1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word today is taken from the Bible lessons that were read a moment ago, it’s entitled, “Managing God’s Gift of Money,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Let’s just get it out in the open, now we come to the dreaded “money sermon”! Actually, we have to. Not only is money something that we as individuals and a society hold in high regard, but money is also one of God’s gifts to us, and He wants us to manage it with wisdom. You see, God does have something to say about how we use and manage this means of exchange, not only to provide for our own needs, but also to serve our neighbor and to promote His Good News of salvation in Christ Jesus. In fact, you could say that it’s really God Himself who preaches the “money sermon.”
3. We’ve considered God’s gift of the created order, His gift of other people around us, and His gift of time. God gives us these gifts to manage for His glory and for the service of our neighbor. So, yes, in this final installment of Managing God’s Gifts, we look at God’s gift of money. Our gracious God is and always will be the “lord of the manor.” We are and always will be His “stewards,” or “managers.” The whole estate belongs to Him. Truthfully, nothing belongs to us. That includes money.
4. Our Gospel, from Luke 16, plunges us into the heart of stewardship and management of money. Jesus tells this parable about a manager who had mismanaged his master’s possessions. Charges were brought against the manager, and so he had to figure out how to support himself. Suffice it to say, the manager was smart. He put his MBA-like skills to good use, which was only for himself. As Jesus tells the tale, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:8). No, his dishonesty didn’t win the acclaim, but his shrewd management did.
5. Then Jesus gives us His purpose for the parable: “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” (Luke 16:9). If you are unfaithful in managing “unrighteous wealth,” how can you expect to be entrusted with God’s true riches? If you are unfaithful in what belongs to someone else—namely, God—how can you expect to have your own estate?
6. Jesus also says, “You cannot serve God and money” (Luke 10:13). He’s not teaching us to avoid money. Instead, He’s teaching us not to idolize money, bow down to it, or serve it. St. Paul said it this way: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs” (1 Timothy 6:10). Notice, the love of money—that’s the root of all kinds of evils. It’s a First Commandment issue. Luther said, “To put it very briefly, God does not want us to serve money and possessions. Nor does He want us to worry. But He does want us to work and leave the worry to Him” (WLS § 3075).
7. Money is just a means of exchange, a convenient instrument we use for purchasing clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, and so on. Having more money doesn’t make you a better person, and having less money doesn’t devalue you, especially in God’s eyes. And contrary to common notions in our culture today, being wealthy doesn’t make you evil, nor does being poor somehow make you more virtuous. How you manage money and what you do with it reveals who you are, what your priorities are, and what kind of manager you are.
8. What priorities does God give us for managing His gift of money? We can sum them up in three categories: first, for ourselves; second, for our neighbor; and third, for His Church. The first priority is for ourselves. We know we need to eat and drink, wear clothing, have a place to live, have transportation, and so on. So God provides our “daily bread” for the support and needs of the body. The same Lord Jesus who said, “Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on” (Matthew 6:25), also provides us with work and wages to provide for ourselves. God gives us His gift of money to provide, first, for our families and ourselves.
9. The second priority is for our neighbor. In our Western culture, we do enjoy a pretty high standard of living. Even the poorest among us in the United States are often better off compared to the poor in other parts of the world. Once we provide for our families and ourselves, we are then free to help our neighbor in need. Many are the Bible’s exhortations to help the poor and those less well off than we are. Who can forget Jesus’ words that He promised to speak on the Last Day: “For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me” (Matthew 25:35)? Yes, as we are able, our Lord gives His gift of money so that we will help and serve our neighbor.
