Word of Salvation – Vol.48 No.39 – October 2003

 

Smart or Just Plain Stupid?

Sermon by Rev J Zuidema

on Luke 16:1-9

 

Scripture Reading:  Proverbs 11

Suggested Hymns:  BoW 383; 215; 218; 429; 436

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When it comes to the things of the kingdom, or should I say, when it comes to your eternal destination, are you smart or just plain stupid? Are you preparing for eternity, for that would be smart, or are you putting it off for a later time, or even worse, not giving it any consideration at all? That would be just plain stupid! This is, I suggest, the gist of the parable of the shrewd manager.

Of all the parables Jesus taught His disciples and those who cared to listen, this parable must be one of the most puzzling. The reason is the many and varied interpretations. Each interpretation is trying to explain the teaching in the light of its ethical implications.

For instance, we have questions like: Did the lowering of the amounts the debtors owed reveal dishonesty, or was this manager just dishonest all the time and that this resulted in the manager’s dismissal? Exegetically and textually, should the parable end at verse 8a, or should it end at verse 9 or even verse 15? Is the Lord Jesus condoning unethical business practices? These are just some of the questions and difficulties that we face in dealing with this parable.

To understand this parable, one needs to have an understanding of the business practices of the day and the strict Jewish legalism with respect to usury, or the charging of interest, as we know it. Most scholars and commentators seem to agree that this is the best way to interpret this parable and the most likely way it was understood also by those hearing this parable that Jesus spoke.

God taught His people repeatedly not to charge their fellow Israelites any interest. It was against His law for God wanted to make sure that all His people were well cared for and treated equally. The Book of Nehemiah mentions it several times that the charging of interest should stop (Neh 5). The Psalmist says that only he who doesn’t charge usury may dwell in God’s house and on His holy hill (Ps 15:5).

Now God told them to do and not to do many things, but like most of God’s laws, if not all, God’s people quickly disobeyed. In fact they seldom obeyed. We, too, are much the same, especially if it has to do with wealth or lifestyle. There will always be people intent on finding a way around God’s law, especially if there is some dollar value in it. God’s people in Jesus’ day were not all that different.

And we see that in this parable. A rich person would appoint himself a manager, who was given the full authority to act in his master’s name. He was always responsible to his master, but should he resort to usury, then the manager and not the master would be held accountable. So even though a rich person often stood to gain from any usury that his manager may impose, should it be contested in court, the rich man would go free and the manager would have to pay the penalty.

Now the manager was also given ways to protect himself, even to the extent that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law agreed, and against which no magistrate could rule. It was done this way: The manager and the borrower would draw up a statement in which the debt and the interest were listed in one total figure.

For instance, instead of writing down, “I will pay Reuben 10 ton of wheat on the first day of Nissan, and if I fail to do so, I will then pay him 4 ton of wheat annually in addition.” Writing it this way indicated usury. To avoid that, they would write their agreements as one inclusive figure. They would simply state that the person owed 14 ton of wheat. In fact this same principle is still working today.

You take a loan from the bank, and the interest and principle are worked out together so that you receive one figure that needs to be paid each month or quarter. The monthly or quarterly figure is determined, not just by the principle owed but also including the interest charged.

Now if you may think that interest rates were high in the ‘eighties’ when they soared to 15% and higher, have a listen to what they did back in Jesus’ day. The set rate for interest was 20% and an additional 5% for insurance against price fluctuations and depreciation of the product.

If the commodity happened to be olive oil, than the rate could be as high as 80%, plus another additional 20% for insurance. Obviously the risk in lending olive oil was great for the purity of the oil was always at risk.

Now getting back to the parable, a manager was given a position of trust and confidence. He controlled his master’s assets and was virtually considered a member of his household. He was also given full authority to deal with debtors as he saw fit. Debtors had to abide by the stipulations set down by the manager and were responsible to him alone.

Now if the manager exhibited incompetence, inefficiency or untrustworthiness, he would be called to account and dismissed. He had no recourse to look for outside help. He was on his own! He would have to leave his master’s employ with no possessions of his own. He would find himself out on the street with nowhere to go.

Now that we understand the cultural and background setting to this parable, the parable becomes a little easier to understand. An inefficient and wasteful manager is called in by the wealthy owner and told he is to be sacked. He must close out the books and pick up his pink slip.

Terribly concerned about his future, the manager wonders what he should do. He does not possess the robust physique that would equip him for manual labour, and he really does not want to go on the dole. So he comes up with a totally unscrupulous plan.

While he still enjoys legitimate authority over the owner’s goods and accounts, he starts cutting deals with his master’s debtors. It is a huge operation, and the sums are enormous. With debtor after debtor, he slashes the amount of their indebtedness, in some cases as much as fifty percent.

One debtor, who owed nearly 4000 litres of olive oil, had his debt slashed by 50%. And just so you realise how big the debt is, one olive tree yields about 25 litres of oil. This indicates an orchard or 150 trees or more. Another debtor owing 1000 bushels of wheat, is told to reduce the debt by 20%. Again, that amount of wheat would have to be someone with 50 hectares of land.

