The 17th Sunday after
Pentecost - September 23, 2007
Shrewd in Generosity
The Rev. Keith
Oglesby, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, Alpharetta, Georgia
“And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had
acted shrewdly…” (Luke 16:8f)
What a strange story! Our Lord chooses a
very strange hero to illustrate his teaching on what our
attitude should be toward wealth and power. Let’s review the facts
again:
-
A manager is accused of “squandering
the property” of the rich man he works for.
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The rich man calls the manager on the
carpet, demands an accounting and informs the manager that he is
going to let him go.
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The manager has a conversation with
himself, saying, “Self, what am I going to do? I am too weak
to dig and too proud to beg.”
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Then the manager comes up with an
idea—he will reduce the bills of the rich man’s debtors so they will
be obliged to him after he loses his job.
Wow, how does this guy get to be the
hero of one of Jesus’ parables? Are you bothered by this story? If you
are, you’re not alone. The church fathers struggled with this parable
and came up with some inventive ways to make it into an allegory so
that it would not mean what it says. And today as well, scholars and
commentators have researched ways to understand this parable so that
our Lord does not appear to commend embezzlement and fraud.
And it is fair to consider these other
interpretations—it may make the story go down a little smoother. One
explanation is that the manager is taking a short term business loss
by giving up his own commissions on these transactions in order to
have a personal obligation from the rich man’s debtors so that they
will show hospitality to him in the long run. Scholars indicate that
this is a plausible story, but there are some problems with it—for
example, it is unlikely that the commission on one hundred jugs of oil
would be fifty percent. But it could be. If that is the case, then the
manager is simply making a rational business deal.
Another explanation offered by some
modern scholars is that the manager has a change of heart about the
rich man’s business practices and writes off the interest that is
being charged against the debtors, because interest is contrary to the
usury laws of Deuteronomy. This view changes the manager from a crook
to a social reformer who has a last minute change of heart and takes a
swipe against an unrighteous economic system as he is being forcibly
removed from it.
Both of these views are possible and you
are more than welcome to take one of these options home with you as a
way to explain this strange story. But I have found that often a
strange story is more likely to hold the truth of the gospel than a
clever rationalization. You see, in verse eight, it says that “his
master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted
shrewdly.” If either of these first two interpretations applied, why
is the manager called dishonest?
So… that leaves the
interpretation that this manager was a crook! He started out as a
crook and he stayed true to character right through to the end of his
employment. He cuts debts randomly, perhaps based on what amount of
cash the debtors had to pay at the moment he met with them. His
actions were based upon two things: a crisis in his life—he was losing
his job; and the best possible solution he could think of in the short
amount of time he had before the final accounting. This was not a wise
agent simply giving up his short term commission in order to receive
long term care; nor a manager who suddenly saw the light and
eliminated unjust interest from his master’s loans. This story is
about a crook that beats the system and helps others only to
ultimately help himself.
Well, if that is the case, if this is
the interpretation, w-wh-what in the world is going on? What could
this mean? Well, when I am confused, I find the best thing to do is to
take a minute, be quiet, pray and think. What could this strange story
mean for the people in Jesus’ day—and for us, some two thousand years
later? …So what is up with this story? I think every one of us
probably needs to ask that question for ourselves. Since I have spent
some time this past week asking questions about this story—and since I
have the pulpit—I’ll share some of my thoughts. Take them as the
reflections of one person, pray about them and then let the Holy
Spirit speak to you as he will.
I believe Jesus uses this parable to
shock us, to challenge our assumptions about life, and to make us
aware of a different reality. Jesus uses this story to make it clear
that he is not concerned about the status quo and the morality of the
marketplace. This story is so shocking that it helps us to see that we
are called to be more than ethical participants in the competitive
game of life. That is the unexpected twist of this parable, what makes
it both memorable and troubling—that life is more than doing the right
things according to the rules we have signed-up to follow. Life is
much more than that!
However, as Amos (8:4-7) informs us in
this morning’s lesson, the opposite is not true—Jesus really is not
holding up the manager’s example so that we will feel free to cheat
our employers-- or anyone else. But the dishonest manager does serve
as an example of a subversive presence in the daily world of
the marketplace. In his case, the manager is still acting in his
self-interest; but instead of trying to coerce more money from
the debtors or simply fleeing the country, he does ignore the rules of
the marketplace and instead forgives debt—five hundred gallons
of oil, two hundred bushels of grain—substantial debt. He
focuses on softer things, like relationships and community, what Jesus
calls “making friends.” And though the manager in the story may not
have been thinking about it at the time, Jesus tells us that making
friends with our wealth will cause us to be welcomed into “eternal
homes” that transcend the grandest mansions and palaces that the
marketplace can offer.
