For 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, we read the third of three parables Jesus gave in response to criticism by Pharisees and scribes that He sat with and received tax collectors and sinners.  For the first two parables, that of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin, see Wednesday's reading.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave the parable of the Prodigal Son:  "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."  Let us note first that while the last three parables (Luke 15) were given in response to the criticism of the Pharisees and scribes, this parable is directed to Christ's disciples.  The Orthodox Study Bible (OSB) comments on this parable that a steward is responsible for managing his master's property and looking after the welfare of his servants.  The point of this particular parable, it says, 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.  This is accomplished by spending it on the needy.  At death ("when you fail") the needy will welcome their benefactors into the everlasting home.  See also Luke 12:33-34.

 

It's important to keep in mind that Jesus has just finished delivering three parables to the Pharisees and scribes who've criticized Him for keeping company with tax collectors and other sinners, and in this one He turns to His disciples.  The first three parables expressed the joy of God in sinners returning to Him; they were all about something precious that was lost, and the joy of regaining what is beloved.  In the parable of the Prodigal Son from yesterday's reading (see above), the older brother of the prodigal had an attitude of legalism toward his father's commands ("I never transgressed your commandment at any time"), which is reflective of the attitude of the Pharisees and scribes.  This is contrasted with the love of God.  The chief feature of that love in action is mercy, in which the return of the beloved is more important than a sense of legalistic punishment or moralistic judgment.  In today's reading, Jesus instructs the disciples in a concept of love in action, as well as God's justice as opposed to what we understand in worldly terms.  It may not be from a legalistic sense of justice that we help others in need.  We're not compelled to do so because we owe them something, or because by law we must (although of course there have always been teachings on helping the needy from the earliest texts we know, and the Law itself is established with the aim of creating community).  But here Jesus features something the disciples may not necessarily emphasize, and that is shrewdness.  It reminds us of Jesus' teaching to the disciples as they set out on their first missionary journey that they must be both "shrewd as serpents and pure as doves" (Matthew 10:16).  The worldly know how to deal shrewdly.  One gives a little to make a deal, a compromise, a sale, to ease the way to agreement.  What Jesus emphasizes here is that although one might not benefit from a particular friendship in a worldly sense, the power of the eternal life of the Kingdom is nevertheless present in what we do for those who cannot pay us back nor return something of use in this world, such as prestige or patronage.  Forgiveness itself, as illustrated by this parable and other uses by Jesus of the concept of "debts," is an act of mercy, a way to act "like God" (Matthew 6:12; 18:21-35).  It is an image of giving without expecting "payment" in a transactional sense.  One might add here that, unfortunately, in a modern context, too many people take this for granted, without understanding the need for repentance or at least acknowledgement of sin or error as a therapeutic condition both for relationships and community healing, and the spiritual health of the individual.  Nonetheless, within the context of the fullness of Christ's teaching, mercy still applies, for forgiveness asks nothing but spiritual health -- the ultimate condition for God's goodness, truth, and beauty as the foundation for life.  When we live as Christ taught, to have "treasure in heaven," we are living our best lives, even here in this world.