Several weeks ago it was my assignment to preach on Luke 16:1-13,
the parable of the unjust steward and Jesus' ensuing interpretive
comments. This parable tied my mind in knots, not least because
the moral that Jesus draws from the parable does not ring true in my
ears: "make friends for yourself by means of dishonest wealth,
so that when it is gone, they make welcome you into the eternal
homes" (16:9). I do not usually associate Jesus with
dishonest wealth.
What I do associate with Jesus, on the other hand, is his
statement that "you cannot serve both God and money"
(16:13), a phrase that given its location must surely have something
to do with the parable that precedes it. So how might we
reconcile such seemingly contradictory statements?
I found some measure of clarity by reading the parable in light of
other parables, and particularly the parables that just precede the
tale of the unjust steward, namely the parables of "the lost"
in Luke 15. In fact, it seems that Luke would want us to read
these (four) parables together, as they all fit within a common
frame: references that Jesus told these stories in the hearing of the
Pharisees who were "grumbling" or "sneering" at
him (15:2, 16:14). In other words, these parables illustrate a
common theme illustrated in a long textual unit stretching from
15:1-16:14. That theme touches upon other themes, but it may be
best expressed by a simple phrase from Jesus' aforementioned moral:
"make friends for yourself."
The counsel to "make friends for yourself" is precisely
what Jesus' opponents (the Pharisees) didn't want to hear, and what
Jesus' disciples (to whom he told this parable) might accept or
reject--thereby going the route of the Pharisees. In telling
the three parables of the lost (15:3-32), Jesus was responding to the
Pharisees' complaint that he ate with and welcomed sinners and tax
collectors (15:1-2). The third and probably best-known of
these, the parable of the two sons ("the prodigal son"),
most directly connects the two parties--"the sinners" and
the "Pharisees"--who were always around Jesus (with the
disciples perhaps caught between these two). It is not hard to
see, for example, that the younger son in the parable of the two sons
represents "sinners", those who have "squandered"
the wealth that their father has graciously given them. It is
equally easy to see that the older son in that parable stands for the
Pharisees, those who have not left the home or active service of
their father but who grumble unmercifully--unlike the father whose
character they purport to share--at those who have.
The parable of the two sons, then, sets the table for the parable
of the unjust steward. For, just as the younger son in the preceding
parable had "squandered" the wealth of his father, so the
steward of a certain rich man "squanders" the wealth
entrusted to his care (15:13, 16:1). And just as the prodigal
"comes to his senses" in an inner monologue before putting
his words to action, so the unjust steward when stripped of his
stewardship decides what he will do to provide for himself before
putting the plan into action (15:17, 16:3-4).
What then did the unjust steward do? The answer to this
question makes all the difference, for it describes the action which
Jesus commends. That action is to use his authority to in some
measure "forgive" the debts others owe to his master,
thereby winning their favor. Seeing that his job security is
gone on account of his mismanagement, the unjust steward determines
that his life no more rests in the service of "unjust mammon"
but in the mercy of "God" through the welcome of his
master's servants "into their homes." Though the
steward may not be commended for having come to such a realization
freely but only when pressed to act out of utmost need, his seeking
of security in mercy rather than mammon makes him too a child of
God. Like his fellow "tax collector" Zacchaeus a few
short chapters later (19:1-10), the steward on occasion of the
master's call transfers his allegiance from the realm of mammon to
the realm of God. No more is he a servant of money, enslaved to
one master, but the servant of God, enslaved to Another. The
unjust steward, like "the sinners and tax collectors" who
wandered far from home, is the one whose repentance ("turning
around" or " changing direction") has gained him
welcome in "everlasting homes." Specifically, that
repentance which leads to eternal security is the "making of
friends", the welcoming of others in order that they may welcome
you.
What then of the "dishonest wealth"? To "make
friends" may seem like good counsel, but shall we do so "by
means of dishonest wealth?" As other English translations
have it, the Greek phrase which the NRSV translates "by means of
dishonest wealth" might also be rendered "use worldly
wealth" (NIV) or, as the New Jerusalem Bible puts it, "use
money, tainted as it is." That would seem to strike close
to the reality of our own situation. Who could argue that the
world in which we live is not built upon "tainted" wealth,
that the lands in which we make our livelihoods were stolen from
others, that the food which we buy was produced from lands unjustly
possessed and using means often degrading to the earth itself?
The world of mammon is incontestably unjust.
Nevertheless ensnared, God holds us responsible to use our
"worldly wealth" to "make friends" out of
enemies, to apply what resources we manage not to the breaking but to
the building of relationships. That in itself, creating a
community of mutual care, would go a long way toward alleviating the
suffering of our world.
-Joe
