Luke 16:1-13
I always had trouble with this
parable. Is Jesus praising someone who is dishonest? Is he talking
about a master who laughs off his dishonest servant's further
dishonesty? And then Jesus gives us some statements that don't seem
to add up: Making friends with dishonest wealth? Being trustworthy
with dishonest wealth? Is your wealth and mine dishonest?
I think what throws me off, and maybe
you as well, is the description of the steward calling in his
master's debtors and having them write off part of their debt, hoping
that they will then welcome him into their homes when the servant
gets fired.
In my reading, I found out that the
servant had every right to do that. A steward would build his
commission in to what was charged. And the commissions were strictly
prescribed; fifty percent for olive oil, 20 percent for wheat, and
other percentages for other commodities. It was recognition that
although the master owned the land and the produce, the steward was
the one who had to organize the harvest, and that meant paying
workers. Whatever was left over he could keep. So our steward is
simply writing off his commission. Those who owed the master money
suddenly found themselves with more money in their pockets, and
presumably, felt more favorable to the servant.
So we have a steward who is accused of
squandering his master's property, and at the end of the story the
master commends the dishonest steward. I suspect the steward was
chronically dishonest, and that's what got him into trouble. When he
was caught, he figured out a way to turn his situation to his
advantage. That's why he is commended.
I think that's the situation Jesus and
his listeners envision when Jesus interprets the parable for them.
But Jesus goes on to make several statements about wealth and honesty
and responsibility. When our translation says “dishonest wealth”
the original Greek would be more like “the wealth this world
values”. And that makes a little more sense. Jesus is telling us
here that how we deal with our wealth has an impact on eternity. But
at the same time, wealth is like nitroglycerin -- it can destroy us
if we don't use it properly. And if you are like me, you've had
trouble in your lives with that. How do we strike the right
balance?
Because as Jesus says, it has to do
with honesty. I know a family where the mother has a full time job
and the father holds down two full-time jobs – reasonably well –
paying jobs, too. And they have five children, all still young.
Something seems out of balance. Maybe they are saying, “we are
saving for our children's college education” or “we are saving so
we don't become a burden on our children in our old age”. I'm not
judging them, but if it were me, and I was honest, I hope I would
recognize that whatever the reason money was getting in the way of my
responsibilities to my family.
And Jesus is pointing out that more
important than money are relationships – the steward, after all,
uses wealth to form relationships. And that's another danger of
worldly wealth – it has the power to come between people. If I
have wealth, it follows that some people will try to take it away
from me in some way or another. We get phone calls all day long
asking for donations or offering to come to our house and see if we
need something they are selling. And if some people will try to take
my wealth, am I not going to be suspicious, even a little bit, of
everyone? And if I don't have enough to get by on, won't that color
my relationships with those who have more than they need?
And Jesus is pointing out that worldly
wealth brings about responsibility. John Wesley, who founded the
Methodist church, begin his career as a teacher, and had a salary of
30 british pounds a year. He lived on 28 and gave a way the other
two. But as his salary went up, especially after he became a speaker
in great demand, he continued to live on 28 pounds a year and gave
away everything else. (They didn't have inflation in those days).
He saw wealth as the opportunity to be of service to others. I think
it's interesting that we Catholics contribute on the average 386
dollars per family per year to our parish church – even though that
is the source of the most important things in our lives – the mass
and Holy Eucharist, the source of reconciliation for our sins, the
education of our children in our faith, and all the other spiritual
benefits that flow from being members of a parish. In the Assembly
of God, by the way, the contribution per family is about 1700 dollars
per year.
And Jesus ends his discussion of
wealth with the statement, “..No servant can serve two
masters...You cannot serve God and mammon”. Some of us may have
heard that mammon is the demon of wealth, but that understanding
dates from the middle ages. In Jesus' time, mammon referred to
profit, surplus, that which you have but don't need. And Jesus is
simply saying – those of us who have more than we need are
constantly faced with a choice; do we use that surplus for God or do
we live for that wealth? Here in our wealthy town of Longmeadow, we
need to be especially sensitive to what Jesus is telling us. Are we
using our surplus wealth to store up in heaven what really matters?
