Sermon in Minneapolis 13.08.2006

May it be great for our own place in Jesus Christ. O God, our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all this evening hour and always.

We quieten our hearts in opening prayer and thanksgiving. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask for your presence and blessing this evening at our services. Jesus, you know us and know our needs, and you alone are able to give unto us that which we have need of. So we request, Father, that you would open your word unto us, divide unto us those morsels of grace which we all have need of, that we would be able to take one more step on this narrow way of life.

Father, we pray on behalf of those who are not able to be with us at services, refresh and strengthen them also in this begun faith, that they, together with all of your saints, would be able to comprehend what is the breadth, the height, the depth, and the width of your love. Reveal unto us, Father, your truth, and sanctify us in it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I shall read for our mutual study from the Gospel of Luke, its 16th chapter, verses 10 through 15, the following holy words of God. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. And he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If, therefore, ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. He cannot serve God and mammon.

And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things, and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men. For God knoweth your hearts, for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. Amen.

This portion of this chapter of the Gospel as Luke has recorded for us, is the end of one of the teachings of Jesus where he describes the actions of a man, a steward as the scripture calls him, and how this steward wasted his master's goods. And so then he ends with this portion that we read.

So when we look at this issue of being faithful in that which is least, in other words, being faithful to our Lord, to the giver, what is it that is required of us as stewards? The word steward is something that is not used in our modern English language today in any real sense of someone who is given a responsibility for someone else's goods. We typically have other words, of course, other terms that describe that position.

But if we look at the picture as it is often used in the scriptures for this, we see that it is a very common element of their life where someone, typically an owner, who had a large farm or a possession like that, wherein he had many workers, he needs someone to take care of it and run matters for him. He would give or entrust the responsibility for its daily care to this person or this one who is called a steward, someone who is responsible to his master.

And Jesus in this chapter says, a certain rich man had a steward. The other aspect of this description of Jesus that is rather remarkable is that, as far as I recall, and I may be wrong, but I think it is the only portion or only parable of Jesus where he describes this picture of Jesus. This is the picture that is such a negative picture to reveal the depth of the wrongness of that person's actions.

And he goes, in this picture, he describes this steward as being very effective in getting support for himself in his wrong actions. So that picture that Jesus describes for us speaks volumes then to us as those who are responsible for stewardship or the caretaking of the gospel of the kingdom of God, the gospel at our own places of watching and our own endeavor of faith and in our lives as children of God and of course, above all, in our service to the congregation of God.

So I'm going to go ahead and read this picture of the unjust steward because I think it brings out what Jesus intends with this, He who is faithful and that which is least is faithful also in much and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

So Jesus relates, there was a certain rich man which had a steward and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods and he called him and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee, given account of thy stewardship? For thou mayest no longer, thou mayest be no longer steward.

Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? For my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship I cannot dig to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do that when I am put out of the stewardship they may receive me into their houses.

So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him and said unto the first, How much owest thou my Lord? And he said, A hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and sit down quickly and write fifty.

Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, A hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto them, Take thy bill and write fourscore.

And the Lord commended the unjust steward because he had done wisely. For the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

So this is the picture that Jesus draws before us of this unjust steward. A person who is accused of wasting his master's goods.

We note that of course the lives of all of us of every single child of God are closely held in the palm of our Lord and Master. He knows us so well that he knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us if even one hair would fall from our head something we aren't capable of knowing.

But even more than that he knows our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. So there's nothing hid. Nothing is hid from our Lord and our Master. He sees all. He sees each and every one of us.

And that is why it is so immediate the response of the children of God that if the steward who is responsible for dividing the goods of the Master to the children begins to waste those goods the Master our God our Heavenly Father immediately learns of it.

And so when the steward is accused of wasting the goods he is accused of not correctly dividing the morsels of grace that God has appointed.

When we think of that responsibility over the congregation of God or even over our little home congregations we see that God requires us to nurture, to feed, to nourish, to help one another on this narrow way of life and especially of course we are required as Jesus taught to forgive.

When Peter attempted to set some boundaries for this forgiveness and he asked is seven times sufficient Jesus said I say unto you not seven times but seventy times seven and in another place he says as often as your brother returns saying I repent forgive him.

So we see the abundance of the grace of God that there is no limits and God provided such abundance in forgiveness and grace because we all need him.

And when we look at the history of those wretches who have lost faith throughout time we have to get marbles for our own selves that there but for the grace of God I also a wretch would have been lost but God has given unto us his grace and his mercy and we rejoice and thank him that he has left us to this space.

And that is why we also want to freely give as we have been given freely forgive as we have been forgiven. This is our role and this is our portion.

So listen to what this false steward was accused of. He was accused of wasting his goods and he is told that he will no longer be a steward.

What does he do? He continues in that which he was doing. He called the debtors and he says how much do you owe and one of them had a hundred and he said take your bill sit down quickly and write fifty.

