Sunday 1st Service Worship
Title/Scripture: One Who Is Faithful in the Very Least (Luke 16:1-13)
Speaker: Rev. Ryu Gwang-soo
Date/Location: August 28, 2022, Immanuel Church (Busan)
Summary
Since Jesus, who was to save the world, ministered for only three years, the content of that ministry is truly of enormous importance. Yet He kept giving a parable that is utterly incomprehensible. Today, here, you must go and find an answer that can change your life. If you do, then as you walk along the way you will see a guidepost each step of the way. That is why worship is so important, because it is a guidepost.
▣ Introduction
1. Jesus’ Parable – The Rich Man and the Steward
There was a rich man, and Jesus uses him in a parable. He had a steward in charge of his money, someone we would call a department head or an executive director. A rumor spread that this man was “wasting money.”
The rich man called the steward and said, “Settle everything and quit.” That is what happened. This man fell into a great worry. As he agonized deeply, he found one answer. He called or went to those who had dealings with his master. For example, he asked, “Pastor Lee Seong-hoon, how much do you owe my master?” and when the man said, “A hundred million,” he said, “I’ll make it fifty million. Write it down.” For some he cut it in half, and for others he did it differently.
When the rich man saw this, he was greatly moved. “You really are a wise man,” he said, praising him. In telling this parable, Jesus was delivering an important message.
2. Rome, the Plundering Nation
1) Seizing the Whole Nation
If you merely held Roman citizenship, you would not even be arrested for a crime. That is the extent to which this nation had seized control of the whole world.
2) Roman Idols and Images
Rome erected idols and images, killed people spiritually altogether, and demanded that taxes be paid.
3) The Rich Man
Among them was this rich man, who had connections with Rome. If you had no need even of God and simply lined up correctly, if you kept in Rome’s good graces, that was enough — that is what this rich man represents. Holding enormous wealth and land, he put people to work and, at times, lent them money. That was his way. This is the answer regarding that. And he is truly a spokesman for those who are dying.
▣ Main
1. In Great Difficulty, We Must First Obtain Spiritual Strength Before Finding an Answer
1) Most People
What do we do when we suffer an unjust wrong, or are driven out, or are ruined? “I’m going to die” — is that it? At such times we mostly fall into despair.
2) Obtaining Spiritual Strength First So As to Do Something Important
But this man was different. He obtained spiritual strength so that he could accomplish something truly important. Before he came up with the answer, he first obtained tremendous spiritual strength. This is what matters. Spiritual strength is something invisible, but once you obtain it, everything that follows changes. When I truly obtain spiritual strength, my judgment changes.
(1) Joseph
As Joseph was being taken away as a slave, as he was going to prison, who helped him? No one could help him at all. There was exactly one thing Joseph did. What was it? He truly obtained the spiritual strength that God gives. And so what followed had no choice but to come.
(2) David
Though he had done nothing wrong, that is how the world is. They kept trying to kill this David. Each time, how much spiritual strength did David obtain? “No matter how dangerous the path I walk, I am fine. The Lord is my shepherd.” Because he escaped from the midst of death, he said, “The Lord is my fortress, my rock of refuge, my shelter.” Even when he became king, in the end he still confessed, “The Lord is my King. O Lord who is my strength, I love You.”
(3) The People of Hebrews 11, the Early Church, the Church Leaders of Romans 16
These people had obtained spiritual strength.
2. Spiritual Wisdom That Comes From Obtaining Spiritual Strength
1) Ordinarily, When Problems Come, Thoughts of Killing Arise
Ordinarily, when problems come to us, thoughts of killing arise. “I have to take revenge, I have to kill.” That leads to ruin. But this fellow, because he obtained spiritual strength, said, “Ah, I know what I must do.” And from that came spiritual wisdom, life-saving wisdom.
2) Wisdom That Moves the Difficult Master
The first person moved by this was the master himself. The master had all his violently imposed interest and money completely cut away. Not knowing this himself, he was moved: “Ah, so that’s it. Your wisdom is remarkable.”
3) Wisdom That Saves People
And how grateful the indebted people must have been to have their debts reduced! He moved the master, he saved that difficult person, and he obtained the wisdom that saves.
