LutheranLectionary.org

1 Year Lectionary – Ninth Sunday After Trinity – Sunday, August 14, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:27	The holy gospel according
0:29	to saint luke the 16th chapter
0:39	jesus also said to the disciples there
0:41	was a rich man who had a manager and
0:43	charges were brought to him that this
0:45	man was wasting his possessions and he
0:48	called him and said to him what is this
0:49	that i hear about you turn in the
0:51	account of your management for you can
0:53	no longer be manager and the manager
0:55	said to himself what shall i do since my
0:58	master is taking the management away
1:00	from me i’m not strong enough to dig and
1:02	i’m ashamed to beg i have decided what
1:04	to do so that when i am removed from
1:06	management people may receive me into
1:08	their houses so summoning his master’s
1:10	debtors one by one he said to the first
1:13	how much do you owe my master he said
1:15	100 measures of oil he said to him take
1:17	your bill sit down quickly and write 50.
1:20	then he said to another how much do you
1:21	owe he said a hundred measures of wheat
1:23	he said to him take your bill and write
1:25	80
1:26	the master commended the dishonest
1:28	manager for his shrewdness for the sons
1:31	of the world are more shrewd in dealing
1:32	with their own generation than the sons
1:34	of light and i tell you
1:36	make friends for yourselves by means of
1:38	unrighteous wealth so that when it fails
1:41	they may receive you into the eternal
1:43	dwellings this is the gospel of the lord
1:46	in the name of jesus
1:48	all right this has got to be one of the
1:50	most scandalous parables that jesus
1:53	tells and it’s best to unpack it so we
1:55	can understand what’s going on here how
1:57	on earth can christ commend a dishonest
2:01	manager well you’ll note in properly
2:03	understanding the parables it’s
2:06	necessary to figure out who’s who right
2:08	so let’s make it very clear jesus is the
2:11	rich guy who has the manager
2:14	and you are the dishonest manager
2:18	so am i by the way that’s where we all
2:20	fit i know it seems a little bit odd but
2:22	work with me here um i know your parents
2:26	you said they’re going well have you
2:27	really met my parents you know the
2:29	answer is i don’t i don’t need to i know
2:32	you come from some pretty sketchy stock
2:34	let me explain
2:36	our first parents adam and eve they were
2:38	thieving gardeners i mean they were put
2:41	in the garden of eden they had one job
2:43	they were to basically be stewards of
2:45	the garden of eden and one commandment
2:47	not 10 like we have they had one
2:49	commandment you shall not eat of the
2:51	tree that’s in the midst of the garden
2:53	neither shall you you know you get the
2:55	idea you should not eat of it the day
2:57	you eat of it you will surely die and
2:59	what did they do
3:01	they ate of it it wasn’t their tree to
3:03	eat from they were told not to eat from
3:05	it and each and every one of us we come
3:09	from those two parents uh we’re all how
3:12	do the kids say it now sus we’re all
3:15	suss right
3:19	but that’s the truth and so you’ll note
3:22	here
3:23	talking about wasting possessions you
3:26	came into this life naked you’re going
3:29	to leave this life without being able to
3:31	take any possessions with you it’s best
3:33	to understand that you are merely
3:36	stewards of god’s good gifts god has
3:39	given you a home god has given you car
3:41	god has given you money so that you can
3:43	pay your bills pay for groceries and
3:45	things like this and how many of us can
3:48	say without blushing from guilt that we
3:52	have perfectly
3:54	stewarded the good gifts that god has
3:57	given us
3:58	i can’t neither can you right each and
4:02	every one of us in one way or another
4:04	has wasted god’s possessions has wasted
4:07	his resources have wasted the time that
4:11	he’s given us even squandered the
4:14	relationships that god has brought into
4:16	our life we’re all
4:17	just horrible stewards and managers of
4:20	god’s good creation
4:23	and for this we rightly deserve to be
4:25	condemned note i’m including myself in
4:28	this mix but here’s where things get
4:30	pretty scandals let me explain
4:32	so as the story goes jesus says it was a
