design firm of Sverdrup & Parcel designed Bridge #9340 to the standard specifications of the American Association of State Highway Officials. Construction contracts worth more than $5.2 million went to the Hurcon Construction Company which began construction in 1964. The bridge consisted of 14 spans, including the north and south approach spans and three main spans. It had no piers in the river bed, but had piers on either bank of the river with a center span of a single 458 ft. steel arched truss over the river channel. It opened to traffic in 1967 connecting Interstate 35 over the Mississippi River, just south of the Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. It was a monument to human ingenuity and engineering.

Don’t misunderstand me. Science and technology are neither bad nor sinful. They are gifts from God. The problem is that sinful man worships the gift instead of the giver. Sinful man has forgotten that the understanding he has of the world around him is not his doing, but have been given to him by God. It is sinful man who has come to believe that he is god and can do whatever he wants.

Since the Garden of Eden, man has been on a mission to unseat God from his throne and place himself on the throne. He has been struggling against God to free himself from all restraints and moral authority. Man’s quest is for freedom from any responsibility and morality. Man wants to rule his own life for his own hedonistic enjoyment. He wants to be free from authority. He wants to be free from God. He wants to be his own god.

Since that fatal day in Eden, human nature is in rebellion against God. You and I are, by nature, enemies of God and have earned and deserved his wrath. Our human nature, our fleshly desires, our corrupt heart, our thoughts, words and deeds are nothing but filthy rot and sinful rebellion against God. The story of humanity is a story of man’s attempt to become his own god.

Man officially took his seat in the throne of God in 17th century Europe, with the advent of what is known as the Enlightenment. Man declared himself god. Knowledge had expanded to the point that man began to believe that he could someday close the gaps in knowledge and understand all things. Little by little there was no place for God. When Napoleon complained to the mathematician and astronomer, the Marquis de Laplace, that his theories did not include God, Laplace responded, “I find no need of that hypothesis.”

With the Age of Reason man became increasingly bold. The word “soul” was replaced with the word “self.” The word “self” led to the concept of the “self-made man” which led to the concepts of self-achievement and self-fulfillment. Man had emerged from his dependency on outside authorities, such as God, and was now free to make use of his reason in all matters. Finally Nietzsche declared that “God is dead,” and so man was officially free, not only to pursue happiness but to define happiness in his own way. Man looked forward to happiness on this earth, and that this happiness would come through scientific knowledge, liberating us from bondage to dogma and superstition, unlocking the secrets of nature and creating the perfect society in this world. No longer would happiness be a gift from God. It would be the final triumph of the enlightened people of the earth.

Man was free from God for now he could do anything he wanted to do. Just like the people of Babel. Just like the steward in the parable of Jesus. Just like you and me in our sinful rebellion against God, thinking that we are so good, being proud of our goodness, thinking that God must be pleased with us, and that we are doing such a good job for God. We want to be independent. We want to help ourselves and make it on our own. We don’t want to be dependent on anyone else because we want our freedom and independence. We think we are capable of finding our own way and making our own happiness. We even think we are capable of being good enough to please God and earn his favor.

We hate the thought of getting old because it often means we have to depend on someone else to take care of us. It frightens us to think that someday we will not be able to live independently. We want our independence and freedom. But most of all we want to be free from God and to get out from under his law and demands.

The steward who worked for a rich man thought that he was making it on his own; he thought that he had built a strong foundation for himself and that his future was secured. He thought he was succeeding and doing it on his own; at least up until that day he got called into the office. His boss gave him the news. He was going to be fired. The foundations he had laid for himself had just crumbled. He was in a crisis. He no longer could do what he pleased. He despaired. There was no other work he was qualified to do. He could no longer take care of himself. He was now dependent on others. His life was in ruins.

The same thing happened to Adam and Eve as well. Wanting to be independent from God and to be their own gods, they lost their home, they were exiled from the garden, the land was cursed, and they came under the curse of death. They were scattered in the wilderness, just as the people at the tower in Babel were scattered around the world. Just like the unsinkable Titanic sank. Just like the bridge on Interstate 35 came crashing down killing several people. They could no longer do what pleased God. They no longer bore his image. And so the great illusion of man’s independence and self sufficiency came to an end.

