Rev. David Holwick A
Boothbay Baptist Church (adapted from May 17, 1992, sermon)
Boothbay, Maine
January 12, 2025
Luke 16:1-13
SCAMMING YOUR WAY INTO HEAVEN
I. Security Pacific heist - the "perfect" crime.
The short, balding man moved briskly through the lobby of the
Security Pacific National Bank in L.A. and into the elevator.
His name was Stanley Mark Rifkin, and he was not challenged as he
got off the elevator and walked into the wire transfer room.
From this highly-guarded room hundreds of millions of dollars passed
every day from Security Pacific, through the Federal Reserve
system, and on to other banks around the world.
Posing as a consultant, the chubby computer expert interviewed
a worker in the room and found out the routing instructions,
transfer routines and the day's security code.
At 3:00 he walked outside, found a phone and called the wire room.
"This is Mike Hansen on International."
"Okay, and the office number?" a friendly female voice asked.
"286."
"286. Okay. What's the code?"
"4739." A pause. If the code was wrong, she would hang up.
"Okay."
Rifkin calmly told her, "The bank is Irving Trust in New York City.
It's to pay Wozchod Bank, Zurich, Switzerland.
Amount: ten million two hundred thousand even."
"Okay, and what's the interoffice settlement number?"
Rifkin was stumped. He didn't know the number.
"Let me check. I'll call you right back."
He phoned a different number at the bank.
Pretending to be from the wire room, he asked for the settlement
number.
They gave it to him, and he called the wire room back.
The clerk typed his order into the system.
It was as simple as that.
On October 25, 1978, Stanley Rifkin pulled off one of the largest
bank thefts in United States history.
Two days later in Switzerland, he picked up $8,000,000 worth of
diamonds from a representative of the Soviet Union.
He knew that raw diamonds were easily sold and couldn't be traced.
He would have bought more, but that's all they had.
After picking up the diamonds, Rifkin bought a ticket to Luxembourg.
He knew the customs inspectors were very lazy there.
The next day in his Luxembourg hotel room Rifkin looked in disbelief
at his bed.
More than 250,000 diamonds were poured on top of it.
43,000 carats, over 19 pounds.
And Security Pacific bank didn't have a clue anything was wrong.
Why can't all Christians be more like Stanley Mark Rifkin?
Jesus wants you to be! #2119
II. Summary of the parable of the Dishonest Manager.
A. Rich man (perhaps absentee landowner) and local manager. 16:1
1) Managers were often slaves or servants, but had master's
authority to conduct business for him.
B. Manager is fired for incompetence. 16:2
1) He was wasting, not stealing. For stealing, he would
have been fired with immediate effect.
2) Facing no employment, he's in a desperate situation. 16:3
a) As he puts it, he is too weak to dig ditches and
too proud to beg at the Walmart entrance.
b) He comes up with a plan.
C. He reduces some creditor bills, to get in good with them. 16:5
D. Then the manager is commended by the rich owner! 16:8
III. Two main interpretations to this very controversial parable.
A. What manager does is kosher and legal.
1) He is cutting interest on loans.
a) Interest was illegal, but they found ways around it
by baking in a higher cost into the price.
Sort of like Amazon Prime offering "free shipping."
You are paying for that somewhere, you know.
b) Owner wants to save face, so he doesn't protest.
2) Variation: bad manager is cutting his own commissions.
3) Problems with these views:
a) Too complicated. No hint of owner being evil.
b) If they are commissions, manager would be cutting his
own throat (equivalent to three years income).
c) Luke 16:8 calls manager unjust/dishonest.
1> "Wasting" alone wouldn't justify this. 16:1
B. What the manager does is crooked. (Traditional view)
1) He is cheating the rich owner.
2) Problem: why would rich man (or Jesus!) commend someone
for ripping him off?
a) Rich man commends the cunning of manager, not dishonesty.
b) Same principle in Matt 10:16 - "Be as shrewd as snakes."
3) Main point: a catastrophe is coming on all of us, so act
shrewdly, especially in how you handle your resources.
IV. What Jesus does with the parable. 16:9-13
A. At the end of the parable Jesus makes applications about money.
1) Make friends by means of unrighteous (worldly) wealth. 16:9
a) This doesn't mean he wants you to rob a bank and give
it all to Boothbay Baptist Church.
b) "Unrighteous" wealth is the same thing as worldly
money. It is not evil necessarily, but it is all
wrapped up in how this world operates.
c) Worldly wealth should be invested for heavenly purposes.
2) We have to be faithful with what God has given us. 16:10
3) We can serve money, or God, but not both. 16:11
B. Can you lie, cheat or buy your way into heaven? 16:9
1) Rich people might hope so.
Back in 2006, Warren Buffett announced he was giving his
fortune to charity.
Buffett is called "The Sage of Omaha" and he is one of the
richest investors in the world.
In 2006 he was worth $44 billion just in stocks, and he
pledged $37 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation.
When he presented his gift to the Gateses, he made the
remark, "There is more than one way to get to heaven,
but this is a great way."
And he is worth even more now - $141 billion! #64662
2) Jesus is not really teaching this.
a) A few chapters later, in Luke 19, Jesus meets a short
guy, and corrupt tax collector, named Zacchaeus.
Jesus invited himself into the guy's home.
Zacchaeus pledged to Jesus that he would give half his
wealth to the poor, and pay back four-fold for
anything he had stolen from people.
Jesus responded, "Today salvation has come to his
house." Luke 19:9
Zacchaeus had not become saved because he gave his stuff
away.
