Be Shrewd
In today's lesson from Luke 16:1-13 the interesting story that Jesus tells, gives you confidence to Be Shrewd in what you believe and in how you behave. Be Shrewd. September 30, 2007
How smart is God is? The Bible clearly teaches that God is all-wise. He knows everything and more than everything. Obviously, most of what God knows he either does not want us to know, or he knows we don’t need to know it, or he knows we can’t handle it because our brains would explode. But there are some things that God does want us to know. He wants us to know that he knows exactly how we tick, that he knows how to save us from going to hell, that he has a purpose for us while we live on this earth, and that he guides us in the best way to function in order to carry out our purpose in life. In other words, he wants us to be wise. That is not a command to have a high IQ. Plain and simple, God wants is for us to grow in godly wisdom.
In the Holy Scriptures God helps us understand that godly wisdom has two parts – believing the truth about what God has done for us and behaving in line with God’s will. Today the Lord Jesus takes us down a path toward more godly wisdom with a most interesting story, which you heard as the gospel for this day in Luke sixteen. He places on our hearts a single, simple, yet important truth for our walk with God and with others - Be Shrewd.
Be Shrewd - In What You Believe
You know that there are people who make a living as motivational speakers. For example, after two consecutive losses the Michigan football coach brought in the actor Russell Crowe to inspire the team. Motivation is the spur, the spark, the reason why someone does something. There is no question that God is interested in our actions, in how we behave. That’s the main point of Jesus’ parable here. But Jesus is also interested, in fact more interested, in our motives. We have to go to the end of the story Jesus told to hear him address the issue of motives. “No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money”. When he uses words like love, hate, devoted, and despise, Jesus is speaking to motives. He knows that what often drives people’s actions, the motive behind many people’s behavior, is the desire for more dough. What was the motive of the shrewd manager in Jesus’ story? – self-preservation, making sure he kept some type of job, money. “What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg – I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses”. He then called his master’s debtors and reduced the amounts they owed. Obviously, Jesus did not tell this story to showcase wrong motives. But before we can understand what Jesus is teaching us here about behavior, we need to get a grip on beliefs, which affect our motives.
We won’t be able to figure out someone else’s motives by just observing their words and actions, unless God would do something unusual and tell us what’s going on in a person’s heart. Take, for example, Cain and Abel. They were brothers, the first children of Adam and Eve. Both offered a sacrifice to God. Abel offered a sacrifice from his flocks. Cain offered a sacrifice from his fields. We have no indication that Cain’s offering was cheap or chintzy and somehow less valuable than Abel’s. Their actions in making an offering to God looked identical. But God accepted Abel’s and not Cain’s. Why? The difference was motive. Abel offered his gift to God because he was grateful that God had promised him a Savior. We don’t know the motive behind Cain’s offering, but we know it was not gratefulness for God’s forgiving love. Was he just going through the motions because he didn’t want to look bad to his folks? Was he trying to earn God’s favor instead responding in thanks for already having received God’s favor? We don’t know. But we do know that his motives were not God-pleasing because God called him on the carpet for that.
Why do we pray, serve, love others, witness for Jesus, worship, use our time wisely, and give money? What’s the motive behind our actions and decisions in life? That may be difficult to answer because, if you’re honest, you will have to join me in admitting that there can be any number of different motives – some good and some not so good – behind our words and actions. For the times when we behave in a certain way out of misguided, mistaken, or messed up motives, God ought to shove our Cain-like offerings right down our throat so we choke on them. But God does not do that. Instead, he forgives our wrong motives and shows us again the true motivating force, the true energizing source – blood-stained timbers and an empty grave, once occupied by Jesus. If we could operate with one single motive, if we could somehow dump the baggage of our sinful nature and always operate from the believer side which God created in us, then the only real godly reason why we would do or say anything would be the blood of Jesus. He didn’t just reduce our debt to God. He canceled it by paying the full debt himself.
