Scripture Lesson is Luke 16:1-13

An odd parable

 

This is an odd parable. As we read it we are left scratching
     our heads. Sometimes the meaning of the parables weren’t
     obvious to those who first heard them. We read in Scripture
     the disciples on several occasions asking the Lord, What was
     the meaning of that? It’s not clear to us. This is a parable that
     plants us in their camp.

     There was this manager who apparently was mishandling
     his masters wealth. It seems he may have been spending a
     bit freely on his own comfort. He probably was using the master’s
     wealth for himself, never figuring the master will ask for an
     accounting. Well, someone takes note that this manager is living
     a bit better than he should be. Manager’s don’t tend to have the
     means to live quite that well. So, they go to the Master and tell
     him that something isn’t quite right. The manager is doing a little
     to well and things just do gel. The Master takes this news and
     upset with the manager’s shady dealings with his wealth tells
     him that he is to be terminated. He expects to have an accounting
     of how he has handled his affairs.

      The manager is stunned. His cushy job has been taken from
      him. He’s gotten away with it for a long time it seems, but the
      gravy train is over. What will he do? He is older and has had a
      desk job all these years. He is in no condition to do manual labor.
      I suspect this also was very distasteful to him as well. The other
      alternative isn’t much better. A life of begging on the streets for
      coins and crumbs is hardly a life. Plus, he had been a man of
      means. He was someone who had some weight in the community
      most likely. A chamber of commerce kind of guy. The thought
      of this was just intolerable. It was just too embarrassing.

       So, he decides that he will settle the debts of the Master in
       such a way that he will make friends. He will balance the books
       in a manner that will make people feel somewhat indebted to
       him. He calls the Master’s debtors to him and with each one he
       asks them how much do you owe. With each person he tells them
       to trim some off the top. In the end each debtor ends up owing
       less than they expected. As any of us can attest when someone
       takes a bit off a bill we are happy and grateful, and so were they.

       It’s the day of reckoning. The books are opened and the
       Master sees what the manager has done. He commends this
       manager for his shrewdness. This is where we are left
       scratching our head. How can he commend this guy for
       anything? At first glance we wonder how can the books even
       be in order? Wouldn’t the Master be missing some money?
       The people of our Lord’s day probably had some insight we
       don’t. We aren’t aware of some common business practices
       of the day.

       In our Lord’s day it was against Jewish law to charge one
       another interest on credit extended. However, many merchants
       got around this restriction by overcharging for goods and
       services. They would take these excess profits in lieu of
       interest. The manager had apparently dealt unfairly with the
       Master’s debtors. He took excess profits in lieu of interest.
       So, the manager when he cut the debts, was basically cutting
       the excessive profits he had been adding for his own gain.
       The manager made sure when cutting the people’s debts that
       he had enough to put back anything he had taken from the
       Master, while also giving the debtors the appearance of having
       been given a break as well. As a result, he had people who were
       happy to not be out of pocket so much money but also the
       Master’s books were in order as well.

        This doesn’t satisfy our bewilderment totally. How can the
        Master in this story still praise this clearly dishonest manager.
        He most likely is an embezeller of some sort. He was greedy
        overcharging those who dealt with the Master for goods and
        services for his own gain, and sifted even more from the
        Master himself. How can the Master have anything good to say
        about this guy? Why would he compliment him on his shrewd-
        ness?

         It’s not as if the Master is really complimenting or condoning
         this guys character. Does the Master hire him back because of
         his shrewdness? No. The guy is still fired. The Master still
         doesn’t trust him. What is the meaning of the Master’s compliment?

        It’s not a turn around in his opinion. It’s not a sudden
        admiration for this fella. The Master still thinks he’s a shady
        character. The Master has no question that this guy is Wiley.
        What the Master is taking note of is this guys creativity in
        handling this situation. He found himself in a situation where
        he was going to lose everything and he turned it around. Yes,
        he still lost his job, but the Master’s book ended up in order
        and he had people who owed him a favor whom he could call
        upon for help.

         This manager put a lot of effort into finagling the books and
         the Master’s affairs. We can see him sitting down and figuring
         very diligently, “well if I take a little here and put some there
         that’ll cover up this.” “That fella won’t think twice about paying
         a few more dollars, then I can put some in my pocket and pad
         that account a bit.” I’m sure there was a lot of borrowing from
         Peter to pay Paul in this guy’s bookkeeping. It probably was a
         chore just keeping track of it all, but he did. He had gotten use
         to a certain life style, and was willing to do whatever it takes to
         sustain it.

