Luke 16, How Do You Prepare?

Luke 16 and the Coming Judgment

Luke chapter 16 we're reading the entire chapter. Hear the word of the Lord. He also said to the disciples There was a rich man who had a manager in charges were brought to him that hit this man was wasting his possessions.

And he called him and said to him What is this that I hear about you turn in the account of your management for you can no longer be manager. And the manager said to himself, what shall I do since my master is taking the management away from me.

I am not strong enough to dig and I'm ashamed to beg I've decided what to do so that when I am removed from management people may receive me into their houses. So summoning his master's debtors one by one.

He said to the first how much do you owe my master? He said a hundred measures of oil. And he said to him take your bill and sit down quickly and write 50. Then he said to another and how much do you owe?

He said a hundred measures of wheat. He said to him take your bill and write 80. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light and I tell you Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth for when it fails they may.

So that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much and Who and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much if then you have not been faithful in The unrighteous wealth who will entrust to you the true riches and if you have not been faithful in that Which is another's who will who will give you that which is your own?

No servant can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they ridiculed him and they said to him You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts for what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

The law and the prophets were until John. Since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached and everyone forces his way into it. But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void.

Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

And at his gate was a lady poor man named Lazarus covered With sores who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side.

The rich man also died and was buried and in Hades being in torment. He lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side and he called out father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue.

Where I am an anguish in this flame. But Abraham said child remember that you and your lifetime receive your good things and Lazarus in like manner bad things but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish and besides all this between us and you a great chasm has been fixed in order that those who would pass from Here to you may not be able and none may cross from there to us.

And he said then I beg you father to send him to my father's house. For I have five brothers so that he may warn them lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said they have Abraham and the prophets let them hear them and 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 hear Moses and the prophets neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. If the Lord had his blessings the reading of his Holy Word.

Preparing for Judgment with Ingenuity

Well, how do you prepare? How do you get ready for something? You know is coming maybe prepare for work in every morning shower breakfast brush your teeth. Whatever you do in the restaurant business. I'm told they got to be up to get there early.

They got to prepare for the coming day make sauces or whatever. They can't just open for customers to come in. They got to be prepared. A key part of being a good athlete is knowing how to prepare. Right now the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles are preparing to play against each other next week.

They're studying strategy. Working out some but not a whole lot. They don't want to wear themselves out staying fresh as the game gets closer. The preparation changes and tell in the minutes before the game.

They're they're warming up and stretching to be ready for when the time to play comes maybe later today. You'll prepare for the work tomorrow for the week ahead. You know, you can't maybe you know, you can't stay up as as late as perhaps you did last night.

You get ready for a new week ahead. Do you prepare for church? I wonder. Well, sometimes we get caught unprepared, you know, some students have to pull what they call all-nighters. They even have a name for it because they have a project due.

They probably known about it from the beginning of the semester maybe for months, but they did nothing. They did no preparation. No methodical gathering of material working a little here a little there on their project now.

It just suddenly dawns on them. Hey. Tomorrow it's due and so they stay up all night putting something together. According to the IRS over 20 of people wait until the last week before April 15th to file their tax returns.

They knew it was due but they didn't prepare until the deadline is looming. That's the good thing about deadlines. They have a way of making us. Prepare, you know people still prepare their tax returns or their school projects, it's just Her read at the last minute.

You prepare for a test tomorrow by studying today. You prepare for a recital by practicing. You prepare for your taxes by getting your records in order. You prepare for a trip. By packing your bags. All of these are little little pictures of faith because that's what faith is like faith says.

You know, something is coming Soon and so that affects what you do now when we know something is coming in the future that Determines how we act now we get ready. So, how do you prepare for death, you know, it's coming right how do you get ready for judgment?

Remember Jesus has come Preaching that the kingdom of God first said it's at hand. It's it's coming. It's soon it and then he says finally. It's here. Already, it's in your midst. Jesus came on the heels of John the Baptist.

You remember John the Baptist declared that the Messiah the one who brings in God's kingdom. John the Baptist said he is ready. He said he's prepared. He said his winnowing fork is in his hand. Other words is a picture that he the Messiah is like a man on the winnowing floor.

