Pentecost XVII

By The Rev.  Martha Frances+
Year C, Seventeenth  Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 20
23 September  2007

Text: Luke  16: 1-13;  Other Readings: Jeremiah 8: 18-9: 1; Psalm 79: 1-9; 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 

      Luke includes several stories & parables which none of the other gospels recount, & this peculiar parable about the dishonest manager, also called the unjust steward, is perhaps the strangest.  Scholars are divided regarding this parable & what Jesus meant by telling it.  Frederick Buechner, an author I love to read & sometimes quote, tells us that parables are just like jokes; if we have to explain them, don't bother.  Further, he suggests the theme of this parable is that "it's better to be a resourceful rascal than a saintly schlemiel."

      What is clear in this parable is the manager finds himself in a tough position:  he knows he's going to lose his job because of his past poor management, so he figures he might as well do what he can to provide for his future.  Thus, he makes deals with the rich man's creditors so they'll look kindly upon the manager when he doesn't have a job & may need favors from them.  Jesus doesn't commend the manager for being dishonest but recognizes that he's clever & affirms his creative solution to his dilemma.

      Since the job market for middle managers who have squandered an estate is pretty abysmal, he has to use his wits to win friends & influence people or he'll have to dig ditches or beg alms.  He comes up with this scheme which sounds sleazy at first glance but may be a win-win-win situation.  Those who owe the landowner money are able to repay at a discount;  the landowner may not receive as much money as he has counted on, but he receives a sure deal sooner & is able to reinvest immediately; & the manager is probably not skimming any more off the top than his own commission which he foregoes.  Further, both the manager & the landowner come out looking like generous businessmen to those who owe the money.  When we learn the markup on some retail goods in our society & read about the exorbitant salaries top executives of oil or automobile companies pull down each year, this manager looks a little better in comparison.

      One clear message in this parable seems to be that Jesus' followers are to use the things of the world in the service of God as astutely as the finance wizards on Wall Street or elsewhere would handle their money. 

      Ironically, yesterday afternoon as I was reading the commentaries on "worldly wealth" and how its value is not eternal but rather, it's a tool to make life better for others, I was also in a showroom negotiating a deal on a new car.  I've been struggling with the electrical system in my little SUV recently & decided after a couple of frightening incidents in the last couple of weeks that it was time to trade-in my CRV with 112,000 miles on it.  The salesman & I were jockeying for position on the price of a new vehicle, so as he was negotiating with his manager in the back, I was reading about "earthly money" & how effectively we use what might be the "little" we're entrusted with so that perhaps we'll celebrate the "much" of heavenly treasures.  One writer says earthly money is like Monopoly money—it is how we practice being faithful.  Unless we give our children an allowance from an early age, how will they learn how to manage increased financial responsibility as they get older? 

      At any rate, at least yesterday, my reading & mulling helped me to balance my own need to get the best deal possible on my new vehicle with recognizing that the salesman needs to make a decent living too, & that maintaining a positive, pleasant relationship with the personnel in the dealership, even at the cost of a few hundred dollars, makes the whole experience a joy instead of tense & even acrimonious.  This parable tells us that God wants us to put our relationship with God & our community first & not the pursuit of personal gain.  Certainly, God holds us accountable for our actions in everyday life (after all, as far as we know, the manager still loses his job, even if the landowner commends his cleverness. 

      God also wants us, in being stewards of God's love & mercy, to be every bit as extravagant as God is.  The wise use of possessions is an important message in this parable & Jesus' admonitions following it.  The steward's methods aren't praised but, rather, his prudence in taking stock of his situation, using his business acumen, & acting decisively.

      A group of sayings close this gospel reading for today.  Jesus says we cannot serve 2 masters without hating one while we love the other, & I suspect all of us have struggled with where our priorities are with our time & talent as well as our treasure in deciding what is most important when there's not enough of "us" to go around.  We at Hope are having to make some similar decisions financially at the present time in order to be able to do the ministry we need to do here, even through the end of 2007 as well as in planning ahead for 2008.  I hope each worshipper in our community prays fervently about where your priorities are concerning your church community which needs your faithful offerings of love at the present time.

      Finally, Jesus tells us we cannot serve God & wealth. Though our translation omits "mammon," it is actually a better word than wealth since the word "mammon" actually means more than money but all a person's possessions, everything that has value equivalent to money.  Jesus calls us to stretch in order not to cling to mammon but rather use it for the benefit of others.

      At this 10^th anniversary of Mother Teresa's death, & with the publication (against her stated wishes, by the way) of her confidential letters to her spiritual directors, I'm reminded of the generosity at using so much for the benefit of others.  Even when she didn't feel the consolations of God's presence, she nonetheless continued to speak & lead & teach about serving Jesus by ministering to the poor & sick & downtrodden.  She wrote in Loving Jesus: 

      If we nourish our lives with the Eucharist,

It will be easy for us to see Christ in that hungry one next door, 

      The one lying in the gutter,

      That alcoholic man we shun,

      Our husband or our wife, or our restless child.

For in them, we will recognize the distressing disguises of the poor:  Jesus in our midst. 

Mother Teresa lived as a child of the light & was able to

offer what couldn't be bought, earned, saved, or protected, only given—the sense of dignity & value with which God sees each person.  Are these not the true riches of which Jesus speaks?

      The revelations in Mother Teresa's spiritual direction musings may help us remember that she was a normal woman in her feelings yet was able to move beyond the necessity to "feel good" in order to act lovingly & in a Christlike manner.  She may not have felt Jesus at prayer yet she had Jesus constantly before her to touch & to tend.

      A visitor to her hospice compound once observed Mother Teresa caring for a dying man, just a wisp of the man he once was.  The visitor quipped, "Why, I wouldn't do that for a million dollars."  Mother Teresa responded, "Neither would I."