Sometimes Jesus can be absolutely shocking.  Like when he says, “make friends for yourself by means of dishonest wealth.”

Before the service at St. Luke’s two weeks ago, if someone randomly asked me, “Didn’t Jesus say, ‘make friends for yourself by means of dishonest wealth’?” my response would be, “That can’t be!”

But in the parable of the dishonest manager, that’s exactly what Jesus says.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:1-13

In that parable, the manager is about to be fired for doing a lousy job.  He realizes he’ll have no way to support himself, so he decides to summon his master’s debtors and substantially decrease the amount they owe.  That way, when he loses his job, they’ll help him out.  And the master commends the manager for his shrewdness.  And Jesus says, “make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.”

Puzzling, to say the least.

The Homily

In the homily, Rev. Dr. Randall R. Warren pointed out that parables are meant to be startling.  We’re supposed to puzzle over them.  Which makes this a good parable.

For the most part, Jesus’ parables have become so familiar, they don’t startle us anymore.  But, as Rev. Randall observed, the three beloved parables preceding this parable are also startling in their own way.  They are the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son.

The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Prodigal Son

Rev. Randall stated that the good shepherd is not using good business sense when he leaves behind the majority of his sheep to search for one.  According to worldly wisdom, sometimes you have to write off your losses.  But God doesn’t write anyone off.  He seeks, actively seeks, the lost.

Spending money to celebrate finding a lost coin doesn’t make good financial sense either, Rev. Randall said.  But God is a God of abundance.  He wants to include, welcome, and celebrate with every one of us.

The prodigal son doesn’t surprise us that much.  We expect Jesus to tell a tale of a father who welcomes back and forgives his delinquent son.  But do we expect the father’s reaction to the other son, the grumpy one who stayed?  He says to him, “All that I have is yours and you have always been with me.”   Rev. Randall described this as God’s promise to those not lost.

The three parables that precede the dishonest manager are about gathering everyone in God’s love, according to Rev. Randall.  Jesus shows us who God is.

The Dishonest Manager

The parable of the dishonest manager raises the question: what does that mean for us? Rev. Randall said.

We need to keep in mind, as Rev. Randall said, that God is a relational God.  The three parts of the trinity are relational.  A God who actively seeks the lost is relational.

Rev. Randall also explained that the manager would normally profit from what is owed the master by taking more than what is owed.  By cutting the debtors’ debts, he was giving up his share so they would like him.

But that doesn’t completely explain Jesus saying, make friends for yourself by dishonest wealth, he also observed.

He concluded the homily by stating that God isn’t all about propriety or seemliness.  He is about seeking the lost, loving, and relating.  We need to wrestle with this truth in how we live.

My Thoughts on the Parable

This got me thinking.  Maybe the dishonest manager is about taking risks for the sake of relationships.

But, the dishonest manager uses giving to get.  Does God want us to give to get?

What the dishonest manager did made practical sense.  If you throw out values of being honest and acting with integrity, the most sensible thing to do when you’re about to lose your job is to use your position to make friends who can help you.

Does this mean it is ok with God if we put practical concerns before principles when our livelihood is at stake?  I’m sure God would understand and forgive.  But I don’t think that is really what God wants for us.

Maybe the lesson is to be smart in business.  Put serving the other person in the relationship first, even when it doesn’t bear immediate fruit.  Give and let the future take care of itself.

It’s interesting to me that the master “commended” the dishonest manager for acting shrewdly.  That seems positive.  The master didn’t attack him for using the master’s property for personal gain.  The master approved of the manager’s deceit.  Or else, the master approved of prioritizing relationships.

Is it possible that by reducing the debts of his master’s debtors, the dishonest manager improved the master’s relationships to the debtors, as well as his own?  Maybe the master could afford to be generous.

Who Is God in this Story?

The key question for me is: who is God in this story?

In the lost sheep, God is the good shepherd.  In the lost coin, God is like the woman who spends the coin to celebrate finding it.  In the prodigal son, God is like the father who welcomes back the prodigal son and says to the other son, “all that I have is yours.”

In the dishonest manager, is God like the master?  God takes away our responsibilities if we squander the resources we are responsible for, but if we use the resources God gives us to build relationships, God commends us?

God puts resources at our disposal here on earth: talents, material goods.  If we use those resources to serve our ego, squandering them, we are likely to lose them.  But if we use the resources God gives us to build relationships and make other people’s lives better, then the rewards are eternal.

What Does this Mean for Me?

So how does the idea that God is relational and wants us to build relationships apply to me?  How can I use my resources to build relationships?

Does this mean I need to spend more time interacting with other people?  That’s hard for me.  I am an introvert.  People drain me.  I crave solitude.  Solitude feeds my writing.  And writing is my passion.

Writing is also relational.  Writers write to be read.  Maybe I need to concentrate on connecting with people via writing rather than in the in-person interactions that drain me.

Maybe I can serve God best by being true to myself.

How about You?

How would you apply this parable to your life?  What does it mean to you to be relational?  Share in the comments.