Living Waters Christian Fellowship - Lake Nacimiento - California

16:1  He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
 2 “So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
 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.
 4 ‘I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
 5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
 6 “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
 7 “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
 8 “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.
 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.


 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.
 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?


 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.”


 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.


Introduction  This is one of Jesus’ parables on money.  Money has a prominent place in our lives and our thinking, for good reason - it is very difficult to survive without it.  Jesus wants us and our families to be well cared for in this life in this age, but we need to be wise if we are going to be successful, and be willing to 1) learn from others and 2) change tactics if necessary.


1. Money is very important


16:1  He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.


2. Sometimes getting/keeping money is a struggle


16:1  He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
 2 “So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
 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.


3. We need to pay attention to money and be willing to learn and change


 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.
 4 ‘I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
 5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
 6 “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
 7 “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
 8 “So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. 


4. If we pay attention and are wise, we will be OK


 8 “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.
 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.


5. There are contrasting ways of looking at money


a. Sons of light vs sons of this world


 8b For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.


b. Righteous means vs unrighteous mammon


 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.


 11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?


 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.”


c. Highly esteemed among men vs an abomination to God


 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.
 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.


d. Loving money vs using money


Loving money


 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.


 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.”


Using money


 8 “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.
 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.


6. If we use money wisely, we will be rewarded


a. Friends to help in time of need


 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.


b. When God sees our faithfulness in small things, He will give us more


 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.


c. If we are faithful with money, God will give us true riches


 11 “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?


d. If we are faithful with the money/goods of others, we will gain our own


 12 “And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?


Conclusions Money is - of this world, of the shrewd sons of this world, unrighteous mammon, wrongly loved, highly esteemed among men, an abomination to God.


Yet Jesus says we need money to survive in this age, to use it wisely, 
not love or worship it.


The world is very shrewd with money.  The sons of light also need to be more shrewd. We try to be too spiritual about money, need to be more practical and shrewd.


We need to pay attention, and have something to fall back on “when we fail.”


Application to My Life 


We need money to survive.


We may need a better support system in hard times.


What’s your plan B?


Ways to save money


Ways to diversify income.


Ways to not spend so much money


Ways to network with friends.