Ready to go. He's got his tool in his in his grip ready to begin work. He's prepared. So you had better be ready to face his judgment. And that is the really the overarching theme through which all of Jesus's teachings has to be seen.

Including this chapter. It's about how to get ready for a judgment. That is near and we see that in three parts here. We prepare first. With ingenuity and second with chastity and third finally with charity.

Jesus tells his disciples a story a Parable, this is perhaps his strangest and most misunderstood Parable, it's about the dishonest manager. A rich man had a manager who was it says wasting literally means scattering.

And it's the same word used for the prodigal son when he was out there, you know partying it up. He was wasting his possessions. This manager was wasting the rich man's possessions. He was he was mismanaging them and people witnessed it and then reported it to the rich man.

And so the rich man called him in in verse 2 and told him to get ready to be fired. It's a notice of termination pink slip. You know your jobs up get the accounts in order. And then give the accounting to the next manager who's coming.

But that gave this manager a little bit of time to prepare an opportunity. To get ready for what's coming next and he thinks to himself, you know, what am I to do? I can't dig ditches. I'm kind of a weak man.

I'm too proud to beg. What am I gonna do? Now, this is the heart of the story the the one main point that this parable is about there is a judgment coming. It's next. What are you doing to prepare for it.

Well here this manager uses ingenuity. Ah. A brilliant idea to prepare for the future. So he calls in his master's debtors one by one and he drastically reduces what they owe. He reasons in verse 4 that he's going to do this so that when what is next comes.

That's for him the judgment of unemployment when that comes when he's out of a job out of an income. People may receive me into their houses. In other words to make friends. He wants to curry their favor.

And so we've reduces some debts by 50 some by 20 Seeking to gain so much gratitude from these debtors that they will happily welcome him into their houses. Maybe maybe they'll even hire him as their manager.

You know, they'll like him so much. Hey, I got a job for you. Okay, so he's preparing for judgment the judgment of his boss master so that when that judgment comes very soon He'll be safe. He'll be provided for.

Now when the master finds out about this now, maybe on one side of his brain, he's thinking What in the world did you do with my stuff? But he's mad this lousy manager is already bad enough to begin with and he lost so much of my wealth.

Maybe he thought that but on the other side he thought ah. He's a genius. He used the opportunity he had to prepare for what's next to take care that he's not cast out on the street starving. So he acted with ingenuity.

To be ready. Now it's not his dishonesty that he is commended for but his preparing shrewdly. Desperately for what he knew was coming now. You might say that well the managers a bad example because he was dishonest.

He was a bad manager to begin with and then he cheats his boss out of his Income just a curry favor for himself. Now. How is that supposed to be something? We're supposed to emulate. I don't get it. Well when Mary and I were in Ethiopia, we frequently saw these these gallon cans of cooking oil.

Supplied by USA ID, which is the US government's aid organization on these aluminum cans kind of decorated like an American flag. You know red stripes and blue stars are white. White stars on a blue field you get it with big on that candle were these big red letters.

This red product of the USA not to be sold or exchanged. I remember going into one little shop there in Ethiopia and there's those cans the cookie go up for sale point of the shopkeeper. Yeah, yeah, you know my tax money helped supply these cans and he said yeah.

Thank you very much. And that'll be so much for the kids. Whatever it was supposed to be charity for the poor, but they were often on sale anyway. So whoever was getting these cans from the US government was then turning around and selling them for a big profit kind of shrewd.

For him, I guess crooked, but it's true. Now once a man on the street in Abbas Addis Ababa there Tried to sell us a can of that oil really for much less than it was going for in the shops and it looked like any other can of the cooking oil and.

And so we we bought it. It's cheaper. We need cooking oil and when we bought it home and we opened it up it's sealed. Apparently like any other can it turned out to be full of water. They had gotten empty cans of oil and Filled them with water and managed to seal them back so that they look new and our first reaction was to admire the Ingenuity the shrewdness of the skill of this man who took a used can of oil.

