Sermon
A Biblical Lesson In Christian Stewardship
October 6, 2002
Pastor Donald Sheley

Let's take our notes today, shall we? For our lesson today we're going to talk about a biblical lesson in Christian stewardship. For our scripture reading I have taken the text from the Amplified Bible. If you'd like to turn in your own personal Bible to Luke chapter 16 you can follow along, but I'm going to read it from the amplified today.

He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much.
Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?
And if you have not proved faithful in that which belongs to another [whether God or man], who will give you that which is your own [that is, the true riches]?
No servant is able to serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon (riches, or anything in which you trust and on which you rely).
Now the Pharisees, who were covetous and lovers of money, heard all these things [taken together], and they began to sneer at and ridicule and scoff at Him.
But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination in the sight of God).

Today our subject is Christian stewardship as it relates to earthly possessions. We are living in a materialistic world and, unfortunately, many of us are so affected by our present culture that we have lost focus on what the Bible says about our material possessions. Interestingly God says more about how Christians are to view and use their possessions than most any other subject, the chief exception being what God says about Himself.

One of the most obvious facts that stands out in the biblical record is that, as Christians, we are to impact non-Christians with our life-styles, both personally and corporately. That kind of witness includes many things which involve our ethics, our morality, and our attitudes and actions toward others. However, no aspect of our life-style is illustrated more specifically and graphically in the New Testament than the way we view and use our material possessions. This aspect of our life-style stands out immediately in the New Testament as an important dynamic in penetrating the materialistic world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This principle is illustrated immediately and dramatically by the Christians in Jerusalem.

Let me explain -- when the Christian message started to be preached in Jerusalem right after Christ had gone back into heaven, literally thousands of Jewish people became believers that Christ in truth was the messiah, but to come to that acknowledgment and to make that commitment cost them everything. As soon as the Jewish family learned that one in their faith have become a follower of Christ he was excluded from the home, denied fellowship, totally taken off of any inheritance of the estate, and was out of the house; then they had a funeral, and as far as they were concerned he was dead. That's what it cost the Jewish person to become a Christian 2000 years ago.

Now you can understand immediately what the challenge was -- here's the new church with all of these folks to have no home to go to, have no resource for income, and the church now has the responsibility of caring for all of these Christians. It's a tremendous challenge. But you see something start to take place which is beautiful. Jesus had taught them, as I have loved you so you must love one another. And Jesus added, all men will know that you're my disciples if you love one another.

So the Christians in Jerusalem began to practice what Jesus taught them, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need". You remember Barnabas had some property over on Cyprus, and he goes over to Cyprus, sells his property, brings the funds back and gives it to Peter. And the reason for it, is because he wanted to take care of the needs of the body of Christ. It was an amazing demonstration of love to that world that time.

Those who owned homes in Jerusalem opened their doors to those from other places in the world. Remember, Pentecost happened on a great festival day and so you've got Jewish people from all over the world. Now they're Christians. There's no home to go home to, and so as a result, the Christians in Jerusalem opened up their houses, and their houses became hotels for other Christians from around the world.

Through this great demonstration of love and unselfishness, these new believers began to penetrate the materialistic culture that characterized Judaism. Luke says that they were enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. In fact, they had to stop counting and the Bible starts talking about multitudes -- in one day 3000 people came into the body of Christ. But they saw something so dramatic, they saw people selling their homes, taking all of their assets, and giving it to those in need. Something that had never been witnessed before.

The Jerusalem believers demonstrated dramatically that Christians who are unselfish and benevolent become a unique verification to non-Christians that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. The world looked on. They saw this demonstration of generosity and love pouring forth from all of these Christians, and the world decided there's something different and they became Christians.

Now notice I'm at the bottom of the page two. Paul commends the generosity of the early church. Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.

Paul is saying those Gentile Macedonian churches, demonstrating their love as Christians, out of their poverty gave liberally, and that gift was to go to Jerusalem to help that early church in taking care of all of those new Christians. And Paul says they not only gave what they had, but they turned around and said, Paul, if you need us, you've got us too. They gave everything.

Generous giving is a mark of a person who is in love with Christ and recognizes that his possessions are to be used to bring blessing to others and assist in the great task of evangelizing the world. True love is always characterized by generous giving, for you cannot love without giving, but you can give without loving.

Now Paul said some further things about giving. He said, "But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency -- that's an interesting word and we're going to talk about it in just a minute -- in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever." Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.

This passage gives us an outline for the principles of generous giving. Paul insists that no man was ever the loser because he was generous. The man who sows with a sparing hand cannot hope for anything but a meager harvest, but the man who sows with a generous hand will in due time reap a generous return. The New Testament is an extremely practical book and one of its great features is that it is never afraid of the reward motive. It never says that goodness is all to no purpose. It never forgets that something new and wonderful enters into the life of the man who accepts God's command as his law. But the rewards that the New Testament envisages are never material. It promises not the wealth of things, but the wealth of the heart and the spirit.