4:35	rich man that’s who jesus is who had a
4:37	manager charges were brought to him that
4:40	this man was wasting his possessions so
4:42	he called him and said to him what is
4:45	this that i hear about you turn in the
4:47	account of your management for you can
4:50	no longer be
4:51	manager
4:53	and the manager said to himself what
4:55	shall i do since my master is taking the
4:57	management away from me now as somebody
5:00	who’s worked in the corporate world
5:01	something’s off here i mean really
5:03	really really off all right so when i
5:05	worked in the corporate world i worked
5:07	in the corporate world i came up to the
5:09	the marketing ranks you know director of
5:11	marketing vp ceo things like this this
5:14	is what i would do and there’s a
5:15	standard procedure when you’re going to
5:17	fire somebody and the standard procedure
5:19	pretty much goes like this you call
5:21	security
5:23	you show up at the person’s cubicle
5:25	and then you inform them that they have
5:28	been sacked and you give them their
5:31	final paycheck and you give them a
5:33	couple of boxes and say security is
5:35	going to stay here
5:37	while you clean your desk out and then
5:39	they’re going to escort you out the door
5:41	and we need your key fob so that you
5:43	can’t get back into the building right
5:45	this is standard procedure
5:48	what’s going on here
5:50	this rich man tells his manager i’m
5:53	going to sack you
5:55	is going to be a reckoning
5:58	and then doesn’t take away the keys
6:01	leaves him
6:03	able to do business in his behalf this
6:06	is more of a hint that this has to do
6:08	with christ because you’ll note that
6:10	each and every one of us we’ve been put
6:12	on notice by god’s word by the law we
6:15	have been put on those we even confessed
6:17	it in the creed that christ is returning
6:19	in glory to judge
6:21	the living and the dead and that
6:24	everybody is going to have to give an
6:25	accounting to christ
6:28	right
6:29	but
6:30	christ has just given us fair warning we
6:34	continue to be stewards of his good
6:37	gifts the same way that this dishonest
6:39	manager also
6:41	is a steward of this rich man’s good
6:43	gifts so what does he do how how does he
6:46	escape fate this terrible fate and by
6:50	the way
6:51	we don’t have to worry about um begging
6:54	or having to dig ditches like this
6:56	fellow was worried about when christ
6:58	returns in glory to judge the living and
6:59	the dead
7:00	those who do not measure up
7:03	well they have an eternity to look
7:05	forward to in the lake of fire so you’ll
7:07	note that christ here is kind of
7:08	underplaying the plight that this guy is
7:10	in but in this guy’s way of thinking the
7:12	worst thing that could happen to him is
7:14	that he has to actually work with his
7:16	body he goes from being a white-collar
7:18	worker to be a blue-collar worker and
7:20	that’s just too much for him to bear and
7:22	so how does he avert this fate
7:24	well
7:25	he comes up with quite the interesting
7:28	scheme and this is where it’s a good
7:30	idea to recognize that this parable is
7:33	told in the context of an ancient near
7:36	eastern honor culture
7:39	yes we americans do not have a very firm
7:42	grasp on the concept of honor and how
7:45	important it is all right we dishonor
7:48	people uh left and right and do so
7:53	quite sinfully i would note it’s kind of
7:55	in our dna we don’t have a thing in our
7:58	body where we actually
8:00	show respect
8:02	for monarchy or politicians it goes all
8:05	the way back to the american revolution
8:07	if you think about it but all that being
8:10	said
8:11	in an honor culture this is quite quite
8:15	the scheme that this guy has come up
8:16	with what does he decide he’s going to
8:18	do he’s going to make his boss look like
8:23	the most generous
8:25	the most kind the most merciful and the
8:28	most gracious dude ever
8:31	how so well he goes to all the people
8:34	who owe him things and he asked them how
8:38	much they owe and he takes debts and he
8:41	slashes them in half or takes away a
8:44	portion of it so he says to one fellow
8:47	how much do you owe my master and he
8:48	says well i owe a hundred measures of
8:50	this of oil quick take your bill and
8:54	write down 50.