Filled it with water and then sealed it up perfectly so that it looked brand-new. He did such a good job. Now was he right? Of course not. He's a thief, but he knew that the judgment of hunger is coming.

And so he did what he felt he had to do to make some money here in this story. The manager knows Judgment is coming. He prepares with all his ingenuity. He's shrewd. Parables usually have one main point that all the details are meant to drive home.

Now for this parable, that is the main point do whatever you have to do desperately shrewdly. With all the ingenuity you have to get yourself ready for the judgment. That is coming the details now are meant to be pressed for meaning, you know.

Don't get to how he reduces some guys by 20 and the other but yeah, don't get caught up in all that. That's just to show that he's reducing that he's doing what he needs to do. But this parable. In this parable though the detail about money is key.

That detail is important. It's part of the main point. In fact here the moral of the story is to get ready for judgment. Not just kind of generally not just kind of spiritually, you know. Not by getting baptized and saying the right prayers and getting your major doctrines in order.

So I'm gonna face God ready for judgment. No, it is precisely get ready for judgment. By the way, you handle your money. Like the manager your wealth your property. Everything you have Belongs to God you are just the manager.

He's demanding and accounting. Now what are you going to do with what you have from God? What are you doing with it? That is preparing you for that accounting. If you serve it. If you just live your life chasing dollars.

Doing whatever you have to do to get the cash to buy the house and the cars and the gadgets and the vacations you want. Then you're not preparing. You're serving money. So Jesus tells us at the end in verse 13.

Right in case you want to know this is shows that this is a lot to do with money. Verse 13. No servant can serve two masters. Okay, you got two masters out there God money for either he will hate the one and Love the other.

So you love one that means you hate the other right either you hate the one and love the other or you'll be devoted to One you're devoted to one. You despise the other at least as far as as a master you cannot serve God and money.

You can't. Now some people get religious precisely because they think that will help them get money. There are people out there that teach that. Follow the Lord. He'll help you get your money. God will bless them and you'll bless you.

Well, yeah, you will have more more money. It's the secret of wealth is following the Lord. That's what there's some people say something that they can put off serving God for now. Until they get enough money I'll put it off now until the business is booming.

Yeah, that means I got to work on Sunday morning. But you know when the business comes around when I have enough in the bank account, then I'll start serving God they promise. You know, they'll then they'll do it finally.

They'll serve God but but you but you can't do that. You see that here even if your business booms and even if you do get rich and you finally think you can relax. Now you can come to church and you now you can supposedly serve God.

You're really only being religious for now. Because you think your master money is letting you. And if your master money tells you to do something else, you'll follow your master. Some Christians act and talk as if as if how they handle their money has nothing whatsoever to do with the serving God.

It's just like two totally separate issues. Maybe they're even reformed and They have all their doctrines nicely in order fine-tuned. All the all the eyes dotted and try to get it right this time to use cross they can argue fertility to look brilliantly.

They'll sing psalms and endure long sermons. They'll subscribe to perform magazines and listen to reform podcast and get reform DVDs in the mail, but they hardly give. Now they they've got other priorities with their money at least now sure getting sound doctrine for themselves.

Is a priority other people getting sound doctrine which would cost them money. They don't really care about that but getting it for themselves as a priority, but you know, you can do that on the cheap.

You know small donation you can keep getting stuff from many ministries. Their money goes to expensive vacations that they've got to have every summer to new cars because they think you know buying a used Car and maintaining an old one is just below them.

They got to spend to the most expensive hairdressers because it's simple barber. Just is it right? They got to have the newest gadgets. They got it the lifestyle and they'll just splurge on that that must come first and you can tell the receipts show it.

So they don't they just don't have any money left over. No, maybe they would say they would love to give more to the church of the poor. But they just don't have enough money left over to give to the church to the poor to help some needy member out or permissions.

They've spent it all already. They think that's acceptable because they don't see that how they handle their money has really anything to do With preparing for what's next for the judgment, but the truth is that our receipts.