4) Wisdom That Saves Oneself
In fact, this is wisdom that saves oneself. When you are in difficulty, you must save others in order for you yourself to live.
3. At This Point, the Word of God Begins to Come
1) Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and one who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”
From that point, the Word began to come. “Though you appear to be faithful in a very small matter, that is in fact a tremendous act of saving people.” When you do a life-saving deed, it may look extremely small, but that becomes something used by God.
2) Luke 16:9 “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, (…) so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
When you sincerely help a person in difficulty, they never forget it forever. If you go to someone who has been hurt and soothe that wound, they never forget it forever. Right now Jesus is teaching something tremendous. He asks, “Is it not so that you are just like Rome and those in league with Rome?” — that is what this parable means. “Are those people who are oppressed and suffering like that to be left as they are? You Pharisees who do not understand!” — that is what He is saying.
▣ Conclusion — Two Kinds of People in Bible History and Church History
1. Moses and Jethro
In the most important history, the people of Israel became slaves in Egypt. There Moses committed murder and fled to Midian, where he met Jethro. This Jethro took Moses as his son-in-law. He saved a person. This is what saved Israel and saved the world.
2. Rahab and the Spies
She saved the two spies who came into the house of Rahab the harlot. Though it appeared to be an extremely small thing, Israel lived, and the world lived.
3. David and the Priest Ahimelech
When David fled to the temple, he was starving to death. This priest gave David the showbread, which no one but the priests were permitted to eat. He chose not to keep the priestly law but chose to save a life.
4. Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea
Three charges were laid upon Jesus. He was put to death, and that very evening a man like Joseph of Arimathea requested from the judge that he himself be allowed to bury Jesus’ body. That was an enormous choice.
5. Paul and the People of Romans 16
There arose people who said, “Until Paul is killed, I will not eat or go home.” In the midst of this, there were church leaders who risked their lives to help Paul. These are the people of Romans 16, including Gaius.
6. Martin Luther and the Church Leader
In the medieval church, the gospel was lost. So Martin Luther said that we are saved only through faith in Jesus Christ and the gospel — how could we be saved by any other means? He was sentenced to death for this. There was a church leader who saved Luther at that time. This is what changed the world.
You must know that the small, life-saving devotion by which you take hold of the covenant today is eternal.
Transcript
Jesus, who was to save the world, ministered for only three years. You ministered for only three years, and the content of that must be truly tremendously important. I have ministered here for thirty years, but Jesus ministered for only three years.
Yet He kept giving a parable that is utterly incomprehensible. This idea of “ah, I simply cannot understand this” — even the Pharisees could not understand it at all. Those people could not receive an answer. And today too, as you listen to the Word, if you think “I don’t know what this means,” such a person is of no use at all.
Today, here, you all must go and find a great answer. Right? You must go and find an answer that can change your life. That is exactly why you have come this far — for what reason would you come here, in this era of COVID, if it were difficult for any other reason? So when you come to worship every Lord’s Day, you must carry away a real answer for your life. Then, as you go along the way, you see a guidepost each step of the way. That is why worship is so important.
▣ Introduction
1. Jesus’ Parable – The Rich Man and the Steward
There was a rich man, and Jesus is now telling a parable. The steward in charge of his money — for us, that would be something like a department head or an executive director. There was such a person. A rumor spread that “he is wasting money like that.” People mostly go entirely by rumor. That is how the rumor was heard. It was heard wrongly.
This person, the rich man, called the steward. “Settle everything and quit.” That is what happened. Whatever he had been doing, he had to settle it all. This man fell into a great worry. “What shall I do now?” His master told him to quit, so how could he go on working? It was not a system like today. Back then the master was almost like a king — if he said, “Hey, quit,” then you quit. If you got it wrong, you could die. “Now, at my age, shall I go dig the ground, shall I do labor? How can I do this? But still, how can I become a beggar and go begging? Must I live such a shameful life?”
