STEWARDSHIP, A SAMARITAN, & SELF RIGHTeOUSNESS | Chad Veach

0:00 Hey, what's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for listening to this week's message from Zoe Church. We are studying the book of Luke together. Open your Bible to Luke chapter 16, and we're going to jump in in just a moment. I want to say thank you to every person that likes, subscribes, and joins us on the weekly journey of learning more about God. I also want to say thank you to every person that gives to and through Zoe Church. If you would like to give today, go to our website, click on the top right button. It will open up the area to give. Click give and you can go there. Hit online or Zoe family if you are giving a tithe or an offering today. But let's jump into this week's message called Stewardship, a Samaritan and Self-Righteousness. All right, jump in your Bible. Jump in your Bible.

0:51 Luke chapter 16. We're studying together. We've been in a study. We're marching through the book of Luke together. And I love this series because in the Bible, we have four gospels. The four gospels that teach us about Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And I love reading the gospels because I want to know Jesus more. I want to understand what made him laugh, what made him love, what made him angry. Like what moved his heart? Who is this guy that I've given my life to? Because I'm not just a fan of Jesus. I'm a follower of Jesus. Any Jesus followers in the house today? Come on, clap and thank God. So every time we read the gospels, we get a greater picture into who Jesus is, what he's for and what he's against. So I love marching through the book of Luke. If you've missed the series, go back and watch or listen. But today we're in chapter 16, 17, and 18.

1:57 And I want to draw one story out from each chapter of the book of Luke. Has anybody been loving this series, The Jesus Road? How do you say in Spanish, the Jesus root? Jesus, caminado. Caminado? Camino. Okay.

2:20 Praise God. Luke chapter 16. Jesus told his disciples. Now again, I've been saying this, but every time Jesus wants us to understand what he's about and what the Father's about, He always tells a story. The reason why he tells a story is because of the nuance and the fragrance, the aura of what he's trying to describe, which teaches us about Jesus, teaches us about the kingdom. So listen to the story he tells here in chapter 16. He says, then he told his disciples, there was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him into the office and he asked him, what is this I hear about you? Give an account for your management because you cannot be my manager any longer. And the manager said to himself, oh man, what shall I do now? My master's gonna take away my job.

3:13 I'm not strong enough. I'm not strong enough to dig and get on LinkedIn and I'm ashamed to beg. I know what I'll do. When I lose my job year, people will welcome me into their houses. So he called in each one of his master's debtors and he asked him, yo, how much do you owe my master? He said, 900 gallons of olive oil. He said, nah, man. Take your bill, sit down quietly, and make it 450. Then he asked the second one, how much do you owe my master? A thousand bushels of wheat, he replied. Wait till I'm not, don't worry about it. Take your bill, make it 800. Then the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. And he says, for the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than the people of the light. Verse nine is one of the most controversial verses in all the Bible. Watch what it says. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Verse 10, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever has been dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth like Bitcoin, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with somebody else's property, who will give you property of your own? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Then the Pharisees who love money heard all this and they were sneering at Jesus. And he said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts and what people value is highly detestable in God's sight.

5:02 I want to preach a message today, write down the title. It's called Stewardship, a Samaritan, and Self-Righteousness. Stewardship, a Samaritan, and Self-Righteousness. Come on, let's pray over the word of God today. Lord, we thank you that your word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We pray that today you'd open up our eyes so we can see marvelous things from your word. We thank you that you'd open up our ears so we can hear and understand what you're about. And we thank you that as we're praying today, the Dodgers will win another World Series. The Lakers will rise to glory. The Sparks will win the WNBA championship and the Seattle Seahawks will go back to back. In Jesus' name, and everybody said together. Come on, clap everybody. Clap, just clap.

5:53 Thank God. I love this story because it's an owner addressing a manager. And the owner has caught word of the manager. And he says, I hear that you've been a bad steward over my stuff. And I just like this right away because I want to remind you, everything you have does not belong to you. It belongs to somebody else. you ought to live your whole life like i am a manager but god is the owner the owner comes to the manager said what's this i hear that you've been a bad steward over all my stuff he said i want to tell you what you're fired that's a great cultural reference right there i just got to admit you're fired Papa. watch what the manager does the manager gets his act together notice that the manager does not get his act together when he has opportunity he gets his act together when he has accountability most of us need to understand that one day you will stand before the owner god in heaven and you will be held accountable for what you did here on earth with your time your talent your treasure your relationships your body and the gospel come on anybody excited that one day you're going to stand before God. Come on, clap louder. We're looking forward to that day.