They're like exam results. They're showing where where we stand whether we're living like sons of this age or sons of light. Our credit card statements compared to our giving statements show where our heart is and The Lord Jesus says in verse 9 make friends for yourselves.

You look at this verse because this verse is like. You know most modern evangelical Chris, particularly even reform people would never Say this maybe would we even skip it ourselves? We talked about the prosperity people skipping certain passages.

Would we skip verse 9 make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails They may receive you into eternal dwellings. Does that statement just rub you the wrong way in that the most bizarre?

Statement ignore it pass on. No, is it just totally against everything you assume make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth. So that when it fails, they may receive you into eternal dwellings.

But the phrase unrighteous wealth it strike you as bizarre. Would you ever use such a term? Haven't we all absorbed the idea that that wealth is righteous. That it is good. There's there's the big preacher who is worth five million dollars.

Is that a Offend you or maybe if it doesn't fit you is at least make you question. You know does it or do you think you just assume? Huh? He's a superstar. He deserves it. So we our culture is right. You're a superstar.

You deserve the big pay you have met you CEO of a big company. You deserve a big wage if you're a pro football player a lot of people want to watch you. You deserve the big money. Same with the church, isn't it?

Or shouldn't he like here be using his money to prepare for what's next to get eternal dwellings? Instead of luxury homes here. Maybe you think you know getting eternal dwelling. Come on. I'm reformed.

I know better than that. Getting eternal dwellings has nothing to do with earning it by your giving. Don't you know that it's sola fide. But through faith alone sure that's true. But faith that serves is never alone.

Faith that saves is never alone if you have faith. You know that judgment is coming. You know that the master is demanding and accounting that he is expecting you to use what he's lit you for good. Not just for your self-indulgence so.

Precisely because you do have faith. You ingeniously think. How could I use what God has given me for good. Remember though. It's unrighteous wealth. You know Jesus elsewhere talked about the deceitfulness of riches.

Money lies. You ever fantasize. I do sometimes but the good you could do if you're one of the super wealthy. And if I had the money of Bill Gates things I could do with it. You fund scholarships for needy students.

Finance the digging of wells in Africa clinics and poor villages and third world nations. Maybe even if you can imagine it help a gym that serves the kids from the second poorest town in all of North Carolina.

Yanceyville you imagine such a thing, of course, of course. Got all that money. You'd want to take care of yourself. Right, you've got to take care of yourself. How much would that take? Probably a lot more than you imagine now.

Unrighteous wealth lies to you about how much good it will help you do. It doesn't tell you how much it will demand that you indulge yourself. If ever you did get a lot of it, you know first you think well, I can.

I can fly. I can fly first-class now, maybe go. No, I need a jet of my own and that's the way it work. Always you need a little more for yourself. Notice that prepare for the day Jesus said in that verse 9 When it fails it the money fails.

Prepare for when money fails. Use your money now. To get ready for when money will be useless. Unrighteous wealth. Deceitfulness of riches is always telling you. Oh, it'll never fail. If only you can get a little more of it.

So hang on to it now. It's telling you hang on to me now. Grab as much as you can now. So you can finally get to the point if you can just hold on to it. Now get a little more now a little later soon someday later, maybe tomorrow then you'll have enough To be generous because it's not gonna fail ever so hang on to it now.

But money will fail. The truth is that if you're not generous now. When you have a little most of us here do You you won't be generous later. If you if you ever did become one of the super wealthy, you know.

Hanging out with the billionaires club with warren buffett and bill gates. You're not going to be generous then if you're not generous now. Jesus tells us in verse 10 one who is faithful in the very little is also faithful in much if you're generous.

When you're making minimum minimum wage, you'll be generous when you're making six figures. If you're waiting until you're comfortable to start being generous. You'll never be comfortable enough to start being generous.

One who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much so that there is a consistency Between what you do with a little money and with a lot. Between how you handle your money. And whether you're really serving god.

Your giving is a gauge of your godliness. Here jesus tells us that if you have not been faithful in that which is another's. That is all of your money your property your time because it all belongs to god.

It's all another's. It's all god's. We are only managers of it if you've not been faithful with it. Who will give you that which is your own? Which would be eternal life for you to have for eternity a man could be knowledgeable.

