Managers of the Gospel

September 18, 2022

Epistle Lesson I Timothy 2:1-7　ESV
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Gospel Lesson: Luke 16:1?15 ESV
1[Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.”
14The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. 15And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.”

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, “7For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” Not only to the Jews, for, as St. Paul wrote, “4 God our Savior, 4[who] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The first step in evangelism is prayer. So Paul writes, “1　First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [and especially] 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

It is hard to live a peaceful and quiet life when the authorities and others persecute the church and the believers. At the time of St. Paul, the problem was that they did not know the True God. 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. St. Paul could write nearly the same about our world today.

So Paul spoke the Gospel: “God our Savior … desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” By the word “ransom” Paul means the cross. “Ransom” is usually money paid to free a hostage or someone kidnapped. 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 the devil and men, and also between God and men who 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 or employed him in their business. But Jesus is better at changing the records. 800 million sins become zero. 1000 trespasses 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 whom they had kicked out of the flock. 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, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, [and especially] 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior.”

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 become believers, who will be happy to see us again in their eternal home. 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. Honest in the use of church money and resources. 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? 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 there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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マイケル・ニアフッド、牧師
沖縄ルーテル教会

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