PARABLES OF
JESUS SERMON SERIES
Crooks and Commendations!
Luke 16:1-13
Rev.
Don Keller September 22,
2013 Skyline
Presbyterian Church
We have entered that part
of Luke’s Gospel which is heavily sprinkled with parables. In many ways the one
for our scripture today is the most puzzling parable Jesus ever spoke. In a
story about a crooked servant and the employer who catches and then fires him,
while at the same time commending him for his shrewdness, Jesus seems to be approving
of his dishonesty. That the story is puzzling can be seen by the fact that Luke
himself found it so. He attached now fewer than three different lessons to the
parable. We will come back to them in a moment, but first let’s simply listen
to the story.
(Read Luke 16:1-13) This is
one of the many times when the printed word is inadequate. We need to be able
to hear the tone of voice and see the expression on Jesus’ face as He told the
story. Does He tell it with a smile on His face, or does He tell it in great
seriousness? Certainly the situation is humorous and at the very least peaks
the imagination: the one cheated giving the cheater, who took him, his due for
being resourceful in a bind. One has to appreciate the irony in that. But it
doesn’t make it any easier to understand just what Jesus is getting at.
Part of our problem is that
the economic situation behind this parable is foreign to us today. The steward
was empowered to make legally binding contracts for his master and was allowed
by the custom of the time to make a profit for himself on the deals he made.
For example, someone would ask for a loan of 80 measures of wheat. The person
would get his 80 measures of wheat, but his contract would be written up to
read 100 measures. The extra 20 measures of wheat were the steward’s legitimate
profit. When the shrewd steward realized that he was going to get fired because
of his wastefulness, he moved quickly to forgo his profits and issued new
bonds. The beneficiaries of his alert thinking would surely welcome him into
their homes after his dismissal. To understand this procedure helps us to see
that the master was not necessarily cheated out of anything due him and at the
same time that the enterprising steward escaped the ordeals of digging and the
shame of begging. “And his master commended the dishonest steward because he
had acted shrewdly…” And that is the point of the parable: the steward used
his money astutely. He was not praised for dishonesty, but for his astuteness.
Luke uses the story as the
occasion to apply its teachings to his own community. He takes three sayings of
Jesus to build on the truth of the parable.
One:
“…the children of this
age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children
of light.” What does He mean?
William Barclay points out what may already be obvious. The parable deals with
the scheming of a set of rascals. It is apparent that the steward was one, and
a quick-witted one at that! Those who owed the master were also quite content
to be dishonest and to alter their contracts as fast as they could, if they
could get away with it. The parable has to do with a set of extremely
unsatisfactory characters.
They were rascals, true,
but they were wholehearted in their rascality! They steward was willing to bend
every effort to maintain his comfort. The debtors were willing to catch any
chance to cancel part of their debt. If Christians were as sharp on their
Christianity as these men were on their dubious business, it would be a vastly
different world. As Hugh Martin says, “If
they took as much trouble with their Christianity as they do in trying to
reduce their handicap at golf or in growing their roses they would be much
better people.” But let’s pick on golfers and gardeners! We can test
ourselves. How much time do we give to our work, our hobbies, our sports, our
outside interests? Jesus is saying here, “Look at the way the worldly rascal
works for the things he values; if you would work at your Christianity with the
same enthusiasm you would be much better people.”
Two:
“…make friends for
yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they welcome
you into the eternal homes.” Disciples
are to handle material things so as to secure heaven and the future. That is to
say, how one handles property has eternal consequences. Use your possessions so
as to gain, not lose, the future. Jesus had a lot to say about money and
material possession. They are not inherently bad, but they can turn into a god
which controls every aspect of one’s life. Use them well. Use them not just for
your own benefit, but for the benefit of others as well. One’s conduct of his
money affairs is a good test of himself. The story is told of a meeting at
which Christian people were describing their religious experiences. One woman
sat silent. She was asked to speak but refused. From the look on her face it
was easy to see that something was very wrong. When asked what the matter was,
she answered that more than one of the people who had just made glowing testimonies
to Christ owed her money—and her family was near to starving. Our Christian
professions and our practices must be congruent. We are called to use our
wealth wisely and well, to do good both to ourselves and to others.
Three:
“Whoever is faithful in
very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in very little
is dishonest also in much.” The
life of a disciple is one of faithful attention to the frequent and familiar
tasks of each day, however small or insignificant they may seem. The one
faithful in today’s nickels and dimes is the one to be trusted with the big
account. But it is easy to be indifferent toward small obligations while quite
sincerely believing one’s self fully trustworthy in major matters. However,
this suggests that life consists of a series of seemingly small opportunities.
Fred Craddock writes: “Most of us will
not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine
with the queen, convert a nation, or be burned at the stake. More likely the
week will present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note,
visit a nursing home, vote for a county commissioner, teach a Sunday school
class, share a meal, tell a child a story, go to choir practice, and feed the
neighbor’s cat.” It is seeing and meeting the opportunities of each day
that demonstrates our faithfulness and prepares us for greater responsibility.
The parable with its
possible lessons is summed up this way: “No slave can serve two masters… You
cannot serve God and wealth.” Frank Seilhamer says: “When you come to a fork in the road you must take one or the other, or
come to a dead stop. And the decision you make as to which one you will follow
will determine your ultimate destination. God and mammon (the things and lure
of this life with God removed) are separate forks in life’s road. The one you
pick will eventually dominate your and shape your existence, and have eternal
consequences. While others take the wrong one, and do it with
single-mindedness, Jesus is pulling for us to choose the right one, and do it
with all our heart, mind and strength.”
During the decade of the
1930’s, Winston Churchill was one of the few people in
That, says Jesus, is the
kind of singleness of purpose we owe God. We are stewards of God, and the
extent of our stewardship is all inclusive. It includes our material
possessions, our personal qualities, our intellectual gifts, our moral
characteristics, and our spiritual experiences and attainments. All these are
part of our wealth. All age given to be used for God in the service of
humankind.
I close with two quotes for
our on-going thought. Charles Elliot said: “Be
unselfish. That is the first and final commandment for those who would be
useful and happy in their usefulness. If you think of yourself only, you cannot
develop because you are choking the source of development which is spiritual
expansion through thought for others.” And Louis Ginsberg wrote: “Love that is hoarded molds at last. Until
we know some day the only thing we ever have is what we give away.”