1 Timothy 2: 1-7; Luke 16: 1-13
Olivet Church, Sept. 18, 2016
Faithful with what Belongs to Another
This parable goes by various names: the parable of the “dishonest steward,” or the “shrewd
financial manager.” Preachers know it as the most difficult parable to interpret.
It appears to biblical interpreters, that even Luke had difficulty with the parable and so located a
few wisdom sayings of Jesus at the end of it to guide the reader’s interpretation. It’s important
for us to remember that parables don’t always have a single point. Parables are not to be
flattened out so there is one simple take-away or “moral to the story”. They are stories to live
inside of, and be changed by, as we encounter a different world, and view of life, and
understanding of God in them.
In approaching the parables and stories of Jesus I find a poem by Billy Collins about how we
should approach poems to offer helpful guidance. Collins writes:
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Of course the big surprise and resulting challenge of the parable is found in verse 8: “and his
master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly.” Perhaps there are people
of sufficient wealth who can applaud a good scam, even when they are the victims of it. The
owner learns of what the manager has done to secure his future at the owner’s expense, and he
congratulates him, commends him, slaps him on the back and applauds, “well done, well done!”
Fortunately we have the rest of scripture to correct us should we be tempted to walk away from
this parable with a license to defraud, steal, lie, and cheat like this manager.
So let’s be clear about one thing. The steward was commended for his shrewdness, not his
dishonest, self-serving actions. I don’t know if Jesus’ listeners would have been less or more
offended than we are by Jesus’ use of an unsavory, self-serving, devious man to point out an
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important virtue and practice. His doing so certainly makes the parable memorable, and enables
its hearers to be transformed by it over time. The disciples certainly didn’t forget the parable.
This striking, surprising parable was not only an unforgettable one, but one that touches on
something fundamental to us as humans, and to us as followers of Christ.
You see, we are confronted with a situation similar to that of the manager. A change has come,
and is coming, that calls for a response. The future is not going to be more of the same as the
past. God’s kingdom, God’s will being done on earth as in heaven, is not just a continuation of
life as it is now on earth, nor a mere modification or improvement of it. It is a radical, wholesale
transformation of life as it is now. Jesus’ good news was that the kingdom was at hand. And the
appropriate response was repentance, a change of heart and mind to accommodate, embrace and
live into this new reality.
Like the manager in the parable, Jesus’ disciples are called to action in light of a new future
breaking in upon the world. An upheaval, a reversal, is coming upon the world as it is set rightside-up by the transformation, the value system, the economy, the relationships of God’s eternal
kingdom. We find that reversal spoken of in many places in Luke’s gospel. Mary sang about the
lifting up of the poor and the lowly, filling the hungry with good things, and the casting down of
the proud and mighty. Jesus’ beatitudes in Luke’s gospel include not only blessings of the poor,
the meek, the grieving… but also woes upon those who are rich and powerful. We see sinners,
outcasts, and unrighteous people moving toward Jesus and into the kingdom, and the pious,
religious people of the day offended and angry at him. And Jesus repeatedly speaks to his
followers about the last becoming first and the servant becoming the greatest, and the need to
take up a cross and die in order to live. These are all aspects of an upheaval resulting from the
kingdom of God penetrating and transforming this fallen, broken world.
Jesus’ disciples needed, we need, to relate to the things of the present in light of that new, inbreaking future revealed in Christ. And it is not about an other-worldly detachment. For it is
this world that God made, sustains, redeems, and transforms in love. And there are things we
can do in the here-and-now that anticipate and collaborate with the here-after kingdom of God on
earth. We can, and we must, as those who in Christ, live as citizens of that kingdom in the
world, figuring out how we can use our gifts and resources, our vocations and relationships, our
time and our passions, and yes, our money, to serve and build a lasting home. For Jesus said,
“do not lay up treasures on earth where moth and rust consume and thieves break in and steal.
But lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also.”
I don’t know about you, but with me, there is some fear and anxiety about this future in Christ
that calls for change and for an accounting. It’s not some big moral failures or shame that make
me uneasy, but the thought of all my selfish indulgences, subtle manipulations, and fearful
inactivity in the face of need and injustice being exposed. It’s the awareness of how poor my
stewardship of the undeserved advantages of my life in this nation has been; how careless I’ve
been with the created world and complicit in environmental and species degradation and
destruction; how little I’ve done in recognition of the privilege of being among a small
percentage of the earth’s population that enjoys so much wealth, prosperity, freedom, and
comfort.
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And frankly, I find the steward in this parable a source of comfort and guidance. He doesn’t sit
long in anxiety and consternation in light of a new future opening up before him. Rather he
comes up with a plan and gets busy executing it. And I find Jesus’ words about his shrewdness
and the children of this world somewhat encouraging. It’s as if he’s saying, “this ain’t rocket
science folks.” If you can figure out the rules of basketball; if you can figure out the college
financial aid form; if you can figure out how to get your car repaired; if you can figure out how
to prepare for retirement; if you can figure out how to feed, clothe, and house your kids; if you
can figure out how to get to Disney World for spring break… then you can do this. Children of
this age, Jesus says, know how to get along, live in, secure themselves in this world. Just do the
same thing as a child of the light, as a follower of Christ, as a citizen of his everlasting kingdom,
as you secure yourself in the next world. Be as shrewd in using your money and resources in the
service of things that are eternal as you are in getting along in this world day-to-day.
Despite all the potential ethical and practical pitfalls and dangers of money and wealth, Jesus’
parable suggests that it is possible to manage possessions and money in ways that can lead us
into life with God, and collaborate with God’s eternal kingdom and purposes as they break in on
our world. The key, the starting point for knowing how to do this, is to know the endpoint — to
know what life with God is like, what the world transformed by heaven is like. Being shrewd, in
this case, means using what we have for God’s purposes, rather than squandering what we have
for no gain at all.
Jesus says, “If you have not been faithful with wealth, who will entrust you with the true riches?
And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your
own?” Being shrewd requires knowing what rules your heart, knowing whom and what you
ultimately serve. If you serve wealth for its own sake, you will fail. But if you serve God and
shrewdly use what you have for God’s purposes, you will know the blessings of life with God
and the peace, the meaning, the joy of living for things that are lasting and of God.
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