“A Commendable Crook and Eternal Consequences”         2013

Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-9  Luke 16:1-9, 14-15

 

Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-9

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

Luke 16:1-9, 14-15

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. 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.’ 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. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 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.’ 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. 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.

The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God.

 

    One time when billionaire industrialist, Henry Ford,

            was visiting in Ireland,   a group of fundraisers asked him

                 to donate toward the construction of a new hospital…

                                                            … and so he wrote out a check for $5,000.

 

                The following day, the headline in the newspaper read,

                        “A New Hospital: Henry Ford Contributes $50,000”.

When an irate Henry Ford called the fundraisers to complain,

            they rushed to his hotel room, apologized, and promised

                        to have the newspaper print a retraction the next day…

                                    … “Ford’s Contribution $45,000 Less Than Reported.”

 

Recognizing his awkward public relations problem,

            Ford went ahead and wrote a check,  for another $45,000,

                        but insisted they put up a plaque with a Bible verse,

                                    from Matthew 25:35, “I was a stranger, and you took me in.”

 

The story that Jesus tells in Luke 16 is about a wealthy land owner,

            who leased his farmland to several tenant farmers,

                        and hired a manager to oversee his property and leases

                                    and make sure everything was profitable & productive.

 

But as Luke explains,  vs. 1-2

            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.  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.'

 

                The manager in this story

                        losses his job because of mismanagement and dishonesty,

   … which probably means that he had been

            skimming the profits for his own purpose and pleasure.

 

This dishonest steward’s corruption had dishonored his master,

            for by squandering his property, he made him look foolish,

                        appear weak, and unable to control his own affairs…

 

   … and created an impression that would encourage others

            to try and cheat him, and take advantage of him as well.

 

*  So The owner had no choice but to remove the dishonest manager.

 

Then when word about what happened got out into the community,

            at least they would know that  the owner took strong action

                        and he was not someone to be cheated or taken lightly.

            So now the dismissed steward has a problem, a crisis.

                        Once it got out that he has been fired and the reason why,

                                    no one would be willing to hire or trust him again.

 

But as the unemployed manager considers his situation and options,

            he is shrewd enough to recognize

                        that there is still a narrow window of opportunity

                                    before the community learns about his situation.

 

Under the pressure of his world falling apart,

            he makes an urgent decision to provide for his future.

                                    and he figures out    a slick way to save his neckà

                                         by cutting deals with the owner’s tenant farmers.

 

The fired manager calls in each of the owner’s debtors

     as if he still had that authority;

                                    and drastically reduces the amount each one owes,

                                        as if he still had the authority to do so,

                          and of course the good news of all this

                             would quickly spread throughout the village.

 

Similar to  Henry Ford and the newspaper headline,

            the owner would suddenly be very popular with his debtors,à

 

                        à and the whole community

                                    would celebrate the owner’s amazing generosity…

            … and the steward would also ride that same wave of popularity,

                        as the one who arranged for the owner’s concessions.

 

To the local community, the rich man is now a great hero,

            a good and generous benefactor who reduced their debt---

                                      ---  and who then   had only two options open to him.

 

He could say   to the appreciative and celebrating debtors

            that it was really just a big misunderstanding and a mistake,

                        that the steward had acted without his authorization,

                                    and take back the debt concessions.

    Then of course his tenants would feel angry and resentful,

            and he would be seen as heartless, money-grubbing, and petty.

 

His only other option, was to go along with the steward’s scheme,

            receive the accolades and gratitude as if it were his own idea,

                        and accept the financial losses,

                                    but as a respected and honored hero  by the community…

 

            … which in that ancient Middle Eastern culture

                        would be worth more than the amount of money it cost him.

 

When the disciples heard this story, no doubt they chuckled a bit,

              at how this clever scoundrel manipulated things

                    to put the rich landowner in such an awkward position …

                                                … and thereby   resolved his problem and crisis.

 

Then Jesus explained the point, vs. 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.

 

This parable was specifically addressed to the disciples,

            suggesting that if this shifty, crooked and disgraced steward

                             could so neatly turn things around

                                    for the passing monetary gains of this world,

            how much more so, the disciples of Christ,

                        for the infinite prize of the eternal kingdom.

 

  Jesus commends the crook not for his theft and dishonesty,

            but for his shrewd focus on taking care of his future …

… inferring,

            “I wish the children of the light, I wish the people of God

                        would be as focused, eager and ingenious for the gospel,

                                        as the wheeler-dealers of this age are

                                                in their pursuit of money, comfort & pleasure.”

 

Every morning people get up focused on making a buck-getting ahead,

            working hard in overdrive, scrambling to rise to the top,

                            and Jesus is asking, “Why aren’t my disciples   just asà

                                   focused and energetic within my community of grace?”

