Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Luke 16:1-13


Dear Theophilus,
Jesus has a way of illustrating God’s love in rich and wonderful story pictures that make me want to rush in and be a part of them.  I have no idea which part of that story fits me best, whether I would be the stubborn older brother, indignant at his brother’s wasteful living, or the free-living younger brother, in search of excitement while only finding pig slop, but the father coming out with grace and patience to each teaches me something about God.  It’s certainly easier to picture God in this story than in the mess of the world or the chaos of my own life, but I learned something in that tale.  I, too, wonder what happens to the older brother, to the Pharisees—are their hearts ever converted, or do they stand outside and overhear the jubilation coming from within, haughtily assuming that their righteous anger at the younger brother makes them happier to be outside than to be involved in such a careless show of grace inside the feast.  I know people like this, and their lives seem sad to me.  They are so caught up in their own idea of what is right that they refuse to be entertained or amused by those they consider in the wrong.  I suppose you might say that Jesus is warning me not to become so certain of my assumptions about life that I don’t end up like these Pharisees, but I will entertain that thought later, not now.  For now I will wonder at the love of a father who rushes out to meet a son who spent years turning his back on everything the father had taught him.
I am grateful to have turned away, for a moment, from many of the harsh and direct sayings of Jesus.  We seem to have entered a time of stories told to illustrate points, and while their meanings are not always clear to me, I appreciate the many facets Jesus creates in each tale.  The story I have for you today is not simply by any stretch of the imagination, and it would be a lie to say that I completely understand the message that Jesus is giving his disciples.
The story centers around the relationship between a rich man and his manager.  Word got back to the rich man that the manager was wasting his property, so the manager was called in and relieved of his duties, as well as ordered to give an account of all that he had managed, so that the rich man might know how badly the accounts were misused.
The manager panicked, knowing that he did not have the capability to find many other forms of employment.  He was not fit enough to do physical labor, and he shuddered at the thought of squandering his pride and becoming a beggar, so he formed another plan in hopes of retaining his honor upon his dismissal.  It was a convoluted plan, yet he believed that it would enable him to leave his post with the rich man with a bit of a parachute to soften his fall.
Before he left his post, he called in each of the men who owed money to his boss.  The first one owed one hundred jugs of olive oil, and before the debtor realized what was happening, the manager cut the debt in half to only fifty jugs.  Another debtor owed one hundred containers of wheat, and before he knew it the debt was reduced by the manager to eighty!  The debtors were thrilled with these new arrangements, just as you or I would be if suddenly our debts were reduced dramatically.  They may have suspected that all was not right, but they certainly were joyous at the arrangements and viewed the manager very positively. 
It was not long before the rich man discovered what the manager had been doing.  Your or I would be furious at his actions, knowing that they have dampened our future income and affected agreements that had been made.  Shockingly, the rich man praises the manager for his actions!!  Rather than being overcome by anger and having him thrown into jail, the rich man is impressed by his manager’s shrewd business practice, looking out for himself that he might have a soft landing spot upon leaving his current post. 
This, I think, is the strangest story we have yet encountered with Jesus.  It’s not what I would expect from the man, or any sensible man in his position.  He seems to be lauding the man’s cunning, but there is a dishonesty here that I am uncomfortable with.  As you have said before, perhaps it is one of those stories that needs to be read with the reminder of all else that Jesus has said, but I am struggling with exactly how to read this tale.  Jesus seems to be lamenting that the children of light, as he calls them, are not as cunning as the rest of the world.  Perhaps he fears them being taken advantage of.  He goes on to tell the disciples to use dishonest wealth to make friends so that they might discover a path to heaven even when the money disappears.
This closing sentence helps me make a little sense of the passage, but I’m still not sure how comfortable I am with it.  Jesus is saying that the disciples need to build relationships with anyone and everyone so that they might be led to faith.  Jesus tells them that even dishonest wealth can be a road to faith.  Just as the manager built relationships based upon a dishonest act, the disciples need to look out for the relationship first.  I would worry about how this action could set a precedent for future rule-bending, but I guess Jesus knows what he is doing!
Jesus continues, telling the disciples that people who are faithful when it comes to the little things will be faithful when it comes to the big things, just like people who find little opportunities to be unfaithful will also fail to be faithful when bigger opportunities arise.  It’s interesting that he then goes on to tell them that dishonest wealth is an opportunity to prove they are faithful, for if they are not, then they’ll never be trusted with what he calls true riches. 
Theophilus, I’d love to ask him what he means by the dishonest wealth!  Is all the world’s money dishonest?  Or only if it’s obtained through nefarious means?  I suspect that would lead to a much deeper conversation about the status of money in the world, but instead we get one word and then fly right on by!  I know that we have previously lifted up the dangers of money, but this seems to this mind to be a far more dramatic statement.
Jesus concludes the sayings with a remark about how the property of others is a chance to prove that we are faithful.  He gets thereby a convoluted path, saying that you won’t get what is your own if you’re not faithful with the stuff that belongs to others.  If we’re talking about the things of the world, then I don’t quite see how we’ll never get that, but I suspect this is much deeper than that.  I think Jesus is saying that God won’t bless us as richly if we’re not faithful when it comes to others’ property, but that’s just the guess of a man who feels like he’s in over his head in this passage! 
Finally, Jesus offers some clarity on money that might not sit comfortably with many.  He tells the disciples that a slave can only serve one master—if there are two, he’ll choose which one he loves and serves well while hating the other.  Although I have never been a slave, I don’t doubt that this is true.  When two people are telling you what to do and how to act, you simply have to choose one to obey!  Jesus lowers the hammer with his final words on the matter—he tells the disciples that money and God cannot both be a master, that they must choose only one to serve.
Perhaps the disciples were so used to hearing Jesus speak about money that these direct words were not as sudden and harsh on the ears, but they stun me, and I’m sure many like me will dance around them and try to soften their landing.  I tend to believe that money can have some influence on my life but doesn’t prevent me from doing other things, but here Jesus is warning the disciples about its influence and desire for total control.  God, too, has the same desire for total loyalty, and it sounds like Jesus is saying that God won’t compromise.  I don’t know what it looks like to give up serving money, but I suspect there are some radical steps involved, steps many of us would be unwilling to take.
Tough words, Theophilus.  As always, your wisdom would be appreciated, that you might scatter some light on this path I’m walking so that I might not trip and fall over these difficult teachings.
Sincerely,
Luke 

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