The demand of our text (Luke 16:1-13) will soon be made to each of us: “Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
Let us conceive the question put to each of us now, could we give in our account with joy? Or would it not be given in the case of very many of us, with deepest shame and grief?
The talents for which we must give account are the opportunities of all kinds for honoring GOD and doing good to our fellow men.
But, as a searching inquiry is best conducted by coming down from generalities to particulars, let us on the present occasion–putting aside for the time being the thought of health, strength, influence, mental abilities–ask ourselves how we have used, how we are using, the earthly possessions GOD has put into our hands.
The question is one more important than we are apt to think. It is our SAVIOUR Himself who asks, “If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
The gift of GOD cannot be purchased with money, but money not rightly used may cause us to miss heaven.”
“Give an Account of Thy Stewardship” A Sermon preached in St. Timothy’s Church, New York, The Third Sunday in Advent, 1873, by the Rev. Charles R. Hale.