7:23 And I'm telling you, don't wait for opportunity to be excited. Come on, let accountability be exciting. I'm going to stand in front of my maker one day and I'm going to have to give an account for what I did on this earth with all the talent God gave me, all the time that God gave me, all the treasure that God gave me, all the relationships, one day I'll stand and I'll have to give an account for my life. I'm telling you, don't live a life full of regrets while you're here on earth. Do everything you can to live for the glory, not of your name, but live for the glory of a greater name. Come on, clap and thank God. once the manager knew that there was accountability, he's changed his talk. He said, how much you owe my master? How much you owe? He said, oh, a thousand. 800. How much you owe my master? 800. 400. And he started to shift into becoming a shrewd, wise businessman. The owner recognizes it. And the owner says, wow, the people of the world act this shrewd. How come the people that are in the light in the church don't know how to operate with this kind of stewardship?

8:39 Then he keeps going and he says, you know what? You ought to do your best. In fact, read verse nine again. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. What is he saying? He's not asking if you have money. He's asking if your money is going to show up in heaven. He's saying, use your money to build the church. Use your money to help the lost. Use your money to help mission work. Use your money for eternal work. I'm thankful that today I'm not putting my money to work just for me. I'm going to put my work, my money to work for the kingdom of God and watch people that are lost come to salvation. Come on, clap and thank God. South Bay, clap with us today. Zoe family, come on. We're doing everything we can. Then he says, one of my favorite parts, and usually when we read this, we read it in the parable of the talents. But here he echoes it again, Jesus. What does he say?

9:39 Because if you've been faithful with little things, or if you've been faithful with few things, God knows that you could be trusted with many things. So he says, the same way that you steward where you're at is the same way God knows your steward where you're going. I want to remind you today, the big time is not where you're going. The big time is where you're at.

10:06 Let me say it this way. The grass is not greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. And when you become faithful in small things, God will promote you to be faithful in many things. You gotta understand the way God works. God works with small faithfulness turns big trust with God. You be faithful with what God's put in your hand. You be faithful with what God's put on your life. You be faithful with your time, your talent, your treasure, your relationships, your opportunities. And God says, I can trust you with more time, more talent, more treasure, more relationships. Is there anybody that doesn't wanna promote themselves but want to see the promotion of God hit your life. Come on, clap and thank God today. In fact, write down point number one today. Jesus cares about and is watching my stewardship. He's watching how I steward my house, my car, my children, my marriage. He's watching my stewardship because I'm taking care of this stuff, not like it belongs to me, but like it belongs to God.

11:19 So I deal with it shrewdly, the Bible's talking about, because I know I'll have to give an account for the father that I am one day. I'll give an account for the Jesus father I am one day. So he says, if you're faithful in small things, God will promote you to make you faithful over many things. Anybody you want to be trusted with more by the kingdom of God. Come on, clap if that's your prayer.

11:45 And so he says, the way you manage what you currently have. It's so funny, the other day, I was rolling in this swagger wagon, and I was whipping the minivan through LA. And we were just rolling. And in the back, my eight-year-old, the youngest, he from the back, because we listen to a lot of elevation worship in our house. We listen to a lot of elevation worship in the car. So we're always playing elevation worship. And from the back, my eight-year-old goes, Dad, who owns elevation?

12:11 And I could turn it down. And I said, well, son, you know, the Lord owns elevation. Our friends, Pastor Stephen and Holly, they get to steward it, but the Lord owns it. Just like the Lord owns our church, Zoe Church. This is God's building. This is God's community. This is God's house. We get to steward it together. God says, when you steward well what I've placed in your life, all of a sudden, I know I can place more in your life. Because you're not living for the glory of what your name can get. You're stewarding for the glory of his name. If you're a business owner, here, let me see your hand. If you own your own business, put up your hand real fast. You own your own business. I want to just talk to all the business owners in the house. By the way, can we clap for all the business owners in our church? We thank God for you.

