April 13

2009

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Joshua 7:16-9:2

Luke 16:1-18
1. vss 8,9 read:

8"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Do you find this fascinating? I do.

The gospels have economic references to investment & return in relation to trust:

10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?

Study guides will advise the student to sit up and take notice of key word frequency within a short passage. Here variants of TRUST occur 5x; 7x if you include references to honesty/trust.

A few weeks ago I had lunch with our Labs' chief economist and I asked him about trust in relation to economics. He said,

"Now there's a fascinating topic. It takes a long time to acquire but only an instant to lose."

So why don't we spend more effort to understand, build, value, revere & protect TRUST?

2. Wealth - Here its used in relation to an inversion of worldly values where wealth is for selfish purposes. Ironically, the security sought through worldly views of wealth is attained by using worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

3. Great quote from Rabbi Kimchi by Dr Lightfoot by none other than Matthew Henry:

Rabbi Kimchi, quoted by Dr. Lightfoot, says, "This world is a house; heaven the roof; the stars the lights; the earth, with its fruits, a table spread; the Master of the house is the holy and blessed God; man is the steward, into whose hands the goods of this house are delivered; if he behave himself well, he shall find favour in the eyes of his Lord; if not, he shall be turned out of his stewardship."

4. (2013) Matthew Henry gives this warning in his commentary on Luke 16:

We mistake if we imagine that the design of Christ's doctrine and holy religion was either to amuse us with notions of divine mysteries or to entertain us with notions of divine mercies. No, the divine revelation of both these in the gospel is intended to engage and quicken us to the practice of Christian duties, and, as much as any one thing, to the duty of beneficence and doing good to those who stand in need of any thing that either we have or can do for them. This our Saviour is here pressing us to, by reminding us that we are but stewards of the manifold grace of God; and since we have in divers instances been unfaithful, and have forfeited the favour of our Lord, it is our wisdom to think how we may, some other way, make what we have in the world turn to a good account.

Psalm 82:1-8

Proverbs 13:1

Years Read
2009