There once was a man named John the Baptist, who was actually one of Jesus' cousins. He became a preacher and was telling others to REPENT and ask for forgiveness for things they had done wrong. He wanted to help others change their lives so they could become like a brand-new person, from the inside out.
He was doing this not to be better than Jesus, but to help Jesus - by imploring others to acknowledge their wrongdoings and to ask for forgiveness. By teaching that they needed God in their life, John was preparing the people to hear from Jesus Himself.
When people heard that John was in the area, they would come from all over to listen to him and get baptized. Baptism is a way of showing others that you believe in God and want to live your life the way God wants. It’s an outward expression of an inward commitment.
As people were coming to John to be baptized, they were wondering if he was the Savior for whom they had waited. John heard what they were saying and he said to them, "I am baptizing you now, but very soon someone greater than me will come. He is so great that if He asked me to carry His shoes, I would do it! It would be an amazing honor."
John continued to preach and baptize people until one day Jesus came to the Jordan River to be baptized Himself. John didn't know what to say; all he thought was, "How could I, a regular man, baptize Jesus, the Savior of the world?"
John said to Jesus, "You should be baptizing me. I cannot baptize You, Lord."
Jesus replied, "It's important that I do this now. I am ready. Baptism will mark me with readiness for what I am being called to do. I want to be an example to others and show them that it's important."
So, John took Jesus and baptized Him in the Jordan River. He placed his hand on His back and laid him down into the water until He was covered. Then he brought Him back up again. As soon as Jesus was baptized, the sky opened up, and the Holy Spirit came like a beautiful white dove, and landed right on Jesus’s shoulder. Then a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son. I love Him, and I am pleased with Him."
The baptism of Jesus officially marked the beginning of His ministry. And throughout His ministry, Jesus was a master teacher. He had a beautiful way with words. Parables were His go-to style of lessons. These were short fictitious stories illustrating a moral attitude or a religious principle.
In Greek, the word “parable” literally means “to come alongside”. Jesus used these short stories “to come alongside” His listeners and to teach important spiritual truths. The Gospels record 39 distinct parables. They were the most common way Jesus taught, especially when speaking to large crowds. While His disciples seemed to understand, often times, the crowds or the Pharisees would leave with their foreheads crinkled and the noses scrunched, wondering what in the world Jesus was saying.
In fact, today we are in the midst of a sermon series entitled, Get in the Fight. <Ironic that the Quaker pacifist pastor is preaching in this series!>
Last week, Steven deemed FIGHT as an acronym.
F was Following the Golden Rule.
Today’s theme is I - Instilling Trust.
G is Give Your Best.
H is Hold Yourself & Others Accountable.
T is Take Initiative.
For today, Steven chose the parable Jesus told in Luke chapter 16, the Parable of the Shrewd Manager, as the illustration for instilling trust. And I have to tell you. This is one of those parables that leaves me with my forehead crinkled and my nose scrunched.
It’s a somewhat unorthodox parable from Jesus. The story seems simple, but the setting is unusual. In most of Jesus’ parables, the protagonist is representative of God, Christ, or some other positive character. In this parable, neither fits that description. Both seem to be unsavory characters. Perhaps that should alert us to the fact that Jesus is not encouraging us to emulate the behavior of the characters! He has a much larger lesson for us in mind!
The parable, which Steven read earlier, begins with a rich man calling his steward to come in for a chat. A steward was someone who managed all of the master’s resources and could transact business in his name. This requires the utmost level of trust in the steward. Unfortunately, the rich man informed the steward that he would be relieving him of his duties for mismanaging his master’s resources.
The steward, realizing that he will soon be without a job, knows he has one of three futures – he must labor, beg, or starve! He admits, in Luke 16, verse 3, “I’m not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg!” So, what did he do? He decided to cook the books! He makes some creative deals behind his master’s back by reducing the debt owed by several of the master’s debtors, in exchange for shelter when he is eventually fired.
When the master becomes aware of what the dishonest servant had done, he commends him for his “shrewdness.” And what does “shrewdness” mean? The quality of showing good powers of judgment.
Wait. This is an example of good powers of judgment?! How? Already, this parable causes me to crinkle my nose and add wrinkles to my forehead!