8:56	now think about how smart this is
8:58	because now the master is going to have
9:00	to come to grips with the can the master
9:02	come to the fellow and say
9:04	the who who had his bill reduced say to
9:07	him listen i was going to sack the guy
9:10	and i know he’s making me look good
9:12	but
9:13	you still owe me you still owe me the
9:16	whole amount there’s no way he can do
9:18	that right so what has he done he has
9:21	made his master look like the most
9:24	amazing fellow
9:26	ever
9:27	let me ask you a question
9:29	isn’t that exactly what jesus is like
9:33	you think about it for a second here
9:34	isn’t he not loving
9:37	kind
9:38	merciful
9:39	forgiving
9:41	patient
9:42	actually cares about people and their
9:44	well-being that’s jesus to a t
9:47	in fact this guy is banking on what
9:51	the good gracious nature of his master
9:54	and by his actions he’s going out and
9:57	letting the whole town know how amazing
10:00	this master is because you imagine the
10:02	talk of the town did you hear what
10:04	happened ah that that rich fellow i owed
10:06	him 100 measures of oil and he reduced
10:09	my bill down to 50. what an amazing
10:11	thing and that steward of his that
10:13	manager oh he’s just the best person
10:17	ever
10:19	right
10:20	but here’s where it kind of comes into
10:22	play then
10:24	that’s exactly what jesus is like
10:26	except for one exception
10:28	when jesus forgives you of all of your
10:31	sin all of your mismanagement all of the
10:35	debt that you have racked up
10:37	that you owe god
10:39	in one version of the lord’s prayer goes
10:41	forgive us our debts
10:43	as we forgive our debtors debt is a good
10:45	way of talking about sin does jesus
10:48	slash your bill in half
10:52	does that sound like christ
10:53	no not at all does jesus take a third of
10:57	it off
10:58	not even close how many of your sins did
11:01	jesus die for on the cross
11:04	all of them how much of the debt did he
11:06	pay for you
11:08	all of it
11:10	and so you’ll note here this is the
11:11	scandalous bit and i assure you
11:15	that in heaven there are forgiven low
11:19	lifes like you wouldn’t believe i we’re
11:22	talking
11:23	really really sketchy sus people
11:25	including well farmers
11:28	and cobblers
11:30	and people who used to work in the
11:31	medical industry oh lawyers and
11:34	accountants
11:35	oh
11:36	i’m
11:37	there’s even airline pilots in heaven
11:39	can you believe this there are guys who
11:42	work in business development in heaven
11:45	to this right now
11:46	forgiven by christ there are
11:49	hairdressers
11:50	and retirees and people well you have
11:53	what a sketchy lot and someday someday
11:58	when i arrive
12:00	the pearly gates and christ welcomes me
12:02	into his kingdom and shows me my
12:04	heavenly and eternal abode oh
12:07	man i can tell you that it’s going to
12:09	the buzz is going to be going on because
12:12	here’s the thing
12:13	the people who are there now the tax
12:15	collectors the prostitutes the drug
12:17	addicts they’re going to see me coming
12:19	in and go oh my goodness christ is
12:21	letting anyone in now
12:24	anyone they even let in rose bro
12:27	and that’s
12:28	the scandal of this all you see the the
12:30	cross
12:31	the forgiveness of sins is that
12:33	scandalous so scandalous that christ
12:35	commends this dishonest manager for his
12:39	shrewdness and are we not shrewd
12:42	in averting the wrath of god by trusting
12:45	in the mercy of christ
12:47	you see and like i said christ doesn’t
12:49	forgive some of our debt he forgives all
12:53	of it and yeah you you can legitimately
12:55	say of yourself you are not a good
12:58	steward of god’s resources if you were
13:00	to have to really truly give an
13:02	accounting oh man you would be in
13:05	trouble but the book of colossians talks
13:07	about things in a most amazing way
13:10	in colossians it says that god the
13:13	father has delivered us from the
13:14	dominion of darkness the god the father
13:17	is the one who is qualified each of us
13:20	to share in the inheritance of the
13:22	saints in light and then in colossians
13:25	chapter 2 verses 14 and 15 it
13:28	legitimately says that we
13:31	god has made us alive together with
13:33	christ and has forgiven us of all of our
13:36	trespasses by cancelling the record of
13:39	debt that stood against us with this
13:40	legal demands this he has set aside
