Luke 16:1-13

16:1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property.

16:2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’

16:3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.

16:4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’

16:5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

16:6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’

16:7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’

16:8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

16:9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

16:10 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.

16:11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?

16:12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?

16:13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

Oh boy. This one’s fun.

If this is the way Jesus really talked, then no wonder the disciples had difficulty understanding what he meant so often. This is one of those parables that I have heard preached, and the preachers usually skip over interpreting the parable itself and go straight to the saying in verse 10 or the saying in verse 13. That is both problematic (especially from a scholarly point of view) and understandable (from a preaching-ministry point of view). Historical-critical scholars are likely to point out that the saying in verse 13 is probably tacked onto the parable as Luke’s attempt to explain it. Others will argue over where the parable ends (the semicolon in verse 8? The end of verse 8? Verse 9? 10?) Another nagging question lingers over just who the kyrios really is in the story - is it just the master in the parable or does he represent God?

Honestly, I don’t know how to interpret this parable. I suppose it would be easy to decide what I think it means and force the story to mean that. Or I could decide what I think Jesus usually means, especially in Luke, and force it to mean that. Or I could decide to live with its ambiguity and puzzlement, but that doesn’t do much for me in terms of preparing a sermon for Sunday.

I turn to my handy-dandy Herzog, and discover that Bultmann claimed that this parable was “obviously meant to say that one can learn from the slyness of a deceiver, but in what way?” (Page 237), but that scholarly opinion is not unanimously behind old Rudy. Is this really an extension of Jesus’ Markan admonition that the disciples be wise as serpents but gentle as doves?

Here’s Wesley’s take on the crux of the biscuit:

16:8

And the lord commended the unjust steward - Namely, in this respect, because he had used timely precaution: so that though the dishonesty of such a servant be detestable, yet his foresight, care, and contrivance, about the interests of this life, deserve our imitation, with regard to the more important affairs of another. The children of this world - Those who seek no other portion than this world: Are wiser - Not absolutely, for they are, one and all, egregious fools; but they are more consistent with themselves; they are truer to their principles; they more steadily pursue their end; they are wiser in their generation - That is, in their own way, than the children of light - The children of God, whose light shines on their hearts.

16:9

And I say to you - Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath intrusted you. Mammon means riches or money. It is termed the mammon of unrighteousness, because of the manner wherein it is commonly either procured or employed. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good, particularly to the children of God: that when ye fail, when your flesh and your heart faileth, when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, those of them who have gone before may receive, may welcome you into the everlasting habitations.

Is Wesley right? Is the “mammon of unrighteousness” simply a way of referring to all money because it is (dualistically) different from the kingdom of God? Are cruel, dishonest people more true to themselves than we who would term ourselves children of God?

Barclay offers an interesting point: part of the problem with this parable is that, as presented, it contains at least four different points!

1. …the sons of this world are wiser than the sons of light. This means that, if only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better man.
2. …material possessions should be used to cement the friendships wherein the real and permanent value of life lies. That could be done in two ways. (a) It could be done as it affects eternity. The Rabbis had a saying, “The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come.” … (b) It could be done as it affects this world. A man can use his wealth selfishly or he can use it to make life easier, not only for himself but for his friends and fellow-men.
3. …a man’s way of fulfilling a small task is the best proof of his fitness or unfitness to be entrusted with a bigger task.
4. …no slave can serve two masters.

Interesting. Are these points as related as Luke would like us to believe?

Here’s another interesting point: just how much of a discount were the debtors really receiving when repaying their debts? Were they really giving the manager less than they owed the master? Or was the manager knocking off his under-the-table profit? Was he collecting the debts with the intent to “take the money and run?” Did the master catch onto that intent, then collect the debts from the manager? Or did the manager intend to give that money to the master in the first place as a last-ditch attempt to keep his job?

Those of us with a narrative hermeneutic (like me) have a lot of deciding to do!

Herzog concludes that the tactics of the manager were simply the “weapons of the weak” against the tyranny of the master. The oppressed have very few weapons: rumors, innuendo, foot-dragging, protestation. The debtors’ debts were relieved at a discount, the manager was able to keep his job, and the master held all the cards but lost the hand. (Herzog, 258).

In terms of preaching, though, how do we understand this text? Bruce Epperly at Process and Faith has a suggestion:

While Christians may not be experts in foreign policy, economics, health care, education, national defense, or global warming, our lack of expertise is no excuse for ignorance. We must not be “so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good.”

We are called to embody practical as well as theoretical wisdom. We must make a commitment not only to see the big picture, but also know enough about the critical issues of our time to present a (sic) intelligent case….

He goes on:

…each occasion of experience – each moment of life – shapes the future of the planet. We never know what small action may be the “tipping point” from death to life for a person or the planet. Although we trust our ultimate future to God, we must also act as if each action can transform the world. As Jewish mysticism asserts, if you save a soul, you are saving the whole world.

Our faithfulness in both great and small things requires shrewdness and wisdom. Our decisions and discernment matter to God. Whether we use shrewdness to preserve our livelihood, to relieve the debts of others, or wisdom to contribute to the good of the church, the planet and God’s children; we are called to faithfulness in all that we do. We must wisely use the tools we were given to complete the task we are assigned.