Scripture Text: Luke 16:1-13
Alright, I know what you’re thinking. “Jesus, you’re making absolutely no sense whatsoever.” Don’t feel bad. That’s the response of most people when they read or hear his parable of the shrewd manager. It doesn’t seem to make any sense. Worse, it seems to contradict almost everything that Jesus teaches.
A manager is called before his master and is told he’s going to be fired after he files his final report. This is, of course, a time when there isn’t such a thing as unemployment insurance, food stamps, social security disability, or any other social safety net. (In other words, next year if our idiot Congress gets its way.) This is a death sentence or close to it, so our manager friend is understandably panicked. But then, he goes and he alters the records of his master’s debts. He cheats his master out of an enormous amount of money and then when he is called to give his final report, he is commended for it.
Wait, what?
People, regardless of whether they profess the faith of Christianity or not, look to Jesus as a great moral teacher. Yet here he advocates two things that we almost never consider morally upright: Lying and cheating someone out of their money, and resultantly an “ends justifies the means” attitude.
Really? Is that what Jesus is actually teaching here? Well, yes, but there is also some more nuance to it. And to understand that, we have to recognize a couple of things. First off is to remember that this is a parable. This is a metaphorical story, not meant to be read too literally. The cheating by the manager, in fact his whole behavior, is allegory for something else. But what exactly?
Perhaps the place to start is at the end. If this a story about the end justifying the means, what then is that end? What is the metaphor there? To that, we turn to Scripture, to the covenants old and new, to understand.
God’s relationship with humanity really kicks off with Abraham and the promises God makes to him. “I will make of you a great nation.” God says. “It will be numerous, and prosperous, and from it shall come a blessing for all the world.” Throughout Genesis and through much of the Old Testament, this promise is repeated, fleshed out, expounded upon.
Note precisely what’s going on here. The Chosen people are being chosen not because they’re special or better than everyone else. No, they chosen for the purpose of blessing the world. They will be the means by which God shows his love, compassion, and mercy to all the people of the world.
And they fail. Frequently. (Reference our first lesson for an example of what happens when they do.) So more is needed. God then makes a new covenant with another people, us, and we are grafted on to the people of the old covenant, to help them do their job, so that the world will be blessed by God through us.
That’s the end that God seeks. A blessing for all. And what precisely is that blessing? Nothing less than living in the kingdom of God as one of his children. To bring all people to God, so that they may live in peace, and joy, and hope. This is what the old covenant was about. This is what Christ came to do. His sacrifice on the cross was so that he could take away our sin and make us a part of that kingdom. And he wants more to come to it, always more.
So, that brings us back to our parable. The master is, of course, God. His household is the kingdom. And what the manager does is make the master look really good. Wow, you mean he forgave my debt! Where can I sign on with this generous master? That’s what God wants. He wants to look good, so people want to be a part of what he’s doing. He wants people to be a part of his kingdom.
We are the manager. The covenant people, old and new. Our job is nothing less than to make the master look good. And to that end, we are given management of countless resources. We essentially control the master’s physical possessions, his wealth, his stuff. Each of us also has innate gifts: our talents, our skills, our vocations, with which we can also make the master look good.
So, how are we going to do that? The manager in the story uses his wits. He’s a clever man and he knows having a generous reputation will serve the master well. But what about us?
Amos gives us some clues; perhaps we should treat the less-fortunate with some dignity, rather than this mad dash in our society to punish them for whatever sins we imagine they are guilty. If we refuse to let the hungry starve, if we give medicine for those who are sick, if we welcome the outcast, that’ll show people God’s love in a very concrete way.
Luther says that we serve Christ best in our vocation by doing our jobs to their utmost. A craftsman does more for the kingdom by making a quality product than by scratching a cross on everything they make.
Every Sunday you come into this place, where I, as your pastor, am essentially mandated to tell you all I can about God’s love. I am compelled by his Spirit to announce forgiveness for your sins. I use my wits and my education to craft a sermon that is intended to edify, to challenge, and ultimately to proclaim the grace of Christ’s Gospel. I invite you to come share in Christ’s very self in the sacrament. All of this done so that you can see God as he is, so that you want to be a part of what he’s doing in the world.
That’s all why we’re here. Each of us has something that we can use to show the world what God’s kingdom is about. Some of us have money. Well, how are we using it to further the kingdom? Some of us have creative gifts. How we using them to further the kingdom? Some of us have intelligence and knowledge. How are we using those for the kingdom? Some of us work. How can that serve the kingdom? Some of us are kind-hearted. How can we use that for the kingdom? Some of us have great faith. How can we share that for the sake of the kingdom?
I could go on for hours, but I think you see my point. That’s what this parable is about. The manager uses his wits and the resources the master has entrusted to him to make people love the master. We’re here today and every week because someone showed us how to love the master. We saw us his love and his mercy, shown forth most keenly by the death of Christ on the cross for all our sakes. And we believed. And now, the ball is in our court. Everything that we have and everything that we are is a tool, a means, to bring others into the master’s household, into his kingdom.
What then can you do to further the kingdom? Amen.
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