13:43	nailing it to the cross why it’s because
13:46	christ has paid the debt for all of your
13:50	mismanagement of his good creation
13:53	and he has qualified you so that you
13:56	would never have to worry about not
13:59	being welcome into heavenly abodes
14:02	and so that being said there is a second
14:05	level to our parable and it’s important
14:07	to note the second level to our parable
14:09	deals with actual with actually with the
14:12	concept of money itself because note
14:15	that christ says
14:17	that i tell you make friends for
14:18	yourselves by means of unrighteous
14:20	wealth so that when it fails they may
14:23	receive you into eternal dwellings seems
14:26	like kind of an enigmatic statement but
14:28	think of it this way
14:30	our attitude towards the good money that
14:34	god provides for us yes god is the one
14:36	who’s given you the abilities so that
14:39	you can have the job that you have so
14:41	that you can earn the paycheck that you
14:42	earned and we are commanded as
14:46	christians this is a new testament
14:47	command that we are to work with our
14:50	hands diligently to provide for our own
14:53	needs and we are also required by christ
14:57	to set aside a small portion of what we
14:59	earn so that we can help meet the needs
15:01	of those who are down and out who are
15:04	poor or not able to pay their bills and
15:07	so you’ll note here i’m not saying we’re
15:09	supposed to set aside a portion of our
15:10	money in order to tithe
15:13	that’s not a new testament command we
15:15	are instructed to set aside a portion of
15:17	our money in order to help people meet
15:21	their needs so christ is making it very
15:24	clear when it comes to the resources
15:26	that god has given us a portion of that
15:28	must be used to help people so that
15:31	their financial debts can be lowered or
15:35	alleviated so that they can see the
15:38	gospel in action and the idea then is is
15:41	that we don’t earn our salvation in this
15:44	manner christ has earned it for us and
15:47	because of that we can now have an open
15:49	hand and be generous just like christ is
15:53	generous
15:54	giving to the poor is a visible
15:56	manifestation
15:58	of the forgiveness of sins
16:00	and those who have been in financial
16:02	binds and straights and have been not
16:05	able to pay their bills they feel well
16:08	that they are in captivity that they
16:10	have no means to help themselves out of
16:12	the problems that they are in and so in
16:14	this way when we use unrighteous wealth
16:17	to help others
16:20	to show the graciousness of god
16:23	it leaves a mark
16:25	a good one it’s like i said a visible
16:28	manifestation of the gospel itself
16:31	and in this regard
16:33	note then that each and every one of us
16:35	we forgive because we have been forgiven
16:39	we pay others debts because our debts
16:43	have been paid and i find it ironic in
16:46	this week’s readings that the gospel is
16:48	not in the gospel text the gospel is
16:50	actually in our old testament
16:53	old testament text second samuel note
16:55	then talking about how god what his
16:58	disposition is towards us
17:01	second samuel chapter 22 verse 26 states
17:05	with the merciful god shows himself as
17:08	merciful you know we forgive because we
17:10	are forgiven and this is not what we
17:12	pray in the lord’s prayer forgive us
17:14	our trespasses as we forgive those who
17:17	trespass against us with the blameless
17:19	man god shows himself as blameless with
17:22	the purified note the past tense with
17:25	the purified you deal purely and this is
17:28	what christ has done for you he has
17:30	shown you mercy in christ he has made
17:33	you blameless and by the shed blood of
17:36	christ who has suffered in your place on
17:39	the cross and paid your debt in full
17:42	you have now been purified but with
17:45	those who are crooked with those who are
17:47	arrogant god
17:49	makes himself to seem tortuous
17:53	god saves a humble people
17:55	but god’s eyes are on the hottie for the
17:58	purpose of bringing them down so he
18:01	the author here says you are my lamp o
18:04	yahweh and my god lightens my darkness
18:07	for by you i can run against a troop and
18:10	by my god i can leap over a wall this
18:13	god his way is perfect and the word of
18:16	yahweh always proves true he’s a shield
18:18	for all those who take refuge in him so
18:21	take comfort you have taken refuge in
