Pentecost 15 (Proper 20C)

Text: “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” - Luke 16:8

Stepping Through a Strange Parable

What can we say about this strange parable? A dishonest manager isn’t terribly surprising, even in a parable of our Lord. But for that dishonest manager to be commended? What do you make of that? What is that supposed to tell us? Let’s walk our way through it and see. Actually, we’ll start at the end and see if we can make more sense of it that way.

Step 1: To paraphrase the words that every student dreads, this parable tells us, “Yes, there will be a test.”

Except we actually need to go a step further: Yes, it is a test. It’s definitely a test. Right now.

Step 2: Worse, it is a strange test.

Not tricky, like one of those true/false tests where the statements that you’re asked to declare to be ‘true’ or ‘false’ are all double or triple negatives. No tricks. But very, very strange.

Step 3: And the test involves the way you use money.

Step 4: What is God testing? Will you serve God or mammon?

Can He trust you to serve Him or will you serve money instead? (Or let’s use the old word: ‘mammon.’ Worldly goods.)

Here’s the punchline: the test is not actually about money. The test is to see if He can trust you with something even greater.

So far so good? You’re being tested right now. And yes, it is a strange test from our perspective. But you are being tested to see how you handle the earthly wealth He has given you. And He’s testing you to see if you will serve Him or if you will serve mammon. But, in the end, it’s not actually about money. He’s seeing if He can entrust to you something greater.

So far so good.

The sticking point here is the test, itself. Why is this “shrewd”/“dishonest” manager an example of someone who passes the test? What part of this are you to emulate?

Let’s try to come at this backwards, as well, and see if we can’t figure out what Jesus would have us learn from this “shrewd”/“dishonest” manager—a question for my confirmands (and recent confirmands): what four-letter word must we never, ever use in church?

“Fair”

Do you ever want to deal with God based on what’s ‘fair’? No! Never! Hell is fair. It’s horrible to think about Judgment Day and the prospect of so many being cast into eternal fire. It would be wrong not to be bothered by that thought. We might well wring our hands at the prospect. But there will never be any suggestion that it isn’t fair.

What did this “shrewd”/“dishonest” manager do right? He’s not handling the master’s money according to what is ‘fair’. He’s cancelling debts right and left.

“He’s banking on the fact that, when these tenants have these reductions of rate and word begins to get out, the master is going to be seen as generous, as gracious, as merciful, as giving. And it is that gracious, giving, merciful character of the master that the steward is banking on.

He— in this moment of judgment, in this moment of uncertain future— he banked on the mercy of the master. And, as we’ll see, it turned out well for him.”

And for that the master commends him. That’s the test. That is what it looks like to serve God rather than mammon.

To take the point a little further, let’s look at the Pharisees. This parable was told against them. To them, their great wealth was a sign of God’s favor. God was blessing them because they were so obedient and faithful— so righteous. Indeed, it impressed others, as well. So, as they prepared for the coming judgment, they felt quite secure because of the wealth they had built up. But God knew their hearts. He saw that, for them, wealth was about luxury and self-indulgence. That wealth, which gave them great comfort and security, was actually the reason why they would soon be judged ‘worthless.’

I can’t help but think about the accusation that’s often leveled against Christians that you and I are so quick to defend unborn life and so quick to object to programs that help provide for those in need. On the one hand it does not come close to justifying the killing of the unborn. On the other, they’re partly right. We may not be able to quote very many Bible verses from memory, but we are quick to quote the verse that says, “If a man will not work he will not eat.” I want to be careful, because there is a great deal of room for Christians to disagree here as to the best, most effective way to do it, but how often is advocating “smaller government” an excuse for selfishness? How often do we react by coming up with excuses for why the poor really deserve their plight?

On the coming day of judgment, will God find that what is in our hearts is actually a sinful sense that we deserve our wealth and comfort while the poor haven’t earned what we have? If so, then you are loving mammon rather than God. Your money is what you are really devoted to rather than God. You will be judged a worthless servant.

