Lectionary 25
Luke 16:1-13

Dear friends in Christ,

This fall we’re working on the general theme, “Get Ready.” We do that this time of year, getting ready for the winter to come. I received an e-mail ad from Home Depot, and sure enough, there theme was getting ready, selling the tools and other items we need to get things ready before the snow flies.

It’s also a time to think about what we need to do to get ready and live ready spiritually, for we never know how much time the Lord will give us in this live. So it’s always important to live ready.

Last week we looked at two parables, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. While we were doing that in church, our confirmation youth were on a retreat, also reading and learning about the parables. Now most parables, which are short stories that make a moral point about God or our relationship with God, are pretty straightforward, easy to understand and apply to our lives. The parables of the lost sheep and coin are clearly about God’s love for us, seeking us out when lost, and then about our call to be good witnesses, continuing to look for the lost. But not every parable is quite that simple. There are some more difficult ones, such as today’s, the parable of the unrighteous steward.

Some time ago, a well-known, multi-national insurance and financial services company sponsored a series of engaging television commercials. In each of the advertisements, the message communicated gives the viewer the sense that “there is more here than what meets the eye.” In each segment there is a series of two or three scenes followed by a tag line which broadens and widens the understanding of the scene.

For instance, the scene in one commercial features a lone canoe being paddled across a calm lake. The tag line that comes into focus reads, “This is not a canoe; it is an aerobic workout before breakfast.” In another scene, an oversized tractor combine is being driven down a rural road. The tag line says, “This is not a farmer; it is an investor driving his capital investment.” And in yet another scene, a young girl is turning somersaults with her friends in an open field. Finally, the tag line appears: “This is not a gymnast; it is a future physicist learning about gravity.” This parable is like that, there’s more here than meets the eye.

The central character in this parable is a dishonest, or perhaps better, an unrighteous steward—a financial manager who is busted by some nameless informant who tells a certain rich landowner that his manager has been wasting his resources and money. We don’t know for certain if he was truly dishonest or just inept, but in any case he’s not doing his job. And so the master dismisses the manager by saying something like, “What’s this I hear about you cooking my books? Get them together; bring them in, and hand them over because you’re done!” Well, the manager, about to be unemployed, devises a plan to secure his somewhat fragile future. We learn quickly that he is actually a rather creative, resourceful business person. The Bible uses the word “shrewd,” but the best translations of that word are words like clever, judicious, prudent, sensible, or wise.

The clever manager goes to work meeting individually with the debtors. Each one of them is brought in and is asked how much he owes. One of the debtors owes 100 jugs or “measures” of olive oil. One measure is equal to about 10 gallons. The amount owed—100 measures—is therefore about a thousand gallons of olive oil. That’s a lot! The second debtor owes the master 100 containers of wheat. One container of wheat is equal to about 11 bushels. The amount that this debtor owes is about 1,100 bushels of wheat, which again is an immense amount (adapted from The Parables of Jesus: A Commentary by Arland J. Hultgren, © 2000 Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, pages 150-151). The shrewd manager says to the first debtor, “Adjust your bill to read 50.” To the second debtor he says, “Adjust your bill to read 80.” Interesting. Is the manager taking off his portion of the total bill? Maybe. Maybe not. Is he shorting the master by the adjustment of the final bill? Probably. Now here’s the surprise. The rich master congratulates the dishonest manager for his shrewd and clever handling of this situation and securing his future. In one way it’s kind of a stroke of genius because it accomplishes three things: first, the rich landowner is glorified and praised in the minds of the debtors for his apparent generosity; second, the financial situation of the debtors has been improved; and third, the manager has provided for his own future economic security, he’s made friends who will now help him out! This parable does not approve the manager’s evil scheming, but does commend his shrewdness or cleverness.

Now here’s where there’s more than meets the eye. The point seems to be that if a dishonest, unrighteous steward, can be so clever in his handling of money, how much more so should believers in God be excellent stewards in all that God has provided. It’s an argument from the lesser to the greater. If even an unrighteous scoundrel, the lesser, can save his own neck and make himself look good, how much more ought believers, the greater, make excellent use of their resources.

So how, in a world and culture that seems to cry out “make and keep as much as you are able,” can we be the kind of excellent stewards God, through His Word, tells us to be?

