Trinity
9 – July 23rd and 24th, 2016 – Luke
16:1-13
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
The
parable which we heard today is one that causes no end of
consternation to folks. If you want the bible just to be a book with
nice information on how to be a good, moral person, how you can
impress God and make Him give you blessings – well, this one will
put you into a tizzy. Because frankly, everyone in the parable is
scum – is a liar or a cheat or a jerk. If you want the bible to be
a how to book on earthly riches – well, this parable doesn't work
either. Which makes sense; Jesus tells it right after the parable of
the prodigal Son, and frankly, giving half your estate to a son so
that he can blow it isn't exactly great financial wisdom. So then,
why does Jesus tell us this story, what is His point? For the
sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own
generation than the sons of light.
There's the point – it's about being shrewd.
So
what is shrewdness? From a worldly perspective shrewdness abounds in
this story. Consider: There was a rich man who
had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was
wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, 'What is
this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management,
for you can no longer be manager.'
Remember, with the parable of the prodigal son, the Elder son was
indignant that the younger son wasted his share of the estate. So
alright, let's get a story where that sort of thing isn't just
tolerated. No fatted-calf for this manager – when someone spills
the beans, when someone complains about how this manager had been
“wasting” stuff – maybe skimming a bit, maybe using the expense
account a bit too freely – that's it. You're fired. The rich man
calls this manager into the office and says, “turn in the books,
cause you ain't got a job here no more.” The big dog is going to
eat the little dog. Think about it – you had the manager who was
shrewdly taking advantage of his position, even if it was a bit
wasteful. You've got the complainers who shrewdly see opportunity to
get their competition fired. You know, if the guy above me gets
canned, and I'm the one who blew the whistle, guess who is in line
for that nice corner office! And the rich man, he just tries to stop
the wasting ASAP. All very shrewd according to the world –
everyone looking after his own interests, making sure his own bread
is buttered.
Except
now, this manager – he's up the creek without a paddle. And
the manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is
taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig,
and I am ashamed to beg.”
Again, this is shrwedness on this manager's part. You could listen
to any business guru or a TED talk speaker talk about this – you
have to be realistic, you have to set reachable goals. Denial isn't
healthy. This fellow's life has taken a turn for the worse – but he
doesn't lie to himself. He doesn't walk out, strutting saying, “meh,
who cares, I'll just get a better job from some other rich man.”
Nope. He recognizes his situation. His reputation as a manager is
toast. And he isn't strong enough to dig, and he isn't going to go
begging. He shrewdly takes stock of his situation and does not lie
to himself. Instead, he improvises. “I have
decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people
may receive me into their houses.” So summoning his masters
debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my
master?' He said, '100 measures of oil.' He said to him, 'Take your
bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'”
You get the picture. 100 measures of wheat – now it's 80. And by
the by, a “measure” was basically 1000 bushels. This is big time
stuff. What he does is utterly shrewd – and under the law of the
time, perfectly legal. Books aren't in yet. He's still the
authorized agent – he can give discounts. And you know what – if
you are going to get fired for wasting the master's stuff, you might
as well WASTE it... and build up quite a bit of good-will. Because
it's not begging if you walk up to someone and say, “remember how I
saved you 20,000 bushels of wheat – say, I need a place to stay and
a bit of spending cash – think you can hook me up?” That's “I
washed your back, how about you wash mine.” And that's why even
the master has to commend the dishonest manager – got to hand it to
him, it was some slick dealing there, got himself out of a tight
spot.
Everyone
in the parable is playing the angles. They are all after the money,
and they all work and scrap and fight for it. Money dominates their
thoughts. And they are shrewd. For the sons of
this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than
the sons of light.
So then, what about you, O Christian, you who have been called out
of darkness into Christ's marvelous light? Jesus is making a blunt
statement here – you Christians, you disciples, you don't act very
shrewdly when it comes to your faith, to the things of God. I mean,
the folks in the story do whatever they can for the Almighty Dollar.
So, what about you Christian? How about it – are you shrewd, not
in terms of your dealing with money, but shrewd in how you deal with
mercy? Do you fight and scratch and claw – to forgive your
neighbor? Do you do whatever it takes to show them love, do you care
for them by hook or by crook? How zealous are you in showing love
and mercy, how eager are you to make peace with your neighbor? Or to
put in Catechism terms, when you put the best construction on things,
are you really thinking about how to put the best construction –
are you working at it – or just kind of shrugging along? And then,
seeing your sin, knowing your lack, are you shrewd about receiving
forgiveness? Do you crave it, do you prioritize hearing God's Word
and receiving mercy? Or do you just putter on?
