Scripture Text (NRSV)
Luke 16:1-13
16:1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who
had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was
squandering his property.
16:2 So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear
about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you
cannot be my manager any longer.'
16:3 Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my
master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to
dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
16:4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as
manager, people may welcome me into their homes.'
16:5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the
first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
16:6 He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him,
'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.'
16:7 Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied,
'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and
make it eighty.'
16:8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had
acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in
dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of
dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into
the eternal homes.
16:10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in
much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in
much.
16:11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth,
who will entrust to you the true riches?
16:12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to
another, who will give you what is your own?
16:13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either
hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Comments:
Master = God
Manager = Jesus
Debtors = Us.
The manager relied fully upon the mercy of the master when changing
the amount of debts.
The principle of faithfulness in v.10 a key. God calls us to be
accountable to the small things that are place in our decision making
processes. (per Namman the leper, The parable of the talents, and the
forgiveness of those who have committed sins against us.)
I don't think of God as such a master. I can make those catagories
work for me. Maybe they do for others. Nancy-Wi
Jesus tells the story of a dishonest man who cheats his employer and
then is commended by him for having acted so shrewdly. Jesus reminds
his listeners that God will not stand to be merely one of many
commitments.
When Jesus tells stories, rich men, do not usually stand for God. Here
I think the manager is the one who is living into the kingdom, even if
in a dishonest way. Usually, when loans were given, the interest rate
was around 100-150%, so the debtors could never pay it back to the
rich man. What the manager does is to forgive the over due interest
owed to the rich man, therefore releasing the load of debt. He is also
making friends with those he will soon have to hang out with. He is
faithful with the dishonest wealth his rich manager had acquired.
Justin Ukpong, from Africa, reads this parable in such a way, because
of the current debts incurred in a similar way by working poor in his
own country, and because of loans given by first world countries. It
seems to make sense.
RB in CA
I just have no freaking idea what to do with this.
I can deal with the fact that a parable about somebody doing bad can
teach us to do something good. I can't deal with the fact tha I can't
see what the parable's teaching... or maybe I should say that I can't
see how the parable teaches the lesson found in verse 10. And while I
can see how it teaches the lesson found in verse 9, I can't connect
understand what "dishonest wealth" refers to in our lives.
HELP!
Thanks, Pastor Stinky
I can't go the way many of you have. To me , it seems obvious that
Jesus is is being sarcastic, a method not unfamiliar to rabbis for
emphasis. The real point is in verses 10-12, if you are not faithful
in little you won't be trusted with much. Jesus is looking for those
to whom he will give the kingdom. Verse 9 is the tongue in cheek
punchline of the joke, "Make friends by means of dishonest wealth and
they will welcome you into their eternal homes." What is the eternal
home of the liars, cheaters, thieves (among whom there is no honor?)
Is that the eternal home you want? Jesus seems to be saying you can't
be a shrewd palm greaser and get in. God is the rich man giving such
squandering managers notice. tom in TN(USA)
Central to first-century Middle Eastern cultures, and to the story in
this passage, are notions of honour and shame and the relationships
between clients and patrons. Honour and shame regulated client-patron
relationships. Anyone operating in the social and economic world did
so through patrons who were able to open doors. Those patrons in turn
needed their own patrons. In this intricate web, the more clients one
had and the more influential patrons one had, the more honour.
To provide a service for someone, to respond to a request for help, to
look out for another's interests in one's sphere of influence, would
bring honour and bind another to one as a client or patron. To go back
on one's word, to ignore the demands of a patron or a client, to
appear to demonstrate an inability to influence events, would bring
shame and weaken the client-patron bonds.
In this story the manager is motivated by the desire to avoid shame.
He has been accused of cheating (we have no idea whether the
accusation has any basis in truth), his employer decides to dismiss
him, and he loses his most important patron. He therefore acts to bind
himself to new patrons by acting in their interests.
The rich man is also motivated by the desire to avoid shame. To employ
a dishonest manager (or perhaps simply one accused for who knows what
reason) is to expose oneself to shame. The rich man acts quickly but
then is caught in a dilemma. If, on discovering his dismissed
manager's dealings, he attempts to cancel the new arrangements, he
exposes himself as incompetent for employing a crooked manager. If he
simply reneges on the new deals, his word is no longer trustworthy and
shame ensues. No wonder he commends the manager for his cleverness!
This manager becomes the model for Jesus' instruction in verse 9. His
decisiveness and shrewdness are the qualities that Jesus wants his
disciples to have. There is no time to lose and no room for half
measures or for dual allegiances. Faithfulness in little or large
things requires boldness, leaving behind one way of operating in and
understanding the world for another.