 

The dishonest & shrewd steward risked it all to get what he wanted,

      while in contrast, Christians, ‘children of the light’ can be

              pretty lackadaisical about living out our faith commitments…

 

Am I     more passionate about my goals and objectives in this world,

            than about my spiritual growth and development,

                        and trying to live faithfully within God’s will & purpose?

 

In the next verse, Jesus urges, vs. 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.

 

This phrase, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth,

            sounds very disturbing and not at all ‘Christ-like’,

                        and needs some further clarifying explanation.

 

            “Dishonest wealth” is not a particularly good translation,

                        better and closer to the original intend would be,

                                    “the wealth of this temporary and corrupt world”.

 

   It’s not that the money itself is crooked and dishonest,

              but that all of the wealth of this world  is only temporary,

                        and made corrupt by our human sin and selfishness.

 

Jesus is saying,  since all you have to invest

            are the temporary resources you have in this world

                        use them, use what you have  

                                    to build & invest in that which truly lasts & endures…

 

    Jesus is questioning and challenging

          our commitment to him and our dedication to discipleship.

 

Are we working at deepening and developing our spiritual life,

            as hard as those of this world, who do not know God,

                        strive toward the success and ambition,  that drives them?

 

Are we,  in our prayer life, worship, service, Bible study and faith

            as intense, as eager and committed,

                as an athlete training for an event or practicing to improve?

                        as a sales representative trying to make a sale?

                             as a politician trying to get elected to office?

Along those same lines, our lives and  all that they contain

            are entrusted to us for a short mortal    period of life and time

                        for God’s purpose,  to glorify our God, their true owner.

 

            Just as that overseer was to manage the owner’s land & property

                        for the benefit and purpose   of the    true  owner ---

                             -we should not squander those resources of life

                                      for our own passing purpose and pleasure.

 

Jesus wants us to know and understand

            that at some point every one of us is going to die;

                 and Scripture makes it very clear that we will answer to God,

                       and we will give an accounting for how we have used

                              the resources entrusted to us during our mortal lives.

 

This life is our brief and narrow window of opportunity in which,

          to use the material goods entrusted to us by God, for good;

                        to manage that property for the benefit of its real owner,

                                 recognizing that the stewardship choices we make

                                      do have lasting,   real and eternal consequences…

 

… but let me also be very clear about this,         it is not a question

          of our working to earn or achieve our salvation;

                        that has already been fully paid by Jesus on the cross,

                                      but, we are called to live   in faithful response.

 

Imagine, that you knew you had only one more year to live;

          how would you use that time?    and  what would you do?

 

            - would your final efforts be to accumulate more & more stuff,

                        or to buy an even bigger house or a fancier car,

                                                or to build a bigger bulging bank account?

                                                in the end, would any of that really matter?

 

Of course not –

  *        more likely,  you would go out of your way to connect

                        with the important and significant people of your life --

                                    urgently restoring broken and damaged relationships

 

*          You would almost certainly try to prepare spiritually,

                  thinking more and more in terms of longer term investments…

                                … and getting ready to see God in the promised kingdom.

 

Beyond the question, of only one more year to live;

            as God’s beloved and finite creatures, it is useful to consider

                   whether the choices and decisions that we are making today,

                                 are ones that will take us

                                        where we want to go and to be  in the future.

 

What am I doing with my one mortal life that will last for eternity?

 

     When I plant my garden, it is very important that I put the seeds,

            only in the places where I want the plants to grow.

 

            If I plant the seeds too close together,

                        then the mature plants will be too close and tight,

                                    making it more difficult when it’s time to harvest.

 

    My efforts now, the things that I am doing today,

          need to be intentionally working toward the future that I want.

 

The parable Jesus told was to teach his disciples that

            it is easy to be so intent on the immediate concerns of today,

                                       that we give too little thought and energy

                                                to the more critical things concerning tomorrow.

It’s a call to have the foresight   to use our life & resources well.

 

God addresses this same issue through the prophet Isaiah,

            first with a promise of blessings and grace, vs. 1       

                        Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 

 

Then, as those who have been abundantly blessed, the challenge,

     vs. 2

            Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

 

                Even the crook in the parable Jesus told ,  was shrewd enough

                        and had enough foresight to make provision for the future.

    We know, our mortal lives are mortal, someday they will end,

            and we will graduate to the promised glory and kingdom of God.

 

    The point of the parable and this Isaiah passage is that

          God wants us to use our lives and resources well and wisely,     

                    by investing our lives   in ways that draw us closer to God,

                          and that prepare us for eternal life in the Kingdom.

 

As we read in Isaiah,  vs. 6, 8

            Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.