         This leads us to the next complement that causes us to shake
          our heads. What can the Lord mean by this. “The children of
          this age are shrewder dealing with this generation than are the
          children of light.” What? Huh? Again it seems the wrong people
          are getting a pat on the back.

           The manager was shrewd in securing his future. He had put
           tons of energy into his creative bookkeeping.  Our Lord is telling
           us that believers should put that same kind of effort, time, and
           determination and apply it to our spiritual lives. He is not pointing
           believers toward dishonesty as a model of behavior. He is calling
           us to be entrepreneurial about what really matters in life.

          The passage then puts us in the place of the manager. He wants
          us to think about how we handle worldly wealth? Where’s this
          coming from? This is founded in the idea that wealth is a gift
          from God. The manager was hired by the Master and trusted with
          His affairs. We like the manager are entrusted with life and certain
          resources. Whatever we have in the eyes of Scripture is on loan
          from the Lord. We are just stewards of it. How are we making use
          of it? What are we producing with it? What do we have to show for
          it? If the Lord came to visit the factory today, would He be happy with
          what is coming off the production line?

          When I was in wood shop I was making a cutting board. I had
          decided to try to reproduce one my brother had made years
          before. I had traced a pattern from his and bought it to school
          and transferred it to a piece of wood. The woodshop had everything
          I needed to replicate my brother’s cutting board. It had a jigsaw,
          sander, and so on. Well, the day came to cut it out and the jigsaw
          was being used. I just couldn’t seem to get a crack at it. I got
          impatient and decided to do it by hand. I got a little saw and started
          cutting into the wood following the pattern that was traced. Then
          the saw bent in such a way that it cut into the wood off the pattern.
          The oval shape of the cutting board was a thing of the past. The
          pattern had to be rethought and the end product came out something
          like a lop-sided lemon. I had all the tools to make the oval cutting
          board, but I took a short-cut and ended up with a lemon.

           Our Lord gives us life then adds some resources and tools or
           for our parable’s purpose wealth.  Are we utilizing all we have to
           its fullest or compromising? What is the fate of the pattern in our
           hands?

           The manager had made the mistake that many people make. The
           Master wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder. Clearly there
           wasn’t a regular accounting. So the manager got lack. Without the
           Master always there he started to think of the Master’s wealth as
           his own. He used it for his own selfish purposes. He became so
           focused on what he was doing that he saw it as the product of
           his own doing. I made this money. I managed it after all.

          We can become like the manager. Our Lord isn’t breathing
          down our necks. We don’t have angels constantly delivering
          messages reminding us with what we have been entrusted. It’s
          real easy to start thinking that what we have is ours and ours
          alone. The only person I have to be accountable to is maybe my
          spouse and Uncle Sam.

           Our Lord is reminding us of that trust we have been given.
          What kind of person is our wealth making us? What order will
          He find the books of our life? Have we squandered what has
          been given? Have we lost some? Have we made the most of it
          and more? Have we made other’s lives wealthier?

           We have life. We have these worldly resources our Lord gives
           us. His parable reminds us to think about our use of these things,
           how are we utilizing them. Within the parable there is also something
           deeper as well. Our Lord sees the handling of these things as small
           things. Have we been faithful in the small things? Then He speaks
           about the large ones? What are the large ones?

            He talks about being entrusted with true wealth. Elsewhere our
            Lord talks about this true wealth. When He talks about the hidden
            treasure that a fella finds in a field and then he goes and sells all
            he has to buy that field, He is talking abut true wealth. When He
            speaks of a guy who finds a fine pearl, then he goes and sells all
            he has to possess it he is speaking of true wealth. What is this true
            wealth. It is the kingdom of God. It is the reign of God in our lives.
            It is funny, what is here, this worldly stuff is basically on loan, it
            is entrusted us by the Lord, but the kingdom of God is ours. This
            seems backwards, but this is how it is. The kingdom of God is a
            gift, but it is a gift that ends up belonging to us.

            In this parable we are told that how we handle the small stuff
            most likely is an indicator of how we are handling the big stuff.
            The Lord commends a dishonest man’s shrewdness in looking
            after his future. The Lord calls us to that same shrewdness, to
            employ that enterprise to our trust, entrepreneurial zeal the
            kingdom. It is in this was we demonstrate who we serve, Who is
            our Master.  

                       

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