Responsibility Comes with Accountability

Please turn to Luke 16 in your bibles….and as you are doing so….let me ask you… as you are turning there…

And do you agree with me that you probably don’t want to hire someone who is responsible for bringing down a 32 billion dollar company?

If you have been following the news lately, you probably have heard about the now bankrupt firm FTX. It’s a powerful story that is shaping the markets this week and could even have longer term consequences for the US.

Sam Bankman-Fried started the company known as FTX in 2019 as a “Bitcoin Exchange.” A bit like a stock market exchange, except for Bitcoin and other digital money…and just so we are clear…right away…I think digital currencies like this are a scam…but its going to make for a great introduction…so I’m not condoning this at all 😊

According to news reports, at its height, there were over 1 million people using this platform…and CNBC reported this past January that it was valued at over 32 billion Dollars…a hefty price tag for sure.

On Nov. 7, after a particular news story was published… there was a “run on the bank” so to speak…reminiscent of the depression area…and when folks started withdrawing their money…it started to become clear that there might not be enough money.

Within a day there were rumors that FTX, who was a powerhouse in this market… might even be for sale…and the more the stories came out…the worse things got.

News reports have been streaming in almost every hour about how these company and funds were being mismanaged by the executives at the company…and each story seemed to reveal a new layer of incompetence.

A recent story, when I was writing this sermon said that 1 Billion dollars in assets that were entrusted to the company just VANISHED.

Another 10 Billion dollars was transferred to a hedge fund that the CEO owns and his girlfriend ran…and more stories of mismanagement keep appearing.

In its bankruptcy filing, the CEO reports that it has 100,000 creditors…just pause and think about that…

Now, that bankruptcy has been filed, this even has the attention of the government…

Bankman-Fried Resigned from the company, which is based in the Bahamas. An the government there has placed the former- CEO under ‘supervision” during the time that he is being investigated by the US Justice Department and the SEC…

And if you are wondering, the news reports suggest that he has lost 16 Billion in his wealth…retaining just a measly 991 Million dollars.

The news reports that this 30 year old is “coping” by playing video games and sleeping.

While the final story in this saga has not unfolded…stories are starting to come in about how bad of a manager this man was, even recently right before the election, making a 40 million dollar contribution to a particular party….

Back to that opening question…would you be hiring that guy to come work for you???

I think it would be fair to say that this man…and these executives…are not the type of folks that you would want to hire to come work for you in the future…do you agree.

This month, as you are well aware, our church has been going through what we affectionately call STEWARDSHIP MONTH. It’s a time of year that we set aside to consider what does it looks like to be a good steward of all that we have.

We do that, in part because as our church family has study the Bible, we see that it is such a profound aspect of what God’s word teaches for mankind to be in this world…even from the creation of humanity, we see stewardship shining for the pages of scripture.

And so, our church sets aside four weeks that are preceding Thanksgiving to consider what does it looks like to grow in being a better steward.

Stewardship is….

Definition of Stewardship: God-given responsibility with accountability

At Faith Church, we have then taken much of what God’s word teaches, and tried to boil it down into 4 helpful principles. It’s not that this is all that the Bible says about Stewardship, but it does cover a lot of it.

Four Principles of Stewardship

1. God owns everything, you own nothing

2. God entrusts you with everything you have

3. You can either increase or diminish what God has given; He wants you to increase it

4. God can call you into account at any time, and it may be today

Today, we are going to be covering that last point of Stewardship…

It is a bit morbid at face-value, but we dare not skirt away from what God’s word says on these issues.

I mentioned this morning, we are going to turn our attention to Luke 16.

This parable that Jesus teaches finds itself in a larger context of parables that he told around the idea of lost and squander.

For example, in Luke 15, you have the lost sheep, the lost coin, and then, even though we entitle it the prodigal son, you could call it the lost son.

Chapter 16, the one we are studying has two stories on judgment based on the work of this life…the one we are studying and the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

We find ourselves in an extended teaching portion of Jesus on the very themes that we are seeking to highlight. So, I highlight that all to say, perhaps a helpful after church activity would be to study the surrounding passages and see these very principles play out.

This morning we are looking at Responsibility comes with Accountability

[Read Luke 16]

With our time that we have remaining, I would like us to see…3 Key points to prepare for accountability.

