Proper 20: September 19, 2004.

Amos 8:4-7

Psalm 113

1 Timothy 2:1-7

Luke 16:1-13

First Reading

God's attention to the poor and needy continues, as was the case with last Sunday's attention to the lost sheep and coin. In the psalm, God is the helper of the needy and poor. The subject of Amos's fourth vision warns would-be or current tramplers to leave the poor and needy alone. God will not tolerate unjust actions, oppression, or social injustice; God will punish such bad business practices with disaster. Our epistle reading does not fit into this theme directly. Although the chart of succession implies that we are all under God's judgment and it is only Christ that can mediate, only Christ makes suitable ransom for us, desiring that all of us be saved.

How in the world can we preach the dishonest manager? Occasionally, a sermon that offers ambiguity rather than answers can be powerful. You may choose to offer your congregation the various options of interpretation and let them choose their own adventure. Are we the manager entrusted with God's precious gifts? Are we the rich man who has so much and still hoards? Or are we the debtors whose bill has been significantly reduced (not very Lutheran) through Christ's ransom? Is God the rich man who has everything and entrusts us with little? Is Jesus the manager who extravagantly shares God's grace with the world? Or, connecting it with the other lessons and to Matthew's last judgment, are the equitable or gracious actions done for the debtor actually actions done to God?

In The New Interpreters Bible, R. Alan Culpepper does a nice job of describing the manager's action in the three possible scenarios and accessing the likelihood of each: (1) Continue on that path of irresponsibility, concluding the job in the same dishonest way. Reveal to the hearers the exact dishonesty. "Forget this stupid job--I'm out of here anyway." (2) Exclude the (dishonest) interest the Master added to each sale. Thereby the manager was dishonest to the master but faithful to God's law, as legislated in Deut 23:19-20. (3) Forsake his share of the profits, eliminating his commission. Thus, the manager gains favor with debtors while not losing more with the master.

The problem with this parable is that, unsure of the manager's actions, we do not know what example Jesus is trying to set. Thus the whole point of the parable is lost with these missing pieces. Was the manager a wise steward and applauded by Jesus because he (a) continued in his same, sinful ways, (b) did not charge interest like the law teaches, (c) eliminated his commission, or (d) came up with a clever way to win friends and influence people?

When scholars spend whole careers studying Luke's Gospel and do not presume to know the answer to this multiple-choice question, it is presumptuous for us to preach as if we knew exactly what the steward did to be wise in Jesus' eyes and exactly what Jesus meant to teach us with this confusing parable. We have a choice to explain the ambiguities of this parable to people, perhaps gaining new insights in the process, or to just read the lesson and let it stand on its own. Fortunately, when this text is read, it does carry power (being scripture and all). With simple reading, the main point comes across: Money or God? The use of the Greek word mammon, meaning money or wealth, in this context carries a sort of personification. Contrasted with serving God, mammon becomes the Evil Master. Thus, the NIV translation is more helpful as it concludes: "you cannot serve both God and Money." Capitalizing gives the word money a sort of character: the enchanter, deceiver, devil. As Jesus poses the parable there are two masters and two lords to choose from. Which will it be?

Pastoral Reflection

Time and again we are the dishonest manager, found irresponsible in our task. One of our greatest fears is realized through this parable, being called out by The Superior. This is my fear--being confronted with my irresponsibility, facing the music of my selfishness, learning that I've been caught doing my most embarrassing action. No hard-working person with any amount of pride wants to be found irresponsible or dishonest. But we are all corrupted, irresponsible, and dishonest--it is our age-old rebellion; it is our sinfulness. There is the fear that strikes any American receiving a letter from the IRS--No, not an audit! We fear being found irresponsible or dishonest. Yet how much more should we fear God's audit?

God's auditing powers far surpass any human institution. God knows our budgets, what we put in the plate, what we give to our unemployed neighbor, our widowed colleague, our homeless friend. God knows! And this is no small audit. The hundred batos of oil and hundred koros of grain help us to understand that this man is rich indeed. This is no small family-operated business. These huge amounts reveal a scandal on a corporate scale. Money trading. Embezzlement. Insider trading. We are all too familiar with these terms. Dishonesty pervades our capitalistic system. "Audit requested!" God calls out.

Stewardship is an obvious place to take your congregation this week, but take caution in your pursuit. While the manager example certainly deserves points for creativity, he is probably not the kind of giver you want your parishioners to emulate. This text is not completely stewardship-friendly. Generosity should not be motivated by social security but by the awareness of God's generous love and forgiveness toward us. We should not give to make friends but as a matter of faith. Our offerings to Christ's church should not be to save our spot in the eternal home but to help the poor and needy in our midst; not buying some indulgence, assuring our welcome into God's family, but out of recognition that God already welcomes us into the family.

"Help us to order our lives by your wisdom," we will pray this Sunday. We need God's help to be prudent, shrewd, wise, logical, skillful stewards of God's gifts to us. "I will and I ask God to help and guide me" should be our response to stewardship campaigns. The Evil Master lurks and sneaks around us, trying to corrupt our priorities.

The ELCA's Web site estimates the average annual giving per confirmed ELCA member at $534.24, proving that we cannot be trusted to be faithful with a little. One look at environmental statistics or the International Monetary Fund and World Bank operations proves that we also cannot be trusted to be faithful with much. Yet somehow, for some reason, God continues to trust, to give, to bless, to provide.

Having been welcomed into the family, splashed with promises and marked with the cross of Christ from this time on and forevermore, we want another chance. Experiencing the amazing grace of our God, we desire to be given another shot at being stewards--real ones, faithful ones. Will we do it? Can we ever be found faithful? No. We will never fully meet God's expectations or rise to God's challenge. But we can be found faithful in little. Get our budget to jive with our beliefs, our pocketbook with our piety, our checkbook register with our Christian faith. We can make changes in our calendar that show what master we choose: teach Sunday school, tutor a neighborhood kid, pray, visit an Alzheimer's unit, join a Bible study, serve at a soup kitchen.... In these little ways we show our Master's identity. SKB