Now in both instances, large amounts of money were involved. Yet on the authority of the manager, who had already received notice of dismissal, they changed the figures on the bills. We may assume that other debtors did the same. Notice also that the debtors wrote out the new amount owing for they knew that interest for olive oil was 100% and for wheat 25%. They gladly changed the totals of the bill to what they actually owed the master. They didn’t falsify the figures, rather they, in their own handwriting, indicated how much they actually had to pay.

When all was said and done, honesty prevailed because the interest rates that were illegally added had now been discarded.

Now the manager’s reasoning is very simple and even commended by the rich man. The manager must have placed the rich man in a good position for otherwise he wouldn’t have praised him. Notice that the manager was very shrewd. First, the debtors would continue to deal with the rich man. Second, this current manager had paved the way for the new manager. Third, the current manager had shown himself to be a religious and law-abiding citizen.

However, there is one other thing: why did the manager bother? He bothered because he lived in a culture where a gift created an obligation. The manager recognises that all these people will feel obligated to accommodate him when he finds himself without a job and income. His shrewd management in saving the debtors thousands of dollars will secure his own future, for they will feel indebted to him for a very long time.

Now of course the rich man probably didn’t like having his accounts diddled, but he was smart enough to recognise the shrewdness his manager had shown.

Now, what does this parable actually mean? Jesus comes with the startling application: “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (16:8-9).

What does this mean? It cannot mean that Jesus advocates unscrupulous business practices. The point is that the manager used resources under his control (though not properly his) to prepare for his own future.

That is exactly what people of the world do! Everything is geared for a long and happy retirement. Worldly people will work day and night when they are young so that they can be comfortable when they are old. In fact many of them are very shrewd and hard, especially if there is a dollar to be made.

Now this is the question, do the “people of the light” use resources under their control to prepare for their own future? First, who are the people of the light? They are people who understand that they are saved by the precious body and blood of Christ. They are people who know what God has done for them in Christ and who know that a wonderful future awaits them. They are the people who know that this life is but a short breath and we soon fly away!

Second, what is that future? The shrewd manager wanted to be welcomed into the homes of these debtors. The people of the light are to be “welcomed into eternal dwellings” – isn’t that what verse 9 says? As people saved from our sin and the consequences of our sin, we know and understand and look forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. They are the people who realise that this life and all its wealth and fame is nothing compared to what awaits them. They are the people who do not lay up treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, but in heaven where moth and rust cannot destroy.

Have you got the drift of this parable? Have you understood? We, who belong to the light, should be investing heavily in our eternal destination! That is the smart thing to do – anything else is just plain stupid! If that includes spending all our money and time on kingdom things, so be it! When it is all gone, we still have an eternal dwelling ahead of us that can never be taken away!

Congregation, I find it so strange, and is it not true, that as Christians we sometimes behave as though this life is all there is? How many people, including Christians, are not totally absorbed about the here and now? Some don’t even mind investing on the share market or in other doubtful enterprises, hoping that they will get a worthwhile return and that their retirement is secure and comfortable.

However, when it comes to investing into things that really matter – things of eternal value – they seem so quick to shrimp, or they haven’t got time. They are so busy with earthly things. Oh, I am not saying that we should be so heavenly minded that we are of no earthy value, not at all. However, I cannot help thinking that so many so-called Christians are so earthly minded that heaven will completely pass them by!

Congregation I could give examples. For instance, people who…… But let me not go down that road with specific examples. Allow me to ask simply this: Does your life, your business practices, your leisure time, show that you have your eye firmly fixed on your eternal dwelling? People of the world know how to be shrewd, yet often we who have the best future ahead tend to relax in our diligence and modify our Christian principles. Somehow we want the best of both worlds.

We seem to want our Christian faith couched in the affluence of this world. We want to be loved by God and praised by man. Brothers and sisters, invest in things that will last and have eternal value. Use all your resources that God has given you!

The shrewd manager had his eye on the future and was willing to do whatever it took to be welcomed. How much more should that not be true of us who know the wonderful things that are in store for us because of Christ! That means being eternally minded now! It means being smart with all the resources God has given you. Please, this parable is not just meant for retired people, but for all who have been saved. It includes the children, the young college graduate, the newly weds, the family men and women. All of us have been shown such grace – now be smart with your resources.

Brothers and sisters, young people, a time is coming when your race on earth is run. There will come a day soon when God calls you to Himself. Then we will stand before the Judge and He will ask, “What did you do with the talent I gave you? How shrewd were you? Brothers and sisters, how will you answer? God welcomes all who are saved by Christ and all who have not set their hearts on earthly things, but have laid up and gathered treasures in heaven.

Allow me to add a short word of caution, just in case you got the wrong idea. The idea is not that we can buy heaven, but rather that it is unimaginably irresponsible not to plan for our eternal home. Should we not practice what we preach and show by word and deed that money and worldly possessions will ultimately fail but heavenly riches will last forever? James, in his pastoral letter, admonishes those who opt for a double life. “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (4:4)

Isn’t that also what the following verses (16:10-15) after our text highlight? Those verses strip away the glamour of possessions in favour of what God highly values. In fact the three preceeding parables speak about joy of experiencing the Father’s love, including the parable of the prodigal son! How good it will be to live in that love!

Therefore, do whatever is necessary to make sure you are part of it. That is the smart thing to do! Anything else is just plain stupid!

Amen.