Jesus with this example and these words of course wants to picture the defeat and the mind of a thief where the action has to be taking care quickly before this person loses his stewardship.

In other words he instead of speaking the word of God in truth to the heart of his listeners he began to not speak the word of God in its fullness in its completeness and in that condition he had created for himself those followers who would follow him.

How sad it is to note such happenings throughout time and when someone has lost their stewardship they instead of repenting.

If this man knew what he should do what shall I do my Lord take away from me the stewardship I cannot dig to beg I am ashamed he had for so long misused the gospel of the kingdom of God and so long lived in sin and created for himself this reputation of someone who is mighty and powerful and now he cannot humble himself to repent even though he knows what he has to do.

And so when he is taken out of his stewardship Jesus says that if you look at the actions of such a person with regards to this life to this time he did wisely but his wisdom unfortunately is only a temporal rational wisdom for this time.

What happens such a wisdom when it must come before God once in eternity it is of course foolishness.

And so even though as Jesus says here that the people of this world of this time are wiser than the children of light the wisdom is the wisdom of the world a wisdom that is pleasing to the mind of man.

And of course in our country in our nation we see many even of those who are outwardly righteous are having some form of righteousness that they desire to worship God but their faith is a faith that's not founded on the scriptures and the revelation of the spirit of God.

And so their wisdom and their success is the success of man and not that which is acceptable to God.

The same word applies to them as Jesus said to the Pharisees that that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Those who do such who live such lives even though they may accomplish much here in this world it does not help them in eternity.

They have as wretches lost that which would give them peace and security on the last day the gospel of forgiveness that their sins would be forgiven brought it out in the book of life and they would be heaven acceptable.

So this is the portion of those who are unjust but I would if I would insist when you look at the words when Jesus says he who is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much and he who is unjust in least is unjust also in much this unjust steward or this false steward was certainly not just unfaithful and little he was unfaithful in a while he had not just one day forgotten to divide onto the laborers their daily bread but he had as if restricted their daily bread.

That portion in the Old Testament comes to mind when King follows forcing his army to march into attack and he demands of all of the soldiers that no one can eat.

It pictures a king who has fallen far from that humility which he had when he was first blessed into that office even though he was a tall man he considered himself the least of the children of Israel.

But now when he had been king for a while he became so demanding that he tried to move the army of Israel and not allow them to eat or take nourishment.

So pathetic was the condition of his heart and certainly we can picture that kind of demand of those who are marching moving and fighting to be so destructive as to remove from them all possibilities of success in the battle having energy in wherewithal to fight and overcome the enemy.

And so it happens with such an unjust steward or a false steward who restricts the food of the children of God he in doing so is affecting the ability of the children of God to fight to battle to endeavor in faith to receive that nourishment which gives strength against the onslaught of the enemy.

Such a steward such a person certainly has been unjust in much.

But when we look at our own lives at our own stewardship our own responsibilities oftentimes of course the enemy attacks and tempts us with those failures that we have that we all experience because we are too human and too earthly too full of that which is of this world to always be successful in fulfilling our responsibilities to always be such as would be able to say I have done all.

Jesus in teaching his own said we have done all say we are poor and unprofitable servants for we only did that which was our duty to do.

He takes away from all of us any possibility to lift up our heads and say I have been successful.

But for the most part isn't it so dear brothers and sisters that that sinfulness and those feelings that we all feel is there or pressing weighs us down and we look at our own lives and our own fulfillment of our responsibilities and we have to say that I am a failure a failing child of God for I have often instead of reacting in the spirit I have found myself reacting in the flesh.

We need to turn again and again for the gospel from each other from those escorts who are close to us as parents from our children and as children from our parents and that we can hear that good speaking voice of the blood of Jesus and be promised again and again that just as we are just as we find ourselves as failing and as sinful we nevertheless can believe and we can endeavor and we can attempt to fulfill our responsibilities with the gifts that God has given unto us with those words that he puts in our mouths he gives us that which we have need of and he will fulfill his goodwill and pleasure also through us through you dear brothers and sisters.

This is the march of the army of the kingdom of God as we and his failing ones nevertheless holy and righteous and heaven acceptable not because we have been something but because Jesus has overcome all on our behalf that we by faith can own his righteousness and the power of his resurrection victory.

So the words that you speak and the actions that you do are not something that you yourself have been able to bring forth but the spirit of God in you has inspired them effected through them that you are a child of God and the love that God has kindled in your heart is the love that he gives to his own.

This is your portion dear brothers and sisters for you have been faithful and little.

How have you been faithful? Not that you have been successful but you have been faithful and that you have desired to believe and desired to put sin away and wanted to be a follower of Jesus in life and suffering and in doctrine.

And folks he also promises that he will be your God and you can be his child his people and he will be with you every day until the end of your lives.

He promises I will live and I will carry and I will take you home.

In this way you are faithful and little and when you are faithful in this least then you are also faithful in much.

One day he promises to call you and he will say you have been faithful in little and you have done well and I will put you over much the glory of heaven is yours one day God promises to take you home.

