Jer. 8:18-9:1
Luke 16:1-13
Does anyone find
this passage in Luke confusing? What
happens here? We’ve got a manager or
steward whom others are saying has been squandering the master’s property. The master, in anger, says he’s going to fire
the guy. So, the steward deals with the
fear of losing his job by practicing dishonesty. He robs the master to gain favor with those
who owe the master money by cutting the debt of those who owe the master. Then in a strange turn of events, the master
praises his steward for cheating him!
This is followed by the words, “the children
of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the
children of light.” Aren’t we supposed
to follow and emulate the children of light?
And then THIS is followed by Jesus seeming to encourage us to be
dishonest. He says, “make friends for
yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may
welcome you into the eternal homes.” Um…
But then this is
followed by the words, “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. If then you have not been faithful
with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what
belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” And then he goes on to say that we can’t
serve both God and money. So what do you
think? Was he being sarcastic when he
said earlier that we should make friends by means of dishonest wealth?
In researching
this parable and different interpretations and understandings, I’ve found that
most commentators are also simply confused by it. Some say Luke just pretty randomly put
together Jesus’ sayings about wealth and so his summary words just happen to
fall together with this parable making any who try to put them together
meaningfully just confused. But I tend
to think Luke is a little more discerning than that. This story isn’t found in any other gospel, for
whatever reason. But Luke’s placement of
it and the placement of the comments Jesus makes which follow it seem important
to me. They do go together and it is our
job to try to understand how.
Other commentators
say that yes, Jesus was being sarcastic by saying we should make friends by
means of dishonest wealth. Some
commentators say the steward was not really
cheating the master, but was just
cancelling his own commission in order to lower the debtors’ debt. But most commentators discount that based on
the fact that the steward’s commission was probably not contained in the debt
amount anyway, but was a separate fee.
In the end, I
don’t think this story can be understood without some history and cultural
explanation attached to it. If you are
interested in reading more about this on your own, I highly recommend Herzog as
a good source for understanding this parable.
As he explains it:
First, the steward
here probably is not being dishonest.
Instead, because he is in a position where he must collect money for the
master, and take money from those in debt to the master, he is therefore
mistrusted and feared by everyone. Those
in debt have little power or recourse in the face of unfair contracts and
monetary practices written by the steward for the master except to use verbal
attack. So, these debtors start an
anonymous rumor, not that the steward is dishonest, but that he is wasting the
master’s money. The master is not actually concerned here about dishonesty but
about the steward mis-using his resources.
At any rate, the steward becomes concerned about losing his job and
realizes that for him, this is a death sentence. He cannot do hard labor or beg for any length
of time and survive it. So, he thinks up
a different plan. He goes out and erases
some of the debt of the master’s tenants.
This, in contrast to earlier behavior, may have been considered
dishonest. The amount by which he cuts
the debt is important because it tells us what exactly the steward is cutting
or disposing of.
By Jewish law, as
recorded in the Old Testament, the charging of interest, any interest, on a
debt is illegal, ungodly, and wrong. The
masters knew this. They would not
therefore, because of the importance of the Jewish law at that time, be put in
the position of appearing to charge interest on the land and money they
lent. But their stewards or managers
were in a position to write contracts in such a way that this interest, 20-50%
of the original debt, was written into lease agreements in unclear, hidden,
covert ways. This 20-50% is exactly the
amount of money which the steward in today’s story cuts from the debtors’
debts. If this hidden interest had been
discovered, the steward who wrote the contracts, not the master who gained the
interest, would take the blame for it.
In this story the steward has basically erased the illegal interest from
the contracts of those who owe his master money. In doing so, he has lowered a hard debt on those
who owe the master. He also credited the
master for this reduction of debt and in so doing has gained praise for the
master from those in debt to him. Finally, he has also reminded the master who
it is who brings him the extra “interest” money, for without the steward the
master cannot do so well financially.
While the master is out money because of what the steward has done here,
the steward has gained for the master
praise from his debtors, and an unspoken, inexplicit debt for “the master’s”
generosity from his debtors. While the
master might have been angry at the loss of this interest, in this story, he
appears instead to appreciate what has been gained by his steward’s actions:
the praise, the implied debt of gratitude from his debtors, the reminder of all
the steward has previously done to raise the riches of the master. In all these ways, the steward has broken
down a system of mistrust and even hatred for a while. Those in debt are now feeling better about
the master (whom they believe lowered the debt). The master is feeling better about the
steward for winning him some praise and favor, and reminding him that the
steward has brought in extra money for the master in the past. The debtors of the master are not as
oppressed by the large debt the interest previously forced onto them. In the short run, by this action, the steward
has done an amazing thing. He has broken
down the walls and rules which usually structure their world. For a moment, the reign of God is glimpsed, a
reign of trust, honesty, reconciliation, forgiveness, and caring.
We might ask, “has
the steward changed an oppressive system?”
No, of course not. Has the
steward really won for himself a place in people’s homes so that if he still is
fired, he will have places to go? Very
unlikely. Those owing the master money
would not have the resources or interest in taking care of this steward once he
is let go. Is it really good to make
friends through dishonesty? Well, the
rest of the passage for today is pretty clear that you can’t serve both God and
money and that dishonesty at any one level in your life can only lead to more
dishonesty at other levels. In other
words, no. The point the parable is
making is that God’s presence slips through the systems of oppression now and
then and that we should do all we can to encourage, honor, create those glimpses
of reconciliation, healing, forgiveness and love, even through creative and
unexpected ways.
Rosa Parks, by her
simple refusal to give up her seat on a bus, because she believed that equality
for all was worth taking a personal stand at great risk, was the catalyst that
sparked the civil rights movement. Her
action was illegal at the time, yes, but also the means for God’s dominion to
peek through. Many years after the incident
on the bus, the Ku Klux Klan approached the town council in a community in
Alabama, volunteering to keep a certain stretch of highway clean. The town council was in a sticky
situation. If they said no to the offer,
it might make them look bad. If they
said yes, it might make them look like they agreed with racism. So they made a clever decision. They said yes to the Ku Klux Klan. Then they renamed that particular stretch of
road The Rosa Parks Highway. A shrewd
action and for a moment, they ushered in a glimpse of God’s realm which can
forgive and extend love to even the worst of us, but also fights constantly for
justice and peace.
Henry Ford, the
inventor of the automobile, once visited his family’s ancestral village in
Ireland. Two trustees of the local
hospital found out he was there and managed to get in to see him. They talked Ford into giving the hospital
$5000 (which in the 1930's was a great deal of money). The next morning at breakfast, he opened his
daily newspaper to read the headline: “American Millionaire Gives $50,000 to
Local Hospital.” Ford wasted no time
summoning the two hospital trustees who were very apologetic. “Terrible mistake” they said, and they
promised to get the editor to print a retraction the very next day declaring
that the great Henry Ford had not given $50,000, but only $5000. Hearing this, Ford offered them another
$45,000, under one condition: that the trustees would erect a marble arch at
the new hospital entrance and place on it a plaque that read, “I walked among
you and you took me in.” Another little
glimpse of God’s presence (and humor!) that breaks through, sometimes through
shrewd ways, but always breaks through.
The passage in
Jeremiah for today shows a God who is grieving for God’s people. God seems in this passage almost trapped by
their dreadful situation. God is sorrowful
at their pain, angered by their stubbornness, perhaps wanting to simply walk
away. But God stays. God stays so that the people might still
catch a glimpse of God in their lives.
Where have glimpses of God’s love, God’s reign, broken through into your
life? Where have you helped that reign
poke through in unexpected ways?God’s love is amazing. And God does always make appearances, often
when we least expect it. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment