Insights on The Parable of the Unjust Steward

Hey guys, Pastor Brian Pier here and I'm gonna talk today about something that it's kind of I never really got. Um, sometimes you're reading scripture and you get to something and you don't really get what they're talking about or or you know, it's it's kind of on a different level. Whenever I do that, I I tend to instead of going around and trying to ask a bunch of people, I just kind of let it sit and uh wait on the Lord to kind of reveal to me what it is.

So, like every Sunday when I preach, I'm going to be bringing something that's straight from the word that God's actually freshly shown me that's that's, you know, anointed essentially with that that specific word. So, this was a an a passage of scripture that I just I just never could get. And then this week I was sitting there looking up at the sky on a on a Tuesday night and uh it just came to me, you know, what the what the answer is and how it clicks and how it fits together. So we're going to we're going to go there.

It's the parable of the unjust steward from Luke 16. And I'm going to read now. This is Jesus speaking. There was a certain rich man who had a steward.

And an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be a steward. Then the steward said within himself, "What shall I do?

For my master is taking the stewardship away from me, I cannot dig, and I am shamed to beg. I have 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 master's debtors to him and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" And he said, "1 measures of oil."

So he said to him, "Take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50." Then he said to another, "And how much do you owe?" So he said 100 measures of wheat and he said take your bill and write 80. So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.

That that's the part that I just couldn't wrap my arms around. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their gener generation than the sons of light. He's this guy was literally stealing his money and uh acting in a way that wasn't proper. Okay.

and and he was commended by the master. And so I I I've never really kind of got that. And then and then this this this week it came to me he was being commended for his shrewdness, his wisdom. Okay?

And he was giving away the master's stuff. So he was generous. So what it what this passage if you take it spiritually, the master is God. Just like most of Jesus's parables, whenever he has the master and the steward, it's it's God as the master and we're we're the steward.

Okay. So, so that paycheck you make and and everything you have, that's all God's really and we're just stewards of it. Okay. And so when you take it from a spiritual measure, what he's talking about is he's complimenting him on being wise and being generous with the master's stuff that he's been given.

Okay. Um now Jesus does go in in verse 9 through13 the rest of that parable to to explain that it's not good to be unjust, etc. Okay. But the compliment was about his wisdom and his generosity.

So when I sit there and and I look at that from my own perspective and and you too, we can look at how are we dealing with the things that God has given us. Okay? We're stewards of his stuff. Are we wise, i.

e. shrewd? Are we wise with what he's given us? And are we generous with what he's given us?

Okay. As I grade myself and I look within, I say the generous piece I would check off and feel pretty good about. But the shrewd piece, the wise piece, I've made some mistakes. You know, I've I've maybe overpaid for things, etc.

, etc. I could button that up a little. You know, it's not I'm going to be thrown into hell because I made a couple bad financial decisions. No, it's it's um an area for me to work on.

It's the Holy Spirit. When we read scriptures like this and and we and we see and we can look in the mirror at ourel, it gives us an opportunity to see where we can improve and then we start improving on it and we the more we improve, the more we come become like Jesus. And so scripture is really just a great opportunity for us to grow and for us to learn if we're open to reading it and and then looking within ourselves for the things that we read. Okay?

So that's that's what's fun. That's what we're going to be doing on Sundays at our church. We're going to be going into the scriptures, revealing stuff, challenging each other, having a good time around this word, and learning and growing together as a family. I hope to see you there August 3rd.

It's our launch August 3rd at 10:30 at 900 Creek Road in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Um, uh, super excited about it. And I just I just, uh, I hope to see you there. It's going to be fun.

I it's coming together. I still don't know how it's all going to play out, but it's coming together. I have a message. We got music now.

And um it it's going to be fun. So, I encourage you to come on uh and and be part of something special. August 3rd, 10:30, Lawrenceville, Georgia. I hope to see you there.

And until I do, just remember, Jesus loves you and there's nothing you can do about it.