Faithfulness - Pr. Antonio Nasser - May 24th, 09

Luke 16:1-13
Characters of the text:
1. Rich man, steward & debtors
2. Jesus, sons of this world, sons of light, the disciples, friends
Understanding the Parable
1 "There was a certain rich man who had a steward… = Oikonomos (Greek) from (oikos) and the base of (nomos); a house-distributor (i.e. manager), or overseer, i.e. an employee in that capacity; by extension a fiscal agent (treasurer) (Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary).

…Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
As Paul says… 1 Corinthians 4:2 (NKJV) 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
Accountability
Stewardship requires frequent accountability. The steward is managing what does not belong to him.
The unfaithful steward’s mind:
1. How he sees himself: with self commiseration
v.3 Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.

2. His decision: to make debtors into friends
He gave discounts to every debtor in order to get their “goodness” back…
We will never be excused by God for transgressing His will, unless we:
a) Recognize the transgression
b) Ask forgiveness
c) Abandon the sin
This steward never did the first step to repentance. He thought how to continue in sin…

8 “So the master commended the unjust (unrighteous) steward because he had dealt shrewdly” (wisely).
1.The steward is called unjust (unrighteous)
2.The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly (wisely), not because he did something right!
3.The parable doesn’t say that the steward recovered his job back, it means, there was no approval from the master.

JESUS’ teachings after the parable
1. Clever people
8 …For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
Be aware of the sons of this world: they are cleverer. They deal with others in a smart way…

2. Make Friends
9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Who are these friends?
1. Friends in an everlasting home means that they were saved.
So, to make friends is to evangelize
2. To make a friend by unrighteous mammon… Means that:
a) Money is amoral
b) Money is important to be used to evangelize

3. Be faithful always…
10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
The time to be faithful is now! In what is least or in what is much. Do not wait until you have money, time or willingness. Be faithful now!

4. Faithfulness before unjust money
11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?
1.In this world mammon is unrighteous.
2.However we must be faithful using it
3.There is a connection between the natural world and the spiritual world
4.The believers’ mark: to be faithful to God and to men.

5. We must serve only one Master!
13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.“
Our God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is the Only One Master we have!

CONCLUSION
1. Stewardship requires: Faithfulness and Accountability
2. We must repent if we are sinning
3. We need wisdom to handle money
-To be faithful to God
-To be faithful to people
-To evangelize using it.
4. God is the only one who defines what is right or wrong. We must obey HIM.