The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light

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 gave us the parable of the Prodigal Son.  It is the third in a series He gave when all the tax collectors and the sinners who drew near to Him to hear Him.  The Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  Jesus responded first with two parables.   Then He said:  "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 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.  He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."    We note that the previous parables of the lost sheep, the silver coin, and the prodigal son (above) were given to the Pharisees and scribes who complained that all the tax collectors and sinners came to listen to Jesus.  This parable in today's reading is given to His disciples.   A steward is responsible for managing his master's property and looking after the welfare of his servants.  We can understand the role of those who will serve the Church as stewards, and we consider ourselves stewards of all that is in the world -- as opposed to owners.  My study bible tells us that Jesus contrasts the unrighteous with believers in terms of their expertise at the use of wealth.  The unrighteous (such as this unjust but shrewd steward) know how to make friends using their wealth, but the righteous often fail to do so.  The key is that their use of wealth must be focused on God's purposes of community, in charity.  As my study bible puts it, to make friends for the Kingdom of God, which is accomplished by spending on the needy.      There is, I find, always a hidden exchange in Jesus' teachings:  what we do for those who cannot pay us back, for the least of these, is really storing up a kind of treasure in the Kingdom.  It is the ones left outside who are brought back into community through this behavior, and such "friends" are a part of the Kingdom.  They are the ones about whom Jesus says that "in heaven their angels always behold the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 18:10). 

Jesus says, "The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light."  It's a very keen observation, and one filled with a kind of irony.  What, after all, does it mean to make friends for the kingdom of God?  We can look around ourselves and see that power brokers and wealthy of the world often make "friendships" based on, shall we say, the rules of mammon.  That is, in the affairs of ambition and gain, we may see pragmatic partnerships that only make sense on those terms, and used to take advantage of the weak, the less powerful.  But Jesus teaches here that there is a line drawn through all of our affairs, and He seems to suggest that in every negotiation, in the smallest choices, in every affair, there is the choice of what kind of steward we are.  And although Jesus seems to give the example of only money, if you think about it, what wealth we do have control over may include all kinds of things in life:  our voices, our opinions, our capacity to pray for others, to give them a good word.  We can share a meal at our table, or invite those who are alone to come in to sit with us -- there are all kinds of ways that we "make friends" using whatever we have in this world.  Wealth comes in many, many forms -- and currency also comes in many forms.  The question is, what do we do with it?  And, more particularly, Whom do we serve?  Jesus gives us a stark choice:  God or mammon, and makes it clear that we can't serve both.  We're going to have to make up our minds where our treasure is.