Paul insists in this passage before us that God can give a person both the substance to give and the spirit in which to give it. In verse 8 he speaks of all sufficiency which God gives. Now that's an interesting word in the original Greek. I'm at the top of page 4. It's a word taken out of stoic philosophy. It does not describe the sufficiency of a man who possesses all kinds of things in abundance. It means independence . It describes the state of the man who had directed life not to the amassing of possessions, but to the eliminating of needs. A world of difference.

It describes the man who has taught himself to be content with very little. It is obvious that such a man will be able to give far more to others because he wants so little for himself. It is so often true that we want so much for ourselves that there is nothing left to give to others or God.

Now Paul has one more thought in this passage. He holds that giving does wonderful things for three persons. It does something for others. It relieves their need. Many a time, when a man was at his wit's end, a gift from someone else has seemed nothing less than a gift from heaven. It restores faith in their fellow men.

It does something for ourselves. It guarantees our Christian profession. In the case of the Corinthians, that was specially important. No doubt the Jerusalem Church, which was almost entirely Jewish, still regarded the Gentiles with suspicion and wondered in their heart of hearts if Christianity could be for them at all. The very fact of the gift of the Gentile Churches must have guaranteed to them the reality of Gentile Christianity. If a man is generous it enables others to see that he has turned his Christianity not only into words but also into deeds as well.

It does something for God. It makes prayers of thanksgiving go up to Him. Men see our good deeds and they glorify not us but God. It is a tremendous thing that something we can do can turn men's hearts to God, for that means that something we can do can bring joy to Him. And Paul reminds the Corinthians of the generous giving displayed in Christ. He says, For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might be made rich.

Page 5: Our lesson today commenced with the words of Christ on the subject of Christian stewardship. Now the verses that proceed the ones we selected tell the story of a man who was losing his position as a steward due to his mismanagement. Now when he's being released he arranges to adjust some of the billings so that he might have favor with those who benefited from his unjust action when, he himself, was without employment. We say it's dishonest, but look at what Jesus says: "So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

Now I've been asked many, many times, Pastor, why did Jesus command a man for doing what we call dishonest? There are many interpretations, but this week I decided I'm going to find out if there's something that can explain those particular teachings, because that seems strange. It says, So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.

Now let me tell you: in going back into the business transactions of the first century, this is what took place. Jewish people were taught from the ancient Scriptures that it was wrong to loan to a fellow brother Jew. You could give him, you could have an agreement whereby he would use your funds, but it was not Jewish to lend to your brother. You gave to Him.

What would happen is as business developed the owner would hire a steward who would take care of his affairs, and this is the way the business deal went. Paymon would come to me -- say I'm the master -- Paymon would say, Pastor, I need 80 bushels of wheat to hold me over till next harvest. I say, okay Paymon, you need 80 bushels and you're going to have that for a year. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to make the bill out for 100 bushels and that will cover the interest for the loan of the 80 bushels.

You say, fine. So you make out the billing: Paymon got 100 bushels of wheat. Now what he does with that he covers the non-Christian event of charging interest because now it looks like Paymon walked out the front of my store with 100 bushels of wheat. So I've covered the interest by exploding bill.

So what happened this steward now is getting ready to lose his job. He's smart. This guy is shrewd. So what he does he calls in Paymon and Ron and all the rest, and says bring your bills here quick. So Paymon comes in. He says, you cross off the amount that's the interest. Take it back to 80. So he does that. Well, the debtor he's happy because he now has reduced his debt from 100 to 80. So he's going to walk away and he's going to tell Harold; Harold, I've got a wonderful master. He just gave me 20 bushels credit on my wheat.

So that made the master look like a very righteous man. He was generous. He was giving a portion of the bill back to the debtor. The master knew that he got back at least what he gave out, but he couldn't squawk because if he did then he'd have to admit that he charged the interest. It's just like the preacher who went golfing on Sunday and hit a hole in one, but never could tell anybody.

He couldn't reveal the fact that the steward has cheated him because all he did was he got back what he gave, but he couldn't admit to the amount of interest. That made the master good. And, as a result, the steward came out smelling like a rose. He called in all those folks and then when the deal is all over and he's out on the street, he comes to Paymon and says, Paymon, remember? You owe me a debt of gratitude, and he had a lot of people held accountable to him for gratitude for what he did.

The boss looks good because he's been generous; he gave away 20 bushels of wheat. He can't say anything so he has to commended the steward for being very sharp, and everybody comes out looking like first-class: the boss, he's righteous. He was generous. He gave away 20 bushels of wheat. The debtor is happy because his bill has been reduced. And the steward has a place to stay when he's out of employment. Now, understanding that, let's go back to our notes.

So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. Now Jesus implies, if only Christians were as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man. If only men would give as much attention to the things which concern their souls as they do to the things which concern their business, they would be much better men.

Jesus said in another place: "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Look at verse 9. It says: "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home." The lesson in this verse is that material possessions should be used to cement the friendships wherein the real and permanent value of life lies. It could be done as it affects eternity. It was a Jewish belief that charity given to poor people would stand to a man's credit in the world to come. A man's true wealth would consist not in what he kept, but in what he gives away.