A good communicator have his doctrines in order but isn't faithful and generous with his giving. Such a man is not in my opinion fit. For the ministry. He shouldn't be a pastor. A man who isn't faithful to attend and support a church when he's not a pastor when no one is paying him.

Shouldn't be looked to as a spiritual leader. If we're not faithful. When the things that are with the things that are gods are money time stuff. That he's letting us manage now if we're not faithful with that.

The stuff with it will fail. How can we expect him to give us wealth give us eternal things eternal wealth that won't fail? Jesus says in verse 8 the sons of the world are more shrewd. In dealing with their own generation their own kind in other words than the sons of light.

There are two groups of people there. You see the sons of this age. Literally. That's what it says in greek the sons of this age um. This present evil age. These are the people who belong the present evil age the system from this world this dark world.

The society that is a rebellion against god. That's one group of people and they are jesus says they're more shrewd. They're more ingenious. They're more mindful of their interests. They're more prudent about What's good for them in this age?

They're more practical about how things work how they're going to get ahead. How they're going to get what they want of what they need. Then are the second group of people the sons of light. That is jesus says that usually the people of this age all about the pleasures and the things.

The money they can get and they use now before it fails that they are wiser. About what's in their interest at least as far as this age goes. Then are the sons of light and so that means that we sons or daughters of light.

Need to learn from them. Learn from those Dishonest managers those crooked people out there. How to shrewdly prepare for what's coming? Not only in this age. But in the age to come. Right like the dishonest manager.

Do whatever you have to do. Be shrewd be prudent in light of what you know is coming. Not only your retirement or your old age or you know needing insurance. But the judgment that is part of the age to come the age that has already begun with jesus be as intent.

And as ingenious to prepare for that age. As the dishonest manager was to prepare for his coming unemployment. Are you preparing? Prepare with ingenuity and with chastity. The pharisees who love money.

They ridiculed jesus starting verse 14. They heard this but you can't serve god and money. You're crazy. What are you doing? Pitting he's pitting god against money like they don't like. You don't you know that having money is a sign of god's blessings.

And they're just scoffing at him. And so jesus says to them you are those who justify yourselves before men. Make yourself look right make yourself look good for people. You only care what about can be seen can be seen the esteem that you get.

From publicly praying publicly fasting even in public giving. You want to look good before others? But he says god knows your heart. He knows why you're doing what you're doing. He knows what you're really thinking about.

When you're pretending to be praying. Or pretending to be listening to a sermon. For what is exalted among men. Like money wealth big numbers impressive buildings. He says it's an abomination in the sight of god.

Because god sees it. It's disgusting. It's just it's repugnant. Think of what you just find just just. You don't want to see it or be near on the way here this morning. It was a dead skunk that had been all Driven over his guts all over the road and there was of course the smell.

That's just disgusting and that's god looks at the things that we esteem the money the impressiveness. That's what it's like to him. It's just oh you want to get away from that as far as as fast as you can.

God sees it as disgusting like unrighteous wealth. It's pride self-sufficiency. It's empty show. His judgment is coming with the kingdom of god and it will expose all those detestable things all that disgusting garbage for what it is and the time for that jesus says.

Is now. The law and the prophets. What we call the old testament, right? The law and the prophets were until john. In other words, that was the time of preparation for the kingdom that the old testament was about.

What john himself was about. Remember they ask him who are you. I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way for the lord. And jesus here is saying that preparation time is over since then since john.

The good news of the kingdom of god is preached because jesus is preaching it. The good news is that the kingdom of god is now here. You better be prepared because it's here. It's come. Jesus is proving that by casting out demons by his miracles and everyone the many.

Like the large crowds that are following him. Like the like the many and the remember the parable of the great banquet go out and invite many. And the highways byways. Compel them to come in. Many are forcefully urged here.

To come into it. They're being forcefully if you look at your footnote I know that's not what the translation says something a little different, but that's probably the right meaning here in context. Many are being compelled forcefully urged to come and into the reign of god to follow jesus.

