The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Mrs Gwen Clucas

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.
 
Today’s gospel reading from Luke 16 is one that Bishop Peter wrote in this week’s E-life stating “This is easily my “Most Difficult Parable To Understand”. I was reassured to read this as I had read it several times trying to discover its message.
 
To help our younger people I will briefly discuss the purpose of parables as used by Jesus to get his messages across. A parable is a simple, short story used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. It is a fictitious story illustrating a moral attitude or a religious principle.
 
So, what is today’s parable saying to us?
“The Children’s Living Bible” says (P1159), “Jesus now told this story to his disciples: “A rich man hired an accountant to handle his affairs, but soon a rumour went around that the accountant was thoroughly dishonest.” The rich man confronted his accountant who did not deny the offence. The rich man asked him to account for his stewardship but did not reinstate him to his position. The accountant then came up with a scheme to get support of people who owed money to his employer by offering them reductions on their debts. “The Children’s Living Bible”
(P1159-60) says “The rich man had to admire the rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the citizens of this world are more clever (in dishonesty) than the godly are. But shall I tell you to act this way, to buy friendship through cheating? Will this ensure your entry into an everlasting home in heaven? NO! For unless you are honest in small matters, you won’t be in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if  you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s money, why should you be entrusted with money of your own?” The message in this passage is that you cannot serve two masters. You  cannot serve both God and money. Money can be a great servant with great potential for good. Jesus didn’t  condemn  rich people as such. What he did say was about the obligation on the rich to use their wealth to help the poor. Stewards of God’s wealth will be accountable to God for their use of things.
 
This parable has often been very confusing for people hearing it, especially for the first time. Tom Wright in “Luke for Everyone” says today’s gospel lesson has always puzzled him. Here, Jesus chose a most peculiar story to teach his disciples. Wright reports that after a service where this parable had been read a woman demanded to know what it meant. She couldn’t  make head nor tail of it. Was Jesus against money or was he saying to use sharp practices to get out of difficulties? The problem is made worse by some of the usual translations of verse 9, which seems to say you can buy your way into heaven, also verse 8 where it is not clear whether ‘the master’ who is commending the dishonest stewards, is the master in the story. Wright thinks that this parable directly relates to the situation of the hearers in the first century. The master referred to is God and the steward is Israel. At the time Israel had failed to look after God’s property and was under threat of  dismissal.
 
How does this parable apply to us?  
God has made us stewards of our lives and this earth. We are responsible for ourselves – to live a Godly life and use God’s creation wisely. We do that in two ways: First, we are to use the resources provided wisely – even the wealth that we earn by the sweat of our brow is only entrusted to us.

We are to use that wealth wisely, not storing it in a bank or under the mattress where only we have the benefit. We are to plan ahead for the times that things will not be as good, being prudent in the good times so that there is no lack in the bad times. Are we making friends of people for selfish purposes or are we laying treasure in Heaven with God? The last line of the parable sums it all up: “For neither you nor anyone else can serve two masters. You will hate one and show loyalty to the other, or else the other way around – you will be enthusiastic about one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:13) We have to decide whether we are going to store up treasure on earth or in Heaven.

Wright concludes that; “We find the underlying challenge is to be faithful: faithful in our use of money, faithful to God rather than money, faithful in our hearts not just in our outward appearances, faithful to the kingdom which has now begun with Jesus.”