Fred Craddock writes:
Many Christians have been offended by this parable, and on two
grounds. First, some find it a bit disturbing that Jesus would find
anything commendable in a person who has acted dishonestly. Why that
should prove offensive is not fully clear, for everyone is a mixed bag
of the commendable and the less commendable. Love of family,
generosity, and loyalty are traits to be praised in persons with some
unsavory ways. It is enough that Jesus did not commend the dishonesty,
a quality in the man that should not discolor everything else about
him. Some commentators have tried to clean up the steward by saying
that his reduction of the various bills due his master was simply the
subtraction of the steward's commission, a temporary loss he was
willing to sustain in exchange for future favorable treatment by these
customers of his master. This is an interesting view, but were it the
case, the steward would not have been dishonest. The more likely
interpretation is that he falsified the amounts owed his master to
gain the favor of those who would later offer him hospitality in the
time of his unemployment (v. 4). The second and related offense in
this parable is the use of words such as "shrewd" and "clever" to
describe people of the kingdom ("children of light"). The words have
so commonly been associated with self-serving behavior, if not
ethically questionable behavior, that it is difficult to speak of a
"shrewd saint." Of course, part of the problem lies in the
anticerebral bias in the church and the unwillingness, if not
inability, of many to conceive of thinking as a kingdom activity.
Apparently, to be childlike is taken to mean naive, even though Jesus
is said, according to Mt 10.16, to have alerted his disciples to be
"wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
In summary, therefore, the parable of the clever steward and its
attending interpretations say to Jesus' disciples that for all the
dangers in possessions, it is possible to manage goods in ways
appropriate to life in the kingdom of God. However, as with the
subject of prayer at 11.1-13, Luke uses this parable as the occasion
to gather other sayings of Jesus on the subject of material goods.
Each of the sayings in verses 10-13 states a proverbial truth which in
no way depends on the parable for its meaning. Verses 10-12 contain
sayings all of which are framed on what logicians call an argument a
fortiori, that is, an argument from the lesser to the greater. The
life of a disciple is one of faithful attention to the frequent and
familiar tasks of each day, however small and insignificant they may
seem. The one faithful in today's nickels and dimes is the one to be
trusted with the big account, but it is easy to be indifferent toword
small obligations while quite sincerely believing oneself fully
trustworthy in major matters. The realism of these sayings is simply
that life consists of a series of seemingly small opportunities. Most
of us will not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war,
appoint a cabinet, dine with the queen, convert a nation, or be burned
at the stake. More likely the week will present no more than a chance
to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, vote for a
county commissioner, teach a Sunday school class, share a meal, tell a
child a story, go to choir practice, and feed the neighbor's cat.
"Whosoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much" (v.
10). Verse 13 makes an abrupt shift in literary form, the "lesser to
greater" of verses 10-12 giving way to an "all or nothing"
pronouncement. No servant can pledge allegiance to two masters at
once; whoever tries to do so discovers in time that in actuality to
only one is love and loyalty given.
The steward in Jesus' parable is crooked because he failed to exercise
his vocation as steward. In fact, it would seem, the steward was not
only guilty of failing to collect the rent from the manager's tenants,
but that he may well have been stealing from the manager, pocketing
some of the takings and blaming the tenants. Whatever the case, the
fact that the manager comes for an account presupposes that
accountability is part of the worldly structure—not only for the
steward, but also for us. Do we make full use of what we have been
given "on loan" by the Creator/Manager?
The dishonesty of the steward is not so blatant as to be immediately
evident. That only means that the steward has learned how to find ways
to cover his tracks. The "old Adam" is quite adept at finding ways to
conceal the truth. Still, the real problem of dishonesty is not in the
steward's mode of conduct, but the dishonesty about his connection to
the Manager. Whose are we? That is the ultimate question which the
steward fails to address.
There is only so much hiding, until the Manager calls us out—and calls
us to "give an account of your management." The problem is that we
don't have much of an account to give, neither by way of answer nor by
way of adequate payment. We are caught in the act of poor stewardship,
and we have no recourse. We are dismissed, and with divine
displeasure.
What Jesus brings to us when our books don't balance is his own
self—"the true riches" (v.11). Indeed, Jesus is comparable to the
steward in his own parable—for Jesus was not above using all kinds of
worldly imagery to describe his bringing in the kingdom. Jesus ends up
cutting the debts short for people. But when he cuts the debts in his
mercy, it is not simply by 20% or even 50%—it is by 100%!
These true riches are "entrusted to us" in the life of faith.
"Faithfulness" is comparable to "shrewdness" in this one
respect—daring to trust that the riches which Jesus brings do in fact
cancel the debt, and that our outstanding poor credit really is
credited for the good, making us look good before the Manager—so good,
in fact, that we dare to assert that we are truly his.
We get to live life in this new credit that is ours in Christ by no
longer being bound by our indebtedness and unrighteousness—nor being
bound to anything else (like "mammon" or "property")—but living freely
bound in the righteous relationship we have with our Lord. What
distinguishes this new lifestyle from the old is that now we are no
longer caught in a "got" to accounting for lives; nevertheless, we do
indeed "get" to serve God.
Mike Hoy
Let's talk about "dishonest wealth." The translator's got that one
wrong. In Greek, it is "mamona"--mammon. I just looked in Bauer and
they offer two translations "wealth" or "property." "Dishonest wealth"
adds a spin that isn't in the text. Maybe this insight can help us
look at the text in terms of stewardship. How will we use our wealth?
In this parable, the steward uses his wealth, his commsission on the
transactions, to build relationships bececause he knows that he will
need those relationships soon. --*JOSH*
Maybe this story is about relationships more than anything else: Our
relationships to wealth and to God and to other humans. Notice the
context of this parable...it follows the stories of the lost and the
story of Lazarus and the rich man come after. Just a thought.
