Am I Trustworthy?

Trusting God in Tough Times

Luke 16:1-13

We are continuing our Stewardship Sunday sermon series under the general title “Trusting God in Tough Times.”

People wonder why we speak about finances from the pulpit. Why should money be an issue in the church?

Let me give you some facts about the New Testament:

In the New Testament we find 500 verses about prayer, 400 verses about faith, and over 2000 verses about money and money management. Jesus told 38 parables, 16 of which talked about money. The issue is not money; the issue is managing our lives, including our finances.

Let me quote you how one pastor defined stewardship:

“Stewardship means: using God given abilities to manage God given resources, to accomplish God ordained results.”

Do you see who is in the center? God and not us. What we have is God given abilities, God given resources. (See last week’s sermon). So it is not just about money or the resources that you have; it is about your heart, your life and your attitudes. It is about you knowing God’s name and having an intimate relationship with Him.

That is why I ask this morning, “AM I TRUSTWORTHY?”

I keep asking whether we trust God. Now look at the equation from a different side. Do you think I can be of any use for God? Can God trust me to be his SERVANT, a good STEWARD, a trustworthy MANAGER? Let me warn you: God is perfect and sovereign. He does not need us; we need Him. Yet God chose us to be His stewards in His Kingdom. Therefore we can ask the question, “Am I trustworthy?”

Who likes to give his or her household to untrustworthy person? A fool, I think.

I love our Lord and God. He knows that we are weak and fallen people. Yet He trusts us with His work. God’s love and compassion towards us are great.

Let us look at our passage in Luke. It is about management. The owner of a certain company realized that the manager was not doing his job. So he fired him. What can we learn from this parable?

1. God is the boss. We are the managers. We are accountable to God.

Let us not confuse the roles here. We act as if we are the bosses and God is our manager, and He will do whatever we ask Him. Let us not confuse roles. Let us look at the parable; there is some “work” entrusted to us; there is a “boss” who owns the institution, (the Kingdom). We are mangers of this institution and we need to be trustworthy.

God was very firm with His people Israel when He made a covenant with them. He wanted them to be trustworthy, to be loyal to Him and not to other gods. We read in Deuteronomy 8:18, “But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

In these tough days of 2009, let always remember that our God is sovereign and in control. He is our “boss” who demands loyalty in our stewardship.

We will continue in English.