The first is this…

I. Understand God Will examine our stewardship

In our parable, the master comes and he examines the work that the worker has done…this should not have been any surprise to the manager, but apparently it was.

It seems, just by some plane reading of the text, that he was nor really expecting this activity from the master.

Meaning, you only commit crimes, you only slack off on your work…you only act this way if you have a strong inclination that you are not going to get caught.

You only speed in your car as you are driving to work, if you tend to believe that you are not going to get caught. If there is a cop with his lights on at the construction zone…you probably are not going to zoom by him at 20 MPH over the limit.

This concept that God will examine our stewardship should not be new to us…for example, a cornerstone verse here at Faith Church is….

2 Corinthians 5:9 -⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.

We take this verse, and ones like it very seriously….because we believe in what is called Lordship Salvation. Meaning, you have to make Christ the Lord of your life after you have trusted in his d/b/r to save you from your sin.

You can’t just pray some prayer, believe in your heart something about the cross of Christ, and then go and live life however you want.

The entire goal of your life…the thing that you are working toward…is to be pleasing to your Savior. It’s the interpretive grid that you have for all of life.

If God does not want me to say that….then I don’t…if God does not want me to watch that…then I won’t watch it.

But right after this verse is a compelling reason for this…and it matches our point very well in our text…

2 Corinthians 5:10 -¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Now, this judgement seat is not the judgment for salvation…that is a different place. This judgment is for Christians…and it has to do with the stewardship of their lives.

Salvation is not earned by you or me…it is earned by Christ. However, the recompence that you receive, that is earned by you…and that has to do with God examining your stewardship.

So, our text reminds us…

A. Be careful not to squander What God Has Given to you (vv. 1-2)

Luke 16:1–2 -¹ Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. ² “And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’

In general…we as a culture and people are not great at “not squandering” things. Your grandparents generation…they might have swung to the other side of the ditch and saved every newspaper they had ever read…but our society tends to not think much about stewardship and squandering what God has entrusted to us.

The reading of this parable is pretty straightforward.

I want to highlight at least that Greek word for a minute that our Bible translates as squander…it is the same word that is used elsewhere for scattering seeds when talking about planting crops.

It’s a powerful word choice that Christ uses here to talk about the action and activity.

When folks planted back then…you just had seeds and you were throwing them all over…today it’s a bit different…you are precisely planting each seed because of the power of technology…but back then...that is not how it happened.

You walked up and down the recently plowed line and you just dropped seeds as you went in a hope that they would grown.

It’s a powerful picture of how the resources were being perceived as being waisted….

The master had entrusted a significant amount of his assets, business, and so on to this manager.

You might even be picturing a guy like Joseph from the book of Genesis. Upon successfully interpreting pharaoh’s dreams, Joseph was put in charge of all of Egypt….he was the manager of the entire country.

This idea happens even today with the ultra-wealthy…they hire people to manage their wealth, their businesses and so on for them.

However, this manager had squandered the masters possessions, and in doing so, there was….

B. Recognize the consequences for squandering God’s resources (v. 3)

Luke 16:3a—““The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? ….”

Because of his significant error and squandering….this manager knew he was out of a job…and he was seeing the powerful impact of his choices…there were not going to be a lot of options open to him.

The concept of there being significant consequences associated with our stewardship is not unique to this section of scripture either.

A powerful verse that highlights stewardship, and how our failure to build well is…

1 Corinthians 3:14–15 -14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Again, another powerful picture that is not talking about salvation…you will be saved…but imagine that everything you labored and lived for…and it goes up in smoke and fire.

I don’t know about you, but if I am going to build in this life…I want it to last.

Dear brothers and sisters, we should take seriously the fact that God is going to examine our work…they way in which we all are building.

God has entrusted us with everything that we have…be it our intellect, our time, and talents, and our treasure…and God is not wanting us to squander that stewardship…because if we do…there will be an accounting and that accountability will have consequences.

So, what are some steps that you might take today as a result of considering that…you can be called to an account at any time?

Perhaps it would be wise to sit down with your spouse, a trusted friend, or even a spiritual mentor and ask for them to examine your life and honestly access if you are being a good steward of all that you have.