RB in CA
I think the most important verse is the summary at the end "no one can
serve two msters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the
other..." I think the slave is serving "wealth". When Jesus says in
verse 9 "when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal
homes." He's tongue in cheek saying that you know that their homes are
temporal. Don't concentrate on wealth. These guys who concentrate on
wealth never give up concentrating on wealth - no turning back. Look
for my kingdom which is eternal. That's my take on it anyway. CB in SC
I want to thank all the folk who regularly post... your musings are a
blessings, cathy in pa
Some commentators (G. B. Caird et al) say that this parable might be
one of those in the category of CRISIS PARABLES: The righteous ones
need to take firm and resolute action in the face of persecution, just
as a dishonest manager might do so in the use of mammon. If rascals
can survive by shrewd bookkeeping, why should not the disciples of
Jesus be just as resourceful in their transactions of love?
On the other hand, the Jewish laws of usury may be involved in this.
The Law of Moses forbade the charging of interest of any kind. The
Pharisees had evaded this law by applying it only in cases that would
protect the poor from exploitation. They themselves, having large
business dealings, could justify interest-bearing loans as mutually
advantageous sharing of marketplace opportunites among those who are
not destitute. If a man already had some of the commodity being
borrowed (like the big borrowers of this parable), then he would not
be considered destitute. These large promissory notes were not
uncommon between such people. In fact, even a poor man, who had a
little wheat and oil left in his bin, could be deemed “not poor”
because of it. Thus the lie is carried out to its full extent. The
“dishonest steward”, then, was merely writing off the interest on the
loans, and therefore bringing the accounts back into compliance with
the Law of Moses – probably the first righteous act of his career.
I just looked up this material. Still a bit speculative…
GEC in Mich
For those of you last week who have lost things... try praying to
Saint Jude Thaddeus: saint of desperate situations, forgotten causes
,hospital workers ,hospitals ,impossible causes ,lost causes. RevPam
I just don't get this praying to Saints stuff.
Michelle
Whenever I hear this passage, I am reminded of one of seminary
professors who preached this gospel with the title, "Christians are
called to be born again, not born yesterday." Sometime even Christians
have to act seemingly clever or dishonest against the norms of this
world.
My husband and I had to keep the fact that we were resigning from one
of churches secret. It felt very dishonest, but the congregation kept
us in the dark about a conversation they had been having for six
months, and we had to wait for a vote to happen before we could
resign.
Anyway, it seems that someitmes Christians have to be clever to get
the work of God done. I also think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and his
attempts to assasinate Hitler.
PBG in IL
Is our confused response to this parable a parable, in itself, of our
confused response to the absurdity of God's Grace?
Brian in MN
i'm with pastor stinky.
God's peace, christine at the shore
This is one of the most difficult parables of Jesus. No doubt we all
will have a great time this week. This is my first take.
Warning: Heresy ahead, you might be offended!
As I read it this morning, this thought flashed through my mind: The
rich man is God, the manager is me (a pastor/religious leader), and
the rich man's debtors are the parishioners.
I, pastor, was accused by God for not managing His ministry properly
(squandering His property = use and abuse it by my own will as it
belongs to me). And He demanded a full accounting of my management
practice. Worse, He was mentioning that He would no longer employ me
as a pastor.
That would be a big problem for my pastoral career. It's hard to find
another line of work, which would require expertise in Greek, Hebrew,
Exegesis, Hermeneutics, etc. With my rhetoric skills, may be I could
be a salesperson, but my conscience would hold me back from a
successful sales career, I am sure...
So, I started worrying. About my family finance, about my kids, about
my future. And somehow in that worrying, I forgot the option of
throwing myself down at the Master's feet and beg for mercy. May be my
long time position of a respectable pastor prevented me from consider
such a thing.
So, I decided to use whatever time I have left to take care of myself.
I need to network more with the parishioners if I want to save my
career. As I spent more time with the parishioners (the powerful ones
first to be sure), I get to know them more: "So, what were your issues
and struggles?"
"I am struggled the sins of ______ and ______". They answered.
"Well, don't let it bother you too much; it's not that bad. You see,
according to _____, the real issue is _____." And I started to
rationalized and helped them feel better, and of course, made me feel
better too.
In the final analysis, if I got many parishioners to like me, if I got
many to appreciate my helps to them, then I will have a better chance
of continue to be their pastors.
And at the end, I've succeed in keeping my pastoral job.
I pitied many of my friends who called themselves "children of light".
They have no skills whatsoever to function tactfully in a
congregation. They have no idea what to do to soften a hellfire and
brimstone passage in order to survive in a parish. They forgot that
you need to survive first, in order to fight another day.
Just the other day I received a commendation from God Himself. He
liked my pastoral work, the fact that I care and lift up these people.
I guess someone will need to lift the burden of sins and guilt for
them. And if I can make them feel better about the struggles they
have, that's good. God likes that too (at least from His
commendation).
There's only one thing I am not quite sure about His commendation. God
said that my friends will "welcome me into the eternal homes". I
thought God Himself would do the welcoming. And I thought there was
supposed to be one eternal home for all of us, not "homes".
