Tag: JEsus

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Certainty of Salvation

Saving Lord,
While each day has plenty of uncertainties and unknowns of its own, I thank you that my eternal salvation is not one of them! The Bible spells it out so clearly that even a child can understand and believe that you love us so much that you sent Jesus into this world to live and die for us. In Jesus every perfect requirement of heaven has been met. In Jesus every condemning sin has been paid for and canceled. Though faith in him I am never wondering where I stand with you, because he came and carried out all that was necessary for me. Let me find joyful security in my salvation every single day, and lead me to make it known to others in every possible way.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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Thanks for Those Serving on Sundays

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. While the pastor preaches and leads worship, and the musicians and instrumentalists are responsible for the music, thank you for everyone else who is involved in some capacity or another. Before any attenders arrive, set up and preparations are made, sometimes by a few; others times by many. Greeters and ushers help worshipers feel welcome and at-home. Those working in audio and video help ensure that the Word is communicated clearly, allowing those present or those at home to hear and see. Some use their gifts to provide care for children during worship. Others teach. Coffee and refreshments are prepared and served. Afterward, once the service is over and the worshipers have left, others take pride in tidying up and making the space presentable for ongoing ministry that occurs during the week. Thank you for those who serve in so many ways on Sunday, so that you can serve us with your Word and Sacrament. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be Driven By Eternal Rewards

Eternal Father,
When I get caught up chasing after rewards and recognition this world offers, remind me that my greatest rewards aren’t going to be received on this side of heaven. The rewards of your grace, earned and secured for me by Jesus Christ, are far superior to the best that this world could ever offer. Nevertheless, that which is immediately tangible and able to be experienced here and now so easily grabs my attention and focus. Guard me from being led astray by short-lived success. Let the joy and certainty of eternal blessings prompt my relentless drive and passion in all that I do in this life, and let it also work in me a burning zeal to be about your kingdom and your purposes. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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For the Privilege of Raising Children

Gracious Father,
All good gifts come from you, and children rank near the top of the list. Because parenting can be so exhausting and require so much energy, we can overlook the blessing they are. No matter their season of life – infants, toddlers, teens, or adults – lead parents to appreciate the unique joys of each stage of raising children. Thank you for their individual personalities and the variety of gifts you grant to them. Let children see fine examples of the Christian faith modeled in their parents. Make Jesus central to the home so that the gospel plays a prominent role in their training and instruction. When law and gospel are present and grace abounds, may fruits of faith flourish in children, including loving obedience and respect toward their parents. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Bless the Celebration of the Reformation

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. Worship in many Lutheran churches this morning is special because of the celebration of the Reformation. Thank you, Lord, for how you guided the efforts of so many through the Reformation to restore the good news of the gospel to its rightful place of prominence within the Church. For those who were willing to make such sacrifices for the sake of the gospel, we thank you. For restoring the clear truth that our salvation is by grace, through faith, and not by good works, we thank you. Through the Reformation you allow us to see how serious you are about your promise that your Word will endure forever. Keep our generation steadfast in standing on Scripture, and let it always be central to our worship and life.  

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Be Grateful for the Gospel in Worship

Heavenly Father,
Sundays are sacred. It’s so easy for us to take for granted that every time we gather for worship, we hear the good news of the gospel preached and sung. Sadly, that is not necessarily the case, certainly among religious gatherings outside of Christianity, but even within Christianity. The gospel is our lifeline to you, the assurance of our eternal security, and our hope for daily living. Cause preachers to proclaim it confidently and clearly. Keep them from the temptation of thinking that their own cleverness or creativity is necessary for the Word to be effective. The gospel is everything, therefore, let it not be overshadowed by anything. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

What We’re Given Guides Our Giving

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(1 Chronicles 29:1-2, 10-18)

It could have gone differently. We know it because we see it repeatedly in rulers and kings throughout history. We know it because we see it repeatedly in rulers and kings in Scripture. Nebuchadnezzar fell into the trap of thinking his kingdom was his own doing. “As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:29-30). Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t the only one. About a century later, in Esther 1, we read that “For a full 180 days [King Xerxes] displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty” (v.4).

So it isn’t uncommon in history that, anytime a ruler is showered with exorbitant riches and wealth, he falls into the trap of thinking that it’s a reflection of his own magnitude and achievements. And, he wants to let others know. Why? To show off their wealth. To display their success. To prominently display all they had achieved to ascend to such greatness.