He got saved because he accepted Jesus and received
a new heart, one that wanted to set things right.
His generous actions FOLLOWED his conversion.
3) In the parable of the Dishonest Manager, Jesus wants us to
focus on eternal values, not temporary ones like money.
An old mountaineer was on his deathbed.
He called his wife to him.
"Elviry," he said, "go to the fireplace and take out that
loose stone under the mantle."
She did as instructed, and behind that loose stone she
found a shoe box crammed full of cash.
"That's all the money I've saved through the years," said
the mountaineer.
"When I go, I'm goin' to take it with me.
I want you to take that there box up to the attic and set it
by the window.
I'll get it as I go by on my way to heaven."
His wife followed his instructions.
That night, the old mountaineer died and she positioned
the shoe box.
Several days after the funeral, his wife climbed up to the
attic.
There was the box, still full of money, sitting by the
window.
"Oh," she thought, "I knew it.
I knew I should have put it in the basement instead of the
attic."
As someone has said, "We can't take it with us, but we can
send it on ahead." #1770
4) Money can't save you but it can be used for spiritual ends.
C. Our use of money shows our spiritual priorities. 16:11
1) We invest much time and effort into our finances.
Just this week, I did my year-end financial summary.
I meticulously track all my expenses in a computer
program.
A single Walmart shopping run might be put in a dozen
financial categories.
It drives Celeste nuts.
At the end of the year I want to know if we are spending
too much, and if our savings have increased or not.
As retired people, we need to have a handle on this.
And I will admit a little pride plays into it, as long
as the stock market is going up.
2) What effort do you put into investing for God?
a) The way you use your money shows where your heart is.
1> As a young Christian, I decided to tithe to God, to
give 10% of my pay.
2> Tithing is an Old Testament principle and it is not
a law for Christians, but Jesus endorsed it.
3> I want to tithe in life, and in death, too.
A> This year Celeste and I will write up new wills.
I wants my heirs to tithe my estate off the
top, then take their portion.
B> Fewer and fewer Christians seem to do this
but it can make a great impact on God's work.
4> Our generosity should extend beyond the church, too.
A> Human needs in your family and community - and
world - call out to you.
B> What could you do to help them?
5> Jesus said the ultimate standard for giving is the
poor widow who put two pennies in the plate,
which for her was 100%. Ouch!
b) But consider the story of William Colgate.
Colgate's family was poor and at the age of 16 he left
home to seek his fortune. It was 1804.
The only thing he knew was how to make soap and candles.
He met an old canal-boat captain who gave him this
advice:
"Be a good man, give your heart to Christ, pay the Lord
all that belongs to Him, make an honest soap, and
I'm certain you'll be a prosperous and rich man."
William arrived in New York and got a job in a soap
factory.
The first dollar he earned, he gave 10% to God.
Soon he became a partner.
Later he became the owner.
The business grew, so he gave a double tithe, 20%.
Then a triple tithe, a four-fold one, half his income -
finally he was giving all his income to the Lord.
He was faithful to God, and his name is with us today
on every tube of Colgate toothpaste.
#13582
We have a lot of generous people in this church.
Last week Pastor Glen shared about an urgent financial
need one of our missionaries had.
The mission committee and Pastor Glen decided to take
up a special offering.
Our goal was $400.
I wondered if we could raise that much on such short
notice.
Three times as much was donated in one offering.
Then the mission committee chipped in a little.
Then another person made a big contribution.
That missionary will now receive FIVE times as much as
I had hoped!
D. Our use of money shows where our true loyalty lies. 16:13
1) Probably the reason people hate sermons on money so much.
a) And why Jesus preaches about it so much!
2) Do you master your money, or does it master you?
a) The proof is in the pudding, as they say.
V. What would YOU do if your firing was imminent?
A. Most of us can relate to stories of financial catastrophe.
For Stanley Rifkin, it was when he heard his name mentioned
on a TV news program.
He had made the small error of telling his friend, a former
lawyer, what he had done.
He assumed he was protected under client/attorney privilege.
He assumed wrong.
Stanley wasn't his client so the lawyer told the FBI
immediately.
Rifkin spent the next week racing across the country with
his briefcase full of diamonds tucked under his arm.
The FBI caught him but felt they didn’t have enough to
convict him.
Released on bail, Rifkin tried his scheme again on another
Bank.
His contact person there turned out to be an undercover
FBI agent.
Rifkin got 8 years, not $10 million. #2119
B. What about spiritual catastrophe?
1) Every single one of us faces a decision for Jesus, or
against him.
a) It's easy to decide against him. Just do NOTHING.
2) To decide for him, we have to make him #1.
a) Seek his forgiveness, then make him your Lord and do
what he would want you to do.
b) The priorities in our lives must change.
3) Where do you stand with Jesus?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 1770 "The Deal of A Lifetime," Dynamic Preaching (www.sermons.com),
October 1991.
# 2119 "The Flawless Heist," by Bruce Henderson & Jeffrey Young, Reader's
Digest (Condensed From Esquire), September 1981, page 85.
Updated with material from Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Mark_Rifkin>,
<https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/rifkin-documentary-history>, and
<https://www.social-engineer.org/wiki/archives/Hackers/hackers-Mark-Rifkin-Social-Engineer-furtherInfo.htm>.
#13582 "William Colgate, The Tithing Soap Man," by Wayne Wiman,
Fredericksburg Bible Illustrator Supplements.
#64662 "$37 Can't Get You In," Rev. Jeff Strite, KeruxSermon #64650,
February 1, 2013.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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