What's up with that? But well, I need to run to a marital counseling
appointment with these guys...
Coho, Midway City. (For those who don't know me yet, the above post
was entirely fictitious)
Here’s a fascinating discussion from Richard Trench, “Notes on the
Parables of Our Lord”, 12th edition, 1866. Sorry for the length of
this Post, but at least, it’s one good thought among many ---
“In this lowering of the bills, Vitringa finds the key of the parable,
and proposes the following interpretation, which deserves to be
recorded, if for nothing else, yet for its exceeding ingenuity. The
rich man is God, the steward the Pharisees, or rather all the
ecclesiastical leaders of the people, to whom was committed the
administration of the kingdom of God, who were stewards of its
mysteries. But they were accused by the prophets (see for instance
Ezek. 34:2; Mal 2:8), and lastly by Christ himself, that they
neglected their stewardship; used the power committed to them not for
the glory of God, but for purposes of self-honor—that they scattered
his goods. They feel the justice of this accusation, and that they are
not in the grace of their Lord, and only outwardly belong to his
kingdom. Therefore they now seek to make themselves friends of others,
of the debtors of their Lord, of sinful men,--and this they do, acting
as though they still possessed authority in the things of his kingdom.
And the way by which they seek to make these friends is, by lowering
the standard of righteousness and obedience, inventing convenient
glosses for the evading of the strictness of God’s law, allowing men
to say, “It is a gift” (Matt. 15:5), suffering them to put away their
wives on any slight excuse (Luke 16:18), and by various devices making
slack the law of God (Matt 23:16); --thus obtaining for themselves
favor and an interest with men, and so enabling themselves, although
God’s grace was withdrawn from them, still to keep their hold on men,
and to retain their advantages, their honors, and their peculiar
privileges. This interpretation has one attraction, that it gives a
distinct meaning to the lowering of the bills, -- “Write fifty”,
“Write fourscore”; -- which very few others do. The moral will then be
no other than is commonly and rightly drawn from the parable; Be
prudent as they, as these children of the present world, but provide
for yourselves not temporary friends, but everlasting habitations:
they use heavenly things for earthly objects; but do you reverse the
case, and show how earthly things may be used for heavenly.”
GEC in Mich
I'm with Pastor Stinky and Christine at the Shore!! What in the WORLD
does this mean? I read it, re-read it and then read through your
comments, and some of it is very helpful, but seriously, I think our
friend Luke, or whoever wrote this down for him had a high fever that
day! I don't get it either. I'll re-read your comments though, because
often, that clarifies things for me. Pastor Janel in ND
Eugene Lowry interprets this parable in the Great Preachers Series. He
connects it with the previous three parables, but especially the
third. There is a compare/contrast between the two stories. Both waste
the substance (the Greek is the same in both stories) Employee vs.
Son, Work vs. Family, and the finally there is no party in this story.
There is no party because there is no grace. This is a story of an
individual who lands on his own two feet. In the other story the son
lands in his father's arms. This is a story about the way the world
works as Jesus makes clear in his sayings, but if you want to see the
way the kingdom of God works then you have to read the other three
stories. Hope this helps.
BC
I like the idea that Jesus is actually being sacrcastic....Here's
another take: maybe the manager is being commended for being decisive
and shrewd. He faces a bleak looking situation and he quickly makes
moves to "secure" his future. In other words, he perceives that his
future is not necessarily set yet - he can impact it. Do we, as
children of light, give up too quickly in the face of bleak
situations, or do we believe that we can help to shape our futures????
revjaw
Why does shrewd have all negative conotations? I sometimes think of
myself as being shrewd becuase i have managed to make some changes
within the congregation by letting them believe it was thier idea. I
see no dishonesty in it Kathleen by Canada
Help! I've got a number of friends coming up from the deep South to
the Chicago/Rockford area and it is their first visit in 4 years of my
taking a parish here. I would like to preach a sermon on the value of
friendship but definitely will not be using the lectionary passage
above. Any thoughts? If you'd rather you can email me at bonboyce1@aol.com.
Thanks in advance! BB in IL
Pastor Stinky, Christine at the Shore, and Pastor Janel in ND,
I'm with you!!!
I cannot make hide nor hair of this passage. Just when I think I'm
getting the slightest handle on it, it slips away. Thanks BC for the
suggestion of comparison to the last three parables ... especially the
party aspect. I developed the party aspect big-time this past Sunday.
Your point is very helpful here. I'm trying to be disciplined here and
preach this text, but may bail if the light doesn't improve. Yikes!
I also think many of you have found an interesting slant in terms of
Luke or Jesus being sarcastic here, but for my own part, I have
trouble reading into the text that which isn't here.
Yikes again! FC
One more baffled preacher here.
Something about this reminds me of mobsters (only known from books and
movies). The mob boss finds out that his "capo" has been squandering -
so the capo, to ensure his own position, goes around to all the
debtors making his boss look good. When the boss finds out, instead of
punishing his former capo, smiles and gives him a good-natured slap on
the cheek for making him look good. The big thief (in Biblical
economy, riches were gained by dishonesty or violence) commends the
lesser thief.
Still beats the hell out of me, what Jesus was trying to say.