That could look like letting someone have an honest look at your schedule, your serving in the local church, and perhaps even your personal budget

But consider what will happen if you don’t spend time examining your own stewardship…consider how terrifying it will be to arrive at that judgment and to be found to have squandered….because the truth is your stewardship….my stewardship…it will be examined…it is better to get on the right track early…than to keep going

So, based on that…I think what we must do then is…

II. Adjust your current course in view of future accountability

Would you agree with me that if are heading to Florida from Lafayette, that every once and a while you should check to make sure you are heading South?

My family and I recently went down to Tennessee for a vacation. We, like you, probably trusted a bit too much in our smart phone to get us there.

As we were driving, we exited the Interstate Highway a lot sooner than I would have anticipated.

Google has done this to us before, so I reassured myself, and the family…yes we are only half-way there…but let’s trust Google…it knows what it is doing.

About an hour into our going up and down in the crazy mountain terrain…and not having any cellphone signal…that we saw a sign saying that we were entering Central Standard Time.

Now, to me that was a big red flag…that’s when we started to panic…in my brain…we are heading south and a bit east…why are we going to a time zone that is to our west…

We had to consider…do we need to adjust our course…and in order to do that….we needed to…

A. Evaluate your position

Luke 16:3b “…I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.

The manager knew that his position was being taken away…and he knew that he would not be able, at least in his opinion, be able to survive in the options being presented to him…so he…and we should….

B. Take action in view of the future (vv. 4-7)

Luke 16:4–7 “‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’”

We will get to the interpretation of some of what is happening here in a moment, but can we agree for a moment that this man was not just going to sit around?

He saw the impending disaster that was upon him…and he was going to do something about it.

I think that there is a powerful lesson for us to learn when it comes to stewardship. Even if you are the one who has caused some problem, if you notice that you have failed…you should not just sit back.

God is working his sovereign plan in this world…but he is wanting his children to be active participants to that as well.

….

In our story after the unrighteous steward takes actions as he alters course for the future accountability of losing his job…what happens?

Well, interesting enough, he is praised by the master.

What I would like to suggest is that this means he was….

C. Pursue what is truly valuable (vv. 8-9)

Let me unpack a bit.

Luke 16:8–9 -8 “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. 9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Now, there are a couple things to note here…first…

Shrewd - Phronimōs - prudently, wisely

But you are probably still thinking…why in the world is the master praising him for this course of action…

List to this commentary from Walter Liefield …

In any event, the master would lose no money if the amount forfeited was simply the interest the manager would have gained. Furthermore, such a forgiveness of debts would hardly have hurt but would probably have helped the master’s own reputation. Therefore, the master admires the manager’s shrewdness. The manager knew his job and reputation were gone because of his previous mishandling of funds. He needed friends; and, by foregoing the customary interest, he won friends among the creditors. Jesus then uses this story to show that the “people of the light” could also accomplish much by wisely giving up some of their “worldly wealth.^[1]

So, the point is, when the unrighteous steward sees that he has a problem…he is about to lose his job…and that he does not want to work or beg…he takes action.

That action is to cut the bill that is owed, but that part of the bill that was owed, many scholars believe would have been the stewards ‘cut’ if you will.

We have those types of relationships all the time in our modern economy, where a person is employed based on a shared percentage or a commission.

This steward forgoes his temporary payment that he is going to receive from these persons who owed the master money (and therefore his cut) and he reduces it in order to make these men happy…to make friends with them.

What he is doing is he has a long cited view of the solution, not just a short term view of the money that is coming into him now.

Not only is the parable about the fact that we will have to give an account for everything that God has entrusted to us…and that we do not know when…do you agree that the unrighteous steward did not know when he was going to give an account?

Christ, when he comments on this passage in verse 9 wants to also have this long view of the problem and solution.

The unrighteous steward believed that his cost-cutting measures would work, and that he would be able to find employment elsewhere.

The lesson for us is…do we have such a trust in a long view of life?

Pause and consider for a moment, how are you doing with that long view?

We could look at that in a number of ways:

1. Do you have a long or short view with your personal finances? Are you saving or just spending?
   
   

1. Do you have a long or short view when it comes to parenting? Are you thinking about the long-term effects of your choices or just handling it day by day?
   
   

1. Do you have a long or short view on serving here at the church and being a part of this body? Or is your view…well if it works today…that is all that matters.
   
   

The point that Christ is highlighting here, is that you should have a long view…that as you consider how you are living…you need to evaluate where you are…and then based on that evaluation…you need to take action….and in that action…you need to have an eye for the future…not just the here and now.