What a strange story. I give you
my interpretation as someone with scars and stars from the
marketplace—as well as a nice pension and a healthy 401k. I have an
appreciation for this system’s benefits and of course I believe we
should act ethically as we participate in it.
But the marketplace is not everything. It can be very
seductive with the many benefits it brings to the world; but frankly
the marketplace can also be very destructive, from its impact on
individual lives to the global environment.
So what do we do? One alternative is to
abandon the marketplace—and become a missionary… or join a monastery…
or go to seminary and become a priest. And for some of us, that may be
the right thing to do. But the alternative for most of us is to figure
out how to seek the kingdom of God and follow the values that we learn
from this story—to forgive, to make friends with our wealth and to
seek eternal homes-- while living and working in the system of buying
and selling and making loans. I believe this alternative is
possible—but I know it is a challenge.
So what do we do? First, we need to be
aware that we live in a world with two systems—one based on
competition and self-interest; and one based on God’s generosity to us
and God’s expectation that we share that generosity with others. And
as Jesus states, we cannot serve two masters. We need to be
clear in our own hearts and minds and in the daily choices that we
make, that we serve the God of Israel, the God made known in Jesus
Christ, the God worshiped and proclaimed by the church. We need to be
aware of the seductions of the other system—the message that would
have us believe that buying and selling and making loans are all that
really matter in life and that the people who do it well are entitled
to all the best stuff. Instead, we need to be
shrewd like the manager in the story—but with different
motives; we need to look for ways to use the wealth and power that we
possess as participants in the system in order to promote God’s
kingdom on earth. I am not sure what that will mean for each of us,
but I can give you an example from someone I know.
I served on the Outreach Committee at
St. Patrick’s about four years ago. Another man served on this same
committee. He was the senior counsel with a division of General
Electric. Don is a very distinguished, intelligent and charming man
with an impeccable appearance—the type of man you would expect to work
as a senior attorney with GE. A faith-based women’s clinic for
uninsured, low income people was one of the ministries that our
Outreach Committee supported. St. Patrick’s gave them a set amount
every month and they would come in once a year to report on the status
of their ministry. During their annual presentation, the head of the
clinic was reviewing how they were remodeling the building and adding
some new equipment and so forth. He said that one of their dreams—but
something beyond their budget at present—was a state of the art piece
of equipment for doing mammograms. Apparently it costs many thousands
of dollars. Well, I noticed Don paying close attention and asking
questions and making notes during the presentation. After the person
from the clinic left, he told the committee, “I think I can do
something about this.” Without going into all the details, Don worked
within the big, liability-averse and profit-focused bureaucracy of GE,
and obtained—for free!—the mammogram equipment for this clinic.
He worked with a committee of women within GE that focuses on special
cases like this and together they found a way for the company to
donate a brand new but slightly older model of the equipment. The
generosity of the gift was overwhelming and the benefits were real and
measurable for the people who rely on that clinic. Don used his
participation in the system of power and wealth to make friends and I
believe that Don and those who helped him will be welcomed into
eternal homes.
For the rest of us, our shrewdness may
not be so dramatic. But still our shrewdness is doing what the
marketplace does not expect or understand. It may be as simple as
listening sympathetically to a fellow employee who is going through a
hard time. It may mean giving 0.7% of our income for development
ministries and giving (or moving toward) a tithe to our church. It may
be helping a child study in an after school program or being a buddy
for a special needs child during Sunday school. It may mean donating
materials, time and skills to lovingly build a memorial garden or
renovate a worship space for your church. It could even be clearing
and maintaining a meditation trail in the woods behind a church.
Whatever we do, let us remember that in this world, our master is
God alone and that our loyalty to God is demonstrated by how we make
friends by using the wealth and power that we possess. Let us learn
from the dishonest manager in this strange story that we should apply
our shrewdness to being generous so that we will be welcomed as family
members in eternal homes. Amen.
© The Rev. Keith Ogelsby. All Rights
reserved.
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