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Trust: The
Key To Successful Living
Can God
Trust Me?
Proverbs
3:1-10
Trust: The Indispensible Factor
Trust is the indispensible
factor in any relationship.
·
Spouses
need to know they can trust one another
·
Parents
and children need to know they can trust one another
·
Friends
need to know they can trust one another
Trust is constantly run
through a grid of questions.
·
Can I trust
you?
·
Can I trust
you to go where you say you are going?
·
Can I trust
you to arrive on time?
·
Can I trust
you to do what you say you will do?
·
Can I trust
you?
When trust is betrayed
it’s difficult to rebuild. Following through on commitments builds trust.
Failure to follow through erodes trust. Trust takes a lifetime to build and with
a big enough violation can be destroyed in the blink of an eye. It’s
indispensible.
As we began a short series
on trust as the key to successful living, we considered the question last week,
“Can you and I trust God?” I trust the biblical information we investigated
reinforced the truth that God’s care is both constant and generous. It’s up to
you and me then to decide if we will trust God whether we find ourselves in
adversity or plenty. Will we allow circumstances to interpret how we see God or
we will allow God to interpret our circumstances?
Our question this morning
is even more personal. What works from our direction as we determine whether or
not we can—and will—trust God also works in the reverse direction as God asks
the question, “Can I trust you?”
In evaluating how God
would answer that question for each of us we are going to look at what may be
the most difficult parable in the Bible to understand. Turn in your Bibles to The
Parable of the Shrewd Manager in Luke 16:1-13. In some of your Bibles
this may also be titled as The Parable of the Foolish Steward. We
will find he is, in fact, both foolish and shrewd. This parable follows
immediately after The Parable of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 15 the Lord deals with
wrong attitudes about people. In Luke 16 He shifts the focus to wrong attitudes
about money and possessions—what we have and how we deal with it. That’s the
context.
·
Luke 15:
Wrong Attitudes About People
·
Luke 16:
Wrong Attitudes About Wealth
The Accountability of the Manager
Jesus tells this parable
to His disciples. The audience isn’t the group of usual suspects—the
hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees—but the inner core. Jesus is actually quite
blunt as He begins.
Jesus told this
story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager
handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his
employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear
about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’”
Luke
16:1-2 NLT
The manager was called to
give an accounting of his business dealings to the owner.
There are two reasons
why this manager was accountable to the owner—and why you and I are accountable
to God. I am accountable to God because…
God Is The
Owner Of Everything
I am accountable to God
because what I have today are gifts from God. He gives me everything. He is the
owner. This is the number 1 issue we need to settle. Until we settle this issue
we will always have a problem in the area of management and stewardship. If I
believe I am the owner, then I am going to constantly be in conflict with God
over what I do with the stuff I have. The moment I understand God is the owner
and I am the manager, the conflict disappears because I realize that everything
I have right now—health, possessions, family, time—is not mine.
Let’s do a
little quiz to make sure we understand this. If you made $1,000 this last week
and you arrive here at church today, how much of the $1,000 belongs to God? You
might be tempted to take the tithe approach and say $100. That would be wrong
because that technical approach says $100 belongs to God and $900 belongs to
me. The truth is all $1,000 belongs to God. The tithe of $100 is simply the way
you acknowledge that truth to God to gratefully thank Him for the gift and let
Him know that you can be trusted to use the remaining $900 wisely. It all
belongs to God and until we settle the issue of lordship we’re going to
experience difficulty and trouble.
God Has
Expectations Of The Manager
The owner has every right
to know how his possessions are being managed. In the story the owner has been
told the manager has misused his possessions. In our relationship with God
there are several areas where we should fully expect to be held accountable.
1st Expectation: Our Bodies
The first thing God expects
is for us to fully consecrate and dedicate ourselves to Him.
And so, dear
brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of
all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he
will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Romans 12:1 NLT
What we do with our bodies
matters to God.
2nd Expectation: Our
Possessions
God expects we will
surrender our possessions to Him.
