15th Sunday After Pentecost

September 21, 2025 

Dearly beloved saints in Christ Jesus, 

Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father, and from Our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen. 

The text for our mediation this morning is from the sixteenth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel account. 

This parable hits a subject that a lot of people either highly dislike or a subject that we love. It predominantly is about worldly possessions and how we are either good or bad stewards of the “unrighteous wealth” that God gives us. 

The parable is about a man who is dishonest with the finances of his master.. The master that is implied is God, himself, while the manager has certain implications that this parable is talking directly about us. 

The dishonest manager has been cooking the books for many years, and the accusation of being a terrible manager is a gut-shot to him. He has to think of his next career. He is physically not able to farm, so that idea goes out the window. He is too prideful to go and beg for a living. The idea is out as well. Instead he goes to the debtors of his master and is shrewd in his business tactics. He is like the modern-day credit card debt collector. You call them and negotiate a price to get a portion of your debt forgiven, and that is what he did. He wrote off smaller debts to garner the ability to live once again his old job went away. It was so that he could remain in good graces with the community he served. It was so that he could gain good employment in the future, especially with the disaster that he caused regarding his master’s accounts. 

We are never told if His plans succeeded or failed. But if it did, he probably gained at least a reputable job. 

So what is the heart of this parable? Well the analogy is that this man was not a good and faithful steward of the account of His Master. That’s true. But how does it apply to us today? 

Are we faithful in what God has given us in this daily life? The short answer is no. We have not been faithful in the “daily bread” that God provides us. 

Our text says, “And 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.” Jesus here is not telling us to defraud people and make wealth from that, rather He is teaching us that we should bless others with the gifts that He bestows upon us. For example, if you are wealthy, your family is provided for, and you have an excess in money. You shouldn’t squander your riches on yourself, but help the poor and needy. Be outwardly generous and live like no one else. It is not to make a name for yourself, but rather honor the gifts that God has given to you. 

But what if I have no way to be outwardly generous? 

Our text says, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” 

If you haven’t been blessed richly in this earthly life, being faithful with what you have matters. For example if you have a modest income in a small town in the United States. Being faithful with your paycheck goes a long way. Paying for the necessities such as food, water, and shelter is being faithful with very little. But if you squander money on materialistic items and have nothing to pay the bills, you are being a dishonest manager of the gifts God has given you. 

Scripture tells us plainly that, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8.) Which is why we ask for forgiveness, whenever we fail and fall short of being honest managers. 

As Christians we are not the owners of our stuff, but rather a steward of the “daily bread” that God provides for us each and every day. We are not to squander our possessions as the prodigal son or remain in debt our whole lives. Proverbs chapter twenty-two, verse seven paints a different picture, “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” 

God does not want us to finance our future to keep up with Joneses, but rather be faithful stewards of what He has given us. For He does not want us to be trapped in situational poverty, but generous in what we have, even if it is very little. 

Like the dishonest manager, we will have to get an account of how we did our finances on earth. We will have to turn in our books to God. This seems weird to our ears, but that is our scenario. We are not to make treasures on the earth, but think of eternal treasure we have in Heaven. Have we been good stewards of the gifts of God? 

Honestly all of us have made some questionable decisions with materialistic possessions, money, etc. Which is why we ask for repentance and forgiveness from our God each and every week we come to church. It is not just a ritual we do, but for good reason. God wants to forgive you for all the sins you have committed in your earthly life. He wants to embrace you as He did the prodigal son and have you as a son or daughter in Christ. He is not going to destroy you for not being generous. Rather He has already loved you enough, to the point He died for your sins on the wooden cross, shedding His blood for you. 

God does not want you to focus on your wealth, but rather He wants all of us to be good stewards of what He has given to you. He wants you to be faithful and honest about your finances and the small things. He wants you to know the love that He has for you. He does not want to love money more than Him. He wants you to have a future with Him in paradise. And that is peace all of us have. Peace knowing that Our God provides for all of all our “daily bread, whether that be our food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like. God provides all of that for us, so let us give Him thanks and praise for the “unrighteous wealth” He gives us and recognize that we are worth more “than many sparrows”. 

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.