Luke 16: It's all about money!

Welcome and Call to Worship

9          The god of Abraham praise

Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer

Reading: 1 Kiings 3:1-15

Psalm  Psalm 141

Verse and Response

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

I call upon you, O Lord; come quickly to me;
   give ear to my voice when I call to you.
Let my prayer be counted as incense before you,
   and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord;
   keep watch over the door of my lips.
Do not turn my heart to any evil,
   to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
   do not let me eat of their delicacies. 

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Let the righteous strike me;
   let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
   for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
   then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
   so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenceless.
Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me,
   and from the snares of evildoers.
Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
   while I alone escape.

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

Lord Jesus Christ,

We turn to you once more this night

And seek your presence

Keep watch over our hearts and our minds

That our thoughts, our words and our deeds

May be worthy of your presence

As we show forth your love

In all we think and say and do

Our eyes are turned towards you, Lord Jesus Christ

In you we seek refuge

Amen.

22        King of the universe

When you’re driving it matters – keep your eye on the road.

When you’re running a race it matters – keep your eye on the finishing tape

When you are kicking a goal it matters – keep your eye on the posts

When you are about to catch a ball it matters – keep your eye on the ball

When you are going in for a tackle it matters – keep your eye on the man

For Solomon it mattered.  He could have had his eye on the riches and wealth that were due to one born to be king.  He could have had his eye on the riches and wealth of neighbouring Egypt as he made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

But Solomon had a love for God.  And so it was he found his way to a place that was particularly holy, where there was a special sense of the presence of God, he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices at the high places.  And At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.  And God said, “Ask, what shall I give you.”

I don’t know about you, but dreams can sometimes play tricks with me.  If I am to do something important the following day, the night before I can dream so vividly that I think the event is actually happening and invariably it all goes wrong, I haven’t got the things I need, no one turns up, I do everything wrong.  I wake up in a cold sweat only to find it’s the middle of the night and the next day has yet to arrive.

It wasn’t that kind of dream that Solomon had.

It was the kind of dream where he did sense something of the presence of God with him.  ~And sensing the presence of God with him, he kept his eye on God.

And so he spoke to God of the great love God had shown his father, David, of the great responsibility God had bestowed upon Solomon and so he made his prayer.

Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil, for who can govern this your great people.

And this greatly pleased God.

And in his dream Solomon heard the voice of the Lord God reply.

‘Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honour all your life; no other king shall compare with you. If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.’

 Then Solomon awoke; it had been a dream.

But what a dream!

The kind of dream that really made you think!

And the wisdom of Solomon became proverbial.

Pity he had an eye for the ladies … that was his undoing.

For us who follow in the footsteps of Jesus we are called to keep our eyes on Jesus.

That Psalm is a precious Psalm with the verse and response we shared:

But my eyes are turned towards you, O God, my Lord;
   in you I seek refuge

It brings to my mind that great chapter of Hebrews that speaks of faith as the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen and then goes on to tell of the faith of our ancestors, the faith of Abraham, of Moses, of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, quenched raging fire, won strength out of weakness … it builds up to the time the writer so treasured, the time when all they they had been building up finds its fulfilment in the coming of Jesus who has lived and shared so much, who has died and who has risen again …

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the old song goes.

So we do that as we turn to the Gospels.

And what do we find … something of the wisdom of Solomon.

Luke 14 takes us on the journey to the banquet … and there is the challenge to go to the lowest place at the table for “all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

What counts is the humility to recognise others better than yourselves … and so when you give a banquet, invite the poor,, the crippled, the lame and the blind.  And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

And then Jesus dreams as he tells the story of the wedding banquet – and no one comes.   So the owner of the house is angry – it’s the kind of dream where everything goes wrong .. and the owner of the house said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.”

Keep your eye on Jesus … and have the humility a compassion for the poor.  This is what the Gospel entails.

This is the priority … even over family.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and the Grace of the Gospel – those wonderful stories of Luke 15 – as the lost sheep,  the lost coin, the lost son are all found as God the Good shepherd, God, the seeking woman, God the waiting father forgives and restores and renews and welcomes home.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and rise to the challenge of that gospel within the gospel in Luke 15: join in the party and welcome the outsider – just as Jesus feasted at the table with all and sundry, even the tax collectors and the sinners.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus …

And make sure you get your priorities right.  Jesus tells a thought provoking, mind-stretching parable all about the shrewd or in the eyes of some the dishonest manager who when about to lose his job summons those who owe his master money and he writes off their debts. 

Money, debt and what you do with it – this is important to Jesus – Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much

Keep your eyes on Jesus and you will think again about money.

If Luke 14 is about feasting and who is at the table, and Luke 15 is about the gospel and grace – Luke 16 is all about money.

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and wealth.  You cannot serve God and mammon.  Maybe even, you cannot serve God and money.

It was difficult to take for the Pharisees for they, Luke tells us, were lovers of money.  And with a comment on relationships and the importance of faithfulness in marriage and rejection of adultery, Jesus has one more story to tell.

So if you are sitting comfortably, prepare to be made very uncomfortable indeed …

Luke 16:19-31

 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and see the poor man at the gate … but that begs one final question … Who is the poor man at your gate?

42        Tell out my soul

Prayers of Concern

Offering and Dedication

STL 30           Jesus call us

The Lord’s Supper

We gather together around this table

in the presence of the living Lord Jesus Christ.

And so we hear his words of grace and comfort

Come to me all you that labour and are heavy laden

And I will give you rest

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you

Not as the world gives, give I to you

Let not your hearts be troubled, let them not be afraid.

And we hear his words of challenge in the commandments he gives us

The first is this

The Lord our God, the Lord is one;

You shall love the lord your God

With all your heart, and with all your soul,

And with all your mind, and with all your strength.

The second is this,

You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

There is no other commandment greater than these.

As we gather at this table

we come in the company of all those who gather around us,

and we come in the company

of all those who have gone before us in the faith,

and we come in the company

of all those who will come after us in the faith.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, 

and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, 

looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith,

who for the sake of the joy that was set before him

endured the cross, disregarding its shame,

and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Before Jesus broke bread, he gave thanks …

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

We share in breaking bread and in the cup at the Lord’s Supper.

Communion Collection for Open the Book

543      God be in my head

Words of Blessing