You
see, when Jesus tells this parable – He had just finished the Lost
Sheep, the Lost Coin, the Prodigal Son – because the Pharisees had
been grumbling about forgiveness. Jesus had been eating with sinners
– and they grumbled. “That's not how it should work. Why waste
your time with scum – you should deal with us, we're the big wigs,
we're the important people!” Big time important people, like the
dishonest manager, or the rich man, or folks who rack up giant bills.
And they should have known better – the Pharisees prided
themselves on how they were good Believers... and yet, they disdained
their neighbor. In reality they were really striving after wealth,
after earthly success and fame. They didn't see their sin – they
cared nothing for mercy, they gave no mercy to their neighbor and
didn't think they needed any themselves. And so Jesus calls them on
it – calls us on it. “And I tell you, make
friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when
it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
If you don't care about God's Word of forgiveness, if you want to be
about money, if you want to be focused on earthly power – well, you
better do it really well, because there's always a bigger dog coming
in this dog eat dog world. Death comes. How will you deal with
eternity? Maybe you can make so much money that when you die you'll,
oh, I don't know, somehow bribe your way into heaven... do you hear
the sarcasm here? You want to live chasing after money, well, good
luck... you're gonna need it. Because when it boils down to it, “No
servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and
love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the
other. You cannot serve God and money.”
You can't do both. You can either spend your life living to earn
and make and take and gather everything into yourself, or you can
show love to your neighbor, and give of all that you have. When you
get worried about the money, you'll just step on your neighbor. And
we know this. It's a story that plays out too often in our own
lives.
Of
course it plays out. That's what the fall was. Of course in our
sinfulness we act cutthroat and shrewd – Satan is shrewd and
tricksy, and in the fall he was all shrewd and trapped us into sin
and death. Satan thought he was pulling the biggest fast one of all
time in the fall. Trapped mankind in sin and death, using God's own
law to separate us from God. What better way was there for Satan to
show his hatred of God than orchestrating the fall? But here's the
thing. Satan forgot something, misjudged something. He forgot just
how shrewd Jesus is. You don't hustle a hustler, Satan. While the
sons of the world are shrewd – they've got nothing on how shrewd
Jesus is. Jesus knows what He wants, and He will get it. He wants
you, wants you forgiven. And so Jesus will be utterly shrewd when it
comes to showing you mercy, to winning you salvation. Here's how it
goes. Jesus says - alright, Satan – you want to play it all
cutthroat – tell you what. You can cut my throat. Tell you what,
Satan, I'll even throw in humiliation and degradation for free –
you can have Me whipped, and mocked – you can even crucify Me. And
Satan, in his hatred of God, in His wicked desire to hurt God, took
the bait. Crucified Jesus. Went to town on Him. The thing is –
that death on that cross undid everything Satan has done to you. The
wages of sin is death – well, the spotless Lamb of God just took
care of that upon the cross, didn't He? Oh, and look at that –
that spotless Lamb rises from the dead – we get to as well now.
And Satan's left holding an empty bag of hot nothing, because Jesus
is shrewder than Satan. Now Satan will still cause trouble – he
doesn't give in. He's not wise enough to figure out that he'll never
top Jesus, so Satan will still hound you, mess with you, tempt you.
And Jesus just shrugs – knock yourself out Satan – I'll just keep
on forgiving them. They are mine, purchased and won with my blood.
I'll keep on forgiving them, showing them mercy – doesn't matter
how foolish or incomprehensible you think it is.
And
so while Satan does his worst to you, Jesus still calls you to His
house, calls you way from that. He is wise and zealous and shrewd –
and He keeps on giving you forgiveness – keeps on calling you His
own baptized child, keeps on giving you His own Body and Blood. And
you know why? “No servant can serve two
masters.”
Can't serve two masters – and Jesus is your Lord, and He calls you
here to His House and He reminds you over and over that you are His
and that you are forgiven. Doesn't matter what you've done – it
doesn't trump what He did for you upon the Cross. It doesn't matter
what guilt you feel – He took up that guilt long before you were
born. Doesn't matter the temptations that you face – He faced
temptation down for you already. You belong to Him. Jesus loves you
– it's as simple as that. And while the world will never get that,
never understand or accept it – you are loved by Christ, now and
forever. If thou, O Lord, kept a record of sin – who could stand?
No one, so Christ says to you, “take your bill, and write zero –
you owe nothing, for I have paid it all.” Because Jesus is shrewd,
He is zealous and strives for what He wants – and He wants you to
be saved, redeemed, forgiven, and with Him for all eternity. Jesus
is all about giving you mercy – and His mercy endures forever. In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
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