Maybe it’s helpful to know this… In our culture, as a business person, I would hire someone to work for me so that they would be able to manage my accounts, collect my debts, and whatnot. And in exchange, I would give them a fee for their service. A paycheck, if you will.
But in these days… things were very different. Two thousand years ago in Israel, a steward would know the price of materials, or at least how much their boss expected to receive for the materials. The steward would then add a percentage on top of that to charge the buyer. It was common practice for the steward to keep for himself that additional percentage, and then to give the boss what he was due. The boss received his portion, and the steward would pocket the extra.
For instance, let’s say I’m a business owner, and I have a customer that owes me $50. So, I call in my steward and give these instructions: Steward, go collect my $50. So, the steward goes out and writes an invoice for $80. The buyer pays the $80, and the steward gives me $50, and he pockets the $30. The boss gets paid what she’s due, and the steward keeps the extra. I’m happy, the steward’s happy, we’re all happy!
Back to the parable. Essentially, this man did not cheat his master out of what he was owed. More than likely, he cut off the commission, the additional percentage that he would have gotten for himself, eliminating or forfeiting his own profit, so that he was collecting only what his master was really owed. In doing this, everybody won. The customer was happy because they felt like they got a discount. The master was happy because he was paid what was due to him. And the steward was happy because he’s now made a whole bunch of friends who are going to owe him a huge favor after he gets fired!
The owner, the boss, commends him for his “shrewdness”, or his creativity. BUT. Let’s be honest. He’s still a dishonest crook! He was being fired for mismanagement in the first place!
While there are many intricacies to this complex parable, and I could spend many Bible study lessons breaking down this teaching, Christ concludes by emphasizing that we should be trustworthy, honest, and reliable. His lesson in Luke 16:10 says:
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.
Jesus drives for a character in His disciples that reflects God’s integrity, generosity, and grace. He calls us to be trustworthy and to act in such a way, consistently, that we instill trust in others. From the smallest of things to the biggest of things.
What exactly is trust? You know I am a word person… so I looked it up!
1. Dictionary definition: From the root meaning help or confidence, to trust means to rely on someone without fear because of their record of reliability. Complete confidence and faith in a person; certainty based on past experience.
2. The Hebrew word translated trust is bathach. It means to confide in or rely upon; to stand firm with assurance and confidence; to be certain; to believe in; to be firmly supported, as a parent carries an infant.
3. The Greek word for trust, which I can’t pronounce, means to become convinced and firmly rely on and be confident in; to depend on. It is a confidence in someone that results in following them.
We’ve all had times in our lives where we have done something to disappoint a friend or family member. Our actions have hurt; our words have stung; or we’ve broken the bond of trust. And we’ve all had times in our lives where we’ve used poor judgment. That little white lie no one will ever know about. That person you know is not good for you, but one more date couldn’t hurt. Perhaps we’ve been caught saying one thing and doing another. Every parent knows children are masters at calling you out when you say one thing and do another. I think my parents said to me at one point, “Do as I say, not as I do.” To speak is one thing; to act is another. Our actions reveal what we really believe, more so than mere words.
Jesus is telling us to be different from the world. His example in word, thought, and action, is worth imitating. Jesus came alongside us to not just tell us parables and stories of how we should act, but to imitate a life worth living, a life worth following.
Now at this point, you may be thinking to yourself, “Ashley, this is all fine and good, but we started off by talking about Jesus and His baptism. And then you told us this really confusing parable, that I think you may have missed the point on… How in the world are you going to connect all of this to Steven’s series of “Get in the Fight: Instilling Trust”?
Well, I’m so glad you asked!! Give me a little grace on this… Today is Baptism of the Lord Sunday, where we traditionally celebrate Jesus’s baptism, and remember our own baptism. And I believe the way, or at least a way, we come to instill trust in others is to remember our baptism, to remember who we are and whose we are. Baptism is a way of showing others that we believe in God and want to live our lives the way God wants. It is an outward expression of an inner faith and trust. And if we are living in such a way that is pleasing to God, certainly we are living in a way that is instilling trust in others. When we remember our baptism, we gain confidence in Jesus, knowing He is who He says He is. We come to rely upon Him and follow Him in everything we think, say, and do.
