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He also said to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."
- Luke 16:1-9
In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued teaching in parables. All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to hear Him. The theme of each parable comes in response to the criticism of the Pharisees and scribes: "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." See Wednesday's reading for the first parables He gave on the subject of redemption. Yesterday, He taught: "A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."' And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry. Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.' But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he answered and said to his father, 'Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.'"
He also said to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home." My study bible says of today's reading: "A steward is responsible for managing his master's property and looking after the welfare of his servants. The point of this parable is that the unrighteous are better at using money to make friends in the world than believers are at using money to make friends for the Kingdom of God -- which is accomplished by spending it on the needy. At death (when you fail) the needy will welcome their benefactors into the everlasting home."
A story about charity and charitable life -- how do we make friends by unrighteous mammon? According to Ephrem the Syrian, this parable is teaching us that by using the transitory things of this world which are not ours we are to purchase things for ourselves that will not pass away. According to Chrysostom, whatever we have is a loan from God. How are we to invest it? What do we do with it? He has written, "The loan is proof against loss. He guarantees to return in good time one hundred percent of what was deposited, and he keeps life everlasting in reserve for us" (Homilies on Genesis 3.21). We also note that the steward, while initially acting against his own master, later decides he will deal "shrewdly" with the debtors, settling the debts and at the same time "making friends" with his now-fellow debtors. The master praises this shrewd behavior. We note "debts" once again as the language which so often refers to sins against God and ourselves, reflected in the Lord's Prayer, as we are taught to pray: "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." So while this is clearly an exhortation not only to charitable behavior, but to behavior which makes peace, which steps up, which uses all that we have available to us -- even the "unrighteous mammon" to act in charity and in peace, we have a very strong statement about how we are to dwell in this world. If all we are ever after is material gain, counting every penny, then we're not really likely to get very far. On the other hand, even in the business world, there are times to "deal shrewdly" by settling a deal, clearing off the books, and having a problem resolved. From the Lord's point of view, everything that we have, all our lives, our talents, our bodies, our wealth, our souls and spirits, is an investment. It's all on loan from Him. And there is more: we are to be stewards of this world. That means of all the world, every good and blessed thing in it that is also given by God, invested with us as stewards of it all. So, by what standards are we going to operate as good stewards? How do we use whatever we have? Are we going to be hard and stingy, causing more problems for others? Or are we going to govern this world, even the affairs of unrighteous mammon, according to a better way of being in the world, of thinking about the whole of life including the life to come? We take note that this steward is dealing shrewdly; he's not a pushover in giving away all his master's goods to the debtors. But he makes a shrewd compromise, and clears the matters off the books. So let us think about what we can offer for peace, how we make our investments, how we clear the debts off and let go. Better yet, how we invest in an eternal life with something worth declaring for ourselves.