After this deep agonizing, he found one answer. Surely there were people who had dealings with his master. He called or went to all of them. Today only two examples are given, but he must have done it with everyone. For instance, he asked, “Pastor Lee Seong-hoon, how much do you owe the master?” and when the man said, “A hundred million,” he said, “I’ll make it fifty million. Write it down.” And then he went to another and asked, “Elder Kang Chil-se, how much? A hundred million? Write down eighty million.” The amounts differed a bit. For some he cut it in half, for others differently — he did it for everyone. Having settled it all, he was going to quit anyway, because he was being driven out.
When the master saw this, it did not make sense, did it? Right? He should have calculated it correctly, but instead he cut it randomly by half here and there — it made no sense. This is Jesus’ parable. When this master saw it, the rich man was greatly moved. “Wow, you really are a wise man,” he said, praising him. And in telling this parable, Jesus delivered an important message. What do you think of this? This is a situation where the man should have been thrown in prison, yet he was praised for doing so well. This is Jesus’ parable.
2. Rome, the Plundering Nation
There is something very important contained here. Let me first give a bit of introduction.
1) Seizing the Whole Nation
Rome, the plundering nation — this is the era in question. Rome was a terrifying nation. If you merely held Roman citizenship, you would not be arrested even if you committed a crime. Right? This nation seized control of the entire world — Rome did.
2) Roman Idols and Images
Having seized control, Rome erected idols and images, in other words killed people spiritually altogether, and then, on top of that, demanded that taxes be paid. To put it simply, no matter how farming went…, it would differ for each person, but in any case they had to hand it all over. It must have been enormous. It came in from all over the world. So Rome was mighty, powerful. If you did not obey, you were killed.
3) The Rich Man
Last week we read about the tax collector who went around collecting money and ate a meal with Jesus, remember? Among them, if there was a person connected with Rome, he had no need even of God — he only needed to line up correctly. In today’s terms, all he needed was to receive the nomination. As long as he stayed in Rome’s good graces. This is that rich man. With his enormous wealth and land, he had people work for him like this. At times he also lent them money. And it was not simply lending money out of kindness. I will explain a bit later, but in our country too there are people who lend money and then demand back many times over, and threaten people. It is the same kind of thing. This is the answer regarding that. And he is truly a spokesman for those who are dying. It is truly enormous, this.
But as for this man, though it is recorded briefly here, when this master, this rich man, watched what his steward-servant did, he was deeply moved. “Wow, you really are a wise man.” Did he praise him or not?
▣ Main
Today we have a message we must hold onto contained within this passage.
1. In Great Difficulty, We Must First Obtain Spiritual Strength Before Finding an Answer
1) Most People
This is the first point. What do we do when we suffer an unjust wrong, or are driven out, or are ruined? “I’m going to die” — what do we do? At such times, we mostly fall into despair. Others fight to the death, to the point that it causes problems. Why? Because the difficulty is simply too great for them. Most people are like this.
2) Obtaining Spiritual Strength First So As to Do Something Important
But this man was not like that. He obtained spiritual strength so that he could accomplish something truly important. He obtained spiritual strength before finding the answer. Before finding the answer, he first obtained tremendous spiritual strength.
This matters. Spiritual strength is something you cannot see, but once you obtain it, everything that follows changes. When I truly obtain spiritual strength, my judgment changes completely. If instead I think, “Why do people make things so hard for me,” then my judgment changes in a different direction. Right? A person who has been more deeply wounded may become almost mentally deranged. “Why does everyone hate me?” — they come to this conclusion. Right? In fact that is not even true, but then the judgment changes. “Everyone hates me, so should I kill myself?” — it comes to this. In truth both are wrong. It is not everyone, but that is simply how they think, because they have fallen into despair. Once despair sets in, other judgments come. Right? When I become anxious, other judgments come to me. What do I do when I have no strength at all? What do I do when I am falsely accused, my faults pointed out, and I am being driven out? At such a time, this man obtained spiritual strength great enough to find the answer. He must have prayed or found some other means. This is what matters.
If you look in the Scriptures, the Remnant, seven people — a characteristic they shared was that they were placed in great difficulty. No one to help them. This was the characteristic.
