Proper 20C
Luke 16:1-13
18 September 2016
Christ Church
A few years ago, David and I began a project which has been a dream for us since we were
first married. David’s Dad had invested in land back in the 1960s which he once said, “…would be a
writer’s retreat for David someday.” After his Dad’s passing, and the land was equally divided
between the three sons, we set out to build a small retreat house on our portion both for our
personal use and for small group retreats.
We sought out a builder who had, prior to the recession, done fine work in the Blairsville area.
A young man with a family, we felt good about hiring him for this project. His initial work was
excellent and we were thrilled and energized.
But, as the project evolved, the builder’s progress slowed. There was sickness in the family,
the weather wasn’t cooperative, things like that. The stories were plausible. But, as they continued,
we became suspicious. The house, which by now had been framed, was exposed to the elements day
after day – the project was obviously in trouble. Neighbors began to warn us that the builder was not
doing his job.
Consequently, we fired him.
After some research, we learned that the builder had a previous police record involving drug
use and failure to pay child support. This was a hard lesson for us about being absentee landlords.
We paid a price for his dishonesty.
Today’s Gospel, a parable found only in the Gospel of Luke, is also a story about an absentee
landowner and a manager. It is a strange parable as most Biblical commentators concur because it
seems that Jesus applauds the manager’s shrewd, if dishonest, business strategy.
Writer Alan Culpepper notes that the Manager’s behavior is not unlike that of the Prodigal
Son. Each, as the story is told, are “squandering his property.” And, each talks to himself. The
manager reasons that he has three options: 1) manual labor, 2) begging, or 3) manipulation of the
funds for personal survival. He opts for the latter. And, he is lauded for his cleverness. St. Augustine
once wrote, “I can’t believe this story came from the lips of the Lord.”
Bill Harkins, in his commentary of this passage, explains the story in this way. There is this
wealthy landowner who has tenant farmers. The famers buy what they need from the company
store, only after they pay exorbitant rental fees to the landowner. The harvest is never large enough
to pay the rent and provide for their families.
The manager, who has a bit more education than the tenant farmers, keeps the books, and by
association is complicit in the exploitation of the farmers. It is likely that neither the landowner and
nor the farmers trust the manager.
When the manager realizes how much he stands to lose when the landowner decides to fire
him, he quickly reduces what the farmers owe so that he can, at least, win their favor and avoid
having to beg or do manual labor.
But, imagine if you will, the landowner coming out to the estate to fire the manager. He is
greeted by happy farmers whose debts have been reduced. If he fires the manager, he looks like a
goat. The manager has cleverly manipulated the situation for survival and for his personal gain. We
get the impression that Jesus commends this behavior until we read the last three verses of the
passage:
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: whoever is dishonest in a very little
is dishonest also in much…No slave can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and wealth.”
So, what can we conclude from this? Perhaps the Lord commends those who take risks.
Perhaps the Lord wants us to be creative stewards of what God gives us – to consider the many ways
we can use our resources for good.
And, the bottom line on all of this is in the concluding verse of the passage. You cannot serve
God and wealth. To serve wealth is a refusal to trust in God. To serve wealth is to take matters into
our own hands for our own personal or corporate benefit without paying attention to the command
that God gives to us, which is this: “Love God with all our hearts, all our minds, all our souls and all our
strength and love our neighbors as ourselves.”
To serve God is an act of complete trust. When we act out of this Love which God commands
us, we trust that God will give us what we need when we need it. The operant word here is need, not
want. Want drives us to empty materialism. Need keeps us balanced and attuned to God.
Christopher Edmonston writes that God would have us “tend the shop well: serving our
neighbors in need, practicing hospitality, celebrating the sacraments regularly and faithfully, and
proclaiming the Word of Life. Whoever is faithful in little things is faithful in much.”