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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