Trinity Nine Sermon

The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson, chemnitz@cox.net

KJV 1 Corinthians 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. 7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. 8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. 9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. 10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. 11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 3 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. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. 8 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. 9 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.

TLH Hymns
200 I know that my Redeemer lives
251 We all believe in one true God
427 How firm a foundation
50 Lord Dismiss Us

Make Friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness

Luke 16:9 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.

This Gospel certainly sounds perplexing. The star of the story is an unrighteous manager who wasted his owner’s goods and was being fired for good cause. The manager was too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, so he needed a plan. His plan involved making friends out of the people who owed his master money, by reducing their bills. The master then commended this servant for being so clever! We are thinking, “But the manager wasted his goods, then cut down the money owed to save his own skin and guarantee future employment. How is this a good thing?”

Not every portrait in the Bible is intended to show us an ideal person. The unbelievers love to point out how fallible the Biblical characters were. Of course, that is why we call it God’s Word instead of man’s word. When people talk about each other, they either condemn them as utterly black or as so pure and generous that the world does not deserve them. Hollywood does this kind of flattery best, but it happens in the business world and at church meetings.

Jesus’ parable shows us a man who got himself into a pile of trouble but used his cleverness to get himself out. The master was impressed because he was probably, in this work of fiction, a man who was clever himself. There is a story of one Wall Street genius who sold just before the big Crash because he heard the shoe-shine boy talking about his stocks. He thought, “If a shoe-shine boy is buying stocks, the market is over-sold.” Sure enough, the people who bought on margin from their home mortgages were losing their homes and stocks were diving faster than stock brokers from tall buildings.

The conclusion tells us what Jesus is teaching.

Make yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness…

This means to use money and goods, the mammon of unrighteousness, to make friends. That can happen in a variety of ways. Overall, it means a generous spirit toward others. Instead of selling items in a garage sale, give them away to those who need them. Providing financial support for people who need it. Being generous with family, friends, and people we work with.

There are hundreds of ways to be miserly with others: giving the smallest tip possible, giving small gifts with a tragic sense of deep loss (this cost me five bucks!), paying the lowest wages possible while bragging about one’s wealth.

One Lutheran talked about his business relationship with a member of the same congregation. He said, “That guy is always talking about Jesus, but when we do things together in business, he always comes out on top, every time.”

The Bible is full of illustrations of people who talk big and mean nothing by it. The famous false teacher passage in Matthew 7:15ff addresses those who say “Lord, Lord” all the time but are wolves in sheep’s clothing. James devotes considerable space to the same topic, especially about caring for the needy. There are many perpetual welfare cases, professional indigents, one might say, but there are also people who have temporary needs.

Now that the synods are collapsing, I wonder how congregation will fare. Many congregations will close or merge due to huge health insurance costs. I read that it hurt the large congregations the most! Hardly. They have the lowest cost per member for a pastor. The smaller churches are being crippled by insurance costs and therefore reduce salaries in real terms, so pastors commonly have their wives work full-time outside the home, even with small children to raise.

It may be that money itself is not the issue. We have many kinds of help readily available for all types of problems. But what is more precious today than time and attention? Some people should start with their own children. I sat with an Army sergeant and his wife. They make $25,000 a year and have a little girl. His wife does not work outside the home because raising the little girl is so important to them both. I told them how wonderful that was. How many people have all the stuff and no time for children? What greater good can we do for society than raising good citizens and Christians?

And how much is our time worth to shut-ins, the sick, the handicapped? The disabled are everywhere but invisible to most. They have the most to offer, in many cases, far more than they receive.

The real issue is thankfulness. If people are not thankful for the Word, they will show that in their attitude toward the person who brings the Word to them. They may only be thankful for the synod, since they are taught to worship the infallible synod at all times. If they rely on the synod to solve their problems, they will not look to the Word. They will not trust in God to provide for them.

The greatest blessings are spiritual, not material. We cannot say we have any material worries in America. We have food, clothing, and shelter. We even have more Christian ministers (nominal Christians, in many cases) than the rest of the world put together. Where Christians in India might be content to worship in something resembling a chicken shed, we cannot fill a moderate sized building.

The spiritual blessings come only from the Means of Grace. The Gospel of forgiveness is conveyed through the Word and grants what God promises. Forgiveness of sin does not come through regret or penance, but from the sacrificial death of Christ, the treasure of the Atonement distributed by the Holy Spirit working through the Word.

People who want to meet Jesus may meet Him daily through the Scriptures and through Holy Communion when offered. There we have the assurance lacking in the sects. They talk about Jesus but feel uncertain about how Jesus comes to us. They do not look to the solid foundation of the objective Word, so they look for certainty in the feeling of forgiveness, the feeling of salvation. Feelings come and go. They often betray us.

Everyone has unnatural fears. Some may fear spiders. Others will jump if they see a cockroach. I mentioned how roof rats from Asia were in certain parts of Phoenix. A scientist talked about how cute roof rats were. I said, “Not on my roof. Maybe in your lab.” Someone else’s fear sounds silly to me. My fears sound silly to others.

The same thing is true of those things that make us happy and light-hearted. When churches cannot teach the objective truth of the Gospel, they try to generate positive feelings through certain types of music. The idea is to be contagious. Contagious joy. Contagious laughter.

One WELS church, in Phoenix, has tried this approach for several years. They do not have Holy Communion at all. The emphasis is on happy feelings, not on the objective Means of God’s forgiveness.

Happy-talk is always going to degenerate into Unitarianism or peppy business motivation talk. Happy-talk Robert Schuller does not allow anyone to question his phony Gospel. There are some interesting stories about him off-camera – not a happy guy at all.

The Gospel makes us truly joyous by taking away our sins – for free. The burden is lifted forever. The sins are forgotten. That alone should inspire us to be generous to others.

Jesus says there is a reason.

that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Make friends with money, so that when you die, these people will speak for you and welcome you into eternal life.

Luther makes much of this. He portrays the people helped saying, “He gave us food. She gave us clothing, etc.” They are the character witnesses we will have as we enter eternal life.

I won’t get any synod officials to speak for me (assuming some are there) but I expect some wonderful sick, shut-in, and handicapped Christians will vouch for me.

But isn’t that works-righteousness?

The Gospel teaches consistency between what we believe and what we do. If we do everything and have not faith, every good work is a sin. If we talk about Jesus but show no fruits of the faith, even persecute Christianity (as all Church Growth people do), then we are the “Lord, Lord” types who did signs and wonders as evil-doers.

But with sincere faith, there is no difference between the resolve and the act. We carry out what we believe in. If we find our hearts hardened against the suffering of others, then we repent of that hardness in light of God’s great mercy to us.

Luther constantly taught that faith is active in love. Faith is our relationship to God. Love is our relationship to our neighbor.