So you cannot
become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
Luke
14:33 NLT
3rd Expectation: Our Time
Act like people
with good sense and not like fools. These are evil times, so make every minute
count. Don't be stupid. Instead, find out what the Lord wants you to do.
Ephesians
5:15-17 CEV
4th Expectation: Our Gifts
God gives us spiritual
gifts in order to serve Him and His purposes.
Each of you has
been blessed with one of God's many wonderful gifts to be used in the service
of others. So use your gift well.
1
Peter 4:10 CEV
5th Expectation: The Gospel
The message of God’s good
news—the redemptive account of Jesus dying on the cross and being
resurrected—has been trusted to us.
God was pleased
to trust us with his message. We didn't speak to please people, but to please
God who knows our motives.
1
Thessalonians 2:4 CEV
I really
like the letter a church member wrote to his pastor: “God put me on this earth to accomplish
a certain number of things. Right now I’m so far behind that I will never die.” When we settle the issue of ownership and accept our
accountability to God there is so much for us to accomplish we won’t have time
to die.
The Assessment Of The Manager
This is the point in the
story where the manager’s foolishness starts transforming into shrewdness as he
assesses his predicament.
The manager thought to himself, “Now what?
My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too
proud to beg.”
Luke
16:3 NLT
He looks at the picture
and sees that it isn’t pretty. He realizes he is in trouble and is prepared to
make some changes.
Change is difficult for
people. We usually don’t change until the alternative of staying the same it
more uncomfortable than changing. Many people start the year with the good
intention to stop smoking or lose weight. But it usually takes a “now what”
moment to push us to make the change. That’s where this manager finds himself
as he realizes, “I’m in trouble. I’m losing my job. What am I going to do now?”
He makes a quick assessment, realizes he hasn’t been doing what the owner
requires and decides he needs to makes some changes.
The Action Of The Manager
With all kinds of
motivation to change, he takes action.
“Ah, I know how
to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am
fired.” So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and
discuss the situation. He asked the first one, “How much do you owe him?” The
man replied, “I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.” So the manager told him,
“Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.” “And how much do you owe
my employer?” he asked the next man. “I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,” was
the reply. “Here,” the manager said, “take the bill and change it to 800
bushels.”
Luke
16:4-7 NLT
Follow the stream of
events with me.
·
The owner announces the
manager will lose his position
·
The owner gives the manager
time to settle his accounts
·
The manager does some
wise negotiating
·
The owner commends the
manager for acting shrewdly
How can the manager do
what he does and end up being praised after being accused of wasting the
owner’s possessions? Some speculate he agreed to write off the interest that
was owed on unpaid balances to make sure the principle was paid. This doesn’t
seem likely as it would once again be seen as wasting resources. It’s more
likely he had been overcharging them in the first place and keeping the extra
for himself. The extra amount made it difficult for people to pay. Now, by
returning to the right price he was able to collect what the owner deserved and
was seen as compassionate by those who owed the money.
There are four essential
lessons about trust we learn from this account.
1st
Lesson: Use Your Opportunities Wisely
The owner praises the
manager for his actions.
The rich man had
to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the
children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them
than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly
resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly
possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
Luke
16:8-9 NLT
The manager is commended
for doing a good job. He wasn’t commended for being dishonest. He wasn’t
commended for wasting the owner’s money. He was commended for the fact that
when he realized there was a problem, he immediately took action to fix it.
This is important. Some of
you are saying, “I’m sure God has given me gifts that I don’t use for His
glory. I’m sure I’m not using my time like I need to for the Lord. I’m positive
I haven’t really settled this issue of who owns what when it comes to money and
possessions.” There may be some of you who are realizing, “Wow, I’m the foolish
manager.”
Here’s the good news: God
gives us a chance—just as the owner gave this man a chance to settle the
issues. God’s message is communicated by this very simple poem,
Though I cannot go back and make a brand
new start, my friend,
Anyone can start from now and make a
brand new end.
That’s what we going for—a
brand new end. Jesus commended the manager because he acted wisely and created
a brand new end.