But David, who was not a man of meager means by anyone’s estimation, strikes a different tone. Oh, the opulence is there, the wealth and riches were definitely a part of the picture. “With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities” (v.2). He spared no expense! 

But David wasn’t self-aggrandizing. He was God-adorning. David explained to the assembly gathered on the occasion, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God” (v.1). None of this was “for man but for the Lord God.” This wasn’t about David. This was about David magnifying God. In all of these words, David directs the attention to God, not himself. The praise belongs to God, not himself.  

What accounts for the difference? Why is it so common for kings and those in power to make their wealth about them, while David rightly makes his wealth about God? Because David recognized and acknowledged this about his wealth: it was all God’s. “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (v.14). “Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you” (v.16). It’s all God’s! David clearly acknowledges that there is no discussion about his giving or contribution toward the temple apart from an awareness of what he had already been given. 

This is not a natural concept for us to grasp on our own in this fallen world. We think that what we have is ours and we deserve credit for all it took to acquire it. A person looks at his own situation and wants to claim responsibility for his successes. He can probably detail for someone else all the hard work and steps it took to get to where he is and to have what he has. We don’t hesitate to claim credit for anything we’ve achieved or accumulated. 

And this isn’t just a nonbeliever thing; believers struggle with it, too.

For some believers, this is a new concept to consider, that it’s all God’s. If we’re newer to the faith or not used to talking about how to manage our finances and belongings, we may have always thought of our stuff as our stuff. But the Bible has pretty clear reminders that everything is God’s, and he simply entrusts it to us to manage and care for. So nothing is really ours.

For others, perhaps those who have been life-long believers, or who are more familiar with the Bible’s topic of stewardship – a word that simply refers to the management God’s blessings – this isn’t a new concept at all. We have been taught and understand that everything is God’s, and we gratefully manage it to the best of our ability.

But… if we stick with this thought for a little while and assess our relationship with our belongings, isn’t it true that there are maybe a few things that, while we pay lip service to everything being God’s, we kind of think of as more of our own? In other words, this thing or that thing which we aren’t quite so willing to part with? Don’t touch my phone or laptop. That’s your car and this is mine – drive your own. Don’t eat my __________ in the pantry or fridge – those are my thing. This gift of money or gift card was given to me to use, so I don’t have to share. So yes, we know it’s all God’s, but when it comes to managing the use of it, we can be quick to claim full ownership of certain things.

Now some of you are reading this and thinking about someone else right now that you think is too stingy because they won’t share with you. This is not an invitation for you to argue that “since it’s all God’s, you have to let me use your thing.” No – there may be a very good reason someone has not let you use their thing – because you yourself haven’t managed it well in the past! You’ve lost it, broke it, or damaged it, which leads others to think twice about letting you borrow anything. In that respect, you’re guilty of the same wrong – caring poorly for something as if it were yours to mistreat instead of God’s possession that he entrusted to you through someone else letting you borrow or use it.

All of these challenges to managing God’s blessings to us make David’s relationship with his wealth stand out all the more. He did not only pay lip service to the truth that all that he had was God’s, but he also to reflected it in how he actually lived. To help us see things the way David did when he stated, “we have given you only what comes from your hand” (v.14b), maybe the following imagery helps.

Picture it like this. God has two open hands extended to David. His left hand is empty. His right hand is filled with all of the wealth and possessions he was entrusting to David. What did David do? He simply took some of what was in God’s right hand, and he placed it over into his empty hand. So then, what did David actually give to God? Nothing that wasn’t already his! He simply moved it from one hand to the other, but it was all God’s the whole time.

Do we view giving that way, that we are doing nothing more than giving God what was already his in the first place? That shift of perspective on giving has to happen if we are ever to “let go” of what we mistakenly consider ours in the first place. We need to start with the understanding and hold to the truth that everything is God’s. And, in order for us to follow in David’s footsteps with the level of generous giving that he demonstrated, we always start with looking first at what we’ve been given.

Isn’t it so much easier to zero in on what we don’t have instead, as we compare ourselves to those around us? Someone always has more, has better, has newer. And we convince ourselves we’re struggling, we’re just not well-off, we’re maybe even victims or definitely got a raw deal.

But, if we took the time to compare our situation with the vast majority of the rest of the world’s population, we’d have a better grasp of and appreciation for how good we have it and how generous God has been to us! Guess what percentage of the world’s storage units are in the U.S? 90%! And did you know that it’s been figured that we have enough storage unit to place the entire U.S. population inside of one. Only in America would we understand and laugh at George Carlin’s joke about a house just being a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff. We have such a high standard of living that we easily take it for granted and overlook how generous God is to us.