(1) Joseph
As Joseph is being taken away as a slave, as he is going to prison, who helps him? No one can help him at all. Even though he was falsely accused, there was no one to speak for him. This was Joseph. There is exactly one thing Joseph did. What was it? He truly obtained the spiritual strength that God gives. And so what followed had no choice but to come. This matters. Anyone who does not believe this is an unbeliever. Anyone who does not believe this is someone who has not received salvation. Right? You have this privilege. It may look like nothing at all, but this is what spiritual strength is.
(2) David
You know this. Though he had done nothing wrong, that is how the world is. They kept trying to kill this David. This is a frightening political battlefield. David did not fall into despair or join them in scheming or fighting. Each time, how much spiritual strength did David obtain? “No matter how dangerous the path I walk, I am fine. The Lord is my shepherd.” How much spiritual strength through prayer he must have obtained — because he escaped from the midst of death, he said, “The Lord is my fortress, my rock of refuge, my shelter.” That was not a simple prayer — it means he obtained spiritual strength, in the midst of danger. Later on, that danger, that danger — death did not come once or twice. And in the end he became king. Even then he confessed, “The Lord is my King. O Lord who is my strength, I love You.” That was not a simple prayer. It means he had obtained spiritual strength.
Today’s reality matters, but what comes after matters even more, does it not? Obtaining spiritual strength. Despair coming matters, but what comes after that matters more. Right? Reaching a state where I have nothing, where no one can help me — that matters, but what comes after matters more. There is no need to explain further — all seven of the Remnant were like this.
(3) The People of Hebrews 11, the Early Church, the Church Leaders of Romans 16
Is not Hebrews 11 a gathering of nothing but heroes of faith? All those people were like this. The early church, where no one could help them — these people had spiritual strength. The church leaders spoken of in Romans 16 are the ones who changed the world.
2. Spiritual Wisdom That Comes From Obtaining Spiritual Strength
Now, since we have no time to speak at length, this is the second point. And so spiritual wisdom emerges. Because I obtain spiritual strength, spiritual wisdom follows accordingly. Do you know what kind of wisdom that is? It is life-saving wisdom. This is what comes out.
1) Ordinarily, When Problems Come, Thoughts of Killing Arise
Ordinarily, when problems come to us, thoughts of killing arise, don’t they? “I have to take revenge. I have to kill.” That is how it comes out. But that is the path to ruin. “I need to find some weakness of my master and expose it” — many people are like that. I know a person who works under an elder, and he is a bad fellow. Because he was not given money, he reported something falsely to get the elder in trouble. There are many people like that.
But what did this fellow do? Once he obtained spiritual strength, he said, “Ah, I understand.” That is exactly what appears in today’s text: “Ah, I know what I must do.” That is how it was said. And from that came spiritual wisdom, life-saving wisdom.
2) Wisdom That Moves the Difficult Master
How did this come about? The first person moved upon seeing this was the master. What happened was that the master had all the interest and money he had violently imposed completely written off — to put it simply. There are people like this in our country too. Someone lends only ten million won and later comes back demanding hundreds of millions. There are such people, aren’t there. To put it simply, anything the master feared would cause him harm later, the steward wrote off entirely. This master was astonished. Not knowing this himself, he thought, “Ah, so that’s it. Your wisdom is remarkable.”
3) Wisdom That Saves People
And how grateful these people must have been to have their debts reduced! It becomes far easier to repay the rest. He moved the master, he saved that difficult person, and he obtained wisdom that saves.
4) Wisdom That Saves Oneself
This appears now in verses 8 and 9. In fact, this is wisdom that saves oneself. When you are in difficulty, you must save someone else in order for you yourself to live too. Right? If you go to your company, you must save others and save the company in order for you yourself to live. No need to say more. When trouble comes to the church, you must save the church and save others in order for you to live. Right? It is common sense. When you go to your company, save the company. Only then will you live. How can young people who go to work and destroy the company expect to live? Save the company. When you go to church, save the church. Then you will live.
This man was someone about to be driven out, yet he was instead praised by his master. Many people in difficulty came back to life. You must remember this. Because he obtained spiritual strength, spiritual wisdom emerged exactly like this.
3. At This Point, the Word of God Begins to Come
From that point on, this is the third point. Now the Word begins to come.
1) Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and one who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.”