Lastly, then, our texts shifts to some final comments from Christ..away from the parable telling and to the meaning that we should have.

These words are familiar to us, and I think that they will help us….

III. Seek increased accountability through faithfulness

How can, and should we seek this increased accountability… We do it by…

A. Focus on being faithful in areas you will be accountable (v. 10-12)

Luke 16:10–12 -¹⁰ “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. ¹¹ “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? ¹² “And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?

There is a powerful rule of stewardship in our passage that is taught all through the Bible…that when you are faithful with a little thing…you will, Lord willing, be entrusted with a greater thing.

However, if you are not faithful with that little thing…then you will not be entrusted with much. Even notice how that comes up elsewhere

Luke 19:17 -¹⁷ “And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’

What is interesting about verse 11 that we are studying in our passage is how Christ juxtaposes earthly wealth…money…and true riches…

Perhaps one of the reasons you find yourself in the situation you are in today…brother or sister, is that you have not been very faithful.

I know that for me, there are many times that I have not been faithful to what our God has entrusted to me.

There are many times that I did not believe that I would have to give an account for what I was doing…or it had no even dawned on my mind.

But I don’t think that this passage is teaching us that if we want something greater…here is the secret. Meaning, if you want to be entrusted with this stuff….this is the shortcut so to speak.

No, I think the message of this passage is that you and I are called to just be faithful people.

It is interesting how much of life just revolves around being faithful to what has been entrusted to you.

Many times, you and I we worry about the results…we worry about the fruit of a situation…how will this work out…how will that turn out.

Dear brothers and sisters, we do not need to focus on the fruit as much as we need to focus on being faithful…being faithful to the trust that God has given to us.

And we can do that, in party by looking for others to help us with that.

The word accountability has come up many times this morning…that might be part of what needs to change in your life.

Do you have people in your life that are keeping you accountable? Is the focus of your labor to be faithful?

Are you focused on making fruit…enjoying fruit…or HOW CAN I BE FAITHFUL? I would argue that the last one is the thing that we need to be focused on…and that in doing so…we need each other to do that.

Lastly, then…Christ closes this out by reminding us…

B. Be faithful to one master (v. 13)

Luke 16:13 -¹³ “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Now, you might be wondering, why is wealth entering in…and doesn’t this sound like what he has talked about elsewhere under different circumstances?

WE just discussed our goal is to be faithful…but money, often allows us to do things.

In this world…money normally represents power…opportunity…pleasure…and that ability to get out of problems.

If you borrow my truck…and then you are foolish and destroy my truck…if you are a multi-billionaire…you just give me money and then the problem goes away.

However, if you barely have enough money to pay rent…your problem doesn’t.

Money represents so many things in our world…now lock onto this…THINGS THAT SUBSTITUTE WHAT GOD DOES FOR US.

I’m not saying money is bad…but money in this world often is a substitute for only what God should be.

God should be the one that brings you safety….God should be the one that brings you joy…comfort…he should be the one that solves your problems…he should be the one that…and again….lock onto this…he should be what you are working for….not money.

How many of us in this room would say that we are working for money?

I mean that is what you are laboring for!!!

I am sure that there are many of us in here that would say…we are not laboring for the glory of God…we are not laboring for the advancement of the kingdom…we are not laboring for the betterment of our brothers and sisters in Christ…we are working for money!!!

And as Christ concludes this all important passage about what it looks like to be a good steward of all that he entrusted to us…he warns us to only serve one master…why?

Matthew 6:21 -²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Beloved, God can call you or me into account at any point…and it might even be today…he wants you and I to be a good steward of all that we have.

In order to be a good stewards we have to realize and recognize that accountability is going to come…and that is a good thing.

That accounting with our savior might be a sweet and enjoyable time…or it might be painful. How you live your life…that is what will determine it.

In order to be good stewards…we need to evaluate where we are from time-to-time and then adjust our course. We need to take the right actions…and those actions needs to have an eye to the future.

And as we do that…we need to grow in our faithfulness to what has been entrusted and to only serve on master. To not serve the false gods that this world places before us…and generally that comes by way of money…but to be faithful to him and him alone.

^[1] Walter L. Liefeld, “Luke,” in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, ed. Frank E. Gaebelein, vol. 8 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984), 987.