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 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 parable given as response to the Pharisees and scribes, who complained about Christ receiving sinners and tax collectors:  Then Jesus 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 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."  As opposed to the preceding three parables -- which were told in response to the Pharisees and scribes who criticized Christ for receiving and eating with sinners and tax collectors, this parable of the Unjust Steward is directed to Christ's disciples.  My study Bible explains the parable to us by teaching that a steward is one who is responsible for managing his master's property and looking after the welfare of his servants.  It notes that 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.

There are many dimensions within which we can read and interpret the parable that Jesus gives today, and is directed toward His disciples, His followers.  First of all, there is the meaning given by my study Bible.  Jesus repeatedly has taught about "treasure in the heavens" (Luke 12:33).  He emphasizes on a number of occasions that, when we give alms to help those less fortunate than ourselves -- especially those who cannot pay us back (Luke 14:13-14) -- then we are providing for ourselves a treasure rewarded at the resurrection of the just.  Today's reading emphasizes this lesson directly once again,  It's also important that we juxtapose this lesson for disciples in comparison to the previous three parables given to the Pharisees and scribes.  In those parables, Jesus emphasized God's love for all of God's creation, and in particular God's desire to seek and to find the lost.  Jesus' disciples are already on this path of seeking the Kingdom according to Christ, but here in today's reading He's also preparing them to be stewards of that Kingdom in the world.  As such, they will bear a kind of responsibility they have to come to understand properly.  On several occasions, He prepares them for the leadership of His future Church, especially in repeated teachings about humility and putting the "least of these" first, receiving the humble as if they are receiving Christ Himself, and even the Father (Luke 9:46-48).   But on this occasion, the parable of the Unjust Steward teaches a similar lesson from another angle.  If we are to apply this lesson to the receiving of sinners and tax collectors, we might view it in a different sense, as if "unrighteous mammon" applies not simply to material wealth, but even to sin.  That is, we can see sin as a debt that is owed.  We should remember that in the Lord's Prayer, sin is spoken of as analogous to debt (see Matthew 6:12; Luke 11:4).  So, in that sense, it's easy to understand the receiving of those who sin (who "owe a debt") as a kind of forgiving of that debt, of almsgiving.  Moreover, a worldly perspective sees everything as some form of accumulation, debt or repayment (unrighteous mammon), while a divine one understands mercy.  With such a perspective, we are given a very powerful teaching on repentance, where repentance is not simply a tit-for-tat kind of make up or payment for wrongdoing.  On the contrary, repentance is a way to realize God's mercy -- that God is not going to demand repayment, but forgives.  These men who will be the stewards of the Church are being taught not to be like the Pharisees and scribes who simply shun sinners and believe they are purely defiling.  Jesus is teaching His disciples to become the ones who can bring forgiveness of sin to those who repent through the power of Christ's mercy, God's action in the world through the Holy Spirit.  In this sense, even unrighteous mammon can be used to make friends, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.  Additionally, if viewed in this light, we may presume that all of us -- including the disciples -- will fail at some point, for all of us are imperfect, none of us omniscient and perfect as God is perfect.  We all are going to come short of that mark in one way and another.   In the Lord's Prayer, we pray for forgiveness as we forgive others.  "And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us" (Luke 11:4).  In Matthew's version, after giving the prayer, Jesus teaches, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matthew 6:14-15).  Forgiveness will work this way in the Church, and it also works this way in our personal lives as individuals.  We don't need for everyone to "repay" in order to forgive, and Jesus teaches us to forego vengeance:  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:43-45).  This is not a recipe for us to be doormats or to invite abuse and harm; it is rather a sense in which we may be "perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).  So, in each of these ways, to "make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon"  may be a recipe for life in the Kingdom, for the realization of a greater gain than the debt for which we're not "repaid" in kind.  For ultimately, we're to remember that it is Christ who is Judge, it is God who claims vengeance (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19, Hebrews 10:30). 

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 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 

 

On Tuesday, we read that all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him.  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."  In response to this, Jesus gave three parables.  On Tuesday, we read the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave the parable of the Prodigal.  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 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 comments on today's passage that a steward (in Greek, οἰκονόμος/economos) is responsible for managing his master's property and looking after the welfare of his servants.  It notes that 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.

