http://www.box.net/shared/b5b2di6ge3
The manuscript I used follows below:
The Twenty-Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time; September 19, 2010
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: Jeremiah 8:18 – 9:1
Psalm 79: 1-9
1 Timothy 2: 1-7
Luke 16: 1-13 *
“Who’s The Real ‘Apprentice’?”
--} It should come as no surprise that many preachers report today’s gospel reading to be one of the most challenging accounts in all of scripture. Verses 8 and 9 sit at the center of the controversy:
And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
The first part of verse 8 is the conclusion of the parable; but the last half, and verse 9 appear to be Jesus’ words of advice—“make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth.” Uncomfortable advice—because Jesus sounds like he’s endorsing dishonesty. Well, doesn’t he?
Like many hard passages, what a lot of preachers and interpreters do is to make the passage about something else. So instead of facing up to the difficulty of Jesus’ parable, many turn to the advice or application that seems to follow in the later verses. “You cannot serve God and mammon;” or “whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;” or “if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?”
But this story has a hard edge, just like when Jesus tells us that we have to give up our possessions. It’s bookended by famous stories about Jesus being picked on because he eats with sinners and welcomes them, and then he gets pointed out because he labels people as “lovers of money.” If you ask me, I think Jesus has something to say in this parable about how we think about money and wealth; and it’s even more surprising than simply suggesting that Jesus is encouraging us to use “dishonest wealth” to make friends.
Most of the time, we tend to focus our time and energy on the so-called “dishonest manager.” While the rich man has heard the manager was squandering the rich man’s property and proceeds to dismiss him, the “dishonest manager” earns his name because he goes to those who owe money to the rich man, inviting them to freely reduce the amount due to be paid the rich man. By cutting them a deal, the dishonest manager believes this will curry favor with others when the rich man dismisses him for cause; and then, he have someone to take him in.
But you’d think, that when the rich man hears what the dishonest manager has done, he’d be even more irate. But that isn’t what happens. When the rich man hears what the dishonest manager has done, he responds by praising him instead. Calling him “shrewd,” the rich man gives up his moral authority, indicating that the dishonest manager acted in a way worth of admiration. That’s the disturbing part, isn’t it? And not only that, but Luke seems to put it squarely into the voice of Jesus, using language in the original text that indicates it was Jesus himself—not just the rich man—heaping up the praise. That’s a double whammy of dishonesty, and no one in the parable seems to do anything about it!
But the other character in the parable is the rich man. And upon hearing that the manager is acting wrongfully, the rich man doesn’t allow him to continue. However, when he discovers he’s been defrauded, the rich man seems to undergo some kind of a transformation. If the rich man was concerned enough to dismiss the dishonest manager in the beginning, he should be infuriated when he hears about the fraud. It’s his loss! Where is his righteous indignation? Where is his willingness to throw the law-book at this guy? But instead, surprisingly to everyone he praises the dishonest manager’s actions, calling him “shrewd.” It’s almost as if he says, “this guy is really good, and if I were smart, I’d hire someone just like him!” So what is the rich man up to? And even more, what might Jesus be up to?
So let’s think about this for a moment. Jesus in Luke’s gospel, in particular, has a serious beef with rich people. In fact, there’s pretty good biblical and gospel evidence to suggest that all “wealth” is “dishonest wealth.” In that regard, the usual and customary response would be that the rich man in the parable would be considered the “bad guy.” And again, some interpreter’s will presume this is still the case by pointing to the praise that gets heaped on the “dishonest manager” who ends up cutting the poorer people a break by allowing them to pay less than what they owe.
But the rich man doesn’t play by the “rich man’s” rules. Rather than be morally indignant because he gets defrauded, he joins the praise chorus, calling the guy who ripped him off, “shrewd”—as if he was smart enough to figure out how to act in his own self-interest. But by praising the dishonest manager, the rich man seems to change sides. But Jesus doesn’t seem to play by the rules, either. He seems to join the parable itself by siding with the rich man’s praise of the dishonest manager. This is the part that makes us dis-comfortable with the parable itself. But I think Jesus and Luke have another idea. By siding with the rich man’s praise, Jesus seems to shift the focus.