Now we could certainly keep going down this path, but we haven’t even hit the real treasure yet, have we? Think of what we have in Jesus. Really think about it.

From the moment you wake up until you hit the pillow at night, you could have the absolute worst day. Everything imaginable could go wrong. Yet all day long, you are able to remind yourself that no matter what, you are loved by God. When overwhelmed by all of the distressing local, national, or international news stories, you can find peace in Jesus’ promise that he has overcome the world. If you don’t fit in, struggle to make friends, or worry about the opinion others have of you, you know that Jesus’ perfection on your behalf means that God always cares about you and is always delighted in you. When you don’t have the answers or feel like you’re in control, you can relax knowing that God does and is. When you are stuck on that sin that you thought or said or did that made a royal mess of things, you can reassure yourself as often as necessary that you are fully and freely forgiven in Jesus. How can we possibly put a price tag on this treasury of rich promises from God? 

Of course there was a price. But you and I didn’t have to pay it. Jesus did. And as a result of his willingness to serve as both our Substitute and Sacrifice, we have treasure that is real, genuine, and eternal. 

David didn’t just know from first-hand experience how generous God was in providing him with an abundance of wealth. Remember that David had experienced something far greater, a gift that was lovingly wrapped up and delivered by the prophet Nathan long before the events recorded for us this morning. That gift was a story that served as a call to repentance for David. When that gift did its work, David’s crushed spirit confessed his sin – his scandalous sexual encounter with Bathsheba, his murderous cover-up, and all of the fall-out that followed. At that point, through Nathan’s promise of God’s forgiveness, David’s crushed spirit received the approval and acceptance from God that will always surpass any amount of wealth or possessions that a person could ever accumulate. 

We have to understand that about God. Even when he chooses to lavish a person with worldly wealth, it is never just the wealth – the stuff – that leads a person to stand in awe of God’s goodness. Rather, it is always the incomprehensible, mind-blowing reality of grace and forgiveness which opens my eyes and my heart to how good God is, and then appreciates God’s temporal blessings, too. Take it from David, who penned these words of Psalm 32: 

1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them.

7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.

10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him.

11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Everything David expressed in this psalm is true for you and me, too. Brothers and sisters in Christ, look at what we’ve been given. And let that always guide your giving. 

Warning From the Other Side

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(Luke 16:19-31)

Ignore the Bible. Don’t listen to it. Don’t read it. Don’t study it. Don’t waste your time with it. And whatever you do, don’t believe it.

I don’t even care what your reasons are, just make sure you avoid it at all costs. You don’t have enough time in the day to read it. You already know some of the things it says don’t sit well with you, so stay away from it. You don’t have any need for an old book written by old men that only suppresses women and pollutes minds by promoting patriarchy. No one actually believes all the foolish fables and fairy tales anyway, right? If you don’t already have your own reason, find one – whatever it takes – to make sure you ignore the Bible. 

The rich man found his reason. He rather enjoyed the best of what the world had to offer. He “dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day” (v.19). Purple, linens, luxury – this was the stuff of the upper class, the top tier of society. This man was not financially struggling to keep his head above water or just barely getting by; he was living the high life. Indeed, there has always been a lot to enjoy and appreciate in life, no matter when a person has lived throughout history. There have always been the “haves” and the “have-nots.” The rich man had it – whatever he wanted. Money was no object. Even his meals were so extravagant that the miserable beggar at his gate would have been delighted just to have a taste of the post meal scraps scraped off his plates. 

So, what do you think of this man? What is your opinion of him? We don’t have much of a biography about him. Honestly, we don’t even know if he actually existed or if he is just part of a story Jesus is telling. He was rich. It doesn’t seem that he was that interested in using his wealth to help others in need, otherwise we might expect the story of the beggar outside his gate to be a rags-to-riches story of some sort. He came from a good-sized family, having five brothers. In the second part of the story, it does appear that he is at least concerned about his brothers, which says something about him. So, what do you think of this man, this man that Jesus doesn’t even bother to mention by name?

Perhaps more important than what we think of the man is what the man thinks of his situation after he departed this earth. Did he miss the purple, the linens, and the luxury? Did he miss his lavish lifestyle and the ability to experience or purchase whatever he wanted? We might draw some assumptions, but we aren’t provided with that information, as it is overshadowed by the unyielding agony he was suffering. “The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire’” (v.22-24).

