Sermon 9/19

Sermon Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost – 9/19/2010

Text: Luke 16:1-13

In the book Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain there is a scene of Tom attempting to white-wash a fence. This is excruciatingly boring to him, and so he tricks the other kids in the area to do his work for him. He does this by faking that it is just great fun. His friend Ben Rogers stops by on his way to go swimming and sees Tom working at whitewashing the fence. Ben asks him why he is working. Tom answers, what work I’m just whitewashing a fence. "Why, ain't THAT work?" Ben says. Tom resumed his whitewashing, and answered carelessly:

"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it ain't. All I know, is, it suits Tom Sawyer."

"Oh come, now, you don't mean to let on that you LIKE it?"

The brush continued to move.

"Like it? Well, I don't see why I oughtn't to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?"

Eventually Ben gives him an apple for the chance to whitewash the fence. And had also gotten a kite, a dead rat, marbles, a key, a door-knob, a dog-collar, and other things that boys like. All to do his work for him.

Our parable today tells of a similar scheming, shrewd person, this time a manager for a rich man. This man is referred to as a dishonest manager in verse 8, but he is also praised by the rich man. And then Jesus talks about making friends for yourself by means of dishonest wealth.

What does that all mean? Many people have listed this as possibly the most confusing of all the parables. Partly because of what is in the second half of our lesson. We hear Jesus talk about making friends through dishonest wealth. But then Jesus talks about being faithful with our money, and a warning to not serve money over God.

It gets stranger when we consider that the parables that Jesus has told one after another leading up to this one all deal with helping those in need, the poor, and the outcast. This story in fact comes right after the parable of the prodigal son, where even someone who squanders what he has been given is welcomed home, often interpreted as sinners, us, who turn away from God and are caught up in this world, forgetting the grace of God, and when we hit rock bottom, God runs to meet us on the road and restores us.

Is Jesus now then telling us to in fact be dishonest? It is hard to hear this story especially in this time. We have heard of countless stories of financial institutions using dishonest means to increase their own wealth. In fact, we heard the story just a couple of years ago with the Lehman Brothers Investment Bank. They were going through bankruptcy and were asking for federal money to stay afloat. And in the middle of that we heard that the executives of the corporation had received “Golden Parachutes.” It seems like every day we hear a new story of people using dishonest means to accumulate more money for themselves. Why would Jesus be telling us to act the same way?

I don’t think he is. We see the word dishonest and immediately all these current event stories enter our ears. But, what is it that the manager is doing in this text?

He is asked to bring the records forward and when his master sees that he has been dishonest tells him “You’re Fired.” (sorry, couldn’t help it) But we see next for the first time that this dishonest manager is different than our current executives. If he had been our current executives he would have been most likely able to just live his life on the money he has stolen, but he starts to fear for his welfare even considering begging. So he has been dishonest but has not stolen the money for himself.

He then comes up with a shrewd idea, he will forgive the debts of some of his master’s debtors and through that make them his friends and he will have places to stay. Now we are not sure what he did in the beginning to be dishonest, but it may have been the same. To go back to the Lehmen example, to fit the parable we would have needed to see them write off the debts of the those who owed them money at the same amount their golden parachutes would have given them. It is this great of a task the manager has performed. By forgiving these others he has worked to have them welcome him into their homes.

And so, through dishonest means he has procured safety for himself. His master then commends him. He does not commend the dishonest means, but the manager for using the means at his disposal to secure his future.

And that is what Jesus is talking about. He talks about the difference between the children of the light and the children of this age. The children of this age are better at dealing with the world. Jesus is calling us to utilize the resources at our disposal to advance not our cause but God’s cause. Spreading the gospel of God’s love in the world.

We have been given great resources, God’s grace, mercy, and love, and we squander them. We sit back complacently while people in this world are pushed aside, downtrodden and outcast. We are told to use our resources given to us through God not for our own gain but for God’s gain.

In the book, Les Misérables, the main character, Jean Valjean has just been released from prison and is taken in for the night by a bishop. After a fine meal on china with silver, well silverware, he ends up stealing it all. When he is caught by the police the bishop lies for Valjean telling them that he gave the silverware to Valjean and also that he forgot the silver candlesticks. Through these actions the bishop in some ways gives Valjean a life.

Maybe that is what Christ is talking about. Using our means to give life to others, taking others burdens upon ourselves, forgiving those in need, not just of their sins, but their debts.

That is what the dishonest manager has done, forgiven, and so we are to forgive. Through forgiveness we give life to others. When we hold people in thrall because of their sin, hold them down because of their debts, we are then thinking of just ourselves.

Our seeing the connection between this text and the prodigal son parable helps us here. What is going on similar in these stories? These two people, the son and the dishonest manager, are squandering property, they do it in different ways and different outcomes, but they are both in some way dishonest in their treatment. This is the exact opposite of what Jesus says to do, Jesus is bringing in these lost. Jesus gathers together the lost, he does not squander them. The true use of our resources is in the bringing together of those whom society has deemed unworthy. We are to use our resources shrewdly in order to further God’s future, which means showing people the power of God already working in their lives.

We see the dishonest manager work to forgive others so that they will welcome him in. We are to forgive others, and welcome them in. We are not to trick people into doing our work for us, we are not to be like Tom Sawyer, but we are to be like Christ. We are to take up their brushes, take up their crosses, for we know that Christ has taken up ours. It is only through this shrewd forgiveness that we can let people know Christ’s love in their lives.

Let us Pray,

God of peace, we ask you to bring comfort and mercy to all in this world, let us see those different than ourselves as our neighbors, fellow Children of God struggling in this world, allow us to use the resources you have given us to help these in need.

In your name,

Amen