So we too, in our lives run into obstacles. Troubles and tribulations raise their ugly head. Illness inflicts pain and suffering. Old age reduces us to dependency on others when we can no longer take care of ourselves or live alone. Accidents, disease, misfortunes, loss of job, these all rob us of our security and they all teach us that no matter how wise we may think we are, no matter how adept and capable we are we cannot get along in life by ourselves; we are still utterly and completely dependent on God. We are not free from him. We are not able to make it on our own. We are not gods!

The crosses God gives us to bear in this life and the accusations of God’s law crush us so that we, like the manager in the parable, can no longer depend on ourselves or trust our own works or good deeds to save us. We cannot save our lives in this world, much less obtain eternal life by ourselves. We cannot please God or find favor with him by our own strength of power. We are sinful creatures who are utterly and completely dependent on God’s mercy.

And that is exactly what the manager discovered. He was crushed. His life was dashed to pieces so he could do nothing but throw himself at the mercy of his lord and the people who owed him money.

He went to all who owed money to his employer and adjusted their accounts downward. In utter despair he had no other recourse but to throw himself at the mercy of these people and his boss. As it turned out, the rich man was also a merciful man. When he found out what the manager had done, instead of punishing him, which he sorely deserved, he praised the manager for his shrewdness. The rich man was merciful; he forgave his servant and exalted him.

The bottom line of this parable teaches us of God’s mercy. It shows us that when the law of God accuses us of being sinners and when the crosses we bear in life crush us God it is God’s mercy in Jesus Christ that forgives our sins and saves us. It shows us that Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross, has become our salvation; and by his resurrection has become our life. It teaches us that Jesus is the only sure foundation for our life both in this world and in eternity. It teaches us that as sure as Jesus died on the cross and rose again the third day, so our sins are forgiven and we are saved. It teaches us that God is merciful to take care of us in this life and is faithful to give us eternal life in his Son, Jesus Christ.

In our crosses we see the cross of Jesus. Jesus bore the cross for us. He was sent by the Father to give up his life on our account. He voluntarily gave himself over to be crushed on the cross in order to free us from sin and death and give us eternal life. Like the manager who threw himself at the mercy of his lord, so we can do nothing other than throw ourselves at the mercy of God which he has shown us in the life, death and resurrection of his Son. For in Christ, God has set aside his anger and wrath and makes us his own dear children.

In our baptism, God pours out his mercy on us and bathes us in the blood which Jesus shed on the cross. He picks up the pieces of our smashed life and removes the curse of our sin. Jesus himself is the foundation of our lives. It is on the cross of Christ that our life stands today, tomorrow, and for all eternity.

Jesus concludes this parable by telling his disciples, “Make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” Jesus is not here commending the deceit of the manager. He calls it unrighteous wealth and tells us that the children of the world are more shrewd in dealing with it than children of the light. He is not telling us to be likewise shrewd in our dealings in the world. He is using the shrewdness of unrighteous men as an example of shrewdness. But he wants us to be shrewd in the kingdom of God. Shrewdness in the kingdom of God is repenting of our sin and throwing ourselves on the mercy of Jesus Christ. Shrewdness in the kingdom of God is trusting the righteousness of Jesus Christ which counts as our righteousness, rather than trusting our own good deeds. Shrewdness in the kingdom of God is faith in Jesus Christ.

For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Our own goodness and abilities and talents and efforts and strength are exalted among men but are worthless in the sight of God. They do not and cannot earn favor with God. Our works are not pleasing to God.

But the righteousness of Christ is pleasing to God, and on account of his righteousness God accepts us as righteous. Therefore, we use the unrighteous wealth of this world, not to build towers and ships and bridges that glorify ourselves, but for the glory of God. We use the unrighteous mammon of the world in order that his gospel message of salvation might be proclaimed and his sacraments administered here in our congregation, in Aurora, and throughout all the world. For only through his word which calls men to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ is man justified before God and is the foundation laid for life eternal.

Amen.