I Don’t Like the Manager
Luke 16:1-13
July 28, 2024 anno Domini
I don’t like Zacchaeus, even if I loved his song in Sunday School. I don’t like my sermon this morning either and I don’t like the text. I know, I sound like a toddler not wanting to eat my peas or share my toys, and I am. The old sinner that still lives in my flesh is a selfish little toddler who does not like God’s Word as preached through Zacchaeus and by unjust manager. This may sound strange, but I hope you don’t like my sermon this morning. If you don’t like it, then I’m pretty sure you’ve heard what God is saying.
I don’t like Zacchaeus because of what he did. It’s great that he sought Jesus out and climbed that sycamore tree to see his Lord. It is pure grace that Jesus stopped for this little man who worked for the IRS and cheated people out of their hard-earned money. If Jesus will stop for a crook like that then He’ll stop for a crook like me. If Jesus will dine with Zacchaeus, then I know I can come to the Lord’s Supper even though I am unworthy. Jesus dines with sinners. Good, because I know my sins and they are legion compared to Zacchaeus.
I love all that Jesus did for Zacchaeus. It’s what Zacchaeus did that angers me. Do you remember what he did after the Divine Service of Jesus. “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” (Luke 19:8) I rejoice to hear that salvation came to Zacchaeus, that Jesus sought and saved this lost man, but the sinner in me recoils at giving up half of my goods, or restoring fourfold when I have wronged someone.
Zacchaeus’ future changed when Jesus sought him, supped with him, and saved him. Zacchaeus was forgiven all his sins. He was given the eternal riches of life with Jesus and the resurrection of his body. His gold coins, IRAs, and offshore accounts were passing away, but Jesus was not, forgiveness was not, Zacchaeus was not. Because his future changed, his behavior changed. The money he had zealously earned and saved he gave away. Where he had stolen, he repaid fourfold.
His future changed and his behavior changed accordingly. That’s also what the text calls you to do.
The manager’s future changed. He was CFO of Elijah’s Grocery Wholesalers. Their wagons and camels were visible on every highway. They supplied every grocer and convenience store, but the manager was not a good manager. He had not embezzled. Maybe he was slothful, and the accounts receivable were in arrears. Maybe he was careless and didn’t balance the books accurately, so they were being audited. Some whistleblower turned him in and just like that his future changed. He was making $200,000 a year. He had a beautiful house on the river. He and his wife drove the latest hybrid chariots. He vacationed in Greece and Italy and Spain every year. But no more. The CEO called him in and said, “What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manger.”
His future changed and his behavior changed accordingly. He called in the Kwik Trip CFO and said, “How much flour did we sell you for your bakery?” “Ten tons,” said the Kwik Trip guy. Here’s your invoice. Rip it up and write a new one for five tons. He did this with every client of his company. The restaurants, the grocers, the food trucks.
Let’s be clear. He is dishonest. He is stealing from his master. He is not commended for being a thief. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. The manager was losing his salary. No more vacations. He was heading for a diet of wiener water soup. He had sat at the desk so long he wasn’t going to get a job that required any physical labor. He was so prominent he didn’t want to beg. So wisely he used what he had with his future in mind. He forgave the debtors of his company so that when he walked out the door maybe he could get a job managing the Kwik Trip in Bethlehem. It would be step down, but he was making friends that would welcome him in the future.
I don’t like the manager and I don’t like Zacchaeus for the same reason. It’s the point of the story according to Jesus. “I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
In the King James Bible that word “wealth” is left untranslated. The word is mammon. Mammon refers to everything God has given you here on earth – clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. These are all good gifts, but they are unrighteous, in this sense. They cannot save you from sin and death. They are fading away. You have them to use now, but once you’re dead, they are gone. Like the manager you have them for a short time until the end.
How are you to use that unrighteous mammon? Like the manager. Like Zacchaeus. Use it with your future in mind. You are not passing away. Christ Jesus has visited your heart by faith. He has come down to your soul in baptism. He has dined with you in His Supper. And when Jesus comes to you, He brings you the riches that do not spoil, rust, rot, or breakdown. He gives you His righteous life. He gives you His death for your sins. His resurrection is the certainty of your own future resurrection. Your 401K won’t last, but your forgiveness will. Your health will not last, but your resurrected body will. Your dream home will not last, but your heavenly home is built and prepared for you for all eternity.
How then should you use your mammon? Generously. With the future in mind. Zacchaeus gave half of it away. He returned fourfold to those he had wronged. The manager gave 50% to some and 20% to others. Now you might say, “Well, that money wasn’t theirs to begin with.” You’re right and neither is yours. It’s God’s mammon. You just manage it.
Why don’t I like Zacchaeus and the manager? Because I only give 10% of my mammon away. Because I often want more and don’t think I have enough. Because I don’t want to lose what I have or be uncomfortable and give up my pleasures. The future I plan is more often around mammon, than the Messiah, about my earthly pleasures instead of my heavenly home, seeking enjoyment here, not eternity there.
This week Martin Luther also ticked me off. He said when it comes to mammon no one thinks he has enough, but from God’s viewpoint He has given each of far more than we need or deserve. God’s abundance is a test and I know how He wants me to answer. I know how I should answer. But the sinful toddler in me doesn’t like it. So, my prayer this week, and I hope it is yours also is this, “Help me grow up Lord. Give me eyes to see the future you have given me in Christ. Let the eternal treasure of forgiveness and the resurrection make me strong enough to love You more than mammon and serve You instead of myself. Help me to be faithful with unrighteous mammon because you have given me true riches. In the name of Jesus. Amen.