This sermon explores Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees in Luke 16, challenging their obsession with wealth, status, and outward approval while neglecting justice, mercy, and the true heart of God’s kingdom. Through the story of the rich man and Lazarus, it calls listeners to interpret Scripture through the lens of God’s compassion and to live as people who reflect Christ’s character in a world marked by inequality and injustice.

This sermon wrestles with Jesus’ strange parable of the dishonest manager in Luke 16, arguing that Jesus is not praising dishonesty but calling his followers to be just as wise and intentional in using their resources, abilities, and treasures for God’s kingdom as the world is in pursuing its own goals. Ultimately, the sermon challenges us to examine what we truly serve—wealth, security, control, or God—and to use everything we have in faithful service to Christ.

This sermon reflects on the parable of the lost sons to reveal the deep, compassionate love of God the Father—a love that both the rebellious and the obedient can fail to truly know—and invites listeners to move from merely understanding this love intellectually to experiencing it personally. Through story and personal testimony, it emphasizes that God lovingly seeks, restores, and welcomes all his children, calling them into a close, transformative relationship with him.