The Christian and Money: Wealth

Luke 15 has often been called the lost and found department of the New Testament because you have the story of the lost sheep, and the lost coin, and the lost son. And of course, the main lesson of this chapter is that God receives and forgives sinners who repent and will come by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are like sheep who have gone astray, but he comes to seek us. We are like coins that have been lost, but he looks for us. And we are like sons who have willfully gone our own way, and he waits for us—for us to arise and come to our Father and seek salvation.

But there's another theme that runs through Luke 15, in fact, it also includes Luke 16. In fact, Luke 15 and Luke 16 might well be studied as a presentation on wealth, what to do with wealth. Because you have in these two chapters five main characters, and these five main characters present five different attitudes toward wealth and toward life. Remember Jesus said where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. In other words, my attitude toward wealth reveals my attitude toward life. 

For example, we have the father in Luke 15, and his attitude was that he shares his wealth. Notice Luke 15:11: Then Jesus said, "A certain man had two sons, and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his living." Notice: his living. What he shared in wealth came out of his life. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And so the father shares his wealth. 

The younger son wastes his wealth, Luke 15:13: And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal or riotous, wasteful living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. And then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. You know the rest of the story. He said, "I'm going to arise and go to my father," and he did. And the father, watching for him, ran and welcomed him and forgave him, and gave him a new robe and shoes and a ring, and then had a big banquet to welcome his son home again. So the father shares his wealth; the younger son wastes his wealth. Granted, he did repent and change his way of living, but he wasted his wealth.

Now the older son, Luke 15:25, merely spends his wealth. He's a drudge. "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And so he called to one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.'" Of course, the older brother is angry and he wouldn't go into the party. Luke 15:29 he says, "Lo, these many years I have been serving you. I never transgressed your commandment at any time, and yet you never gave me a young goat that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him." He's very angry, isn't he? And yet the father says to him in Luke 15:31: "Son, you are always with me." Now notice this next phrase: "And all that I have is yours." Isn't that interesting? "All that I have is yours." But the boy never enjoyed it. He was not close enough to his father, to his father's heart, and therefore he just simply spent his life.

Now in Luke 16 we have the parable of the unjust steward. He learned how to invest his wealth. He wasted it in the beginning, but then he found out he was going to be losing his job, and so he made friends for himself by using his wealth. And Jesus applies that to us in Luke 16:9: "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail—or when it fails—they, your friends, may receive you into everlasting habitations." What's he saying? Use your money to send people to heaven. Use your money to win souls to Jesus Christ. Invest your wealth. 

And then in the last half of Luke 16, we have this rich man who worshipped his wealth. Wealth was his god. Interestingly enough, these five persons and these five different attitudes parallel what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 6. He had a special admonition there. 1 Timothy 6:6: "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation"—now here's the prodigal son—"and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some having strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." There's the prodigal son who wasted his wealth. He desired to be rich, and what did it lead to? Temptation, traps, lusts, drowning in destruction and perdition. Had he not repented, it would have ruined him. 

Well, 1 Timothy 6:11, he says, "You flee these things." And now down in 1 Timothy 6:17: "Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy." Here we have the steward, you see, and we have the rich man in Luke 16. He was living, he was haughty, living for riches and trusting his riches. 1 Timothy 6:17 says that God gives to us richly—there's the father sharing his wealth with us. He gives us richly all things to enjoy. Here we have the older son who did not enjoy what his father had for him. 1 Timothy 6:18 says, "Let them do good, that they may be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come." There we have the steward who learned how to invest his wealth and win friends for the Lord. 

Now, what is your attitude today toward material things? Our Father in heaven shares these good things with us. He gives to us richly all things to enjoy. Let's talk about that. When the Father looks upon wealth, he looks upon that which is a blessing to share. Question: would you have given this younger son what he asked for? I don't think I would have done it. The boy was selfish. The boy was unkind. He was saying, by asking for his inheritance, "Father, why don't you die?" That's a mean thing to do. He was immature. He was wasteful. But the father gave the wealth to him. You say I wouldn't have done that. Well, God's done that for us. Luke 15:31: "All that I have is yours." God wants us to enjoy his creation. There's nothing wrong with enjoying the blessings of God provided the blessing doesn't take the place of the Blesser. Enjoy his gifts for his glory, and then employ his gifts for the good of others and for the glory of God. The father looks upon wealth as a blessing to share. 

Now, the younger son looked upon wealth as an inheritance to waste. Look at his philosophy. It's all coming to me. I've got this coming to me. "Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me." Ordinarily, the older son would get two-thirds, the younger son one-third. But what an evil philosophy of life. "It's all coming to me. I deserve it." That's pride, isn't it? Isn't that what Paul wrote about when he warned those rich men not to trust in uncertain riches, not to be haughty? And then the boy said, "I want it now." He belonged to the now generation. "I want it now. I'm not going to wait until my father dies. Give me my inheritance now, and I'll do with it what I please." You know, the father's wealth is connected with the father's will. When you want the father's wealth but not the father's will, and you don't want to do the father's work, then you are worshipping wealth and money has become your idol. 

Now what happens? It leads to trouble. We read about that in 1 Timothy 6. People don't believe this, but it's true. 1 Timothy 6:9: "But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition." Why? For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. If you want to get wealth, you'll lie to get it. You'll steal to get it. Commit adultery, break all the Ten Commandments to get wealth. The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. How immature this boy was! And yet we have people like this today. And he's just a wonderful fellow to be with, but he had no character. He didn't know the difference between entertainment and enrichment. 