And so when we have this office of reconciliation Paul in writing to the Corinthians describes this responsibility with those words where he says in his first letter let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

This is what God looks from his own that we are faithful faithful in this it is given this heavenly treasure unto us and we are not as that one man in the one parable of Jesus where he took his treasure his one talent and buried it in the ground and he thought that by burying it he will not lose it.

He had this thought that now is not a time of work or a time of endeavoring in the kingdom of God that I can hide my talent my faith and one day give it back to God and of course he lost all he lost that talent which he had been given and he lost eternal life.

So it is necessary that we use our gifts confess our faith God calls us to serve one another to serve at home to serve in the congregation to serve in many different ways these marvelous escorts that he has surrounded us with here.

And we often experience that we look at our own gifts and we compare it to the other brothers and sisters and we do not see something by which I could serve but Jesus has promised that he who serves one of my children even with a glass of water in the name of the disciple he shall not be left without a reward.

So even the least of gifts dear brothers and sisters that which is least in our eyes is greatest in the eyes of our heavenly father.

He does not look and measure gifts as we measure as Jesus warned the Pharisees he also warns us that these things are not measured with the measure of man or the measure of the mind of man but they are measured according to the mind and the spirit of Christ.

And so if we are faithful Jesus promises that he will put us over a lot over much then he warns that if we aren't faithful in that which is of this world in other words if even in this world we are not faithful he called us the unrighteous mammon that mammon which is of this world which is worldly the goods and treasures of this world.

How important it is dear boys and girls when you go out into the world and begin to have a work life in the many different places of employment in those careers it is important that you are faithful with those things that are another person's your employers and when you are faithful in that you do not cheat steal of course that faithfulness is recognized and rewarded.

And when we are faithful in that which is of this world because that is what the spirit in our hearts exhorts and teaches us to do it is a confession of faith it speaks volumes to those around us.

Often times it is a more powerful sermon than all the words that we would be able to express or give out for the mind of man and the mouth and the tongue are so quick to invent all manners of explanations and rationalities and philosophies but so often so often it happens that those who most loudly profess faith are in the very next moment denying their faith.

It happened to us just today at lunch we were in a restaurant and somebody a couple tables down was very loudly preaching away and confessing his faith proclaiming his understanding of different portions of scripture but a few minutes later he was taking the name of God in vain.

Such are the works and the words of man but God has not so instructed you dear brothers and sisters that you would use the word of God in vain or in deceit as Paul wrote in the second letter to the Corinthians but rather in openness in honesty in all truth we proclaim the word of God proclaim it as the demanding law of God to awaken those who sleep in the sleep of sin and unrighteousness and we proclaim the grace and truth of our Lord Jesus Christ to those who are living of grace so they can receive strength and power to take one more step on this narrow way of life.

This is the wonderful grace that we have been given and so also it is the grace that we enjoy today.

But then Jesus said that no one can serve two masters that he will hate the one and love the other he will hold to the one and despise the other he cannot serve God and mammon.

I recall from one of our trips I think it was the second one through Ecuador we were in Quito discussing this life of the children of God and I think it was our brother Mati Konkanen's turn to preach that evening and he talked about this and these different things that come up and the different boundaries that the kingdom of God has drawn throughout time.

And especially of course one of the areas that we have discussed much even in the recent years but also especially with regards to mission workers is the question of television and television programs and so on.

Having just received the grace of repentance those brothers and sisters had a lot of questions and there's much discussion about this question of television and one sister clarified the issue and she said we cannot be just 50% believers either we're 100% or we're not at all.

And that evening one of the other men there who had recently received the grace of repentance was discussing with I think it was with Carlos' brother Raul and he was sitting on the edge of the living room where they have a rug in the middle of that room and he put both feet on the rug and then he put both feet on the floor and then he had one foot on the rug and one foot on the floor and he was going 100 miles an hour in Spanish and I couldn't follow it he was going so fast but from the body language it was obvious what the discussion was.

Cannot stand on the border with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God either we are both feet in the kingdom of God and both feet in the world there is no other way.

This is our life dear brothers and sisters as his children we are here following our master in life in suffering and in doctrine and so we need to endeavor in faith because that is then our source of strength in that which will carry us one day to the glory of heaven.

Remain believing dear brothers and sisters being faithful unto whom has called you being faithful in the least of things which you have desired to be his follower in life in suffering and doctrine.

Continue to gather those blood drops of Jesus unto your own sin sick souls and hearts wash away that which is of sin cleanse it with the blood of Christ and you receive strength to follow him.

Sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood unto peace freedom and joy all sins are forgiven all sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood sins are forgiven in Jesus name and blood sins are forgiven dear brothers and sisters believe unto peace freedom and joy.

I also ask for my own soul and heart came before you to serve this evening tried and tempted may I believe my own sins are false forgiven so I desire to believe together with you in Jesus name amen amen.

Thank you.