LF
I don't think it has to be that hard a reading to understand. I think
Frederick Niedner up above has a handle on it and Mike Hoy gets it
even clearer. Why can't we see Jesus as the shrewd manager? We can't
manage things on our own, we mess things up and when we're called to
account we deserve to be fired. But Jesus cancels our debts and once
we're freed from settling the account of our sins with God we're freed
to serve God and each other with what we've been entrusted with. It
might be an opportunity for a stewardship sermon calling us to use
well all that we've been given by God, to serve God and neighbour with
what we have rather than serving the wealth itself.
Shalom: Tom in Ontario
I'm an old-timer, retired almost 7 years. Looks like many are turning
a parable into an allegory. I'm preaching on this text Sunday and
Jesus seems to be saying,THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX. Shrewd as some have
said isn't always a negative. May also mean "bright in perception of
things", "creative in though and actions", "sound in judgement". God
knows the church could use some people like that today. RetRev in
Packerland
I'm with you retired pastor for 7 years preaching this Sunday. I hear
Jesus saying "do something," to those who would see a situation as
hopeless (usually the poor and outcast who might think they can do
nothing), you can do something.
Shalom bammamma
I'd like some help on this perspective of the reading.
Consider that the rich man is just that, the dishonest manager just
that. The manager who steals from the rich man is commended for acting
shrewdly. The verse that attracts me is (8) in which Christ seems to
make a distinction between the children of this age (rvs-world) who
are more shrewd than the children of light.
Could that mean then the world knows how to operate within its own set
of rules, but the children of light don't know how to operate within
the scope and power of the Christian faith, use all the power, all
available to them to be faithful.
In other words, the children of the world, age are better at being who
they are than the children of light. How many times have the chidlren
of light tried to operate under the world's rules-with hatred,
jealously, greed, etc. This could tie in (14) which isn't included in
the lectionary reading. The Pharisees, spiritual leaders and guides
were acting like children of the age, lovers of money, stealing
widows' houses.
Could Christ be saying the world knows how to be the world, yet the
children of God don't know how to be the children of God?
Comments?
Auggie in TN
You've got it Auggie in TN. Run with it. RetRev in Packerland
I can’t help thinking the clue to this parable is all about the
context. In Chapter 15, the Pharisees criticize Jesus for eating with
tax collectors and sinners. Jesus then tells 3 parables about things
that were lost (a sheep, a coin, a son), even those who are lost (like
the tax collectors and sinners) have value in God’s eyes. And now in
this parable he goes so far as to say, look not only do they have
value but they even have something to teach you (about using the same
determination, commitment, shrewdness that gets them ahead in their
world and applying it to God’s work). Next week, he goes even further
and says: and don’t be so sure that just because you’ve got wealth and
power now that you’re guaranteed a place ahead of them in God’s
kingdom, if you haven’t been doing God’s work.
And what kind of things can the people of this world teach us? Verse
9-12 tells us: do what the shrewd people who know how to achieve
worldly success do and invest your resources in building relationships
with people that will pay dividends for you in the future. Also, like
those shrewd people keep your eye on the details, know that how you
handle the little issues speaks volumes about how you will deal with
the major ones, etc. But there’s a caveat in verse 13: learn from the
shrewd people of this world, but remember that you can’t keep a focus
on money and God at the same time, your focus always has to be on God
and doing God’s work.
Does this make any sense? blessed in ont
Auggie in TN:
Thanks so much for your insight. It helped me get over the hump on
this one. Perhaps a title like, "Comfortable in Our Own Skin" or "Talk
It then Walk It" would be appropriate.
RB in PA
Auggie in TN and RB in PA. It's kind of like Taco Bell's admonition to
THINK OUTSIDE THE BUN. If you have a situation that calls for action
(and those are many in the church)think creatively, even though some
will say "we've never done it that way before". A pastor friend got
their parking lot blacktopped when he figured the cost per space and
asked people to write their name in a space and pay the amount. Only
problem was, some of those writing their name in the spaces closest to
the buidling thought that space WAS THEIRS. Oh well, it was paid for
in less than a montn. RetRev in Packerland.
G. Campbell Morgan has helped me a great deal with verse 10.
The tenses are vital there, it seems. We often interpret verse 10 to
say, "Whoever is faithful in a very little WILL BE faithful also in
much." That is not what it says. It says "Whoever is faithful in a
very little IS faithful also in much." Campbell's point is that those
who are faithful in "a very little" (which he interprets as temporal
wealth) will be faithful because he is already faithful in "much"
(eternal wealth). The earthly does not so much prepare us for the
eternal, but the eternal manifests itself in the earthly.
Just a thought.
JG in WI
JG in WI: I don't quite get what you are saying (or rather, what
Cambell Morgan was saying). Often, of course, the eternal manifests
itself in the earthly, but I don't see the connection to this parable.
I have to agree with RetRev and Auggie: The parable has shown that the
shrewd manager has provided for himself and ensured his welcome in
many homes despite his dishonesty; likewise, Jesus has provided for us
and ensured our welcome in our heavenly home.
Now all I have to do is put that down into a sermon.
That's the hard part.
