#138 Lu. 16:1-12  THE PARABLE OF THE UNJUST AND UNFAITHFUL
STEWARD

Introduction:

    A steward is one who is in charge of the affairs of another (a
manager, superintendent or supervisor).  It was common in that day
for a man of wealth to place a steward over his household affairs
or business affairs or both.  The steward in this parable was in
charge of at least the large farm which belonged to his master.
He rented out tracts of land to farmers who will pay a portion of
their harvest as rent on the land.  The steward was responsible
for setting the rent price, drawing up contracts and collecting
the rent at harvest time.  In verse 8 Jesus calls this steward an
    "unjust steward."  In verses 11 and 12 Jesus uses him as an
example of one who is
unfaithful in his responsibilities.  Therefore this steward is not
set forth as a good example for us to follow.  But Jesus did use
him as a man from whom we can learn some valuable lessons.
    Let us take a look now at our text.  V. 1, "And he said also
unto his disciples...  In this parable, Jesus is primarily
addressing His disciples.  This would include the twelve apostles
who followed with Him constantly.  It would also include a goodly
number of publicans who had come to Him and placed their faith in
Him for salvation.  In fact, there is a great similarity in what
the publicans had been doing before they were saved and what this
unjust steward is doing in the parable.
    But the disciples were not the only ones in the audience.
Verse 14 tells us that the Pharisees were present and heard Him
give the parable.  They heard, and as usual, they were very
critical.

I.  The unfaithful steward being called to give account

    (V.  1)...There was a certain rich man, which had a steward;
and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods."
The land owner in this parable had gotten reports that the steward
in charge of his farm was not doing a good job.  The report was
that he was wasting the goods of the master.  The master, of
course, would be highly displeased at this kind of report.
    Apparently he was using a large amount of his master's profits
in order that he, himself, could live in luxury and pleasure.  He
was not only using the portion which his master would allot him
for his personal use, but he was using far beyond what was rightly
allotted to him.  He was wasting his master's profits for his own
selfish purposes.
    V.  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."  The master called this steward in
and told him what had been reported.  He then gave orders that the
steward should give a full account of all of the business which he
has overseen.  He would, of course, be given time to gather all
the necessary papers for an audit.  The master gave him a stern
warning that everything had better be in order or else he would
find himself no longer his steward.
    The steward was in a dilemma.  He knew full well that in an
audit of the books, his dishonesty would be exposed.  He was
almost certain that he was going to lose his job.  It was a good
job and even his honest portion provided well for him and he did
not know what he was going to do if he lost his job.

II.  The dilemma that he faced

    V. 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."  Up to this time he had not worried about his
future.  He had assumed that he would always be able to live in
luxury at his master's expense.  But he saw now that his very
future was at stake.
    Now let me say to you that he should have thought of this
before.  He should have realized that he was endangering his
future by mishandling his master's affairs.  He should have known
that he would get caught up with and that he would be fired.  But
at least he finally wakes up to the danger of the situation that
he is in.  He is like the prodigal son in that respect.  He
finally wakes up to his need.
    There are a lot of unusual people who ought to take a lesson
from this.  They ought to know that they are going to have to give
an account to God some day.  They ought to know that they are
going to have to spend eternity somewhere.  They ought to be wise
enough to look out for their eternal well being.  They ought to be
wise enough to get saved.
    He was sure in his own mind that he would lose his position as
steward.  He said, "I cannot dig," meaning, "I cannot to do manual
labor."  I don't know why he thought he couldn't do manual labor.
He may have been physically handicapped, or sickly or simply too
old to do manual labor.  Or, it may have been capable of doing the
work, but was just too lazy to do it.  At any rate, he did not
intend to do any hard physical work unless it was forced on him.
If there was any way of getting out of it, he intended to find it.
    Further he said, "...to beg I am ashamed."  There was one way
of avoiding the hard physical work.  He could beg, but he did not
intend to beg.  He was determined to find some other way.

III.  The solution to his problem

    V. 4-5, "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 unto my lord?"  He finally figured out
a way that he could take care of his future even if he did get
fired.  So he called together all of the farmers who owed his
master rent on the land which they farmed.
    He asked that first farmer, "How much do you owe my master?"
I'm sure he already knew the answer.  He had all the books and he
knew exactly what the contract called for.  V. 6, "And he said, An
hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and
sit down quickly, and write fifty."  The contract called for this
first farmer to pay the land owner one-hundred measures of oil.
That was not crude oil, you understand.  That was olive oil
harvested from olive trees that grew on the land he had rented.
He said, "Let's just re-do this contract.  Let's change that to
fifty measures of oil.  That's all you will have to pay."  This,
of course, would make that farmer very happy, but the point is
that it would also make him feel indebted to the steward.
    V. 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."  This second fellow's contract
called for him to pay one-hundred measures of wheat and the
steward cut that down to eighty.  That, of course, made this
farmer also very happy.  Who wouldn't like a deal like that?  But
the point is that this farmer was indebted to him and would feel
obligated to help him when he was in need.
    Now in the parable Jesus does not relate what the steward did
with the other farmers.  Rather He used these two as an
illustration of how he dealt with them all.  He drastically cut
down their debt to his master and made each farmer feel obligated
to him to help him if and when he should get fired.
    V. 8, "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he
had done wisely..."  Now in the parable Jesus does not tell us
whether or not the master fired the steward.  Jesus leaves us to
our own opinion on this matter.  The point is that even the
master recognized that the unjust steward had behaved wisely in
trying to look out for his future well being.  Neither Jesus nor
the master in the parable condone the unjust manner in which the
steward went about taking care of his future, but they point out
that he was at least wise enough to look out for his future well
being.
    (V. 8.), "...for the children of this world are in their
generation wiser than the children of light."  Jesus points out
that when it comes to looking out for one's material well being,
the unsaved are usually much wiser than the saved.  The unsaved
are usually more capable of accumulating and managing wealth than
the saved.