Trusting God starts with a knowledge of His trustworthiness, and then it must make its way down to the heart. If we don’t allow God’s character and faithfulness to become a transformative reality of our heart, we will never bear the fruit of trust. So, in order to begin a lifestyle of trust in areas in which we have taken control for ourselves, we must ask God for a fresh revelation of His character and faithfulness. We must see God for who He is, reflect on His faithfulness as demonstrated in Scripture, in the lives of other believers, and in our own lives, and allow these revelations to transform our hearts’ desires and bear the fruit of trust.
When Jesus rose from the waters of the Jordan, the heavens opened, the Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove, and a voice from Heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.” In all things - from the moment of our commitment to following Christ, to our baptism, to our daily lives - we are called to imitate Christ. And that Son, Jesus the Christ, is the essence of trustworthiness. He is who He says He is. He is the Messiah.
Think for a moment about when you first committed your life to Jesus. Or think about a time in your life when you were on fire for the name of Jesus, boldly going and doing what God asked of you. Think about when you were fearless in your faith. About when your faith was innocent, and powerful, because you trusted God with reckless abandon, and believed the Word with absolute authority.
Maybe some of you are there now. Maybe some of you have forgotten because it was so long ago.
Today, I want us to remember — remember who you are in Christ. Remember your commitment to Christ — so that we can be a people who live for the glory of Christ, and who live lives of honesty and integrity. Remember that the covenant that has been extended to each of us, and to which we have entered into, is an active participation in Christ’s body. We are the body of Christ. We may be growing in what that means, and how to truly live this out, but it IS who we are. Today is a chance to come and remember your baptism, remember the covenant. It is a chance to say again, “Lord, cleanse me. Wash me. Restore me. Heal me.”
If you’ve had your passion for the Lord fade, if you’ve had your fire go dim, if you no longer live with excitement about living for the glory of God, this is a great opportunity to say, “God, rekindle my love for You. Take my heart again and renew it and make it Yours, LORD. I have forgotten who you have called me to be. I have allowed other things to push You to the margins, but today I want to renew my faith commitment to You.”
Hold onto the covenant promise that is yours. You are included in the new covenant. You have identified with the death of Christ, and you are participating in the resurrection life of Christ. You have received the Holy Spirit, and you are part of the body of Christ. You are cleansed of your sins. You don’t have to hold on to those anymore. You are washed. You are made pure. You are set free. You are given life. Your passion is renewed. Your heart is restored. This is all of the hope and the promise that is given to you, as you remember and celebrate your baptismal covenant. It is a powerful reminder of what God has done in your life, and a reminder that you are called to imitate Him.
Today, we’re going to do something that we haven’t done in a while. Around the room there are several bowls filled with water. Several down front by the altar, and one in the balcony. As we come to the close of the sermon, we’ll enter into a time of prayer and music. If you feel so led, I will invite you to come and remember your baptism outwardly.
Walk to one of the bowls. Take your fingers. Dip them in water. Make the sign of cross on your forehead. Or make the sign of cross in the historic Catholic tradition. Or make the sign of cross on your wrist. It doesn’t matter. This is symbolic – an outward expression of an inner trust - for you to remember the activity of God in your life, and your commitment to be a follower of Jesus, to have your heart and passion renewed, and to remember you are forgiven.
When we celebrate a baptism, we ask the one being baptized, or their parents, several questions, and I’ll invite you to hear them again:
1. Do you renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness,
reject the evil powers of this world,
and repent of your sin?
2. Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you
to resist evil, injustice, and oppression
in whatever forms they present themselves?
3. Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior,
put your whole trust in his grace,
and promise to serve him as your Lord,
in union with the Church which Christ has opened
to people of all ages, nations, and races?
Will you get in the fight? Will you commit to imitating the Lord? Will you live a life of integrity? Will the way you live your life instill trust in others?
Let us pray:
God of grace and glory,
You call us with Your voice of flame
to be your people, faithful, trustworthy, and courageous.
As your beloved Son embraced His mission
in the waters of baptism,
inspire us with the fire of Your Spirit
to join in His transforming work.
We ask this in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.