To the father, wealth is a blessing to share. To the younger son, an inheritance to waste. To the older son, money was a master to serve. The younger son wasted his life until he repented. The older son merely spent his life. There are many people just spending their lives. He was a harmless drudge. Now there are many things about this older brother that are very commendable. He worked. He worked hard. He was obedient. He was faithful. Had a good reputation. But you know, deep down inside he was miserable. He wanted to have a big party with his friends. The far country was down in his heart. You don't have to leave home to live in the far country.

Of course, in the older brother, Jesus is illustrating the Pharisees who criticized the publicans and sinners who came to trust the Lord Jesus. You know there are sins of the flesh, and there are also sins of the spirit. The prodigal son committed sins of the flesh, but the older brother who never left home committed sins of the spirit: pride, self-righteousness. And you know, he didn't really love his father. He wasn't really in contact with his father. He was doing his father's work, but he wasn't enjoying his father's love. And when the father invited the boy to come into the party, the boy wouldn't go in. He broke his father's heart.

I think there are many people today who are living like this older brother. They're not enjoying what God wants them to enjoy. They are not doing the will of God from their heart. He did the will of his father, he did the work of his father, but not from his heart. Our attitude toward wealth ought to be that it is an expression of my father's love. Don't be a prodigal son who wastes your wealth, and don't be an elder brother who just serves wealth and is a drudge, miserable and unhappy. Receive what God has given you. Ask him how he wants you to use it. Enjoy it, and employ it to the good of others and to the glory of God.

Now in Luke 16 we meet a man, a steward, who learned how to invest his wealth. Let's read the story. "And 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. And he called him and said to him, "What is this that I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." 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. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." So he called every one of his master's debtors to him and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" And he said, "A hundred measures of oil." So he said to him, "Take your bill and sit down quickly and write fifty." 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." 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. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.'" 

Now this man learned how to invest wealth for the future. This man had a rude awakening, but this rude awakening helped him to alter his lifestyle. Now we need to be shocked ourselves. We take the Father's wealth for granted; we take our stewardship for granted. And we need to be ready for that statement: "Give an account of your stewardship." Well, let's notice three important facts that grow out of this interesting parable. 

Number one: all Christians are stewards. All Christians are stewards. For that matter, everybody alive is a steward. We don't own anything; we are simply given the privilege of using the Father's wealth to accomplish what he wants us to accomplish. Alas, many people in this world take for granted the blessings of God. God gives to us richly all things to enjoy, and many people just take that for granted. You see, God owns everything. This steward didn't own anything; he was only managing somebody else's wealth. You and I don't own anything. You see, God is not poor. When the offering plate is passed or the basket or whatever is used in your church, don't give with the idea that God is poor, God desperately needs what we have. The church of Jesus Christ needs financial support to keep reaching the lost, but God is not poor. God owns everything. 

Remember, when we give in the offering, we are not giving God anything; we're just taking our hands off of that which is already his. How can we give God anything? He is the Creator, we are just the creatures. He is the Master, we're the servants. He's the Father and we are the children. He is the giver of every good and perfect gift, and we are only stewards of what he has given to us. We are stewards of our lives. Acts 17:28: "For in him we live and move and have our being." Our very lives, the breath in our lips comes from God. God could in a split moment of time rob us, take from us our lives. Our lives are his. He has given life to us. He's the author of life, the sustainer of life, and we are stewards of our lives. 

Secondly, we are stewards of our time. We live life in time. Ephesians 5:15: "See then that you walk circumspectly"—that means carefully—"not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is." By doing the will of God in these evil days, we are using time wisely. Time is eternity that God has minted for us in seconds and minutes and hours and days. And we can take that coinage and waste it, or we can take it and we can invest it. Redeeming the time means buying up the opportunity. It's a phrase taken from the marketplace. Use the opportunity that you have because it will never come back again. We are stewards of time. 

We are stewards of the abilities and gifts that God has given to us. 1 Peter 4:10: "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God." When you were saved, God gave you at least one spiritual gift, maybe more. You have certain abilities that can be used for God's glory. When you put together your natural abilities given at birth and your spiritual gifts given at rebirth, you can serve God in a wonderful way. He that is faithful in that which is least is also faithful in that which is greatest. We are stewards of our abilities and our gifts. 

We are stewards of the Gospel. 1 Thessalonians 2:4: "But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel." My, what a treasure! Now this parable in Luke 16:1-9 reminds us that we are stewards of material wealth. We may not be very wealthy, but whatever we have comes from God. And as far as the rest of the world is concerned, we are very wealthy. We are stewards of our material wealth, and therefore we must employ it to the glory of God. 

All Christians are stewards, fact number one. Fact number two: some stewards are foolish. This man at first was a foolish steward. He was living for the wrong master. He was living for himself and not to please his own master. He wanted the approval of men and he wanted the joys and pleasures that come from spending a lot of money. Alas, he reaped what he sowed and he ends up living with the wrong results. He wasted his wealth, he wasted his opportunity, he lost his job, and then he got smart. Some stewards are foolish, but all stewards can be wise. 

Now if you want to become a wise steward, let me tell you how. Number one: realize your responsibility. You are a steward. There are three words that come to my mind when I think of stewardship: responsibility, opportunity, accountability. I am a steward of the Gospel. Whatever God's taught me out of the Word of God, I have to share it with others. I'm a steward of my life. I'm a steward—I have to be a steward of the money, the gifts that God's given me, the opportunities, my time. And I have a big responsibility and so do you.

And of course, this leads to accountability. Romans 14 talks about this: "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ." That to me is an awesome thing. "For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. So then each of us shall give account of himself to God"—not to your pastor, not to your neighbor, not to the tax bureau, but to God. So in Romans 14, Paul warns us: there is going to be a day of accountability. Now this being the case, why don't we become wise stewards? Is anybody going to greet you in glory because you have been a faithful steward today?