Now now something new preparation time is over. The kingdom of god is here. We are all urged. We are compelled with all the force of his spirit and of his word to enter god's rule. And that will require from us agonizing effort.

This is the new age of the kingdom. Jesus started it. We're still in it. And jesus will one day complete it, but don't get the idea because you people are going to read that phrase. The law and the prophets were and tell and think well that means That everything in the old era has expired.

It doesn't apply to us anymore. The law and the prophets the old testament are now basically irrelevant to us. They're kind of they're void. It's a relic from a bygone age and we find people teaching that kind of today.

That's an old dispensation and we don't really need to worry about it. But now he says in verse 17 even in this age It's easier For heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the law to become void.

Does heaven earth pass away? No, so that's so the the law is still that still has a role. We still need The preparation. The old testament was written for as martin luther wrote wrote we have this law.

To see therein that we have not been free from sin. It still prepares us for what jesus did by showing us That we need it. That we need what he did. We need his work for us. And one example of that jesus gives here is the law of marriage.

Now the pharisees they're probably accusing jesus of of ignoring the law. Of making void. The law of the prophets and he's coming right back at them said no the law is not void. In fact, you want to talk about people who are making a void you look at you.

Pharisees had used the law of divorce in deuteronomy to say that a man could divorce his wife for really pretty much any reason. Deuteronomy chapter 24 verse 1 says that a man could divorce for a quote indecency.

And they took that to mean what's indecency? They said meh anything it's all up to you whatever you think is indecent. You know, she burned the toast indecent write her out certificate divorce get out of here.

She got so loud that the neighbors could hear her. Get it rid of her. Yeah, she just didn't look good anymore to you get rid of her. It became an that's just really all of course an excuse for their own lust for their own unchastity for their adultery.

Now imagine how this offends them because they think they're keeping the law. And they're trying to accuse jesus of making it void of ignoring it. He's saying no, it's the other way around. You're the ones that are ignoring the law.

And why it would happen because they twisted this thing about indecency so much that they could go through wife after wife. Like trading in cars for a newer model, you know by almost every year. I want to get a newer one.

Get a younger one. And so jesus said, you know, what in the world you're ridiculing me. Because you love money you love the wealth and the perks and the nice house and the cars. You love the esteem from praying and giving in public and of course, haha.

You gotta have the trophy wife, right? But you're living in adultery. Everyone he says who divorces his wife and I think the implication here is divorcing for one of those trivial interpretations. Of indecency jesus is here re-establishing the law that they had twisted with all their traditions.

We talked about this at sunday school with all their traditions. They had just twisted and negated and Thrown out the law basically and he's saying to them. You want to know what indecency meant? It means adultery.

So if you divorce for any other reason and marry another. You've committed adultery because you're really married to that wife. You supposedly divorce god's eyes. You're still married to her and now you're going after another you've come into adultery.

So if you divorce for any other reason you come in adultery because god's law was from creation. You leave your father and mother and you cling to your wife. That's god's law. The two become one and man people cannot separate them.

You can write a certificate of divorce for burnt toast all you want. You go marry another one. That's adultery in god's eyes. Doesn't matter if it's legal the law. The you know, the law of man people's opinions that they agree with that or not.

God says it's adultery. It's adultery you're living in it. He who marries a wife. Who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery in other words your serial marriages going from one relationship to another.

Making void god's law about marriage. They are unchaste. They are immoral. And if you want to be ready for the kingdom of god, you must live. As far as it is up to you chaste in one marriage. Now that's hard to hear.

Because of no fault divorce laws now, you know marriage is now in our according to human law is treated as less than a contract. You know, you get it right a business contract. You can't just one party just can't say i'm gonna Ignore it void it.

Not do what it says and we can do but now marriage you can we can do that. So it's less than a contract in the eyes of our law. But it was hard then too. Because that's really basically the way they Were treating it.

Um, so it's we're back to where the pharisees were we've gone full circle. These pharisees ridiculing jesus because they loved appearances the look of wealth the look of respectability. And they got to have the lovely Trophy wife hanging on their arms.