Jesus said this directly. “One who is faithful in a very small matter is faithful in a great matter too, and one who is dishonest in a very small matter is dishonest in a great matter too.” That is what He said at that time. “Will he not use one who is faithful with another’s wealth?” That is what Jesus said. Right? “In doing another’s work, will he not seek out one faithful in that work?” That is what Jesus said. “Though you appear to be faithful in a very small matter, that is in fact a tremendous act of saving people.” When you do a life-saving deed, though it looks extremely small, it becomes something used greatly by God. You must keep this firmly in mind. If there is anyone sick within your church, go and visit them. Our elders especially are good at this. Save them. If there is someone who has gone astray, go and visit them. Visit, encourage, help them realize, gain strength, and help set them on the path to being restored. Right?
This master obtained strength and set things right. Wow! Why? He fixed everything that had been dangerous. What do you think, everyone? If you were the master, wouldn’t you have done the same? He had been applying pressure carelessly here and there, but upon seeing this, when he did the full calculation, it was a mess. That is what he was setting in order. Back when I did not understand this well, when I was younger, I understood it as simply having money and forgiving debts casually.
2) Luke 16:9 “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth. And they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
Then in verse 9 Jesus said, “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth. They will receive you into an eternal dwelling place.” What does this mean? Does it mean dishonest money? No, it does not. Money is not “righteousness” to begin with. Right? What is “righteousness” about money — it is just money. “If you use this to save a person, that person will never forget you forever.” That is what it means.
When you sincerely help a person in difficulty, they never forget it forever. If you go to a wounded person and soothe that wound, they never forget it forever. If you drive a nail into a wrongdoer, that person will never forget it either.
Right now Jesus is teaching something tremendous. He asks, “Is it not so that you are living just like this rich man, like Rome and those in league with Rome?” This is a parable. “Are those people who are oppressed and suffering like that to be left as they are? You Pharisees who do not understand!” — that is what He is saying right now. That is why He told the parable. What a parable means, to begin with, is a story told so that people can understand. That is exactly what Jesus is doing now. Can we treat this lightly? “What you have done may look like an extremely small matter, but it is in fact an extremely great matter.”
That is why it says this: this man in difficulty went and made a friend with that unrighteous money, and gained him. Then you will have obtained something eternal, and that person will be bound to receive you.
There is an old story like this. A new lord came to a village. He threw a great feast. Whenever there was a feast, everyone came. Beggars came too. Nine out of ten lords all treated the beggars with contempt. “Hey, eat there and go.” Like that. Everyone did the same, because they were beggars. “Feed them just enough and send them off.” But one lord was different. He said to them, “Come up onto the porch.” He gave them proper treatment. “How hard your life must be. Take heart.” With this one word, the beggars were deeply moved.
In the old days, since there were no newspapers, it was the beggars who spread the news. If you treated a lord badly, what hope did beggars have as they wandered about? They would spread whatever evil rumor they pleased: “I went to that man’s house and there was gold there, and such and such.” They would go around saying things like that. So when trouble came to the village, when some incident occurred nearby, though not a war, it was the beggars who stepped forward to protect this lord. While all the people who lived off the state’s provisions had fled and were gone, it was these beggars who stepped forward in the difficulty. Beggars are beggars anyway — whether they live or die makes no difference to anyone, so be it.
What Jesus is saying here is an extremely important word. We must go back having received a great answer. When we are in difficulty, the most important thing is to obtain spiritual strength. It is to save people with the wisdom that God gives. And is this not exactly Jesus’ message? “One who is faithful in a small matter is faithful in a great matter too. One who is dishonest in a small matter is dishonest in a great matter too.” How much He praised this!
▣ Conclusion — Two Kinds of People in Bible History and Church History
Let me conclude. In the Bible and in church history there have always been two kinds of people.
1. Moses and Jethro
In the most important history, the people of Israel became slaves in Egypt. There, in fact, Moses committed murder. Right? He did not do it on purpose. He struck someone to stop a fight, and the other person died. To put it simply, he had killed an Egyptian — could he stay? He had to flee. He fled to Midian, and whom did he meet there? He met Jethro. What would you have done in his place? Fearing Egypt, being afraid, most people would have reported him. Reported him. But this Jethro took this Moses as his son-in-law. He saved a person. This is what saved Israel and saved the world.
