Sermon text and video for 15th Sunday after Pentecost
15th Sunday after Pentecost
Amos 8:4-7 1 Timothy 2:1-15 Luke 16:1-15
O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
As far as the Gospels reveal, Jesus did not have much in the way of money or possessions. He did have a home in Capernaum, but there is no scripture that describes what his housing or property situation was truly like. The working assumption of most of us is that it wasn’t much. It would be what a non-married carpenter, or day laborer, could afford in those days. Scripture does tell us that during his three-year ministry, He relied on the generosity and hospitality of others for food and lodging. He was not a man of independent material means.
Given his status, it is noteworthy that Jesus talks regularly about money, the accumulation of wealth, and possessions. He offers stern warnings about how these can become idols that give a false sense of security before God and men. He speaks candidly about how our stuff can easily take the place of true faith in the one true God. He is particularly concerned that the desire to hold on to what we have interferes with our recognizing and confessing that he is the Christ and that our stuff can hold us back from true discipleship.
Today’s Parable of the Dishonest Manager is not about the acquisition or holding unto wealth and possessions per se, but about how the business manager handled his boss’s finances. Jesus offers a number of parables about proper management or stewardship. For example, in Luke we have the parable about stewardship of time and attention in chapter 12 and the Parable of the Ten Minas or Talents in chapter 19. In the Gospel of Matthew, we have the Parable of the Tenants (21:33-43), the Parable of the faithful and wise servant (24:45-51), and the Parable of the Talents (25:14-30). In today’s parable, the management issue appears to be a focus because the master’s attention is somewhere else until, suddenly, it isn’t.
Of all these parables, today’s Parable of the Dishonest Manager is judged to be the most difficult to capture the true meaning of what Jesus is saying here. The puzzlement centers on what, exactly, are we supposed to make of verse 8. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” Robert A. Sorensen comments in his commentary on Luke in the Reformation Heritage Bible Commentary, “This is one of the most baffling lines in the whole New Testament. How can the master, who always represents God in Jesus’ parables, commend such behavior? Even if one carefully notes that the master does not commend the dishonest behavior but rather the cleverness, this line remains enigmatic. What in the world does Jesus mean by this parable? (page 280) Indeed.
Before offering an interpretation, I want to clarify a few things regarding this parable. First, as already noted, in Jesus’ parables, the “Master” represents God.
Second, the Master entrusts his business to a man simply identified as the Manager. The Greek word that is used in the parable for the word “manager” is oikonomos. It can be translated as either manager or steward. Some of us may be old enough to remember this parable translated as the Dishonest Steward.
The steward or manager has a long history in the Bible. Someone who is an oikonomos is a person who lives in a place that he do not own while making full use of it and also take care of that which does not belong to him as if it is his very own. Abraham had such a steward. He was a servant “who had charge of all that he had” according to Genesis 24:2. Joseph was a steward of Potiphar in Egypt, and then later, after he was placed as second in command of all of Egypt, he himself had an oikonomos of his own. (Genesis 39:1-6 & Genesis 44:1-5).
The point is that the oikonomos, the master or steward, is the boss in charge until the Master returns. He represents him in business and personal affairs. There is very little immediate oversight and managing of the manager. If you have a conscientious manager who manages well, then all will be well. The manager will enjoy the pleasure of his master. If all is not well, accountability eventually comes and it will be harsh. Imprisonment or death soon follows.
Third, in this parable the dishonest manager is not accused of anything criminal. There is no out-right embezzlement or abuse. He is accused of wasting the owner’s possessions. The way I read what has happened is that the manager is not diligent in collecting what is owed. His relaxed approach to the financial ins and outs of the business put the business in jeopardy. Opportunities for growth and development were wasted. The discipline of sale and receipt was neglected. The business suffered. The manager is not criminal, but lazy. He did not take proper care of the responsibilities to which he was entrusted. He enjoyed the living arrangement, the experience of being in charge, but did not properly make use of or take care of that which does not truly belong to him. Allowing the bills to become delinquent allowed those in business with the owner to take advantage of him.
Some years ago, after an honest effort to properly exegete and interpret this text, one of the congregation members who was a successful independent businessman told me on the way out that Sunday, that Luke 16 is a “business text.” Yes, in many ways it is. As business is often about the “bottom line,” we should move toward the parable’s own bottom line.
While verse 8, which says, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” is baffling by itself, the verse that follows leads us toward an understanding of what Jesus means in this parable. Verse 9 says, “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
Who are the friends who receive you into eternal dwellings? This is God. Only God can receive us into his eternal dwelling. We get to our eternal dwelling through Jesus. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
But how does one make friends with God by means of unrighteous wealth? God teaches us to give alms. He teaches us to give away our money and possessions for the goodwill of others who cannot provide for themselves. Unrighteous wealth is another way of talking about common currency. We demonstrate our friendship with God, our love for God, by giving away that which is valuable to us for the benefit of those in need and to further the work of the kingdom. Jesus says this in Luke 12:33-34, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail… For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
We recall that in the parable, God does not commend the dishonesty, but commends the shrewdness, the cleverness of his dishonest manager. Jesus tells us that we cannot remain naïve Christians in this world thinking that all will be well all the time. We have to use our brains and discernment in order to be Christians in this world. At times, we have to be shrewd. We need to be as clever as those who reject Christ in our business dealings and in the ways in which we live out God’s commands in this world.
This parable leads us to ask God to make us shrewd enough to recognize when we are being held to account by the Lord for how we manage all that He has given to us. When we realize that we have neglected our responsibilities, when our focus on the Lord has dimmed, and our attention goes elsewhere, we ask to perceive our sin. We return to the Lord. Jesus died on the cross so that our prayers of repentance will be heard. We are promised Christ’s forgiveness. On account of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ through the cross, we can continue on with burdens lifted and hearts willing to serve as masters of all that He has entrusted to us: our very lives, our families, our friends, our community, our time, energy, and possessions.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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