Luke 16:1-13

Things often are not the way they seem. Take today's lesson from Luke 16 for instance. A casual reading of this story would leave most people believing that Jesus was advocating dishonest behavior. The parable of the dishonest steward has to be one of the strangest stories in the Gospels. We cannot even be certain that he was dishonest. Perhaps he was simply incompetent. And, it is also difficult to ascertain whether or not he was fired. In verse 2 he is told he cannot be a manager any longer but he is also asked to give an accounting of his work. Later in verse 8 he is commended by his master for his shrewd behavior to the point that we cannot say with certainty what his fate ultimately was.

We are told this story is a parable so by definition it is a story that has a central truth. It is not an allegory so we should not attempt to determine what each character and action represents although it is tempting to do that. The central truth of the story seems to be that we Christians are to be as wise in using the gifts which God provides for us as non-believers are in using the gifts of the world for their own personal gain. I do not mean to imply that Jesus is commending dishonesty. Rather I think Jesus has the master commend his steward for taking actions that would insure his future while he still had the opportunity to do so.

There currently is a television commercial for FedEx Ground service which seems to follow this theme. The manager informs an employee who is reading the newspaper that he is fired. The employee says the manager cannot do that because the employee quits. The manager says the employee cannot quit because he was fired. The employee says he has just signed a contract with FedEx that will save the company money so the manager asks him when he can start work. They shake hands and the employee goes back to reading this paper. Shrewd timing and an awareness of what really is important to the boss, namely making money, saves the lazy employee's job.

Sensing he was to be let go from his job and realizing he doesn't have many options for employment the incompetent manager comes up with a plan to insure his future. He will forgive large amounts of debt that people owe his boss. They will be in his debt so that when he loses his job they will take care of him since that type of obligation was very binding in the culture of Jesus' day.

It is almost impossible to say with certainty how this was done so that the employee still got the master's commendation. The best explanation, although faulty, is the incompetent steward gave up what would have been his commission albeit the commission seems rather large. His actions caused the debtors to see his master and himself as being very generous rather than incompetent. Since reputation and the honor of one's name were quite important in that society the master could not be too upset with his employee's actions since they did not seem to cause him any significant loss and they won him the admiration and respect of his debtors.

The central truth of this parable seems to be that we are to make the best possible use of the gifts God places in our care. We sometimes get easily caught up in the short-term ways of this life so that we forget we have an eternal life that needs our attention. We work really hard at obtaining grades, scholarships, degrees, marriage, family, homes, cars, clothes and a variety of things we deem to be necessary. Many people seek fame, reputation, status, power and prestige. We certainly cannot fault those who honestly work hard to obtain such things.

The question this strange parable seems to raise is asking each of us whether or not our eternal existence is of more importance than our temporal one in this present life. Look at all of the things we are willing to do and the extremes we are willing to take in order to obtain things that are not long-lasting when compared with eternity

Lawrence Taylor, for example, was without a doubt one of the best football players to ever play the position of linebacker. He was an all-pro several years. He became addicted to cocaine and prostitution to the point of spending several thousand dollars per day on his habits. Known as L.T., this much feared athlete came close to losing his life. Arrested and facing prison he opted for treatment and for the past five years has been able to turn his life into something productive. He admits that he was wasting the gifts God had given him.

I'm not convinced that the steward in our story was dishonest so much as he was incompetent. He was not managing his master's assets in such a way as to bring this master and himself the most favorable return. We certainly hear stories of people like that today. Some of them are dishonest; some of them simply do not have the ability their situation demands. Some of them are focused on the wrong thing which in many cases means being focused on themselves and what is in it for them.

Jesus makes two points. If you cannot be faithful with a little you cannot be faithful with a lot. The second point is that you can only serve one master. Each of us must decide what or who our ultimate master will be.

In a few moments we will ordain and install men and women from our congregation as elders. They join a great company of others who have held such office before them. Each one of them has special and unique gifts. All of them have been given sacred truth. What each of them does with the gifts given them does matter because ultimately each one of us has responsibility for building God's Kingdom.