That is what Paul meant when he quoted the passage from Psalm 112: "He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever. Now, the verses we quoted in the beginning of our lesson teach us that a man's way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a bigger task. That is clearly true in earthly things. No man will be advanced to an office until he has given proof of his honesty and his ability in a smaller position.

Now Jesus takes this passage and He unfolds it into eternity. This is what He says, "Upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you. You are only a steward over them. They cannot, in the nature of things, be permanently yours. Old Pastor Swindall says you have never seen a hearse with a U-haul trailer. You can't take it with you. We came in with nothing and we'll go out with nothing.

On the other hand, in heaven you will get what is really and eternally yours. And what you get in heaven depends on how you use the things on earth. What you will be given as your very own will depend on how you use the things of which you are only stewards here. Jesus makes it very clear that our eternal rewards will be premised upon our earthly stewardship. Now stop and think. That is tremendously important. Jesus tied eternal rewards to our usage of earthly possessions.

That's a sacred thought, isn't it? And He said if we don't use the things of time to His honor and praise, why do we expect eternal rewards in heaven? We give our hearts to Jesus, but when we give our hearts to Jesus we give everything, all our possessions. So when He has our heart He has our possessions. If He doesn't have our possessions, He doesn't have. That's what he's saying.

If we're not faithful in the small matters pertaining to this world, if we do not use aright our property and our resources and our influence, we cannot expect that God will commit to us true riches. That's sacred, isn't it? And I think that takes giving right into the heart of God.

This is what is implied in Malachi 3:6-12:
"For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, 0 sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers you have gone away from my ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you said, "In what way shall we return?" "Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed You?' In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you have robbed Me, even this whole nation."

How do we change it? "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, and try Me now in this; If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, so that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, says the Lord of hosts; and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says the Lord of hosts."

"Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine." Thus far in our lesson, we have observed that the New Testament church was known for its generosity. Secondly, we have learned that the harvest depends upon the amount that we sow. And thirdly, we have also observed that Jesus tied our earthly stewardship to eternal rewards, indicating that we suffer spiritually when we fail to use our financial resources to bring glory to God.

And I've lined out for you the scriptural rules: give according to your income, give without ostentation, give regularly, give with simplicity, give with joy, and give without stinginess. Jesus said: Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you again.

I want to close with two simple illustrations today. When you've pastored for 50 plus years you make some observations and find those often are true over the years, and this is what I'm saying: I have found that families who are faithful with their resources in the things of God and they are consistent in honoring God with their resources, God blesses them in ways that far extend beyond the pocketbook.

And I'll close with my illustration. I was born in 1931 and that was during the great Depression. My father was out of work for four years, had to beg for food, and there were many times we didn't have a meal as children. When my father came to Jesus, I think it was in 1935 or 1936, and as a Christian God bless him and he got a job down at the little sawmill stacking lumber for 50 cents an hour. He had to work 60 hours a week and I remember his first paycheck he brought home; a stack of thirty one dollar bills. That was a million dollars to my little four or five year old eyes.

But I watched something I have never forgotten. Daddy took three dollars off the top of that stack and said, mama, I'm going down to see the preacher; this is Jesus' money. The cupboards were bare, we didn't have shoes on our feet, but he put Jesus first. He raised five boys. God always supplied. My father was never rich, in fact, he died penniless.

When he learned he had cancer he gave away his little wheelbarrow to the man next door. He gave away his puppy to the boy down the street, and gave away his old pickup to a man who didn't have transportation to his job, went into his closet, called Goodwill and said come get all my clothes except one suit. Wednesday afternoon 3:30, I'm sitting beside his bed he dies and I say to mom; mom I'll go home and get from his closet, which suit do you want him to be buried in? Oh she said son, there's only one suit, and that one suit was for his burial. And he died penniless, as far as the world sees. But he died a billionaire for out of his loins now preaching in seven pulpits this morning are ministers preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last Sunday I drove up to Chico to see my 90-year-old mother. Something strange happened. I have a brother that lives in Portland. I have one that lives in Sacramento, one that lives in Vallejo. And for some reason they all got there the same hour of same day on Sunday, at 3:00 on Sunday, unplanned. My mother is ecstatic. I left here a little after the last service and I tried to drive to get there because I wanted to see mom, but I had to stop along highway and I went to sleep for a couple hours so I arrived 15 minutes after my brothers had gone away.

On that one day, 90 years of age, mother had all of her boys see her the same day. And I'm sitting there with her last Sunday evening and she said, you know son, God has been so good to us. And I get a statement from mother's finances, my sister-in-law takes care of it as we pay the rest home bill each month. Mother gets a check from Social Security $950, and every first to the month she takes $95 and she takes it down to a little preacher who has a congregation of 15. And at 90 years of age she still exhibits wonderful faithfulness, and God has honored her with a rich family.

You see that's my point. You give generously and God will shower upon your family, the events of your life, blessings you never imagined, but it starts with the way we handle our resources in honoring Him first. Amen? That's our lesson

Father, we got the lesson. It's very clear. Now give us the courage, and the heart, and the spirit. And give us a generous heart towards You. In Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you all. God bless you