Jesus: The Unjust Steward

           Luke 16:1-13

           Have you seen the story that is circulating about Joey Prusak?  He isn’t a big name or anything, but lately he has been pretty popular because of a choice he made.  Joey works at a Dairy Queen in Minnesota.  Recently one of his frequent guests came into the store, a man who is blind.  He took out his wallet to pay and dropped at $20 bill.  A woman behind him in line quickly picked it up and put it in her purse.  So, Joey asked her to return the money.  She wouldn’t and claimed it was hers.  Joey then refused to serve her.  That is not why the story has been circulating though.  The story is popular because of what happened next.  Since the lady would not return the money, Joey opened his wallet and gave the man a $20 bill.  Joey made a good choice.  A choice that has gotten him recognition he probably never expected to receive.

Life gives us many choices.  We make decisions all the time.  Should I go out to eat or go home and cook?  Should I watch this channel or this other one?  Should I go to this event or this other one?  Should I be a member in this group or this other one?  Should I pay this bill or this other one?  Should I stay at this job or should I take another one?

Our parable today includes two decisions.  The first one is made by the manager.  The manager, upon finding out that he is going to be fired, makes a decision to reduce the debts of the debtors so that when all is said and done he will not be rejected by the community.  In doing so, the debtors likely have respect and appreciation for the manager.  So, when he is out of a job, they might be willing to help him out.  The debtors also likely have some appreciation for the owner, too.  They don’t know that this gift of debt reduction has come only from the manager.  Both the manager and the owner are in good positions, because of the manager’s shrewd behavior.

So, is this parable saying that lying, cheating, and being dishonest are desirable characteristics to have?  No.  This point is actually much bigger than that.  Remember, Jesus, as is typical, is hanging out with all the wrong people in all the wrong places, according to the standards of the world.  He is eating with sinners, looking for lost things, and telling parables about celebrating when the prodigal son comes home after squandering the inheritance.  Jesus doesn’t fit the norm and he never will.  So Jesus uses this story to illustrate a point.  Part of his point is that in God’s economy people are more important than profits.  Jesus is willing to risk the stare and the gossip about who he is hanging out with, because he knows that people are most important, regardless of who they are.  The same is true of the manager.

Now for the second decision, which is up to us.  The text ends with “You cannot serve God and wealth.”  No, you can’t have two masters.  There cannot be two entities that have ultimate control and authority in your life.  So here we have another choice.  Serve God or serve money?  Remember in making this decision you are not choosing to never use money.  Let’s be honest we use money all the time.  We just can’t make it our “god.”  We cannot give money the ultimate authority in our lives.  We can use it for the good of others, though.  We can let our money be used in ways that would be pleasing and acceptable to God.  In doing so we will be giving back to God, what first belonged to God.  Really everything we have is on loan from God.

We can support Kids Against Hunger next Sunday as we use our hands to do God’s work, by packing meals that feed people both near and far.  We can sign up to adopt a family for the Christmas Servant Event.  We can bring Jello salad or bananas for the meal at Cornerstone.  We can support our congregation and the ministry partners we highlight each month.  Our money can be used to serve God.

If we dig deep in this parable we can also see that the manager is choosing to serve God.  So what can we learn from the manager’s choice?  Often in parables you can find one of the characters portraying Jesus.  The unjust steward or the shrewd manager in this parable could also be seen as a Christ-figure.  The manager enacts grace, by offering a reduction of debts.  Similarly to Jesus, the manager dies and rises, only in the case of the parable that death and resurrection is metaphorical-losing his job and finding a way to bounce back from unemployment.  Then in his dying and rising he raises others, like Jesus, giving new life to those around him-by reducing their debts.  One author puts it this way, Jesus “became sin for us sinners, weak for us weaklings, lost for us losers, and dead for us dead.”  That is true in this story and in the entire Jesus story.

Let me retell today’s parable with a few different words, a slant that will hopefully allow you to see the presence of a Christ figure, one that is a bit hidden at first glance.  There was an owner who had a manager.  That manager was entrusted with the responsibility to run the business on earth, because the owner lived far away.  The manager was the best and brightest.  He was the owner’s creation.  He had the owner’s best interests in mind.  One day the owner was alerted that the manager was squandering the property.  The manager was misusing his power.  This was going to get him in trouble.  So, the manager decided to be clever and reduce the debts owed to the master.  This would ensure that he had followers after he lost his job.  So the manager set out to meet with the debtors.  The manager said to the woman who had cheated on her husband several times, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  Then the manager said to the man who had lied to the governing authorities, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  The manager said to the kid who had stolen a candy bar, “You have sinned much and owe much to the owner, but I will forgive the debt.”  He continued in this manner, forgiving the debts of many sinners.  After offering forgiveness verbally, his generosity had him killed.  Soldiers nailed him to a cross, where he gave his very blood for the forgiveness of the debts of everyone.  “For there is one God, there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as a ransom for all.”  In giving his life as a ransom, he showed the world what is the most important choice to make – serving God by being in relationship with others, because the debts have already been paid through grace.  Choose God, because God already chose you.  Amen.