13:03 I want to just talk to all the business owners, all the entrepreneurs. if you own your own business if i were you i would build your business not to make money i would build your business to bring glory to god everything we do is to bring glory and honor to the owner and so what he's telling is a story of stewardship not to get a lot but it's stewardship that shows up in heaven he's really And then he says this, watch this. He goes, if you can't be trusted with the wealth of this world, how could God trust you with true riches? Wait, hold on. There's a difference between money and true riches? Yeah, the difference he's talking about is money in your 401k or money in your Bitcoin wallet or money in your Robin Hood.

14:02 That's money of this world. He said true riches is kingdom authority. True riches is influence for the glory of God. True riches is salvations, healings, miracles, signs. Come on, clap. If you say, I don't just want to be rich. Oh, I'm preaching to somebody today that you're going to get a reframing of what rich is. I may not have a lot of money on this earth, but I'm rich in the kingdom of God. He's trying to get us to shift our values. To say, don't value what the world values. value what I value. You're not building the kingdom of this world. You're building the kingdom of God. And when you steward well, my kingdom, I'll promote you. I'll advance you. And I'll use you beyond your wildest dreams. Oh, come on, somebody. Thank God today. I'm getting a reframing of what rich is. Remember Fiddler on the Roof, if I were a rich man? Nope, me neither.

15:03 just me and Pastor Julia. He said, how in the world, if you cannot take care of your money here on earth and you can't handle a paycheck and you spend more than you make, why would we ever trust you with true riches? What he's trying to teach us is everything you do and everything you post and everything you say matters to God.

15:30 And this dude was kicking it and he was having fun and he was chilling and he was just having a good time and he's just living his life. And then the owner showed up and said, hey, what's this thought I hear about you being a bad steward? He got his act together real quick. Don't wait until heaven to get up there and be like, dang, I wish I could do that again.

15:51 I say we live here on earth as good stewards before the Lord. Everything I have belongs to God, so I'm gonna take care of it like it belongs to God. Come on, clap if that's your prayer today. So the first one, the first one is stewardship. Watch the second one. Now we're in chapter 17. Watch what it says in verse 11. Now on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, 10 men who had leprosy met him. And they stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, master, have pity on us. And when he saw them, he said, go show yourself to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus's feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus asked, hold up, were there not 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give God praise except for this foreigner? Then he said to him, rise and go. Your faith has made you well. Write down point number two today. Jesus can heal me, but gratitude will make me well.

17:11 Oh, I love this story, man. I'm telling you, 10 lepers standing at a distance. They know they can't get close to perfect Jesus. They're yelling out, Jesus, have mercy on us. We got leprosy. We need your help. Jesus said, I'm going to help you. Go show yourself to the priest. Now, this is interesting because Jesus could have just put his hand on them. He could have just spoken a word right in front of them, but he was testing their obedience. So he says, go show yourself to the priest. And the Bible says what? As they went, they were cleansed. I want to preach to somebody today that God's already told you what to do, but you're struggling to step out and do it. I want to tell you the blessing of God is not found in hearing the voice of God. The blessing of God is found in obeying the voice of God.

18:07 Is there anybody that wants to do what God has asked you to do, no matter how funny or weird or hard it might sound? Sometimes Jesus is going to ask you to get out of the boat and walk on water. Sometimes Jesus is going to ask you to go dip into the sea seven times. Sometimes Jesus is going to ask you to stretch out your hand. It doesn't matter what he asks. You don't get the blessing and favor of God until you walk in the obedience of God. so they they yelled out from a distance they're like jesus he said all right go show yourself to the priests you know one of them you know in every group there's something like a negative nancy in every group complaining carl in every group you know you know one of them was like really but the bible says as they went they were healed i want to tell somebody today as you obey god's going to show himself to be true so they go show themselves to the priest and by the time they get to the priest their leprosy is healed now I don't know if you've ever had leprosy I know you've had COVID.