Let me try to say it one other way. On Judgment Day, if God said to you, “I will now be as generous to you in my judgment as you have been with the mammon that I have given to you throughout your life” would that be a comforting thought or a frightening thought? Even if He included the generosity that you showed to make yourself look good, even if He included what you gave to others only because you knew you’d receive it back, would that be a comforting thought or a frightening thought?

That is the test in a nutshell. What the “shrewd” manager did for selfish reasons, you should be doing by your very nature as a child of God.

Today is your warning to be shrewd. Repent.

Preparing for Your Judge

There is one point here that is even greater that we must be careful not to miss. What’s really shocking is the fact that the master commends the shrewd manager. That is something we must not overlook. Because it makes a very powerful statement about what kind of person that master is.

This steward was in the same situation— on a much lower level— that all of us are in. …We’re looking at the future; we’re looking at the eschaton; we’re looking at the judgment; we’re looking at standing before the master, right? What are we gonna do? What are we going to count on as the means of ensuring that we have a future?

In this case, in the parable, he counted on the mercy of his master. And he acted wisely in doing so.

And the merciful master commended him.

What do we do? When we face the judgment of God, when we face the judge of the living and the dead, what can we do?

There’s really only one option for us, too: we are to act wisely, shrewdly. We will throw ourselves upon His mercy— the mercy of our master.

Because, as it turns out, our judge has nail marks in his hands; our judge is the one who was willing to die for us; our judge is the very incarnation of mercy. So we throw ourselves upon the mercy of Jesus Christ.

When we’re facing the judgment of God, there’s only one place to go: to God, the judge, who is also our redeemer, our savior, our brother, the one who loves us and calls us his own. If the sons of this world know, when they’re in this sort of crisis, to throw themselves upon the mercy of the master, then how much more we, the sons of light, should know to act wisely and throw ourselves upon the mercy of our master. (Bird, Chad. “The Parable of the Unjust Steward and Merciful Master.” Posted to YouTube September 13, 2022.)

“He who sits on the judgement throne is the very one nailed to the saving cross. He who [has given you your] eye[s] and has seen all you’ve done—His are the eyes that closed in death and opened in resurrection life, that they might look upon you as the apple of His eye. He who formed [your] ear[s] and has heard all you’ve said—His are the ears that are open to your cry, that will not hear the accusations of the devil, that are deaf to anything said evil of you. He who made your hands and has seen all they've mishandled—His are the hands held in place by the spikes, the hands which scooped up water to bathe away your iniquity, the hands that place within your mouth His own blood and flesh, the hands upon which your name is inscribed. He knows all. But more importantly, He knows that you are His. Sin cannot condemn [you] because the sinless One has already been condemned for [you]. The law cannot curse [you] because Jesus has become a curse for us. “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the One who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us?”” (Bird, Chad. “Will Believers Be Judged? Thoughts from the Weirdest Parable Jesus Told.” https://www.1517.org/articles/will-believers-be-judged-thoughts-from-the-weirdest-parable-jesus-told?fbclid=IwAR1FKYZDOCmA2aUYqD9OZIppekqZb5aaSKckZOH0eGCdUfqZ8lt-IFYzVoI. September 15, 2016.)

Yes, it is a test. But not because you need to prove something to God. He is teaching you to love and be devoted to Him rather than to mammon.

In fact, that mammon— your earthly wealth— is no longer about your luxury and self-indulgence. Your earthly wealth is now a seed of His grace that He has planted in you which grows to become a harvest of kindness to others. A harvest, by the way, that your master will commend you for on the Last Day.

And remember, it’s not about the money. He wants to entrust to you something far, far greater.

He has given to you all the riches of heaven. In fact, He has given you the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.

He has given you the power to lock the gates and to throw them wide open. He has given you the right to cancel the debts of sin that sinners owe to Him and He begs you to use it! Use it like He would—not for those who “deserve” it, who haven’t don’t anything too serious, who’ve cleaned up their act and changed their ways. Use it as generously and as graciously as He would. As He has for you. That is how you use it faithfully.

“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness” (Luke 16:8). This is an unexpected parable. But it points you in a very familiar direction: to Jesus Christ. And, as unexpected as it is, it doesn’t compare to what Jesus, your judge, will commend you for on the Last Day.