Luke 16:1-13
There are a few of Jesus’ parables that are so parabolic, they are hard to understand. This is one of them. Several have made the case that this parable is the toughest of all of Jesus’ parables to come to terms with. But perhaps, looking at the bigger picture of who God is, and what the Gospel of Luke is all about will help us to understand more of what this passage is trying to say to us, and therefore what good Word we as preachers can help our congregations understand.
When I was in seminary, one of my favorite classes was on this very Gospel of Luke that our proper gives to us today. A few of the themes we looked at as central to Luke were hospitality, liberation, and Biblical jubilee. The point our professor and the authors of the texts we read in that class were making is that this is the framework that Jesus was coming from in Luke, and perhaps the way that Luke wanted to write it as well. Thus, what could this strange parable about The Dishonest Steward really be attempting to communicate if viewed through the lens of hospitality, liberation, and Biblical jubilee?
As part of these three themes in Luke, we know Jesus often was contrasting rich and poor, and what can happen when wealth is our master, and how easy it is to succumb to its power. Jesus talks a lot in this Gospel about possessions and how we have to give them up, or view them in their rightful place in the economy of God’s Kingdom.[1] Luke 9:51-62 makes a heavy claim that everything is secondary to the way of Jesus on the journey to Jerusalem and the cross, and we must be ready to live as Kingdom citizens above all other allegiances, including money.
So with those nuggets of Lukan insight, how do we read this passage? First off, we need to be honest about the manager’s dishonesty. The phrase used to describe his dishonesty is the same one used in the parable directly before it, the much easier to preach on story of The Prodigal Son. The NRSV states that the manager was accused of ‘squandering the master’s property’ in verse 1, as the prodigal son had squandered the property he’d taken from his future inheritance.[2] The term literally means to scatter as one does when winnowing grain, in other words recklessly. This is an injustice! The man is acting unrighteous with what he’s been given.
The master knows the manager deserves consequences, so he fires him and he’s ordered to show the master the accounting books in the process to reveal what has really been going on.
It’s here where the crux of the whole story lies. What does the manager do when the truth is uncovered? Interestingly enough, at face value, the manager seems to go out and squander more of the master’s property! The reason? Future hospitality. If the manager goes out and forgives debts, those people will likely return the favor down the road. It’s thought that the portion forgiven is the amount the manager would have made in the lending process, so in other words, he’s not getting paid for this last piece of work.
Not only does that seem counter-intuitive, but the next part in the story is just plain outrageous. The master is happy that the manager has done this! The master says that the manager has acted shrewdly – this adverb is used only once in scripture to modify the adjective shrewd; a unique word for a unique parable! The manager has been prudent, intelligent, and wise. Not only that, but he’s cast a good light on the master, he’s forgiven debts, and he’s made future hospitality in his life possible.
There are serious indications that verse 8 could be the end of the original parable, and maybe the rest of this passage in verses 9-13 was added on later to try and decipher what Jesus words mean here. Whether or not that is the case, there is a turn in the story, whether it was Jesus clarifying what the parable was about, or someone else later down the road. If we took the passage through just verse 8, there could be some radical implications only in those words.
If we use the aforementioned themes given attention in Luke, a more radical reading of the text could be that it is the manager who is experiencing oppression in this parable. It could be he’s being accused of mismanagement by a rich power broker of the ancient world who is accusing him of such for selfish, oppressive reasons. This is not a common reading of this text, but we can’t rule it out.
Even if this is not the case, we all can empathize with the manager. We’ve all had moments where the truth has come out about our behavior, and we have to decide how we’ll act and react. Will we repent and do good instead? Or if implication 1 is true, how will we respond during moments of oppression? Will we seek vengeance in that situation, or love our enemies?
Thus, the manager is literally living into the words of the Lord’s Prayer, as well as the themes of liberation for the poor evident throughout Luke. Hospitality is being shown in the forgiveness of debts, but it’s also being sought after in the future. If wealth is being used to care for and show solidarity with the poor now, there will be reward in the future when the Kingdom is fully ushered in. In other words, hospitality usually begets hospitality.
Given this last point, we must ask if the manager is different to Jesus himself? Several translations call the manager a steward. Stewardship is a common biblical theme. Joseph was a steward for Potiphar, Moses a steward of the Lord’s house, and Jesus mentioned stewards in several parables, where they are expected to invest what they have been given from their masters wisely. So perhaps, this prudent and wise manager/steward is actually radically showing us who Jesus is.
Maybe this Sunday, you can preach the Good News that Jesus is like the hospitable manager who went out and forgave debts, but also gave a good name to his master despite being accused of squandering his money. Or, you can preach the traditional view that this person did indeed scatter his master’s money, had a moment of repentance, wisely guaranteed future hospitality through the forgiveness of debts, and gave a good name to the master in the process.
Either way, at the heart of this passage, when read through the broader themes of Luke, it is the poor and oppressed who have to take out a loan in order to survive. Sound like anyone you know? What this parable shows us is twofold. It’s how we take care of the poor now that shows us where our heart lies, and thus where our future hospitality in the Kingdom will be. Secondly, it’s how we steward the funds given to us that reveals who our master really is. Once again, it’s not about the works, but the works reveal the one in whom we have faith. [1] Green, Joel B. The Theology of the Gospel of Luke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, 112. [2] Brock, Darrell L. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series: Luke. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994, 262.
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