Righteousness outside of ethics and religion

Luke 16-1-13:

Please pray with me: God, may the words of my lips and the meditations of all our hearts be commendable in your sight. Amen.

This parable of Jesus is a confusing one, and I must admit it struck me throughout the week. For one thing, Jesus has this very ominous statement: No slave can serve two masters. I found it interesting that my first sermon for my internship, which is split between two locations, I would get the saying: no slave can two masters…

Apart from difficult sayings like that, though, I think the question this parable begs is, who is this scoundrel who apparently has a better grasp on the dealings of God’s will, than the children of light?

What, exactly, was Jesus trying to tell the disciples and the Pharisees who overheard, about the economy of God with this parable the commends a cheater? What is Jesus, this person constantly questioning the rules of society and the religious establishment, getting at with this parable? We have to wonder, what at all could be commendable about this manager’s actions?

If you think there might be an easy point to this parable allow me to muddy any simple explanations for you. The manager does do a favor for the master’s debtors by reducing their debt, but remember the manager did it to be welcomed into their homes after he was dismissed. These actions of his could not be clinically described as charitable, if anything they are a little closer to conniving…

But, before we condemn this person the master commended, let’s put his actions into context. Perhaps that will help a little. The manager whose actions are commended had a charge brought against him, he was squandering his master’s property. So in light of this oncoming death sentence he acted shrewdly. You see, in the ancient world if a slave were caught, or even accused of, wasting their affluent master’s wealth they could be put to death.

So, while the cards are still being shuffled, the manager sneaks a couple cards up his sleeve. The manager will pull a favor for the master’s debtors, and maybe this ace up the sleeve will allow this sneaky manger to see the light of at least a few more days.

And when you take the time to really dwell on this story you begin to see how gritty it is. This is the stuff Bruce Springsteen sings about, the stuff the television show The Wire depicts. A down and out middle-man is about to get the axe, and before his life is ruined he tries one last scam.

One last scam; the manager reduces the debt of the master’s debtors trying to gain a favor.

Now in movies that focus on justice the manager would be caught, fired, and he might repent turn his life around and there’s the happy ending. In a darker movie the manager might get away with the scam, but he’d be trapped in his lies and somehow that would be his undoing.

That isn’t the parable Jesus tells, though. The master finds out about the scam and incredibly, rather than getting upset and taking out his (by the rules of the day) due compensation, the master commends this manager for acting shrewdly. Wow.

The master commends the manager, apparently because the manager was able to read the sign of the times and react accordingly. And, while this action may be tainted by the corruption of self-interest, the master still commends it. In light of that ringing endorsement, it is worth noticing exactly what this manager did.

He forgave debtors their real debts, just as Jesus has taught us to pray: forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. This manager is living out the Lord’s prayer in a radical way, in a way that is outside of ethical imperatives and outside of the religious structures. This manager forgave debts. Pretty bold action.

And this is bold, but perhaps the real bang of the parable is that the master commends the manager.

One can only imagine the manager expected to get killed at worst, and maybe dismissed at best. But that isn’t what happens. It is not what happens at all. Instead, the manager is commended for acting shrewdly. The manager, in the action of forgiving debt is met by a similar radical grace; the manager, too, is forgiven.

Without the commendation of the master the manager’s actions would have been clever and perhaps have allowed survival. When the master comes and hallows these actions they become a “blessed shrewdness.”

Now this parable is certainly complex, but it is saying something: for those people who become wrapped up in the upcoming judgment, a miracle happens: they no longer serve wealth; but God.

This seeming threat by Jesus at the end of this parable is no treat at all, it is a promise. This manager who spent his life squandering their master’s wealth is swept up in the miracle, and no corruption of self-interest will minimize it.

Managers like him can no longer serve wealth. The promise has changed their loyalties. Suddenly wealth is no longer a God, and instead wealth becomes a tool to serve our neighbor.

Perhaps that is part of the radical nature of this parable. Forgive, forgive for whatever reasons you have, but forgive. Self-interested as your motivations may be, they will be hallowed, or commended. This manager in one last scam finds himself swept up in the miracle. And we, too, are no exception, we will be made like this shrewd manager.

This Jesus who was, and is, constantly upsetting the boundaries of elect and outsider, of clean and unclean, does so again in this parable. A dishonest manager gets God’s economy. God’s economy gets messy in the gritty realities of the world we live in, today.

This parable is about many things no doubt, forgiving debts, acting appropriately shrewd when the time calls for it, God’s economy in our world here and now. But it is also about a promise.

Dishonest, sneaky, or otherwise shrewd managers will forgive the debt of debtors, they will creatively live into an uncertain future and God will be present with them. God will be present in parables, in a promise, in the Holy Spirit, and when we care for and support one another. God will be present as managers encounter an uncertain future, and no matter what, God will not leave us to our devices. God will bless us and our intentions

.

Jesus does not tell a parable about a master who says, well you tired but you were a little too selfish. No, Jesus tells a parable about a master who commends the manager’s actions.

Jesus does not tell a parable about a master too high and holy to associate with debtors and sneaky managers. No, Jesus tells a parable about a master in the muck of sorrow and impending doom.

This parable is about God’s economy in the world. This parable is about a promise that like the manager, we find our actions commended and blessed for the life of the world.

That promise puts renewed and deeper meaning to the end of our formal services:

Go in peace, share the good news!

Go in peace, your actions are not judged, but commended. Share this good news, forgive the real debts of your neighbors in needs. Like the final call and response, this parable says loud and clear, while religion, spirituality, or whatever you like to call it, is certainly part of Sunday between 10:30 and noon, but it is not limited to there.

Our life with God is part of the life of the world, and unlike people who burn sacred texts, the fact that our faith is part of the life of the world is good news. At noon many of us will leave these walls to share the good news.

We will share the good news through the ministries of St. Join through a garden, yes, and through a soup kitchen and a homeless shelter and many other ministries. But we will also share the good news through our vocations.

The temptation for me is to list a few generic vocations, but that would not be honest. Please bless me this year by telling me about your vocation. Let us and our day to day vocation become a blessed shrewdness for the life of the world.

Amen