Cliff Loesch September 23, 2007 Luke 16:1-13 Shrewdness and Faithfulness      In Luke 16, Jesus tells a parable that is very hard to figure out.  It's about a steward-a manager-who has been embezzling from his boss, or at least mismanaging the property.  But now his boss has found out and he realizes he will probably be in big trouble.  So he devises a scheme to try to save his skin.  He called in people that owed money to his master and he forgave part of their debts.  This action did two things: For one, it made him some friends-and since he was about to be fired he would need some friends.  Someone suggested that his action also got the debtors involved in his crimes somewhat and this would, at least, guarantee their silence about things he might be accused of.  As you read this parable, the manager seems like a pretty dishonest and crafty fellow and you wonder why Jesus is telling a story about this bad example of a person.  And then to our amazement, Jesus seems to praise this dishonest guy for his shrewdness!  And we wonder what is going on here?      There have been many attempts to try to clean up this parable-to make this guy seem not quite so bad.  One idea is that when he reduced the debts people owed that he was only reducing the interest that was owed and not the principal-and since the Old Testament prohibited charging interest anyway, that really, the manager was in fact acting righteously.  But there's no indication in the text that any interest was involved.  And furthermore if this was the case, they were apparently charging some exorbitant interest: 100% in the case of the oil.  And it seems unlikely that if they were charging interest that it would have been that much.  So it's hard to accept the idea that he simply canceled the interest owed.  Another idea is that he was canceling the part of the debt that would have been his own, personal commission.  In this case he would not be cheating his master out of anything but just foregoing his own commission for the sake of winning some good will.  But, once again, this is just speculation.  There's nothing in the text that indicates anything about a commission.  Unfortunately, all of the attempts to clean up this man's actions turn out to be unconvincing.      He was simply a dishonest man who got caught.  Then he thought of a creative way to ease his predicament-and Jesus praised his ingenuity.  So what can we learn from this parable through these greedy, unrighteous people?      I have several points to make.  The first thing I want to say is that we so often think we have Jesus completely figured out.  We know what he would do and what he would say in almost every case.  But then we see this surprising parable and we are speechless.  How could Jesus tell a story like this?  How could he use this scheming embezzler to make any kind of point?  It just doesn't make sense to us.  And then we realize that, yes, we cannot put Jesus in a box.  No, we do not completely understand Jesus.  And yes, we are sometimes surprised by Jesus even today-just as everyone-the disciples, his family, the Pharisees, religious leaders, and political leaders-everyone was surprised by his words and actions back then.  And we realize that we must come anew as little children ready and eager to learn.      Another thing that I think this parable tells us is to use our intellect.  We've been given brains and intellect and reason: use them.  It is hard for me to think that Jesus blesses this particular man's use of his intellect because all his schemes involved a bit of swindling others.  Yet there it is.  This man's creative ingenuity-as warped as it might have been-did seem to get him out of a jam.  So perhaps he was not praised for the specifics of his actions-but for simply putting creative reasoning to work.  And we are admonished to become wiser in our dealings.  Jesus laments in verse 8, "For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light."  And though as followers of Christ our intellectual energy will be directed in more positive ways, we are admonished to put that creative energy to work.  Be wise, think clearly, understand the present age, use good judgment, generate creative ideas.      William Barclay makes a very similar point about this parable, but focuses more on spiritual development.  He draws a contrast between the energy expended for worldly pursuits and energy put into our spiritual lives.  He says, "In verse 8 the lesson is that the sons of this world are wiser in their generation than the sons of light.  That means that, if only the Christian was as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempt to attain money and comfort, he would be a much better [person]."  Barclay goes on to say (and I'm paraphrasing just a bit): "If only people would give as much attention to the things which concern their souls as they do to the things which concern their business, they would be much better people.  Over and over again people will expend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on their pleasure, their hobbies, their gardens, their sport as they do on their spiritual development.  Our Christianity will begin to be real and effective only when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our worldly activities."  [The Gospel of Luke, The Daily Study Bible, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1975, p. 208 (quote slightly modified)] Those are good admonitions.  Indeed all of us could use a reminder to put more thought and purpose into our own spiritual development.      Another thing that I draw from this unusual parable that Jesus told is that you can find spiritual lessons anywhere-even in unexpected places and from unlikely sources.  God can speak through anything or anybody.  This parable has been called different things.  Some call it the parable of the shrewd manager, others call him the unrighteous steward or the crooked manager.  It seems like an unlikely story for Jesus to tell-but if the story of this crafty embezzler can be used for the benefit of all of us just think of the many, many other ways that God is able to speak.  What are the unlikely sources in your life that God might use in surprising ways?  Who are the unlikely people that God might choose to speak through?  What are the places in your life where you would least expect to hear the voice of God?  What situations are you experiencing right now that seem like an unlikely arena for God to work?  The parable reminds us that God can speak through anything or anybody.  Let's keep our eyes and ears alert-watching and listening for the voice of God anytime and anyplace.      But while the steward received high marks in shrewdness, it seems that, by contrast, he was given low marks in faithfulness.  At the end of the parable, in verse 10, Jesus said, "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much."  This seems like an indictment against the man in the story.  Shrewd and cunning he was.  But faithful to the task he had been given?  Not at all.  And faithfulness is quite important for those who have been entrusted to handle the affairs of others.  Jesus notes the importance of faithfulness-even in small things.  Fred Craddock once commented on this little verse by saying: "Most of us will not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine with a 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." [The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. IX, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995, p. 311]  And he reminds us: "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much."