Luke 16:1-13
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 account 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. ‘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? 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.”
If you feel puzzled, confused, or even downright mystified by this parable, you’re in good company. Careful readers of Scripture have for centuries wondered why in the world Jesus commends this dishonest manager.
Recently, though, a friend made a suggestion that helped me see this parable in a whole new way. He compared the “dishonest wealth” Jesus mentions to the fate of the Confederate currency near the end of the Civil War. As the prospect of a Confederate victory declined, those bills and coins became increasingly worthless, prompting holders to spend them freely in the hope of purchasing something — anything! — before they held no value whatsoever.
So also with the “dishonest wealth” of the parable. In fact, a better translation might be “the wealth of unrighteousness” – the wealth, that is, of the kingdom of the world that is in decline and that will not be victorious. Such wealth, according to Jesus, has limited value and so should be spent freely now, before it’s too late! Moreover, it should be spent in a way that secures your future beyond the crumbling confederacy we call “the world.” And the only way to do that, according to Jesus throughout Luke’s gospel, is to use that fading wealth to help those in need. They alone have been guaranteed a place in God’s kingdom and therefore as you help them you help yourself.
For this reason does the rich man commend his dishonest manager – he has recognized the fragility of his place in the world, realized that he has little time left to exercise stewardship over wealth of any kind, recognized that the value of all he once prized has diminished significantly, and has determined to use what little time and opportunity is left to him to try to help himself by helping those in need.
Still puzzled? I’ll admit that I am, though less with what the parable means and more with how – or, probably more honestly, whether – I will embrace and live it.
Prayer: Dear God, help us to realize that so much of what we value is fleeting so that we may share what w have generously, knowing that what is of eternal value is the love and generosity we show each other. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The most “difficult” stories that Jesus relates are often the ones that cause us to reflect on their meaning the most. That’s the beauty and mystery and downright fun of them.
I’ve always thought that the Rich Man in the story is God, and the hapless “Manager” represents us.
What are we doing with the gift of life that God has freely given to us? What do we owe God and each other? He’s asking that question here, I think.
Robert Gapon’s read on this parable in The Parables of Grace is fascinating – particularly his thoughts on which verses are actually part of the parable and which ones are Luke’s shaping of the text. Read one way, the manager is a villain, another he is a hero. I appreciate a variety of different thoughts on a notoriously difficult text to understand!