Dan in AK
Oh, forgot to finish the thought:
But the children of this world are much better at providing for
themselves and ensuring for their needs than the children of the light
seem to be. Thus we need Jesus who intercedes on our behalf, and,
despite our dishonesty (read that "sins") provides for us.
Dan in AK
One last thing, and this is a cry for HELP!
I also do a 30-minute hymn service at a local retirement/nursing home.
Any idea how I can use this Gospel to reach these people?
Dan in AK
Dan in AR Does a preacher, worship leader, etc. always have to be able
to perfectly identify with those they've been called to lead in
worship, or will the Holy Spirit make the connection?
Shalom
bammamma
Might I suggest that the way we deal with this parable begins with an
honest acknowledgement that it is a difficult story (perhaps the most
difficult in the Gospels). It may be more honest to be up front with
our congregations and tell them that there are various approaches to
this text. Rather than hammering home our own view as 'the'
interpretation, it may be worthwhile exploring the various options (ie
- Derrett). I've always avoided this text because of its complexity
and all of the questions it raises which do not have obvious, textual
answers. I've decided I need to grab the nettle. . .after all, it is
scripture. Some musings on a Tuesday from a Canadian in Scotland.
Could it be that the key to this passage and parable are found in
verse 15 - (Luke 16:15 NIV) He said to them, "You are the ones who
justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What
is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
Maybe the parable is intended to shock us about the way an unjust
manager handled the master's assets. Even greater shock is realized
when we learn the master's reaction to the manager's ruse. Clearly the
master was not as concerned about return on monetary investment as we
would be.
When the manager shifted the emphasis of his dealings from profits to
people, the master was more pleased.
This one's a toughie!
Pastor Dave Harrison, AR
So glad I am not the only one having a "say what?!" time with this
text! Middle of the night still small voice moment for me has me on
the following track:
The rich man: How did this man get rich? How did people in first
century Palestine get wealthy? Of course by exploiting the poor and
exploiting the land. Short man Zacheus comes to mind. Tax collectors
come to mind. The Roman empire comes to mind.
The manager begins the story by cooking the books most likely for his
own gain alone. When he gets fired, he continues cooking the books but
this time not for his own benefit but to help someone else ... and to
gain friends. For his future in his not gainfully employed status,
RELATIONSHIP is everything.
The rich man does commend the manager shrewdness because the rich man
himself is a dishonest "shrewdy" (made-up-word ... sorry: english
problems!). It takes one to recognize another! Infact the rich man
actually ADMIRES the dishonest manager because he proves himself to be
in the up-and-coming league of makers and shakers.
That seems to be the story. To me at least. Or may be not. Maybe the
still small voice in the middle of my night was just me
thinkingatthetopofmyhead
PS One place for the freedom I now experience in interpretting this
parable is freedom from trying to figure "who is who". ie. God = rich
man. Poor human sinners = dishonest manager. etc.
This story is not about God. This story is an anthropology/sociology
lesson by Jesus to his followers who perhaps are so naive in matters
of "the world".
Could be Jesus is trying to explain the world and its immoral life
that rewards and admires getting rich at all costs. Could be Jesus is
saying: that's the way they do it. You cant do it that way and my way
too. You gotta choose.
But then again, may be I have totally missed the point and i am
thinkingatthetopofmyhead again
When I was an account receivable analyst, the person in Accounting was
careless when she posted the checks from clients. As I was the person
researching accounts, I found her errors. I would not trust this
person to work for me. I finally kept a copy of each of her errors for
a month and turned them in to the Credit Manager, a stack of of some
thirty errors. Only then did the Accounting Manager do something about
the careless woman and her poor work habits. She could have asked me
and I would have helped her. The next person in that job did check
with me when she had a question and the mis-posted checks dropped to
zero. Truly, when a person is faithful with little things they will be
faithful with greater things. Sue in EOhio
ok, i'm gonna try...
what are we willing to do to save ourselves from the problems of this
world? if jesus is being sarcastic in this parable then perhaps what
he is talking about is the lenghts to which a person is willing to go
to cover his/her ass. to escape the "sins" of this world
(money/wealth) the steward was willing to act dishonestly to save
himself.
so what about the children of the light?
16:8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had
acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in
dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
are we also to act shrewdly, but in a new way? not to cover our
collective butts, but to serve God?
in other words: what are we willing to do for money vs what are we
willing to do for God?
do i have something or am i still freaking clueless?
as a side note: i am "back from vacation." got quite a bit
accomplished, but i'm still far from being done with the house
specifically the basement. pbg, how is it going with your situation? i
was thinking about you.
God's peace, christine at the shore
pardon me as I ramble- I, too, am so confused by this that I just want
to avoid this text all together- and I would get away with it,not one
in my congregation would ask a question- which made me think; avoiding
the difficult part of discipleship and desiring the glory was the MO
of most of His follwers- they expected to get rewarded and to become
one of the leaders of the new earth order- the oppressed would become
the new oppressors- not unlike what the church became in the middle
ages--- OK, Jesus says- you want to play the human game, go right
ahead, with all the human rules and you will become successful- but
your rewards will be earthly only-take the cheap path- get the cheap
reward---that is why the dishonest boss( I suppose) was impressed by
the dishonest manager--- but the new order-- Jesus grace and mission
was of another kind--- it is not earthy reward and it does not follow
earthly logic-if you are to follow Jesus, we need to put aside
preconceptions of what success is.. just rambling
Peanut Butter
Hard to make sense of this passage without verses 14& 15: 14The
Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the
eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among
men is detestable in God's sight.