IV.  The interpretation of the parable

    But now let us get to the interpretation of the parable.  V.
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."
    Let me call to your attention again that the unjust steward
was called to appear before his master and give account for his
actions.  This illustrates that all men will be called to give
account before the God of heaven.  This is true of both the saved
and the unsaved.
    The saved, to whom the parable was primarily addressed, are to
learn to be good and faithful stewards of what God has entrusted
to them.  The emphasis here in the parable is upon one's
responsibility in the handling of the material things that God has
placed in one's care.  It emphases the Christian's responsibility
to give generously and regularly to the cause of the Lord.  We
will see also in the parable that it emphasizes that the Christian
is to be generous in helping other people who are in need.  It
lays special emphasis upon the Christian's responsibility to
support the preaching of the gospel to those who are lost in sin.
This not only includes the support of the local church, but it
includes the support of missions in regions beyond.
    Let me get technical for a few minutes here.  I quote, "Make
to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness..."  The
word, mammon, means "riches, wealth."  It is called "...the mammon
of unrighteousness..." because wealth is so commonly associated
with unrighteousness.  It calls attention to the unrighteous deeds
that men will do in order to get wealth.  It also calls attention
to the unrighteous ways that wealth is so often used.
    As the expression is used here in this text it does not mean
that one is to make friends with those who are rich in order to
get the benefit of their riches.  The verse may sound that way at
first.  But we will see in the following verses, that is not what
Jesus is talking about here.  Jesus is telling His disciples to
make friends with people by the way they use their wealth.  His
disciples are to take their wealth, which could so easily be used
for their own selfish purposes and possibly for unrighteous
purposes and use it for the glory of God and for the benefit of
others.  In so doing, they will make friends with others.  Jesus
is telling us to use what wealth we have, whether little or great,
for the benefit of others.  He is telling us not to use our wealth
like the unjust steward did---for his own personal enrichment and
pleasures here in this world.
    Note that idea as Jesus expressed it in verse 10.  V. 10, "He
that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in
much..."  If one has only has a very little and he is faithful to
use that little bit for the Lord's glory and for the good of other
people, God will count it as though he were faithful in much.  And
God will reward him as though he were faithful in much.
    (V. 10)  "...and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also
in much."  On the other hand, if one is not faithful in the
handling of what little he has, God counts it as though he were
unfaithful in the handling of much.  So whatever you have in the
way of earthly means, whether it is little or much, you are to use
it to the honor and glory of God and for the benefit of others.
This includes taking care of your own self and taking care of your
family.  But it most certainly does not stop with just you and
your family.  You are God's steward and you are to use what you
have for God's honor and glory.
   You can do this by helping those about you who are poor and
needy.  You can do this by giving to support the preaching of the
gospel in the local church.  You can do this by supporting the
work of missions far and near.
    But there is more than the use of your money involved in being
a good steward of the Lord.  It involves the use of your time,
your talents and your energies.  You can do this by helping to
carry the load of teaching and training other Christians so that
they may grow in grace and become strong Christians.  You can do
that by living godly lives and setting the right kind of examples
before others.  You can use whatever influence you have for the
glory of God and for the good of other people.
    V. 11-12, "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?"  Now I am not certain
of what all the Lord meant by these two verses, but I am sure of
one thing.  I am certain that if a Christian will not use the
material possessions, the talents, the health and energies that
the good Lord has entrusted to him for God's honor and glory, then
he need not expect to get great rewards in the hereafter.  If he
does little for the Lord, he will be rewarded little.  But if he
is faithful to use what he has in the way the Lord wants him to
use it, he will have great rewards.
    This can be illustrated in this way.  If one never invests any
money, he will never draw interest.  If one makes a good and safe
investment with his money, he will draw interest.  Even so, if one
never uses what God has entrusted to him for the honor and glory
of God, he will have no rewards.  But if he will use his time, his
talents, his energies and his money for God's glory he will have
rewards in heaven.  There is no better investment that he can
make.

Conclusion:

    If you are unsaved, let me appeal to you to look beyond the
material wealth and pleasures of this life.  You will stand before
God some day.  You need to look to your eternal destiny and get
right with God by repenting of your sins and trusting Jesus Christ
to save your soul.  Come today, while there is time and make your
preparation to meet God.
    If you are saved, let me appeal to you to be faithful to God.
Be faithful in your attendance at the house of God.  Be faithful
to live your life to please Him.  You will stand before Him some
day and give account to Him.  Live your life in a way that would
please Him.  Live your life for the honor and glory of God.