18:24	christ and he is your great forgiver of
18:27	all of your debts and your mismanagement
18:29	i can think of no greater example of
18:32	somebody mismanaging god’s good gifts
18:36	than i could think of king david if you
18:38	think about know the story of king david
18:40	he starts off as a humble shepherd boy
18:42	right and god calls him from the
18:45	shepherd from shepherding has him
18:47	anointed as the king of israel although
18:49	the current king was still quite alive
18:52	and well and god delivered him from all
18:56	of the attempts to take his life and to
18:58	kill him and finally establishes his
19:01	kingdom and no sooner is david’s kingdom
19:04	established by god he’s the king of all
19:06	of israel what does he do he squanders
19:11	the good kingdom that god has given him
19:14	to steward by well casting his eye on
19:18	the wife of uriah the hittite bathsheba
19:21	he committed adultery with her
19:23	impregnated her and then when found out
19:25	that she was pregnant and that he was
19:27	the father
19:29	he killed murdered uriah the hittite i
19:32	can think of no
19:33	greater example of somebody squandering
19:35	mismanaging the things that god has put
19:38	into his care even abusing those whom
19:41	god has put over whom god has put him
19:44	over to care for and to minister to
19:47	and yet when confronted with his sin
19:50	what does
19:51	what does god do
19:53	for david
19:54	did he say off to hell with you you’ve
19:56	mismanaged my kingdom how dare you no
19:59	god forgives him
20:01	when confronted with his sin david says
20:03	i have sinned against the lord
20:05	and then he pens these wonderful words
20:07	which are the actual psalm that is the
20:08	sign for today psalm 51 where david says
20:12	have mercy on me o god
20:14	according to your steadfast love
20:16	according to your abundant mercy please
20:18	blot out my transgressions
20:21	wash me thoroughly for my iniquity
20:23	cleanse me from my sin for i know my
20:25	transgressions and my sins are ever
20:27	before me and against you and you only
20:29	have i sinned and done what is evil in
20:31	your sight so that i may be justified
20:33	you may be justified in your words and
20:35	blameless in your judgment behold i was
20:37	brought forth in iniquity and in sin did
20:39	my mother conceive me
20:41	and behold you delight in truth in the
20:43	inward being and you teach me wisdom in
20:46	the secret heart so purge me with hyssop
20:48	and i shall be clean wash me and i shall
20:51	be whiter than snow let me hear joy and
20:54	gladness
20:55	and let the bones that you have broken
20:58	rejoice
20:59	hide your face from my sins and blot out
21:02	all of my iniquities
21:03	created me a clean heart o god and renew
21:06	a right spirit within me cast me not
21:08	away from your presence and take not
21:10	your holy spirit from me
21:12	restore to me the joy of your salvation
21:15	and uphold me
21:16	with a willing
21:18	spirit
21:19	and how does god answer such a prayer
21:22	with forgiveness
21:24	mercy
21:25	pardon and grace
21:27	it’s very shrewd of david to cast
21:29	himself on the mercy of god and show god
21:32	to be merciful after he a miserable
21:34	manager mismanaged the stewardship that
21:36	was given to him by god
21:38	and you and i are no better than david
21:40	we’re all just as sinful and wicked
21:42	don’t believe me consider our epistle
21:45	text
21:46	let me explain
21:47	the law
21:48	the law shows us our sins paul writes in
21:51	first corinthians 10 now these things
21:53	talking about the stories that are
21:55	recorded for us in the old testament
21:57	contrary to what andy stanley may say we
21:59	christians need that old testament don’t
22:01	you dare throw it out or stop reading it
22:04	these things that are written in the old
22:05	testament were written for as examples
22:07	for us so that we might not desire evil
22:11	as they did but that’s the problem
22:16	if you’re honest with yourself
22:18	you can legitimately focus on the fact
22:21	and confess rightly
22:22	that you do desire evil the things that
22:26	god commands you desire the things that
22:29	god
22:30	forbids you desire the things that god
22:34	doesn’t want you to do you want to do
22:37	that’s because we all have a sinful
22:40	nature and so these things are written
22:42	so that we may not desire them and first
22:45	thing on the list do not be idolaters as
