Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on September 23, 2007
(Proper 20, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Year C, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Amos 8:4-7(8-12)
Psalm 138
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13

Unless there is a Hawkeye football game on T.V., Jane and I usually like to watch "COPS" on Saturday night at seven. This is a show that has a cameraman shadowing an on-duty police officer portraying how he or she handles crime in his or her particular jurisdiction. Now for the most part, the average criminal on "COPS" will never be accused of being overly intelligent. For example, one of our personal favorites was the time a man was stopped by the police for some minor traffic violation. Based upon his demeanor, the man was obviously under the influence of something. The officer asked him to get out of his truck to which the man agreeably and very passively assented. While facing the officer with a big dopey look, the cop asked him if he had been smoking any marijuana that evening to which the man sedately said no, he didn’t smoke marijuana. The officer asked him if he was sure and the man said absolutely, he did not smoke marijuana. The officer then asked the man what he had tucked behind his ear which was in full view of the camera the entire time. The man reached up and found a joint sitting on his ear like a pencil, and with a sheepish grin on his face said, "Ya know, I wondered where that went!" Again, he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the pack but this is what we have come to expect in reality T.V.

In order to find a real "evil genius" as they used to say, one either has to watch the nine o’clock hour for shows with elite computer hackers or serial killers that lead the police on mental roller coaster rides, or one has to go back to the comic books of our youth to find someone like Lex Luthor in Superman.

But regardless of whether it’s "COPS", comics, or commercial "who dunnits," Jane and I have always thought, that, if any criminal would put at least half of the effort into doing something good as opposed to breaking the law, how much more wonderful would this world be.

Now that statement would seem to be in direct conflict with what Jesus is saying in the Gospel today. In this parable, the Master commends the dishonest steward for his shrewdness, and Jesus goes on to say to make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into their eternal homes. That doesn’t sound like the Jesus we have been reading about all summer, does it?

Well, let’s put this passage in context of first century Israel before we take anything of importance from it. Now this is difficult because scholars can’t agree on how to interpret it. However, the one interpretation that makes the most sense is this: All three parties in the story are crooks; they are children of this age or world not children of the light. The Master is undoubtedly an absentee landlord who is charging interest to his tenants, which would be prohibited by law, assuming that everybody is Jewish. Allegations were brought to him concerning his steward in that the steward was accused of squandering the Master’s goods. At this point, we don’t know if this is true or not. When confronted by the Master and realizing that life as he knows it will soon be different, the steward pulls out plan B for which he has prepared should such an occasion arise, and immediately puts it into action. Ironically, the steward is now doing what he was being accused of in the first place. He calls each individual tenant in and decreases the amount of their debt, presumably by the amount of interest accrued; fifty jugs of olive oil and twenty containers of wheat. Although he is eating into his Master’s profits, he is still able to make binding contracts since he won’t be relieved of his duties until he has turned in his final accounting.

In short, he is blackmailing both the Master and the tenants. By reducing the amount owed he now has leverage over the tenants; if brought before a judge he has proof of their involvement in cooking the books, and if indeed he gets sacked, he has guaranteed their friendship and hospitality towards him through the manipulation of events. And he has the Master over a barrel, too because he can’t be accused of doing something dishonest without implicating the Master in the unlawful practice of charging interest under the guise of payment in kind.

Consequently, knowing he has been outfoxed, the Master sees the shrewdness in the steward’s actions, and commends him for it.

Now contrary to what it sounds like, Jesus is not giving his disciples the go ahead to be dishonest in their dealings. However, he is saying that they can learn something of value from the children of this age. Let’s face it, with all of this talk about giving up one's self and picking up one’s cross, Jesus sees that his disciples are wavering in their decision to follow him. So he is using the unscrupulous characters in this parable to grab their attention and to illustrate two things.

First of all he is telling them to be shrewd; to plan ahead and be prepared, to discern current events wisely in order to make the best use of their situation, and to be decisive when faced with a crisis. And there are some real doozies just over the horizon. In the short term, Jesus is going up to Jerusalem to bear the burden of the Cross, in the near future Rome is going to destroy the temple and Jerusalem, and in the fullness of time, the Day of the Lord will arrive in which everyone will be held accountable.

Secondly, in light of these approaching crises, he is telling them to be good stewards; not just of money but of true wealth, which is everything that God has given them. They are to use every thing they possess; every ounce of energy, every shred of intelligence, and every material good in a prudent manner to ensure their status in the coming kingdom of God. If they can’t be faithful with earthly wealth how can God trust them with heavenly riches, which surpasses anything that they can imagine? Jesus is saying that those who hear the Gospel must stake their lives on it and act decisively. He is telling the children of light of the need to be as wise and determined in pursuing righteousness as the dishonest steward was in pursuing his own security! Do you see how he turns the story around to make it work?

Here is how one commentary put it: "The life of a disciple is one of faithful attention to the frequent and familiar tasks of each day, however small and insignificant they may seem. The one faithful in today's nickels and dimes is the one to be trusted with the big account, but it is easy to be indifferent toward small obligations while quite sincerely believing oneself fully trustworthy in major matters. The realism of these sayings is simply that life consists of a series of seemingly small opportunities. Most of us will not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine with the queen, convert a nation, or be burned at the stake. More likely the week will present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, vote for a county commissioner, teach a Sunday school class, share a meal, tell a child a story, go to choir practice, and feed the neighbor's cat." (Luke, Craddock)

For us, as everyday Christians, if we do things like those on the second list we will never be accused of being enslaved to wealth of any kind. We will have loved God first by being good stewards of all that He has given us, we will have loved our neighbors by sharing our true wealth with them, and we will ensure our status in the eternal home of God’s kingdom.

So even though this parable is different because Jesus has used dirty, rotton scoundrels as the main characters, it contains a clear message of what is expected of us as disciples. I commend to you that as we go forth each week, keep a discerning eye open for those seemingly small opportunities to selflessly serve others by being faithful stewards of all that God has given to us. This is shrewdness in the Light of the Gospel and worthy of us as the children of light.

Gloria Patri