2. Rahab and the Spies
What would you have done? To put it in the terms of that nation, a spy had come in. Right? A spy came into the house of Rahab the harlot. He had come in secretly. But then the authorities came looking, what we would call the police. “Let’s follow the rules.” What should she do then? She should report him. Rahab lied. She hid them and lied, saying they had gone. This was decisive. What was this? It was saving the two spies. She could have reported them. If she had reported them, they would have died. She saved them. Just by doing that alone, Israel lived, the world lived — it is truly enormous. Though it appears to be an extremely small thing, it was not small at all. Later, Rahab was saved and even went into Israel. There she married and had children, and from among her descendants came David. It is truly enormous. You must know what covenant we ought to take hold of.
3. David and the Priest Ahimelech
David fled because of the pressure of King Saul and the persecution of those possessed by evil spirits. He had nowhere to go. So he fled to the temple, and there David was so hungry he was about to die. This priest gave David the showbread, which no one but the priests were ever permitted to eat. He broke the law to do it. In Israel, that was an enormous law. That showbread — no one was allowed to eat it. It was to be eaten only by the priests. He gave it to the starving David. David ate it and was saved. What did this priest choose? He did not choose the law; he chose to save a life. That person later became the David who built a thousand bartizans. He is the David who completed the preparation of the temple, that is what I mean.
4. Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea
There is much more. As you know, three charges were laid upon Jesus. The atmosphere was terrifying. Blasphemy, treason, and, given the time, the crime of fraud for calling himself a king. He was put to death like that. He was executed, and that very evening, look — a man like Joseph of Arimathea requested from the judge that Jesus’ body be given to him. He said he himself would bury it. That was an enormous choice.
What you are doing, though it looks small, if you firmly hold onto the Word of God properly, an eternal answer comes. You must keep this firmly in mind. By Israel’s own rule, one should not have asked for the body. But he went and asked for it anyway.
5. Paul and the People of Romans 16
So then — “Huh? One day I found out Jesus has risen? What is this all about?” That is how it happened. And so these Pharisees formed a special task force. A task force that would unconditionally capture and kill, or bring in, those who believed in Jesus. The leader of that task force was Paul. But this Paul — God struck him down immediately. Even a person who is truly wicked, God strikes down immediately. He struck him down immediately. And so Paul was shocked and turned to Christ.
This Paul, who had one day been killing those who believed in Jesus — this Paul who had been killing believers in Jesus was now going around preaching Jesus. So in the nation of Israel, what was formed was a team formed to kill this Paul. And from within that team there arose people who said, “Until Paul is killed, I will not eat or go home.” Such people arose. In the midst of this, there were church leaders who risked their lives to help Paul. These are the people of Romans 16, including Gaius. It is an eternal answer. Right? You must firmly take hold of this important covenant.
6. Martin Luther and the Church Leader
The church thought that having money was enough and became obsessed with money, gaining much wealth, and do you not call gaining power success? Succeeding. And do you not call it revival when talented people flock in? Flocking in. That was the medieval church. And so the gospel was lost. That is why Martin Luther spoke up. He said we are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ, the gospel — how could we be saved by any other means? How corrupted had it become?
Because they had power, they simply sentenced Luther to death outright. Terrifying, isn’t it? They handed down a death sentence. So there was no one to stop it. At that time there was a church leader who saved Luther. Right? This is what changed the world. You must keep this firmly in mind. Originally, saving him would have brought great trouble — it was against the law. The law had decided it. Why? Because it had been decided that he must be killed. Without anyone knowing, one church leader saved this man. He took him to his own home and hid him. By day he had him act like a hunter, and by night he had him translate the Bible. No one could have imagined that this would change the world.
You must know that this small, life-saving devotion by which you take hold of the covenant today is eternal. May you be blessed, in the name of the Lord, to firmly hold onto this covenant this week. Let us pray.
Prayer
God, please grant us spiritual strength. Please give us spiritual wisdom. Please make us people who save others. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.