In place of any concern about riches is his preoccupation with relief. The degree of his suffering is amplified by the fact that he asks for so little in relief! He does not request a cold shower or a cool drink, but merely the tiny tip of a finger dipped in water to touch his tongue and offer such a minuscule measure of relief. Even that would have been welcome!

Have you ever experienced anything like that? I can tell you you haven’t, because no matter what pain or suffering you have experienced, we’ve all enjoyed the same benefit: it eventually passed. The pain went away. The broken bone mended. The gash or cut scabbed over and healed. New skin eventually replaced the blisters from the burn. We have pain reliever and medicine for headaches. Every pain that we can imagine experiencing, no matter how excruciating, eventually heals and goes away.

But not for the rich man. When Scripture describes hell, after the matter of being cut off from God eternally, one of the most terrifying elements of hell is trying to imagine no end in sight, no relief, ever, from the torment and pain.

In addition to the rich man’s pleas for relief, his sudden concern for others – his brothers – also highlights his agony.

“‘I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment’” (v.27-28). While we don’t know about his relationship with his brothers while he was living, he certainly cares enough about them now to see that they never have to experience what he was experiencing. Were they as wealthy as he was? We don’t know. What we do know is that he knew that if something didn’t change in their lives, they were destined to head to where he was. So in addition to pleading for relief, the rich man is begging on behalf of his brothers, asking for extreme measures. 

Listen again to the rest of the exchange, beginning with Abraham’s initial response. “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’  ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead’”  (v.29-31). “Get their attention! Send someone back from the dead to warn them to avoid hell at all costs! The agony is unbelievably unbearable!”

Abraham’s response better grab our attention, because it is the key to this whole account. When he pointed out to the rich man that his brothers had “Moses and the Prophets,” he was simply saying, “They have the Bible. The Word of God is enough. And if that doesn’t keep them from following in your footsteps and avoiding the same outcome, nothing else will – not even someone rising from the dead to warn them.” 

Ignore the Bible. Don’t listen to it. Don’t read it. Don’t study it. Don’t waste your time with it. And whatever you do, don’t believe it. 

Follow that advice, and you’ll be well on your way to personally experiencing how accurate the rich man’s take on hell really was.

Thankfully, the story Jesus is telling here doesn’t just involve one man. There was the beggar, the one positioned so close to a life of luxury and means, yet so far away. The beggar Jesus happens to mention by name is Lazarus. His experience in life couldn’t have been more polar opposite than that of the rich man.

“At [the rich man’s] gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores” (v.20-21). He had nothing to his name, and his desire for relief was met not by the rich man of means, but by his compassionate four-legged companions. But when his life was over, his fate was noticeably different.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side” (v.22). Where exactly did Lazarus end up? Not at all in the same place the rich man did, but rather in heaven, depicted by the presence of angels and Abraham.

Abraham is actually an excellent choice to serve as a representative of heaven. Why? Because the Bible makes it very clear how he got there. One of the New Testament writers, Paul, quotes a verse from the Old Testament to clarify how a person ends up saved and in heaven. He wrote, “What does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).Abraham was in heaven because he believed, and that faith alone is what allowed God to welcome him into heaven. The same writer explained in another of his letters, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Belief. Faith. These are the “must-haves” for heaven.

Verses like these are necessary to help us to fill in the missing blanks in Jesus’ story, because Jesus didn’t doesn’t tell us about any of the religious beliefs or activities of either the rich man or poor Lazarus. So, without any other knowledge of Scripture, a person might end up concluding that rich people are bad and go to hell and that poor people are good and go to heaven. But that take doesn’t find a shred of support in Scripture. Instead, we must conclude that Lazarus was a believer and the rich man was not.

Well then, how does one become a believer? Again we hear Paul: “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word about Christ” (Romans 10:17). The Word is everything, and the rich man had no time for it as he gave his attention to his lavish lifestyle. So he traded temporary comfort for eternal torment. As Abraham explained to the rich man in the story, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony” (v.25). And that final outcome couldn’t be tampered with. His choices in this temporary life directly impacted his eternal life. 

As do ours. To be clear, it isn’t merely the act or frequency of reading the Bible that assures one of salvation, but believing it. Nevertheless, no one can ever believe it if they do not know what it says, for it is the only means by which the Holy Spirit convinces anyone that Jesus has provided both the necessary holiness required for heaven by his perfect life, as well as the payment for every sin by his innocent death. We only find the details of this good news, which we call the gospel, in the Bible. Only there are we introduced to Jesus Christ.

