Managers of the Gospel

September 22, 2019


Epistle Lesson:　 I Timothy 2:1-7
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.

Gospel Lesson: 　 Luke 16:1-13
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 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.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘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— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 ”‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ ”‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “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. 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 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.”

St. Paul was an honest, faithful manager of the Gospel. His Master was Jesus Christ who had called him into the ministry of preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul puts it this way in the Letter to Timothy, “7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.” Not only to the Jews, for, as St. Paul wrote, God our Savior “4 wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” The first step in evangelism is prayer. So Paul writes, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

It is hard to live a peaceful and quiet life when the authorities persecute the church and the believers. The problem is that they did not know the True God. In their ignorance they prayed to idols and false gods and tried to get what they wanted by rituals and sacrifices. Even if they believed that God existed, they still did not know how to be saved. They did not know they needed a Savior to help them. Or they thought maybe there were many paths to heaven, and many helpers and mediators to help them get there.

So Paul spoke the Gospel: “God our Savior, 4 (who) wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” By the word “ransom” Paul means the cross. “Ransom” is usually money paid to free a hostage. The devil had held us as hostages, like slaves, and we were doing his work whenever we sinned. Jesus bought us from the devil. The ransom price was not in gold or silver, but with his holy and precious blood. He died so that we might be free. He was the mediator, the middle-man between God and men that did the negotiation to set us free. Jesus was and is a very honest and faithful manager of the grace and mercy of God.

Let’s compare Jesus and the dishonest manager in today’s Gospel reading. First, Jesus would never be fired because he was honest. Now, the Pharisees wanted to fire him, that is why they took him to court. When the dishonest manager was accused, he cooked the books, he changed the records. 800 gallons of olive oil became 400. 1000 bushels of wheat became 800. And so he gained friends who took him into their homes. But Jesus is better at changing the records. 100 million sins become zero. In the Bible, another word for “sins” is “debts.” Jesus forgives our debts, our sins, our trespasses. In this way he became our friend and he welcomes us into his eternal home. In another case, when there are only 99 sheep counted, the Pharisees would happily change the tally as 99 being correct, because they did not want to include the sinners and lost. But Jesus is honest and searches for the lost so that there would be salvation for all believers of the flock.

We in the church have been entrusted with the Gospel. As managers for Jesus, our first job is prayer. As Paul writes, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Jesus wants us to be honest people of the light and not to deal falsely. Jesus wants us to work with wisdom and knowledge and prudence. We are to use the worldly wealth to gain friends, that is friends who are believers, who will be happy to see us again in the eternal dwellings. Evangelism is not cheap. It takes a lot of money, a lot of mammon. For details, ask our church treasurer. Jesus wants his managers to be honest. 1) Honest in the use of church money and resources. There have been church treasures who have run off in the middle of the night with the church offerings. There have been evangelists who are only out to make money. Jesus says that if we cannot trust people with money, how can we trust them with the real treasure of heaven? How can we trust them to proclaim the Gospel correctly? 2) Jesus wants his managers to be honest with the message of the Gospel. St. Paul spoke the honest message, “5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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