Well, first, we learn from the parable, that we are not the owners, but the managers. There is only one master, the one who gives us what we have, and that is God. Everything from beginning to end, from top to bottom, inside out, and upside down, it’s all God’s—it all belongs to God. Now that’s a pretty important faith statement. It’s counter cultural. We speak in the language of ownership. “I own my own home. I own my car. That bank account is mine. That’s my land.” But really, it’s all gift. If God didn’t give us life and daily work and food and health, we wouldn’t have any of it. Possessions are a gift from God. They are not meant to replace God and to possess us. They’re meant to be used and enjoyed in the context of our relationship with God. First, there’s God, then there’s all the rest. As it says in the lesson, “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and mammon.” So we start making excellent use of our resources by acknowledging who owns all and being grateful to God for all that we have. It’s all gift.

Next, we are called to be good managers of what we have. In the parable the unrighteous steward was shrewd and clever. He got the most out of what he had been given to manage. The Christian community needs to have people that manage their resources well, in an honest, productive way. We need people that work not just for their own well being and satisfaction, but for the kingdom of God. We need people who are entrepreneurs, business leaders, teachers, medical professionals, all people doing whatever vocation God has called them to do. And then we need people to make good choices on how the money that is made or earned is used. Is it all used up on me? Do I keep it all in my family? Is it for my entertainment and pleasure? Is that what God wants? Or is there a responsibility to make some of what I have available for others, to be a witness to our loving God? Do we believe what is taught in many places in scripture, that life consists of more than money and possessions? Do we truly believe that life is more satisfying and meaningful when we give, and not just take?

It’s certainly not up to me to tell you how to spend your money. That’s not my job. I don’t know your finances, I don’t know your income, your expenses, what you need, what you think is important and why. That’s up to you. But we’re all called to think about the decisions we make regarding our money, to be shrewd stewards and not wasteful, and to use at least a portion of what we have for God’s kingdom. It’s been said, “Wealth…is a relative thing. The person who has little and wants less is richer than the person who has much and wants more.” There’s wisdom in that. Money and wealth are neither good nor bad. It’s our attitude about money, what we do with it, that determines its moral value.

And that leads to the last point about being excellent stewards. We’re called to be generous, in some ways, ridiculously generous, with what we have been given. We live in a culture that essentially teaches you can have your cake and eat it too. You can be a person of faith and earn and keep all the money you want. No problem with that at all. Build the biggest house, drive the biggest car, have the largest bank account, own the most property, keep it all, no problem or so we’re led to believe. But that’s simply not true. All over the Bible, including the lesson from Amos today, there is expressed God’s concern for the poor and needy among us. All over the Bible, there is concern that God’s work, ministry, be done by believers. All this work has to be done, and it gets done because people are willing to give generously from what they have. Again, it’s not what you have, but what you’re doing with what you have, that makes the difference.

The church, ideally and at its very best, is a place where anyone can come at any time and be spiritually fed and nourished, without cost. It’s a place where children and youth can come and learn about God and Jesus and be loved and cared for, again, without cost. It’s a community that serves the hungry and poor with their hands and hearts and time, at no charge. It’s a place that does mission and serves, with no financial obligation from those being served.

It’s a terrible business model, doing it all for nothing, not submitting a bill. But it’s possible because of the generosity of people like you, who understand that money and possessions serve a greater purpose than just making you happy. They are God’s gifts, and when shared, are used to help others and be a witness to our loving God.

Next week, we have our annual Tanzanian emphasis, lifting up the ministry we are involved with in that East African country. I really hope you’ll make it a priority to come, because we’ll show the 40 minute DVD of our trip last February which captures well the spirit of the country and what happens when people are generous with their resources. It’s amazing what ministry can be done, and it’s just one small example among many such things, near and far.

I know that we’re all at different points in life, in our finances, and in our understanding of generous giving. But we all have to start somewhere, looking at our own situation and asking, am I really being as generous with what I have as I can be? Is God asking me to do more? After all, it’s all God’s gift, we’re called to be the very best managers as possible, and it’s meant to be shared for the kingdom. If an unrighteous steward can use his money shrewdly and be commended, just think how much more we can do! Make God give us the courage and the will to do so. Amen