19:29 but nine of them were like yo ball out we going to zara we going to applebee's we going to the club tonight nine of them were like yeah yeah got my blessing one of them a tithe of them said y'all can go to applebee's i gotta get back to the feet of jesus y'all can go have fun and live your life because you got what you wanted i would still like to come back and be in the presence of the living god notice that it says the 10 lepers lifted up a loud voice when they were desperate and notice that the one that comes back to his feet has still got a loud voice see i know you can be loud about the miracle you need i know you're loud about the breakthrough you're believing for but i'm just asking you church that when you get your miracle and you get your blessing and God shows up. I want you to bring the same kind of energy when God shows up to give you the miracle you've been fasting and praying for. Somebody get loud right now. If God's been good and he's going to keep being good to you, come on, give him a shout of praise and a shout of thanksgiving.

21:01 This man comes back, falls down at the feet of Jesus. He's like, oh my gosh, Jesus, you did it. look Jesus Jesus is so great I love Jesus Jesus is so great he's like okay yeah yeah cool cool thank you man he's like man thank you so much he's like hold on Mark, wasn't there 10 of them? Am I tripping? I know we travel a lot. Wasn't there 10?

21:33 Hold on, hold on. And you're telling me that out of the 10, the one that came back was the foreigner? The one that came back was, oh, that's funny. See, the other nine were Jewish. The other nine believed they deserved the miracle. They deserved the healing. They deserved. You know who my parents are? Do you know how much money we've tithed? Do you know that we've been part of this church for 10 years? Do you know who my grandfather is? I deserve this blessing, but the one that knew he never had a shot at the grace of God, the one that came from the wrong side of the tracks had the wrong last name. Is there anybody here that says, I know I didn't have a shot at the goodness and the grace of God, but God still healed my family. Give them some praise if God's been greater than you deserve and better than you can imagine. He said, ain't that something funny? Isn't that something interesting? The one that came back is the Samaritan. Samaritans were the outcasts. Samaritans who Luke is writing the whole book for. Samaritans are the one that came from the wrong family, lives in the wrong city, not from the right church, not from the right neighborhood. The Samaritan came back and said, I never should have gotten grace. I never should have got healing. I never should have got, I was lost, but now I'm found. I was dead, but now I'm alive. I was blind, but now I see God's been better to me than I could have ever asked, thought, or imagined. Has God been good to anybody in this place today that would say, thank God that when I was just a beggar, when I was just crying out, God stretched his hand, touched my life, flipped me upside down. Give them some praise today. Only grace can do that.

23:18 you got to be careful you got to be careful with your blessing because you can't take your blessing and run you got to take your blessing and come back back at the altar back in the house back in the same posture i was when i was crying out is the same posture i am when i'm blessed Come on, come on.

23:50 You know, God only works with you in consolation and desolation. consolation is when God brings counsel, comfort, strength. God will give you consolation in seasons. And then other times God brings desolation.

24:13 Desolate, wilderness, trial, tribulation, famine. You never learn in consolation. You never grow in consolation. you only grow in desolation god only brings you consolation so you have enough strength to face the desolation but if you're counseled today just know buckle up desolation's on the way because god's got a greater plan and a greater destiny for your life and i don't know if you're in desolation or consolation but the foreigner said whether i'm in the best times or the worst times you're gonna find me at the feet of jesus lifting up my hands saying god's been good to me God's been faithful. Are there any grateful people in the house today? and notice what Jesus says. He says to the one, he says, go man, your faith has made you well. so Jesus can heal you, but gratitude can make you whole.

25:14 Jesus can write the check for you, but gratitude will make you free. Jesus can do what Jesus can do, but only you can live with a heart of thanksgiving. Thank you, God, for my family. Thank you, God, for the place I sleep. Thank you, God, for the clothes I get to wear today. Thank you, God, for my friends. The fastest way to lose friends is not be grateful for your friends. Thank you, God, for the place I get to work. Thank you, God, I got a paycheck. Thank you, God, I got breath in my lungs. Thank you, God, I got creative. Anybody thankful today? Nine of them, hear me today, nine of them got healed. One of them got whole. the difference is gratitude and my prayer for us is i've been saying it throughout this series we would be exploding in thanksgiving amen to that so the first one he teaches is on stewardship we don't own anything that tesla is not yours it belongs to zoe i'm kidding come on in context but for real happy father's day Thank you.