Your faith in Jesus Christ is the only thing that has everything to do with your salvation. It hinges on it. Which is to say, it hinges on the Word of God, where we come to know, love, and place our trust in our forgiving, gracious, compassionate, peace-bearing, always-with-us, patient Savior. And we have for ourselves not just Moses and the Prophets, as the rich man did; we have the whole Bible! All of it points us to the certainty of salvation that can only be found in the greatest Friend of sinners, the One who forgives all sinners, Jesus Christ. And there is plenty of room right next to him, along with Abraham, poor Lazarus, and all of the saints who believed the Word of God. 

So, friends, don’t ignore the Bible. Listen to it. Read it. Study it. Spend time with it. And whatever you do, believe it.

DAILY PRAYERS FOR GUYS

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To Prioritize My Salvation

Lord of Salvation,
Nothing should concern us more than the matter of our salvation. Scripture paints such a terrifying picture of hell that we must conclude that Satan and sin are nothing to be trifled with. Yet the same Scripture points to the clear certainty of salvation solely through the work of our Savior. It leaves no doubt for anyone seeking the answer to the question of what happens to us after this life. 

Keep us from allowing other concerns and distractions in our lives to crowd out the matter of our salvation. Although Jesus took care of it entirely for us, Satan tries relentlessly to take it away from us. While he cannot undo the work of salvation carried out by Jesus, Satan can convince us that our busy schedules don’t permit the time it takes to keep us close to Jesus. Since he cannot take salvation away from us, he tries to take us away from our salvation. He does this by trying to cut us off from Word and Sacrament. Help us fight that battle daily and remain tethered to you by faith, so that our salvation is never in jeopardy. 

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen. 

Don’t Mistake a Warning for a Challenge

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(Luke 16:1-13)

“Betcha can’t eat just one!” One of the most enduring and successful ad campaigns came from FritoLay back in the 1960’s. Initially featuring the actor who played the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz, the ads invited consumers to try and stop at just one of their popular potato chips. They knew that if they could convince potential customers to try even just one, they wouldn’t be able to stop there. So they issued the challenge, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”

Jesus’ final words in this section from Luke 16 almost come across like a challenge. He says, “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” (v.13). Hmmmm… sounds kind of like a challenge, doesn’t it? “Betcha can’t serve both!”

Here’s what’s tricky: we know better. We know Jesus is giving a warning, not issuing a challenge. And as the statement stands, we know what Jesus is saying and we totally agree with him on premise. We know it would be foolish to think we could put God and money on an equal plane and serve them both. It can’t work, just as Jesus stated. 

But that doesn’t keep us from trying to make it work, even if we may not always realize we’re doing it. No, it’s not like we actively plot and lay out a concrete plan as to how we can serve money while also serving God. Actually, though, that’s just the point: when we don’t lay out a plan as to how we’re going to serve God – yes, including with our money – then we inadvertently end up trying to serve them both. 

Consider how this works. Here is some food for thought. Let’s compare two things: our giving and our spending.

When is the last time you thought about your giving? To clarify, I am referring to the offerings believers give to Jesus through their local congregation (offerings are given not earn salvation, but in gratitude for it). So, how frequently do you think about your offerings? Is your giving sporadic, random, or even… non-existent? Or, do you have a plan for your offerings? If it’s guided by God’s Word, then it involves planning, it’s consistent, proportionate, generous, and giving is cheerful. Do all of those apply to your giving? Some of them? Any of them? Chances are, if your giving isn’t planned or thought about regularly, then it’s either not happening at all, or at least not as God encourages it to.

But how about your spending? Whether you follow a budget or not, spending is still going to happen, isn’t it? And, it probably happens whether it’s planned or not. And, it probably happens at a level that would actually surprise us if we tracked it more carefully. Why is that?

There are plenty of reasons, but I think one big one is that we don’t exchange cash like we used to. And, since we don’t literally see the cash leaving our hands as we give it away, we have a different relationship with money. I just Venmo you the money, and either the money is merely a number taken from my Venmo balance or it is just drawn from the bank. I am shopping online, and I just click the button without a second thought, as everything is already connected directly to my bank or a credit card that I may or may not pay off each month. In the store with no cash, checkbook (yes, some still use those), or credit/debit card – that’s OK! I just pull out my phone and hold it next to the reader and “voila!” – my purchase is paid for from some account somewhere – I’ll figure it out later. 