How often do we notice Jesus seeming to take sides here? And because Jesus jumps in on the side of the rich man, it means he isn’t taking the side of the dishonest manager—who by every measure is still dishonest. It means that our first gut-reaction was right; the sleaze-ball is still a sleaze-ball—and we saw it coming. But the sleaze-ball isn’t the rich man [surprise!]. Still, there’s iron in these words; and the hard lesson is still out there.
The rich man in THIS parable appears to be a-typical. Instead of reacting harshly at being defrauded, it’s as if he laughs it off—even praising the one who defrauded him. What’s wrong with this picture?—at least that’s what we ought to be asking ourselves AND the text. The story, simply as it’s told, doesn’t seem to turn out right. But the text offers us a few clues for another take.
Jesus has been teaching and preaching a different kind of life. Essentially, the Kingdom of God has different rules of living. It’s like some of Jesus’ other hard-edged teachings, like “selling our possessions and giving the money to the poor;” or, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up your possessions.” This particular parable would seem to place a “dishonest manager” in the hero’s role; one who would act shrewdly in order to protect his living. But instead, the story is undone when the rich man steps outside of his role. He moves, from one driven by his wealth and riches, to one who is seemingly cares little for them—allowing them to be given away by a shrewd and dishonest employee—as if the wealth suddenly belonged to someone else!
I believe that the rich man has suddenly experienced a change of heart. Though Luke’s telling of the story doesn’t exactly follow through with all the details, it appears the rich man is stepping out of his pre-conceived role as a “rich man” and Jesus is stepping out of his role as only the savior of the poor. As Jesus takes the side of the rich man, he seems to indicate that the rich man is where the Kingdom of God has suddenly taken up residence [surprise!]. Which as strange as it might seem to us, it’s the rich man who becomes the true apprentice of Jesus and the lifestyle of the Kingdom of God!
It’s the rich man—not the dishonest manager—who recognizes Jesus’ call to live a new life. The rich man who exhibits the proper “change” from the beginning of the parable to the end. The rich man, who becomes the Kingdom of God in deed, refusing to retaliate against the dishonest manager who defrauded him; the rich man who demonstrates what it means to take up a new way of living. And this kind of reading “matches” the parable of the prodigal which appears right before the telling of this story—where again the “rich man” appears out of character. This also matches the readings that will follow, where Jesus teaches against loving money and the lavishness of wealth.
In the end, the parable of the dishonest manager anticipates a change of heart for the rich man—demonstrating one who is intentional about living in new ways. And because Jesus’ gospel view is that all wealth is “dishonest,” the rich man can take no issue with having been defrauded. He allows his lost wealth to be lost, demonstrating his willingness to follow Jesus advice about making friends with dishonest wealth and Jesus declaration that one cannot have two masters.
And so, this parable ultimately makes us uncomfortable because again, Jesus is after OUR wealth, too. Yet again Jesus takes issue with how we live our lives and cling to the things of this world. Yet again Jesus would seek to turn us toward God and God’s kingdom as a way to live in the here and now—like a rich man who can give up the angst of being defrauded, and find the joy in being led home—even by one who acts dishonestly—IF, we can remember that Jesus is calling us to meet the joy of the Kingdom of God in our living, too.
--+ Brothers and Sisters, God sent God’s son, the Christ, who declares for us the ways of the Kingdom of God. It’s not always as it seems to us; sometimes we’re forced to encounter the teaching of a hard edge, where Jesus transforms us—from the ways of the world, to the life of the Kingdom of God. Once again, we just have to consider giving up our wealth, or allowing it to be given away for us. AMEN.
No comments:
Post a Comment