We all need reminders about the role of money in our lives. But this
passage is attacking the Pharisees for squandering the gifts of God. I
can not claim to understand this passage completely, if I ever fully
understand any than certainly less so with this one. Yet I have begun
to think in light of these concluding verses, that Jesus is speaking
much more literally in his parable than the selected text may lead us
to believe.
What is highly valued among men – how to cover your own butt, scheme
your way out of trouble, put someone in an awkward position so as to
protect yourself – these skills, this way of thinking, is repulsive to
God. God desires for people to live honestly, sincerely, owning up to
their faults and accepting the consequences.
Our wisdom is foolishness to the world, the children of this age, so a
child of God might have simply owned up to his fault and taken the
punishment and turned to God to hold his future, whereas the worldly
wise servant impressed his master with his devious actions.
Craiger
I really appreciate Mike Hoy's piece. It discusses the truth and the
punch of the passage that is difficult to swallow, but balances it
with giving the message of hope. Jesus has paid the debt for us. I
agree that this is a wonderful stewardship passage, not just about how
much money we have squandered, but how faithful have we been with what
we have been given?
Susan in Wa.
Two wrongs don't make a right.
Two rights make ...
an airplane! nyuk nyuk nyuck ... (couldn't resist)
Sally in GA
gosh, I'm with the rest of y'all ... this is a toughie! And I think we
do this pericope a disservice if we put it into a "this is what it
means" framework. The gospel is confusing to us sometimes, too.
Recently in my head are several articles on "The Atonement" from the
latest issue of "The Circuit Rider," a periodical for UM clergy.
Therefore, since I've been reading these the last several days,
"atonement" comes to mind as what these sayings of Jesus could be an
allegory for (ok, grammar police - that's a dangling participle, but
I'm too lazy to go rewrite the sentence). It's a kind of reduction in
debt ... Granted, it's for one's own benefit (so the manager can have
some friends once he's fired - and therefore a network on which to
rely).
I haven't read "The Message" version yet, but ... something about this
intrigues me enough to want to preach it. It goes AGAINST everything
we've been taught - and that "reality" shows are FOR.
Everything in me wants to explain it away. I don't think that's the
best, though.
Sally in GA
It almost seems as though Jesus is saying, by way of parable, that we
can "work" God, as if we can manipulate God's grace.
last post, I promise... getting a late start and trying to catch up.
Sally
Revjaw, I love your question about whether we give up to easily to
ensure our future. Wow, that is right where I am with my congregation.
We do need to be shrewd and creative, and we need to be faithful with
the little things.
Susan in Wa.
Pastor Janel,
Thanks for the "Message" reference, it's really helpful, especially
the paragraph that starts "Now here's a surprise... Streetwise people
are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens..."
Often when I find myself in one of those perennial church kerfluffles
I bemoan the fact that being "Streetwise" was the course I must have
slept through in seminary. How often we who think if everyone can just
be reasonable and think good thoughts and love one another we'll get
through this -- how often we are completely blindsided by our own
naivete or lack of street sense.
This probably won't preach, but nevertheless some early-in-the-week
musings.
--revwaf still ducking hurricanes in S. Florida (next on the horizon
is "Jeanne". We may just end up keeping up the shutters all season. It
gives the church a perpetual Christmas Eve midnight mass sort of
feeling. :-) )
I laughed out loud at Pastor Stinky's honest admission...having been
there myself. I did find a marvelous interpretation of this passage on
Sarah Dylan's Lectionary Blog ( find it thru the text this week site).
Her view, which I find very persuasive, is that the actions of the
unjust steward focus us on forgiveness and forgiving. While we may
want to pass negative judgment on the steward's forgiving of debts to
save his own _ _ _ with the boss, in actuality, the forgiveness is to
be appreciated. In fact, no matter the motivation or reason, forgiving
is a good thing, and not to be judged. It is a case where the the end
justifies the means in reverse. The parable tells us to forgive - even
if we are dong it for suspect reasons - to make ourselves look good,
to gain some perceived advantage, to win friends and influence people,
to CYA - the forgiveness will serve God and God's will and kingdom. If
the rich nations (that's us folks) forgave the debts of poor nations
and we squandered our wealth forgiving debt and relieving suffering
just to gain friends or in the hope of pleasing God who will ask us
for an accounting of our stewardship, then we might very well unlock a
kind of human potential and divine grace that would render the fear
(myth) of scarcity and glory of material wealth absurd and obsolete.
So, whatever your motivation, forgive. It may help us serve God
instead of whatever we have been serving. ... still working thru the
passage,... Jim in CT.
Dr. Phil McGraw has a favorite phrase he presents to people whose
lives are a shambles: "If you were my life manager, I'd fire you".
