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 England who saw the growing peril of Nazi tyranny. His cries for preparation fell on deaf ears. He was vilified by government officials and the press. He was exceedingly unpopular. Nonetheless he propounded consistently his message even though no one seemed to be listening. Then there came a day in 1940 when Churchill was called upon to be prime minister, a post that had been denied him throughout his long political career despite his brilliant mind and dedication to his country. Now in his mid 60’s he became the leader his people so desperately needed. Churchill’s singleness of purpose in opposing Hitler gave courage to the English people to face an almost impossible situation. Some of us may remember his inspiring and challenging words: “…we shall defend our island whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields, and in the streets, we shall fight in the halls. We shall never surrender.”

 

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.”