How do we make friends by unrighteous mammon?  This is really quite an important question, because what it tells us is the truth about how the world works within the spiritual framework of the salvation plan of God.  If we pause to think about "saving the world," and do so in some sort of very rationalistic worldly sense, we might wonder why God just did not come into this world and "fix" everything.  Why not just get rid of the bad people, or put them over in their own community somewhere, and set the good people down somewhere else to flourish?  Why wait for a final judgment?  There are all sorts of things that are perplexing if we think about judgment and salvation in this sort of worldly way of balancing the books and striking off what's not good.  But Jesus' clues here about the beneficial use of unrighteous mammon tell us that God's creation does not work in this applied rationalistic sense of strict lines drawn between what is good and what is evil.  For God usurps and trumps everything; and in God's economy of salvation, even what is unrighteous can be used for God's plans, for what is good.  That is, to serve the goals of God's love.  Therefore, there is nothing evil in and of itself in this sense.  As God created the world and pronounced it "good," so we can use the things of this world for good -- if they are used to serve God's purposes.  And within this paradox is a further image of paradox, that of the "dollars and cents" (so to speak) image of balancing the account books.  Instead of sticking to the details and pursuing every line to come out to a perfect balance, this steward is praised in the parable for writing off debts in order to "make friends."  Well, this is a picture of charitable giving, where we don't add up every debt and everything owed and press it out of the person who owes us.  We give because people are in need.  We give -- serving the ends of God -- in the sense of shoring up community, even creating community.  In the light of the parable of the Good Samaritan, which we read in the reading from a week ago, Jesus is teaching us about being a neighbor, and stressing this importance in the grand economy of salvation -- that place of our everlasting home -- and the perspective there.  Similarly, we're taught to pray in the Lord's Prayer, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors" (Matthew 6:12), reminding us that the forgiveness of sin is really not about equaling everything up and deciding what is owed to us by those who've sinned against us.  Forgiveness is about this place of the everlasting home, and the view from there, God's plan for us for salvation.  It's not necessary to make sense in terms of "unrighteous mammon," but instead to be understood from a higher perspective, a more universal doctrine of community and expanded love.  It doesn't have to make sense according to a worldly understanding, but we are called by Christ to this place of God's love, where compassion becomes a rule, and "making friends" -- like being a neighbor -- is how we're commanded to live.  We're asked to discern a way through the world in which we are set free by Christ to practice His compassion with wisdom, to let go of things that we're better off without, and to find good purposes even for "unrighteous mammon."  For God's way transforms all things, and while we are on the way to pleasing God in this sense of following the commands that transcend the worldly, we will find ourselves and our lives transformed as well. 

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. 

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 the 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 parable of the Prodigal Son.   First we read again that Jesus was criticized for dining with tax collectors and sinners.  In the previous reading, Jesus responded by telling the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.  He said, "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance."  In yesterday's reading, He added 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 sinner 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 the 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.' "  My study bible notes that a steward here is "a manager of a wealthy man's household and property.  He is called to give an account because he is being dismissed, as his master no longer trusts him."  Here the focus or facet of perspective shifts in the parables; here He's speaking directly to His disciples, those who will become stewards of the Church.  On another level, we can see this steward as an image of someone wasting and scattering the talents and capacities entrusted to them by God.  In this, there's a parallel with the prodigal.

"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.'"  These measures are Greek and Hebrew units that my study bible says were about eight or nine gallons each.  In the word "debt" we have a symbolic parallel for sin; in the exchange for less we have forgiveness.  It is a practice of mercy.

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.' "  This measure is the equivalent of ten or twelve bushels each.  Whether or not we understand the sums, we know we are dealing with significant amounts of property.  Again the forgiveness of debt and the practice of mercy; the bill for what is owed is reduced.

"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."  My study bible says here:  "The steward is unjust in his actions, which are not condoned, but his shrewdness is praised.  This is meant as a lesson for the sons of light, the Christian believers, who ought to be as shrewd about their pursuit of godliness as unbelievers are about their businesses."  In fact, in the practice of mercy rather than exacting and painstaking justice, the steward may return more to his master than otherwise.  But there is more to this than "return" -- in keeping with the stories of what was lost having been found, and the return of sinners, the forgiveness assures a continued relationship and not a severance.

"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, "The reference to unrighteous mammon is a warning about the dangers of money, which can corrupt.  The right use of wealth is to make friends among the poor and needy by sharing it with them.  At death, these poor friends will be the first to welcome their benefactor into the eternal Kingdom."   I'd like to add, also, that in the Greek one gets the sense that what actually fails is not "you" (the unjust steward) but rather Jesus is saying that at the end of the age, when "mammon" fails, one may be received into an everlasting home.  The exchange which really seems to be at work here is one sense of exacting debt for one in which mercy may be practiced, and that is in keeping with the original criticism which Jesus is answering:  that He dines with tax collectors and sinners.

Many times in the Gospels we look to the readings that teach us that love and mercy trump over everything else.  A kind of penurious or stingy watching over every penny is not something that Jesus or the Gospels ever seem to support.  Most notably and powerfully perhaps this becomes clear in the story of the woman who anointed Christ with expensive oil, and Judas who criticized her.  In the context of the stories responding to criticism of Jesus dining with sinners, we see exemplified the practice of mercy in the context of the tremendous love of God for all the flock; the effort for a single lost sheep, for a single lost coin, and the joy of the father in the return of his recklessly extravagant, foolish, prodigal younger son.  Here the unjust steward may be operating according to rules that apply to the time when mammon has failed, where it may be our relatedness that is cause for more rejoicing then merely exacting standards such as are "on the books."  Luke's gospel powerfully gives us a recipe for more than exacting justice and rules, one that throws in the importance of love and mercy in all our reckonings.  Without it, where would we be?  How better could we know God's justice and God's love for ourselves?  As stewards of the Church, the disciples will need to keep this in mind; the question here really is one of priorities.  What becomes most important?  In the context of looking to the future, beyond mammon and "this generation," we always hope for the restoration of all -- of each one -- but we take all action in that hope, regardless of what is owed right now.  We note that justice is not thrown out here in the story, but God's justice is leavened with mercy.