Luke 16:1-15 The Ways of the World

Does it sound in this parable like Jesus is actually praising the dishonest manager for being dishonest? This has always been one of those parables that has left me scratching my head wondering what Jesus is getting at. I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that sometimes when a bible passage doesn’t quite make sense to me, I just read past it. That’s what I’ve often done with this parable. Yet there is always a lot to learn when you slow down and really listen, not just to the passage you’re not clear on, but listening to the verse around it and the book of the bible it’s found in. it’s amazing how often something that was kind of confusing can suddenly make sense. That’s what’s happened to me over the past 3 weeks I’ve been reflecting on this parable.

The dishonest manager is a smart man, though not as smart as he probably thinks he is since he got caught by his master wasting his possessions. Yet he is smart enough to go to the people who owe his master a fortune and lower their debts by a lot. He’s hoping to score brownie points with these people, hoping that when he gets thrown out of his job that one of them will take him in, even though he’s lost his job and a lot of his status by getting fired. The dishonest manager is trying to make himself a hero, a benefactor to the people who owe his master so much money, so that they will feel obligated, or a sense of friendship with him and will help him out. After-all, in most places money talks!

This parable comes after the parable of the lost son who wasted his father’s money and thought money would solve all his problems and build strong relationships. His friends didn’t stay around once his social status and money was gone, they were only friends with his money, fickle friends at best. You need to be careful about friends who like you only because of your money and your ability to make their life easier and more fun with it, not wise to build your circle of friends by buying them.

So, if this parable isn’t really about being smart in the way of the world, then what is Jesus getting at here? Part of the answer is found in verse 13, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the others. You cannot serve both God and money.” At one level, this parable is about loyalty and devotion to who you identify as your master; is it God or money and what money brings you in this world.

Part of the answer is also found in verse 10 & 11, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” You hear here an echo to another of Jesus’ parables where he tells the story of a master going away and entrusting 3 of his servants with different amounts of his wealth to take care of while he is away. 2 of the servants work hard and through using and investing the wealth, they are able to increase it, while the third servant buries it so he won’t lose it, operating out of fear rather than passion for his master. His master’s desire and trust are not a high priority with him, simply living a trouble and effort free life is good enough for him.

When you take these two things together, Jesus is calling us to live a God focused life, to be as wise in the ways of God as the people of the world are wise in the ways of the world. Jesus is straight up calling out those who are trying to have things both ways, enjoying investing in the world around us and embracing its values and benefits while trying to be completely loyal to Jesus and God, because the values and ways of each master too often are at odds against each other. You only need to listen to the news to get an understanding of this struggle. Our society is willing to invest in the poor and vulnerable as long as taxes don’t go up and you keep these people out of sight while Jesus is constantly calling us to be hospitable to the poor and vulnerable, inviting them into our lives and homes, sacrificing our money to help them. Just listen to the Sermon on the Mount. Hear how Jesus praises the poor widow in Mark 12, who puts her only 2 copper coins into the temple charity box to help others even worse of than herself. Her offering shows the state of her soul, “Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

You hear the fighting going on over abortion and LGBTQ rights, we close our eyes to the violence and drug problems in our community and we forget this is about people created in the image of God. We’ll never change the hearts and values of people by shouting at them, we’re called to build real respect filled relationships with all people, including those who identify themselves differently gender wise, ethnically, or faith wise. When we build genuine relationships, then we’re able to speak Jesus into their lives and help the Holy Spirit to settle into their hearts as they experience true love and acceptance, even if we say that we disagree with some of the choices that they may make, being humble enough to confess that we also make choices that displease Jesus. but this should not break the relationship or stop us from having deep meaningful conversations about what giving our lives over to Jesus really looks like in a world that insists on the freedom to define what is right and wrong morally based entirely on our feeling, which are always subject to change.

It comes down to who we really belong to and what are we going to allow to shape who we are as people. Do you get your identity from Jesus and being created in the image of God, or do you accept the world’s wisdom in telling us that our identity lies in our gender, our job, our bank account, or whatever the cause of the day is? Do you believe that you are not your own, but that you belong, body and soul, in life and in death to our faithful saviour Jesus Christ? We say the words, but do they truly shape who you are, what your values are, how you live your life? In the early church, being a disciple of Jesus meant that you followed the Way, the way Jesus lived, which helps us understand why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” in John 14. It’s about imitating Jesus, following his teaching, and making Jesus the center of our lives, accepting Jesus’ way rather than the way of the world and its values and goals. Following Jesus is not just believing in Jesus, it’s about living in the way he teaches and shows us.

Jesus came to earth to lead us back to God and the way of God. He did this through modeling in his life the way of God, including accepting that God’s way is about justice, righteousness, wholeness, forgiveness and grace and it led Jesus to the cross where he took our punishment for our sin on himself because Jesus knows we’re unable to do anything to make ourselves acceptable to God. Jesus is our perfect substitute, addressing God’s justice and holiness through grace and forgiveness. Jesus now invites us to follow him, accepting him as our lord and saviour, and he offers forgiveness and eternal life with himself. We have a new mission in life; showing in our lives that we are thankful to God and taking on his call to share the gospel with all so that they too may find their identity in Jesus, accept him as their lord and saviour and find eternal life and forgiveness of their sins.

This parable is not about being wise in the ways of the world, but about being wise in the ways of God. You become wise in the ways of God by regularly listening to his Word, practicing the teachings of Jesus in our lives so they become second nature to us, talking with God regularly and slowing down regularly to listen to him. It’s about developing a servant’s heart by putting God and others first. Remember that what the world calls valuable is only for a short time, what Jesus calls valuable is for eternity.