Do you notice the primary difference between the two, giving and spending? One is going to keep happening whether I think about it or not, because of course we won’t stop buying stuff we want. The other, though, is unlikely to happen if we never give it thought. So when Jesus says we cannot serve both God and money, we unknowingly live as if he’s challenged us and we’re trying to prove him wrong on a daily basis. 

But Jesus even pointed out what should be the clear evidence or proof of living such a lie. He said, “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. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” (v.10-12). If we spend without giving, should we wonder why it’s so tough to make a living? Jesus is telling us to stop thinking we can have it both ways. If we can’t get our spending under control, if we can’t pump the breaks on purchasing and squandering what we have, why would God entrust more to us to squander away?

Or, another way to think about it – why would God enable us? Why would he willingly serve as an accomplice to accommodate our desire to serve a false god? That hits a little differently, doesn’t it? We need to see the word “consume” inside of “consumer” and be aware of when our spending is consuming us. Can you say no to spending? Can you go without purchasing or buying what isn’t planned out ahead of time? Are you controlled by impulse buys? Do you justify buying this, that or the other thing, because “you’re stressed,” or “it’s a gift for someone else,” or you “need” it, or “it’s so cute,” or… the list goes on. Justify it however you want, but when we are enslaved by spending, we need to call it what it is: idolatry. And the Bible is quite clear on what happens to idolaters.

Don’t miss the other important connection Jesus made with these words. He tied the physical to the spiritual, indicating that our management of earthly stuff is a test to determine the degree to which we will be entrusted with “true riches,” as Jesus calls them. In other words, the spiritual stuff. If we can’t manage our physical blessings, don’t expect God to heap on us the spiritual blessings, the stuff that is actually valuable. Why would he do that if such blessings will only end up mismanaged or under-appreciated?

And let’s not forget what it took for God to be able to extend those spiritual blessings to us. Paul described how those blessings came to us through Jesus. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus’ parable of the rich man and shrewd manager was just that – a parable. But what we have in reality is a rich Savior who didn’t merely reduce our debt or leave us on the hook with some payment plan to secure our salvation. Instead, he gave himself up, becoming poor so that we through him might become rich.

And that is what we are! Rich in grace and forgiveness, so much so that we never have to worry about our account running dry. Every sin on our ledger is crossed out and cancelled with more grace! Every compulsive purchase, every greedy grab, every single cent that we have spent in service to the idol of money – all has been forgiven through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are free from slavery to spending. We can say no to impulse purchases. We can save. We can bless others. We can give. We can turn the idol of money into our servant, using it to serve our Savior and his purposes.

The parable Jesus told guides us in how to do that. He told the parable of the rich man and his manager. The rich man discovered that his financial guy was crooked, so he canned him. “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer’” (v.1-2). The guy suddenly found himself without a job, and of course, when you get the pink slip for being dishonest when managing finances, who else is going to hire you? No one! So, knowing that his job prospects were very slim, he made the most of his current situation to earn favor with others who could then end up as valuable assets for him in the future. He reviewed their accounts and slashed what they owed by fifty and twenty percent. 

The real shock in the parable, however, isn’t found in his actions, but rather in the commendation of his manager, and ultimately, of Jesus. “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (v.8-9).

Is Jesus praising or advocating dishonesty here? No. But he is encouraging us to be opportunistic. And no, not just to advance our personal financial portfolio, but to advance his kingdom. That was clearly what Jesus had in mind by his reference of being “welcomed into eternal dwellings.” So Jesus laid out one of the many God-pleasing ways to manage his gift of money: to be resourceful with it in seeking to build up his kingdom, to extend the reach of the gospel, and to see a population increase of souls saved as a result of spiritually shrewd efforts. 

Do you see the double benefit of being spiritually shrewd in managing God’s gift of money? One, it curbs us from falling into serving the god of spending. Two, it can do exponentially more eternal good when we are deliberate and opportunistic regarding kingdom-minded ventures. 

Jesus’ words to us today aren’t a challenge, but a warning. We can’t serve both the god of spending and the God of our salvation.

But we can serve the God of our salvation with his gift of money. 

Indeed, let’s shift Jesus’ final words around just a little bit, and we see another side of what Jesus is encouraging. Rather than, “you cannot serve both God and money,” let’s rephrase it into a challenge: “Betcha can’t serve God with money.” By God’s grace, that’s a challenge we can accept! May we eagerly accept that challenge and marvel at how God is able to bless our handling of his gifts for his kingdom.