So, why do we pray, serve, love others, witness for Jesus, worship, use our time wisely, and give money? There are many motives that can impact that behavior. But only one motive is truly God-pleasing. We pray because Jesus opened God’s ears. We serve because Jesus served us by giving us life as a ransom payment to free us from the eternal debtors’ prison. We love others because Jesus first loved us. We witness for Jesus because we have firsthand experience with the best news ever – Jesus died for the worst of sinners, for you and for me. We worship because Jesus gave us the best message to proclaim to each other – heaven is ours! We use our time wisely because Jesus gave us a life that never ends. We give our money because Jesus paid the highest price imaginable so that we belong to God – his own blood! Real wisdom, real shrewdness, begins with what we believe. Friends, believe in Jesus, and you will have God-pleasing motivation by being spiritually and eternally shrewd.
Be Shrewd - In How You Behave
The word shrewd can have a negative slant, as in cunning or tricky. But that’s not the case here. In the story Jesus told about the shrewd manager, he is zooming our attention not on motives, not on the manager’s beliefs, but on the man’s actions, his behavior. He told the story to illustrate the value of being astute, on the ball, perceptive, prudent, insightful, having keen awareness, sound judgment, and resourcefulness, especially in practical matters. The manager had actually been naughty and wasteful. “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions”. This manager had goofed up and was caught red-handed. His job was in jeopardy. His only motive was self-preservation. So, his beliefs were not shrewd, but his behavior was. Jesus does not say whether the owner kept the manager on or he fired him. All we have is the main point. The owner commended the manager for his shrewdness, for acting wisely, for actions which won friends for him and secured his future.
The point? Very often people who could care less about God and whose only motives are self-preservation demonstrate practical wisdom that Christians could learn. By this story Jesus is teaching us to Be Shrewd in how we behave. He is teaching us that it wise to use a little practical wisdom, some common sense, in order to win friends, make connections, and carry out our purpose in life.
That has been done in past. In 1910, Grace members were shrewd in deciding to hold English services once a month on a Sunday night instead of having all services only in German. Why? To connect with a new generation which no longer had German as its first language. In 1955, Grace members were shrewd in deciding to keep the church doors open instead of closing up shop or relocating when downtown had deteriorated and most members had moved away. Why? Because God can change history and revamp a neighborhood – and he did! In 1989, Grace members were shrewd in deciding to restore the chancel furniture to its original design. Why? So that the interior chancel furniture not only matches the original but also reflects what we believe – a prominent and ornate pulpit, altar, and baptismal font offer the unspoken message, “God touches our lives through his Word and sacraments.” In 2000, 2003, and again in 2006, Grace members were shrewd in deciding to lay the groundwork for financing a building project we now enjoy as the Grace Center. Why? So we can connect with thousands more in downtown Milwaukee. Yesterday our leadership team held a retreat in order to be able to lead the congregation in regard to future staff additions. Why? Because we want to make use of the gifts and skills of called workers, full- and part-time support staff, and volunteers so that we can carry out God’s purpose for our lives in the best possible way.
But shrewd behavior isn’t only wise for us corporately, as a group, as a congregation. It is also wise personally. Do you think you could use some help in personal budgeting? What about learning to curb bad spending habits? How about the pluses and pitfalls of using credit, dealing with debt, investment patterns, estate planning, and deferred charitable giving? I’m not going to hold out promises we can’t keep, but discussions have begun on how to implement workshops and seminars on topics like that so we can apply godly wisdom in how we use our money. Why? Because applying godly wisdom to the decisions we make regarding our money affects not only our personal life, but our congregation, our church body, and countless thousands around the globe. You see, there is an eternal impact in using the godly wisdom Jesus is teaching us today. Our Lord himself put it this way, “Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings”.
When you meet someone, what’s the question normally asked of you? “How’s it going?” or “How’re you doing?” What do you normally say? “Fine! How are you?” But every once in a while, aren’t you tempted to blurt it out? “How’s it going? You really want to know? I’m busy, broke, and bothered by both.” Jesus tells us today, “I can help you with both. Be Shrewd in what you believe and in how you behave. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on September 30, 2007
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