What if we looked at this by substituting "life" for "property" or
"wealth" in this parable? We have not used our lives in the way God
intended us to use them when he gave them to us, we have squandered
life and resources. We will one day be asked to give an accounting,
and we will come up short. We realize we need to do something because
we are going to be fired as our own life manager and stewards of God's
world. We make a mad dash to fix things the best we can, but we cannot
make up the deficit. We are not our own saviors. We must find somebody
else to take care of us. We turn to people, jobs, traditions and
rituals (in the case of the Pharisees) and other "comforts" to take
care of us in our need, but none can do the job 100%. They get us by,
but are not the final answer. In the end, they too will fail us, and
only the mercy and grace of God will be there for us in the end. It's
what we needed to rely on in the first place, rather than trying to
take everything into our own hands.
The Pharisees and Temple leaders thought they were being GREAT
managers of God's law and keeping things just fine for God. They fell
short, and would not be able to justify themselves about it. They were
uncharitable, stiff-necked and judgmental. So, when God had enough of
this, they would appeal to the Jewish nation to support them and keep
them well, reminding them that they (and their adherence to the Law)
had preserved Israel's faith in the midst of all the paganism around
them. Shrewd and resourceful. But in the end, that popular support
would be knocked out from underneath them, and they would have nothing
to rely on except that God is indeed merciful.
I hear Sally in Ga. loud and clear that we can't proclaim "this is
what this parable means", but this is what I see, and I offer it with
all understanding that I can be way off base.
KHC
Hi, gang! Haven't been around for a few weeks because I had surgery on
my right shoulder and haven't been able to type (or do much else). But
recover has progressed to where I'm back at work and back at the
keyboard.
Last night was our governing board meeting and, as usual, the
discussions mostly had to do with spending money -- staying within
budget, making extraordinary expenditures for unbudget emergencies
(crumbling plaster on an outside wall, two accidentally broken stained
glass windows, etc.) And, of course, we began the annual talk of
budgeting and fund raising for the next fiscal year....
So I read this text (and the related lessons in both the RCL and the
Episcopal lectionaries) and thought, "This just might be a good time
to start mentioning stewardship in the preaching." After all, these
are lessons about property, stewardship, faithfulness, etc.
Has anyone else given much thought to a stewardship focus for this
week's sermon?
Blessings, Eric in OH
How do we manage the wealth of the kingdom? The money lovers know how
to handle their power effectively, what do we do with the power that
comes to us from Jesus? Are we squandering that power, not to be
trusted with it? How can we use the power in Jesus name to big-up God,
the boss!
DP - UK
KCH
BINGO! That makes sense and goes with everything else Jesus has been
saying to the Pharrisees.
DrD.
I'm with Eric regarding stewardship. This is our Sunday to focus on
stewardship of time and talents - the actual pledge drive comes later
in November! So I'm using the Luke passage to preach about "Be clear
about who you're serving." It seems to me that one of the main
thoughts of the passage is that of focusing on how we serve and in
whose name we do it, in the small and large events of our lives. And
maybe that God uses all of us, warts and all, whatever we do, to serve
his kingdom. But it's early yet and there are still a lot of kinks to
work out - and I promised to leave 10 minutes at the end of each
service for people to have an opportunity to give their time and
talents to the congregation in this new program year . . . all done
"decently and in order" as good Presbyterians, of course!
Great thoughts, everybody!
Rev PBC in AK
I'm with Eric regarding stewardship. This is our Sunday to focus on
stewardship of time and talents - the actual pledge drive comes later
in November! So I'm using the Luke passage to preach about "Be clear
about who you're serving." It seems to me that one of the main
thoughts of the passage is that of focusing on how we serve and in
whose name we do it, in the small and large events of our lives. And
maybe that God uses all of us, warts and all, whatever we do, to serve
his kingdom. But it's early yet and there are still a lot of kinks to
work out - and I promised to leave 10 minutes at the end of each
service for people to have an opportunity to give their time and
talents to the congregation in this new program year . . . all done
"decently and in order" as good Presbyterians, of course!
Great thoughts, everybody!
Rev PBC in AK
This might work as an illustration for someone.
Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions makes a huge profit every year, and
Uncle Sam wants his cut of it. A significant amount, to be sure. Oprah
is finding ways to give away the wealth, often to people who truly
need it. Yesterday, Oprah gave away a $28,000 car to EACH of the 275+
people in the studio audience, each one having been screened as a
person in desperate need of a car. Oprah also gave a scholarship and
wardrobe and home to a homeless young woman, and some other things.
The day's gifts totaled somewhere in the vicinity of $8 million. Uncle
Sam now gets "cheated" out of his portion of that $8 million given to
charity, but is he complaining? Probably not. He's probably saying
"Good thinking, Oprah. Help those who need it and I'll make do with
whatever does come my way."
The workers who owed rent were in dire straits. The manager knew what
he was going to owe the master but allowed some of it to take care of
the needs of those people. The workers won, the manager won, and the
Master was only cheated out of a portion, not everything. In the end,
he saw the ingenuity of it all, and did just fine with what he ended
up receiving.
We are to do good works. Giving away even the Master's (or Uncle
Sam's) funds to do that in the end will win us accolades - or at least
respect from the God who told us to do good works and to treasure
kindness over wealth, charity over retirement funds, love over rigid
lawkeeping.
KHC
