Sermon - Trinity IX - Luke 16:1-13

“The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light… One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.” This parable can be a very difficult parable to understand, especially if our understanding of parables is overly simplistic. I’ve heard it said before that a parable is an earthly example of a spiritual truth, and that’s not a very good way to explain parables.

Jesus said that “This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.” Jesus didn’t speak parables in order to make things clearer, like an illustration or a story, but in order to confuse and conceal. Which means that we can’t read parables like we do Aesop’s fables. There aren’t one to one comparisons to get from them. 

So when Jesus presents to us an unrighteous steward who cooks the books and effectively steals from his master, who at the end of the parable commends the steward for being shrewd, we need to look beyond the cover. For God is not commanding us to behave like this unrighteous steward, instead He’s teaching us that Christ is gracious and generous with the Father’s riches towards us. Christ is faithful in much and has given all, even life itself, to receive us into the eternal dwellings. Let us therefore be charitable unto others as our Lord is charitable to us.

But before we get in too deep, let’s first unpack this parable since the situation described is quite foreign to us today. Jesus introduces to us two people, a rich man and a manager. This rich man was a landowner, he owned property which he would then sharecrop out to farmers. The manager was the steward who kept the books and made the arrangements between the landowner and the sharecroppers. At harvest time, the rent the sharecroppers had to pay was a portion of the harvest.

The steward had gotten himself fired because of his wasteful behavior. However, the landowner allowed the steward to retrieve the books himself and turn them in. It’s as if the landowner is inviting the steward to cook the books! And so that’s precisely what the steward does. He illegally renegotiates and lowers the rent with the sharecroppers, placing himself into favor with the sharecroppers. If the landowner were to then reveal the steward as behaving illegally since he was fired, and cancel the new contracts and go back to the originals as would be legal, everyone would hate the landowner and love the steward. Thus, in order to save face and keep his business running smoothly, the landowner would rehire the steward because he is so well liked and maintain the new contracts. 

The steward made a huge gamble: if things went well, he gets his job back; if things go poorly, he could end up in jail instead of just jobless. And yet, Christ calls this a very little matter: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much.” Money, earthly wealth, mammon, is a little thing, because ultimately it matters very little. The greater things, the true riches, are the heavenly things.

These heavenly things belong to the Father, and Jesus is the steward of these heavenly riches, as He says: “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father.” Jesus is far more gracious and generous than the unrighteous steward of the parable, because Jesus is the righteous steward who gives of the Father’s abundance faithfully and freely to all who have need.

Jesus wasn’t fired because He was being wasteful with the Father’s possessions, He was crucified upon the cross because He was completely faithful with the Father’s possessions. He is so faithful that He is perfect. It is because we are wasteful with the God’s love; because we have despised our Lord in thought, word, and deed; because we have thrown God’s love away because we prefer the love of our neighbor, that on account of our faithlessness Christ who is still gracious and loving pays for our waste and our sin so that He can deliver to us the grace which belongs to Him.

So in that way you could say that Christ is wasteful with the Father’s possessions. He showers the entire creation with His grace, He has died for all people upon the earth. He doesn’t just lower our debt like the unrighteous steward, but He is the righteous steward who completely covers and pays our debt with the greatest treasure: His shed body and blood. Yet so many reject His grace and favor letting it go to waste.

But that doesn’t stop Jesus. He continues to offer to us His shed body and blood, His life for ours. He continues to offer us the riches of God’s grace and love along with all the treasures of heaven. For God’s grace is never ending; there are no limits to Christ’s love and forgiveness for us. And so He will never stop showering you with His grace. 

His grace is sufficient for you. By the riches of His body and blood given for you on the cross, He has made you more than His friend, He has made you His brother or sister, a child of God the Father. Since He is your elder Brother, He opens for you, yes you, the way to the Father’s eternal dwellings.

Jesus is the righteous steward who is more shrewd than any earthly businessman, who doesn’t hesitate to freely give you His forgiveness which He has earned for you. He is faithful to His Father, and He is faithful to you, because what He offers He will never take back, and what is His is now yours. So neither should you hesitate to call out to the Lord like David in his final days, praising God as the rock of our faith and our strong refuge in the day of trouble.

Since Christ has made us His brothers and sisters through His blood, let us follow the example of our elder Brother and be generous like Him. He teaches us to firstly be faithful in very little, namely, the things of this earth, such as money, mammon, and earthly wealth. Since our heavenly Father is generous with His great treasure, we too must be generous in our small earthly treasures. It is a good thing to give to those who have need, such as our neighbors and friends who are poor and destitute in this life. 

From what I have seen of you all, this is an area that you strive in. You’re a very charitable and generous people, for whom I thank God. I encourage you to continue in your charity and I challenge you to always go beyond what you’ve given before to meet the needs of the poor and needy.

But this earthly charity is just a small part of what Christ commands, this is the the very little thing that He talks about. Instead, Christ instructs us to also be faithful in much, namely to be faithful in the true riches of Christ’s grace and favor. If you can show charity by means of mammon, how much more ought you to show charity by means of the Gospel. Christ has entrusted to you the good news of the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ who died for you and richly showers you with forgiveness. That is the great treasure of which we must be all the more generous in giving.

Don’t be bogged down with concern about money and how to be faithful to your mammon. “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” So instead focus on being faithful to God. By all means be generous and charitable with your mammon, your earthly treasures, but let us strive to be even more generous and faithful with the Gospel.

Christ has showered us so lavishly with His grace and mercy, so we too must fill our voices and our hearts not with a love of money and mammon, but with a love for the Gospel of Jesus. That is our true treasure in this life. Your earthly possessions can be lost and stolen and destroyed at the tip of a hat, but no one can take from you God’s treasure which is poured upon you. And even if you give away the Gospel everyday, Christ has more to give you and His treasure chest shall never grow empty. This is God - His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.