26:24 Why? Because the Bible says in Psalm 24, the earth is the Lord's and everything that's within it. So the first one, stewardship. Your money is not your money. Let me go a step further. Your body does not even belong to you. Your body was purchased at the high price of the blood of Jesus. It's the temple now of the Holy Spirit. God no longer dwells in buildings. He dwells inside of us. So the first one is stewardship. The second one is a Samaritan who never should have got a shot at grace. And the third one is on self-righteousness. Look at chapter 18. Go there on the screen or in your cell phone. Or if you're really holy, you brought a Bible.

27:16 We're jealous. Verse 9. To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told another story. He said two men went to all church prayer to pray. One of them was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, I am so thankful that I'm not like those other people. robbers and evildoers and clipper fans and adulterers and tax collectors. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood, there it is again, at a distance.

28:02 He would not even look up to heaven. But he beat his chest and he said, God, Thank you. have mercy on me i'm a sinner i tell you that this man rather than the first one went home justified before god for all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be what's that word louder what is it exalted right down the last point today worship team you come join me Jesus gives grace to the humble Jesus is trying to use our imagination. This is not a real story. This didn't just really happen. He's trying to use our imagination.

28:53 So he's telling that a story is a window into what he's trying to teach us. He says two guys walk into South Bay or Highland Park. First one looks around and he's like, Thank you. Wow. Man. Thank God I'm not like that guy.

29:20 Thank God I'm not like her. That guy's a loser. He is judging his righteousness versus others. I want to tell you something today I don't care how righteous you are the Bible says our righteousness is as filthy rags before the Lord Amen.

29:54 He's looking around. He's like, this guy. What are they even wearing? So stupid. You ever see somebody at church, they have resting church face? He is so much better than this other guy. God is not looking for your resume. God is looking for repentance. I know you're pretty awesome but you're not that awesome for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as he's looking around notice where he's put his trust I fast twice a week I tithe 10% he has placed his faith in himself you got to be careful not to put your trust in you.

31:19 You got to be careful not to make faith about you. Faith is about one man and his name is Jesus. Faith is not about what you do, what you read, what you give. Faith is about a man that hung up on a cross in Calvary and said out loud, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Faith's not about us. It's not about our do-goodism, our moralism. It's not about your works. It's not about your attendance. We do that stuff because of what he's done, not so that we could become righteous because we already are righteous. The Bible says God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. I am righteous by the blood of Jesus. I am righteous by the cross of Christ. I am righteous because of the sacrifice that that man made, not any sacrifice I could ever make.

32:14 The first one is in self-righteousness. And the other man kneels at the altar. And he starts to pray. And he starts to get down on his knees. And he says, Thank you. God have mercy on me.

32:44 This is not for show. This is not for cameras. This is not for social media. He just knows he's a sinner in need of a Savior. And he beat his chest. And he says, have mercy on me. For I am a sinner in need of grace. When was the last time you got on your knees? When was the last time you begged God? When was the last time you were desperate for God to do something in your life? And then Jesus ends the story and he says, let me ask you a question. Which of the two do you think left justified? He says, I'll tell you, just a heads up. Whoever humbles himself will be exalted in this kingdom. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled in this kingdom. I don't know about you, but instead of getting humbled, I'd rather gladly humble my life under the mighty hand of God and say, I know I'm in need of mercy. I'm in need of grace. I'm in need of your provision. Come on. If you want to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, just clap and thank him today for his grace is sufficient. Stand to your feet together. Stand to your feet today. I want to remind you that grace always flows downhill. Grace never flows up to the self-righteous. Grace flows down to the humble. Those that would say, Lord, I need you in my business. I need you in my parenting. I need you in my friendships. I can't do this alone, God.

34:24 I can't do this on my own strength. I am utterly dependent on the cross and the blood of Jesus. Come on, Zoe, let's pray. Again, thank you so much for listening. We pray that today's message brought you great strength and great encouragement. We want to say a special thank you to all the dads out there. We love you and we thank God for you. And we'll see you back next Sunday at Zoe Church.