Jesus
challenges us to be wise in how we use our money. He urges us to invest in
making friends for the kingdom. I have told you before of the illustration I
heard Haddon Robinson use when he told of the man in Michigan who routinely
left large tips at restaurants. In the restaurant where they were eating this
man was able to point out several people he been privileged to lead to Christ.
When Robinson asked his secret he said, “It’s amazing how willing people are to
listen about the difference following Jesus makes when they have experienced
the benefit already.”
Another way of stating
Jesus’ point is: You can’t take it with you, but you can send it ahead. The way
you send it ahead is by investing in people who will spend eternity in heaven.
When you give money to missions so it can be used by missionaries who lead
people to Christ, you are making a wise investment. They don’t know you and you
don’t them but when you get to heaven there will be somebody there waiting for
you. They will welcome you to an eternal home and thank you for using your gift
or talent or treasure wisely.
May I ask you a question: How
many people are going to be waiting for you? The only treasure that matters is
people who have been redeemed by Jesus. This is the currency of heaven. Use
your opportunities wisely.
2nd
Lesson: Trust Must Be Earned
Jesus teaches us that
trust can never be granted without it being deserved. He asks some serious
questions.
If you are
faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are
dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.
And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the
true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things,
why should you be trusted with things of your own?
Luke
16:10-12 NLT
The point behind His
questions is: If you aren’t trustworthy with the little things, I’m certainly
not going to trust you with the bigger more important things.
The little things include
money, possessions, time, resources and all the things we count as valuable.
Jesus tells us we have to see these from a biblical perspective so we know what
really matters. Trust is gradually earned over time by being trustworthy.
Any parent
who has had a child receive his or her first driver’s license understands this
lesson. It’s the first time for the new driver to solo. Do you just send him
off with a casual, “See you later?” At the least you want to know a destination
and have an agreed upon time of return. What happens when your child returns 45
minutes late—with the excuse that it took the police longer than expected to
write out the speeding ticket? You tighten the expectations—which brings the
protest, “You don’t trust me!” Do you know the best answer to that protest? The
best answer is, “You’re right. I don’t trust you. What is there in what just
happened that should cause me to trust you?”
The Parable
of the Talents has influenced me
more than any other parable taught by Jesus. If you remember the story as told
by Jesus in Matthew 25 a wealthy property owner is leaving for some time and
entrusts three of his servants—each according to their ability—with different
amounts of money: the first with five talents, the second with two talents and
the third with one. They are expected to put these resources to work and
increase them. When he returns the first man has turned the five talents into
ten and the second man has increased the two talents to four. The one talent
servant buried the talent because he was afraid.
I have studied and taught
this parable several times but I realized something new this time. Why did this
servant receive only one talent? I think the reason is that the property owner
had previous experience with the servant. He didn’t give him only one talent
because he didn’t like him. He knew he couldn’t trust him with any more than
that. And, why did the servant dig a hole to bury his talent because he knew
the owner was a hard man? He had previous dealings with the owner where the
owner had treated him according to his performance. He simply wasn’t a person
who could be trusted.
How much can God trust
you? How many talents and abilities and opportunities does He dare trust to
you? Does He withhold some because you have been proved untrustworthy? Can God
trust you with money? Could you be lacking financially because you can’t be
trusted with more?
I have had people tell me,
“Art, if I ever get a million dollars, I’m going to give it all to the church.”
I suspect many people telling me this don’t even tithe. I would gladly settle
for a tithe as a good starting point. If you’re not giving 10% of what you have
this year, you’re not going to give 100% of much more next year. Please don’t
miss the point of this: All that matters is being trustworthy with what you
have right now. God determines what comes next.
I know one
of the reasons you come to church is to be challenged spiritually and
intellectually by stimulating sermons. What I’m about to tell you is so deep
you’re going to have to really concentrate to stay with me. Ready? Three turtles were going out one summer afternoon for a picnic
in the country. One carried a basket with the food; the second lugged a jug
with refreshing turtleaide; and, the third brought nothing. Just as they
arrived the first drops of rain started to splat against their shells. “We
can’t have a picnic without an umbrella,” said the first turtle. “Who will go
back for one?” asked the second. They discussed it and decided that since the
third turtle was carrying nothing that he should go back.
