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Pentecost 16
19 September 2004
Luke 16:1-13 Resolute action – or dishonesty!
Background
This is a notoriously difficult parable to interpret – it has been suggested that we are so far from the culture of the parables that some of them are impossible for us to understand.
- a rich landowner, of good character, respected in the community;
- a salaried manager with authority to act on behalf of the business;
- debtors who leased property and paid a fixed amount for the yearly rent (in produce);
- the community.
Jesus addresses his disciples, but the Pharisees are standing by (see v.14).
The commercial practices of the day meant Jews were forbidden to take interest from fellow-Jews when they lent them money. Those who wished to get around this argued that the law was to protect the poor not to forbid transactions that were of benefit to both borrower and lender. Such transactions were entered in the books simply in total – the interest was not shown separately.
If we follow this line of argument the steward, faced with dismissal, protects himself by calling in the bonds and getting the debtors to rewrite them so they would no longer carry interest, relying on the hope that in their gratitude they would recompense him. The owner is now in a difficult position – he would have difficulty in establishing his claim without being accused of usury.
So the steward is commended not for dishonesty but for taking resolute action in a crisis. It is his astuteness not his actions which are commended. Use material wealth so as to gain, not lose, one’s future. His master similarly takes decisive action in a difficult situation – in “commending” the steward he gains an undeserved reputation for piety.
Vv10-13 are separate from the preceding parable. Jesus concludes with an instruction to use wealth wisely – constructively. For all the dangers in wealth it is possible to manage wealth in a way appropriate to life in the kingdom of God. Likewise discipleship must be wholehearted Earthly riches stand in contrast with the heavenly riches God alone can give. Anyone who handles wealth inappropriately is not fit to handle more important things. That which we think we own is actually only entrusted to us, we are stewards of it in this life only – and there are no pockets in a shroud!
No-one can give full devotion to two masters – we can serve one whole-heartedly, but not both. The choice is ours. Faithfulness in material things leads on to faithfulness in spiritual matters – and how one handles property has eternal consequences!
In preaching
What to do with all this! Craddock comments that while many find this parable offensive in that Jesus seems to commend a person who has acted dishonestly, we need to remember we are all a mixture of the commendable and less commendable. One aspect of a person’s behaviour should not define the whole of the person. Secondly, the use of words such as “shrewd” and “clever” come as a surprise, yet elsewhere Jesus instructed his disciples to be “as wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. We are clearly meant to use the intelligence we have been given – to be childlike (as Jesus also taught) does not mean to be naïve.
In vv 10-13 Jesus states proverbial truths which are not dependent on the parable for their meaning. Vv10-12 argue from the lesser to the greater. Disciples are faithful in the familiar daily tasks, however small and insignificant. The one faithful in a small amount can be trusted with large accounts (“look after the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves” as we used say). V13 moves to an all or nothing pronouncement: you cannot serve two masters.
To give a cup of water in the name of Christ - visit a shut in, care for a child, help a neighbour – these things will not make us famous, but they are the real stuff of faith and faithfulness. Who are the “ masters” we actually serve while kidding ourselves we are serving Christ?
Do we use the intelligence we have been given – are we “thinking” people who take the Bible and our faith seriously or do we simply puddle along without really engaging with the issues of faith and life?
Do we understand our “wealth” as entrusted to us as stewards?
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Jeremiah and/or God lament over Judah. There is dialogue between the people and God. The people fear God has left them. God expresses anger and hurt.
Psalm 79:1-9
Again we hear the people’s despair as they suffer invasion and also the destruction of the temple, symbol of their relationship with God. The psalmist however, ends on a note of confidence that God will bring newness out of the crisis and so sings praise “from generation to generation”.
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Instruction on prayer. It is taken for granted that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings” should be a part of worship. We are not surprised to be asked to pray for “kings and all in high positions” – the king was regarded as the head of the whole “household” of the civilised world. Among the “household duties” of all people was respect and obedience to the emperor. This was considered part of the dispensation of God. Nature and society were part of the same continuum, all of which was governed by God’s will.
But the instruction to pray “above all”, “for all people” is more surprising. The earliest Christian writings generally were concerned with relationships within the community. Outreach was limited. But here the exhortation is to pray for all people because God “desires all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v4). Jesus’ life and death were for all human beings – a most inclusive expression of Christian hope.
Prayer suggestion
God help us to change.
To change ourselves and to change our world.
To know the need for it.
To deal with the pain of it.
To feel the joy of it.
To undertake the journey without understanding the destination.
The art of gentle revolution.
Amen.
Michael Leunig in “A Common Prayer” Collins Dove 1990