10. This goes back to Luther’s saying that God doesn’t want us to serve money and possessions. Instead, Luther says, God wants our money to be our servant, to do what we tell it to do, not the other way around. Luther paints this picture of a Christian using money as his servant to help his neighbor: He, then, may use the possessions, as Abraham, David, Job, and other wealthy people did. . . . When he sees a man who has no coat, he says to his money: Come out, young Mr. Gulden! There is a poor naked man who has no coat; you must serve him. Over there lies a sick man who has no refreshment. Come forth, Sir Dollars! You must be on your way; go and help him. (WLS § 3075) Luther helps us see how to manage our money according to God’s will. He says, “People who handle their possessions in this way are masters of their possessions. And, surely, all honest Christians will do this” (WLS § 3075). As Psalm 112 proclaims about the one who trusts our gracious giver God: “He has distributed freely; He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever” (Psalm 112:9).
11. The third priority that God gives us for managing His gift of money is for His Church. Yes, in this fallen world, driven by economic realities, it does take money to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is free, of course. Christ’s atoning death on the cross is free. Our salvation and forgiveness from Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is free—no strings attached. But, we know that buildings are built to proclaim this precious Good News. Bread and wine must be purchased for receiving our Lord’s body and blood. Light and heating and cooling bills must be paid. Materials for outreach and publicity efforts must be purchased and printed and distributed. For those churches that operate Day Schools, teachers must be paid, books and supplies must be provided, and utilities must be paid. Yes, it takes money to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus. Remember, Jesus Himself spoke of using “unrighteous wealth” for eternal purposes, namely, proclaiming and spreading the Good News of His eternal salvation.
12. Our First Reading, from Exodus 35, gives a picture of the joy of using “unrighteous wealth” for God’s holy purposes. The children of Israel had just fled from Egypt after over 400 years of slavery. I doubt they had as much money as we wealthy Americans have! And yet, these freed children of God provided for the construction of the tabernacle, the place where God Himself would dwell among them and shower them with His grace and blessing of salvation. Those who had different colored yarns gladly brought them. Those who had silver or bronze brought them. Those who could weave the cloths did so. Those who could build joyously did so. “All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord” (Exodus 35:29). See how they were gladly and joyously managing God’s gifts for His glory!
13. What’s not in our First Reading is what happened next. Exodus 36 gives us the fruit of the freewill offerings. Bezalel and Oholiab organized the work crews of craftsmen, and people kept bringing their “unrighteous wealth” for service in the Lord’s tent. Bezalel and Oholiab met with Moses and said, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do” (Exodus 36:5). So, Moses actually had to stop the collection, because the people were giving so much! What generosity! What marvelous managing of God’s gifts of money and possessions for God’s purposes!
14. In 1932, John H. C. Fritz gave this instruction to pastors in his Pastoral Theology: “If the Christians of our day would give ten percent of their income, as the Jews did in the Old Testament (in the New Testament this is not obligatory), or if the Christians of our day would support the Church to the extent of their power and even beyond their power, as did the poor Macedonian Christians . . . the treasuries of the churches would always be filled to overflowing, and there would no longer be the proverbial church deficit” (259–60). Part of managing God’s gift of money is indeed using it to support the Church in her work of extending the reach of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
15. Which, finally, brings us to our Second Reading. St. Paul used the example of the poor Macedonian Christians, and their cheerful giving, to inspire the wealthier Corinthian Christians. Though poor, the Macedonian Christians found joy in giving to Paul’s famine relief efforts for the Jerusalem Church. So Paul sought to spur the Corinthians to show that their love was genuine (2 Corinthians 8:1–8). Then he said, “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 by His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
16. There’s the motivation for managing God’s gift of money with wisdom and faithfulness. Christ Jesus was rich—the Son of God, owning and ruling over all things in heaven and on earth. But He became poor for you—humbling Himself in His incarnation and humbling Himself even more by going to the cross for you. Christ’s poverty makes you rich. Christ’s death makes you alive. Christ’s forgiveness frees you from slavery to self and to wealth. Christ’s generous giving makes you a generous giver. St. Paul drives his point home: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6–7).
17. Our God is a cheerful giver. He gives us His world, He gives us other people, He gives us time, and, yes, He gives us money. He calls us to manage everything He gives, for His glory and to serve our neighbor. This is proper stewardship for all of life. This is Managing God’s Gifts. Amen. The peace of the Lord that passes all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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