Good Shepherd Lutheran

Do the Right Thing – Luke 16:1-13
Amassing “stuff” here on earth is meaningless. Someone once told me that coffins don’t have pockets so you can’t take it with you. They’re right. You can’t take your house with you to heaven, but you won’t need to because in heaven you’ll have a better one. You can’t take your car with you. You won’t need one, and I doubt there will be any gas stations there anyway. The fact is, there’s nothing you have here on earth that you need to take with you. Whatever your treasures are, they’re staying here and somebody else is going to have figure out what to do with them (and believe me, that’s not easy!).
Failing the test of stewardship by wasting God’s money on things that are temporary and simply accumulating things for yourself here on earth will cut into your spiritual blessings and eternal reward. But you can build your treasure in heaven by helping with God’s work here on earth.
So, what is your eternal reward? It’s the gift of a deep fulfilling relationship with God that makes your life richer than you could ever imagine!
Jesus makes it even clearer: “No slave can serve two masters.” Now you could work for two bosses. You could have two jobs. For some of us, everybody around is your boss. That’s not what it means. Jesus is saying that in a slave world, you can only be owned by one person. You can have God as your owner, or you can let wealth own you. If you try to serve both, then you’re going to hate one and love the other.
God wants your single-minded focus, loyalty, fidelity, and faithfulness to Him, but He isn’t going to punish you if you’re not able to do that. But you will forfeit his blessing and forfeit your reward.
Trying to serve both God and money creates conflict. When we’re caught in the middle between money and God, we experience the constant tension of conflicting goals. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy the things that God has so richly provided for you. But I am saying you can’t be a slave to God and a slave to money.
Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 6, “We brought nothing into the world, so we can’t take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering with ease we shall be content. But those who want to get rich, fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.”
It’s not money itself that’s the root of evil. It’s the love of it. You can have a whole lot of it and not love it, and you can have none of it and love it like crazy.
So, where’s your focus going to be? Do the right thing.