The third
turtle protested, “I won’t go. As soon as I leave, you’ll eat all the food and
drink all the turtleaide and I won’t get anything.” “No,” they insisted, “We’ll
wait until you return—no matter how long it takes.” “No matter how long?” he
asked. “”No matter how long,” they reassured him. So, he turned and started
back as they waited an hour, two hours, four hours, a day, two days and then a
week. After two weeks went by, one turtle turned and said to the other,
“Something must have happened. Maybe we should just go ahead and have the
picnic.” Just then the third turtle stepped out from behind a nearby bush, “If
you do that there is no way I’m going back for the umbrella!”
Don’t you just love it?
Isn’t this how we often are in our relationship with God? God trusts us with a
new responsibility and instead of going out we wait behind the bushes to see if
God really means what He said. In our failure to trust God we become
untrustworthy.
3rd
Lesson: Trust Can Be Measured
Jesus makes it clear how
He measures trust. If we are trustworthy over a little He will trust us with
more. He says, “If I can’t trust you with a little I’m not going to trust you
with more.” Jesus explains the results in The Parable of the Talents and
offers one of two outcomes.
Well done, good
and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in
charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.
Matthew
25:21 NIV
Throw that
worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
Matthew
25:30 NIV
There is a clear
difference in outcomes and you get to make the choice. The choice is settled in
your determination to be trustworthy.
Just as in our
relationships with other people, the only way God can measure our trust is by
what we do. It’s not our “say so” that matters; it’s our follow through. What
matters is what I’m doing with what I have at my disposal right now.
There was a
pastor in a farming community who was trying to teach his congregation about
this principle. He asked one of the church members who was a farmer, “If you
had 100 cows and God asked you for 50, would you give them to Him?” He said,
“Oh, yes, I sure would, Preacher.” The pastor asked, “If you had 100 horses and
God asked you for 50, would you give them to Him?” He said, “Sure I would,
Preacher.” The pastor asked a third question, “If you had 2 hogs and God asked
you for 1, would you give it to Him?” The man answered, “Now, that’s not fair,
Preacher. You know I have 2 hogs.”
This farmer was trying to
fool the pastor and in the process God. Have you ever tried to do that? Don’t
feel bad. I’ve done it. Let’s take a quick poll. How many of you have tried to
slip something past God? It doesn’t work because trust can be measured. It’s
not what we say or sing that matters; it’s what we do. If you aren’t faithful with
what you have now, you aren’t going to become faithful with having more in the
future. God measures my trustworthiness by how I manage what He has already
entrusted to me.
4th
Lesson: Be Wholly Devoted To God
Jesus teaches this lesson
in many places in various ways to His disciples.
No one can serve
two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to
one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Luke
16:13 NLT
Who or what do you serve?
Who is your master?
Conclusion: Are You Trustworthy?
Before we finish today we
really need to answer the question: Am I trustworthy? I’m going to have the
ushers distribute a Personal Inventory that will help you see how you do in the
areas of accountability outlined earlier in this message. We’ll finish today by
working through this inventory together.
Personal Inventory: Areas Of Accountability
My Body: Have
I given my life to God? Is my body fully consecrated to God?
___ When I’m with my
Christian friends
___ Most of the Time
___ Completely
My
Possessions: Does God have ownership of all things in my life?
___ The leftovers
___ About 50%
___ The majority
___ Everything but money
___ Everything without
reservation
My Time: Does
God determine how my time is used?
___ On Sundays
___ When I’m not busy with
other things
___24/7
My Gifts
Do I know my top 3
spiritual gifts?
___
Yes ___ No
Am I using
them to honor God?
___ I used
to ___ I’m going to ___ Yes
The Gospel:
Do I let my light shine for God?
___ My battery is dead
___ I keep it on dim
___ Bright lights all the
way
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