On Line Bible Study - For the Week April 4-10, 2011
Lesson 487
Luke 16: 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
We begin this study with the concluding verse from the previous study - Luke 16:9. Recalling the difficulty in interpreting the story at the beginning of the chapter, Luke now takes us through a series of brief object lessons that are designed to open our eyes to what is truly important.
First - be generous. Whatever we might say of the conniving of the steward from the story in Luke 16:1-8, it's important to be generous with our money. It's not just a matter of giving to the poor, but of also being generous with our friends. Loving our neighbor, regardless of how we define "neighbor", is often demonstrated by our generosity with the currency in our control.
In his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Darrell Bock reminds us of the obvious - money runs out! If your social safety net only goes as far as your current bank balance, you could be in serious trouble. Generosity to our neighbors extends and expands that net beyond what we can provide for ourselves.
The next three verses - 10-12 - have to do with integrity. Whether trusted with money, or some other responsibility, it's not the size or importance of the task that determines our character. A 'little white lie' is a powerful indicator that we are not trustworthy for any task, no matter how small or large. "Worldly wealth" in verse 11 refers to what Bock calls "unrighteous mammon". This is not to say that money in and of itself is bad; but it is to say that the pursuit of money often brings out the worst kinds of behavior in people. It is to say that if we can't be trusted with something that is morally neutral, how can we ever be trusted with something of greater importance?
How many masters are you trying to serve? The higher the number the more stressed you will be. Care has to be taken not t0 value too highly what the only Master who really counts detests.
First - be generous. Whatever we might say of the conniving of the steward from the story in Luke 16:1-8, it's important to be generous with our money. It's not just a matter of giving to the poor, but of also being generous with our friends. Loving our neighbor, regardless of how we define "neighbor", is often demonstrated by our generosity with the currency in our control.
In his Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Darrell Bock reminds us of the obvious - money runs out! If your social safety net only goes as far as your current bank balance, you could be in serious trouble. Generosity to our neighbors extends and expands that net beyond what we can provide for ourselves.
The next three verses - 10-12 - have to do with integrity. Whether trusted with money, or some other responsibility, it's not the size or importance of the task that determines our character. A 'little white lie' is a powerful indicator that we are not trustworthy for any task, no matter how small or large. "Worldly wealth" in verse 11 refers to what Bock calls "unrighteous mammon". This is not to say that money in and of itself is bad; but it is to say that the pursuit of money often brings out the worst kinds of behavior in people. It is to say that if we can't be trusted with something that is morally neutral, how can we ever be trusted with something of greater importance?
How many masters are you trying to serve? The higher the number the more stressed you will be. Care has to be taken not t0 value too highly what the only Master who really counts detests.
posted by Mark D at 11:29 AM
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