Luke
16:1-13
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. 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.' 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. 4 I have
decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome
me into their homes.' 5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked
the first, "How much do you owe my master?' 6 He answered, "A hundred
jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, "Take your bill, sit down quickly, and
make it fifty.' 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.' 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. 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. 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. 11 If then you have not been faithful
with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if
you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what
is your own? 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."
…for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with
their own generation than are the children of light.
· In preparing this
talk, one of the commentators helped me to understand what sort of business is
going on here.
· First off, the main
character – the manager – is not trustworthy. We can’t say why. Maybe he was a
cheat or corrupt or simply incompetent. In any event, he has to make one last
report of his management. He goes to the master’s debtors and has them forge
their receipts. The hidden agenda (although Luke makes it quite clear) is the
master’s debtors are now indebted to the manager. 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. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as
manager, people may welcome me into their homes.
· This manager is
crafty and corrupt and a cheat, but he knows how to look out for himself. Even
his master – whom he had cheated and whose property he had squandered –
respected him for this: And his master commended the dishonest
manager because he had acted shrewdly…
· Please note that
Jesus does not say Go and do likewise.
He’s not recommending this sort of business practice or this sort of
selfishness on the part of his disciples.
· However he is saying
something that we as disciples need to hear: …for the children of this age
are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of
light.
· If this statement
seems odd, I’d have to agree. Without complimenting the manager’s dishonesty,
he does point out the singular focus the man had on what he needed to do. He
looked at his possible options for his future and took the action needed in his
here-and-now. Yes, he lied and cheated and he kissed up to his master’s debtors.
But his focus on doing what was needed cannot be denied. The English writer
Samuel Johnson was once quoted as saying “Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a
fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” A bit gruesome,
but straight to the point. The manager did what he felt he had to do to keep
from begging or digging ditches, even if it meant lying, cheating, and
falsifying documents.
· Jesus is telling
his disciples that they might develop such a focus on their lives in the faith.
He even says make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth
so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
· Our translation
uses the word dishonest. That might not be the best word
since it implies (to me) that the wealth was generated by dishonest, shady, or
even criminal means. The original language says “unjust” or “unrighteous”, a
better term and one that applies to just about all horded wealth. We hear in
this a hinting that wealth could lead to the worship of wealth, which is often
personified as “Mammon,” a good Biblical word. Note Jesus also says that riches
will not be held by a person forever, reminding them that when it is
gone…
· So Jesus is telling
his disciples and any who could hear him that money makes a great tool and a
lousy god. He doesn’t deny that it has its uses, but warns us about allowing
money to use us. Money and riches are powerful and a powerful
distraction from the mission of each Christian.
· So we are warned to
keep our eye on what is really important every bit as much as the manager kept
his eye on what was needed for him to thrive. The focus of the Christian is on
the good news of the Gospel and the coming of the Kingdom of God. We live in a
distracted time in a distracted world, but we are not left to our own devices.
We live in the grace of God and in that grace we do whatever we do. Jesus gave
us words to remember in the face of one of our life’s biggest distractions:
You cannot serve God and wealth."
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