22:47	some of them were as it is written the
22:49	people sat down to eat and drink and
22:50	they rose up to play and you sit there
22:52	and go well i attend a good faithful
22:55	church how could i possibly be an
22:57	idolater ah yeah that first commandment
23:00	you shall have no other gods that’s a
23:02	little bit of a thorny one here because
23:04	you’re going to note every other sin
23:06	flows from that one every time you break
23:10	any of the other ten commandments you’ve
23:12	also broken the first
23:14	so when you are trusting in anything
23:16	other than god to meet your needs
23:19	you are an idolater you can turn
23:22	anything into idolatry and i know that
23:25	in the past i’ve taken a swipe at things
23:28	like etsy and stuff like this this week
23:30	i’ll take a swipe at myself
23:32	you know me i like to photograph things
23:34	i like posting my photographs on
23:35	instagram and you know it’s really
23:38	tempting to turn those little heart
23:40	emojis that people put on my photographs
23:42	into a type of idolatry oh my day can’t
23:45	possibly be that bad because i got 112
23:47	likes on that photograph that i took the
23:50	other day at the museum right
23:52	ah yes anything can be
23:54	an idol
23:56	and it’s this that we must all take into
23:59	consideration and confess rightly when
24:02	we do so photography can be an idol
24:06	drugs alcohol sex money power
24:10	ah shopping sprees can be an idol right
24:14	and there are people who go on binge
24:15	shopping sprees in order to make them
24:17	feel better because of the stresses in
24:19	life and that
24:21	is idolatry you’ll you’ll know we’re all
24:23	capable and we’re all guilty of such
24:25	things
24:26	paul then says this we must not indulge
24:28	in sexual immorality some of them did
24:30	and twenty 000 fell in a single day
24:33	let’s be blunt since christ in matthew
24:36	chapter 5 takes well sexual immorality
24:40	and ramps it up to 11 each and every one
24:43	of us we’re guilty in this regard
24:45	because if you even look at another
24:47	person lustfully you’ve already
24:49	committed adultery with that person that
24:52	being the case i don’t think any of us
24:54	can say that we’re all perfectly
24:56	sexually pure not a single one of us and
24:58	we must not put christ to the test each
25:01	and every one of us do this regularly
25:03	and and then also none of us should
25:06	grumble but how many of us do
25:09	so taking a look at that little list how
25:11	do you all work how did y’all work that
25:12	out you looking good
25:16	no neither am i
25:18	and so you’ll know
25:19	we like i said
25:21	are all that that horrible manager who
25:25	has to give an account who’s been told
25:27	to
25:28	pack up his stuff and bring the
25:31	accounting books and have well
25:34	christ look them over
25:36	but because christ has bled and died for
25:38	our sins
25:40	he has cancelled the record of debt and
25:42	christ doesn’t see in us anymore because
25:46	of what he’s done all of our sin our
25:48	debt and our mismanagement he’s paid all
25:50	of that for us he’s taken care of it all
25:53	by bleeding and dying for your sins and
25:55	mine on the cross and instead we are
25:57	clothed in the righteousness of christ
26:00	and we are well promised that we would
26:03	be the stewards and those who rule and
26:06	reign with christ in the world to come
26:09	all of this because christ has qualified
26:12	us he’s the one who is gracious and kind
26:15	and i would note i have this wonderful
26:17	job week after week after week after
26:20	week you come in and confess that you
26:21	are by nature sinful unclean sinned
26:23	against god and thought word and deed
26:25	and i get to see the debt that you’ve
26:27	racked up week after week and one of the
26:29	greatest joys that i have and it is a
26:31	joy is to announce to you that all of
26:34	your debts are canceled because of
26:36	christ so yeah you’re all miserable
26:39	managers so am i
26:41	and we deserve
26:43	so much worse than what we’re getting
26:46	but rather than getting what we deserve
26:48	christ took that for us so take heart
26:51	you will be welcomed by christ into
26:53	eternal dwellings because of what he has
26:56	done for you it’s scandalous if you
26:58	think about it and yet at the same time
27:00	is wonderful in the name of Jesus
27:02	amen

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