Word of Salvation – Vol. 40 No.25 – July 1995

 

The Parable Of The Shrewd Manager

 

Sermon by Rev. H. O. Berends on Luke 16:1-15

Suggested Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 23:15-25, Luke 16:1-15

 

Brothers and sisters, boys and girls, young people.

The parables are some of the most fascinating passages in all of the Bible.  These, on the face of it so simple, stories of Jesus.  And yet there is so much in them – I learned a new word when listening to the car radio some time ago: somebody was speaking about meta-language.  Meta-language, it seems, is unspoken language, such as the language of music, or drama, or the underlying meaning of a parable or story.  Jesus’ parables are pregnant with meta-language, with an underlying, often unspoken, deeper message.

Someone has defined a parable as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.”  And that’s precisely what they are, aren’t they?  Earthly stories about everyday things and situations.  But underlying there is that heavenly dimension, that teaching about the kingdom of heaven, the spiritual realm and the things of God.

Earthly stories with a heavenly meaning.
Also this parable, which we have taken as our text for this morning.

Now, at first sight, specifically in this case, that may not be so obvious – many Bible students have had considerable problems with this particular example.  “How,” they say, “can you possibly find a heavenly truth in the behaviour of this unjust overseer; this dishonest servant?”  What is there to commend about him, what is there which we could possibly take as our example?

We have here a proper rogue – in fact a number of proper rogues – not only was this manager dishonest, but so were those whose debt he illegally reduced – and who agreed to his schemes because they worked also to their own advantage.  Not only were these debtors dishonest, but also, in all likelihood, as we shall see later on, was the master.  This is “a story about as choice a set of rascals as one can meet anywhere,” as one particular commentator puts it.  What heavenly meaning could there possibly be in all that?

But of course there is, otherwise this story would not have been told by our Lord, nor would it have found a place in the Bible.  There is a lesson for us here – in fact there are a number of lessons, congregation.  Provided we look at this parable in the right way; provided we understand the meaning; provided we realise that, at times, Jesus makes a valid point even by pointing to a good thing in an otherwise bad situation.  Oh yes, to be sure, this is a parable about some proper crooks, but that doesn’t matter.  As long as we can see where the emphasis lies; as long as we make sure that we understand the metalanguage – the meaning behind the story.  To put it simply: as long as we see the point.

So, what is the point?  Or rather, what are the points?  Because there are more than one.  What does this parable have to say to us this morning?  Well, the first thing it speaks of – the first thing Christ seeks to emphasise here is: shrewdness.  The main point of the parable surely is this: that this manager was shrewd, that he was crafty but wise, that he was cunning but clever, that he knew how to take action when needed.

Here he was, in a real and proper mess – discovered; found out by his master.  He is called on the mat, he is about to lose his job.  What can he do about it?  He says to himself, “I’m not strong enough to dig” – very likely that simply translates into: “I’m too lazy.”  “I’m too proud to beg.”  And so, he’s in a real dilemma.  They didn’t have the dole in those days, so he sits down and thinks hard, and suddenly – “Eureka!” “I’ve got it” – that’s really what it says in the Greek in verse 4.  “I know what I’ll do, so that when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.”

And so he calls every one of his master’s debtors, and reduces their debt.  Now people have asked: why did his master let him get away with it?  How come Jesus says in verse 8 that “the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly”?  Well, a likely answer is that the master himself was caught in a bind – that he himself had been dishonest.  You see, according to the law of Moses, the Jews were not allowed to charge interest on anything they lent.  We read about that in Deuteronomy 23: “Do not charge your brother interest.”  That’s why we read that passage.  A foreigner they could charge interest, but not a fellow Israelite.  But of course they didn’t like that.  And so they had come up with what they thought was a rather clever solution.  A way of getting round God’s laws.  Instead of charging interest on a debt, they would simply calculate the debt to be greater than it really was in the first place.

If a man borrowed money, or other goods, to the value of, say, 800 bushels of wheat, it was simply stated that he had borrowed to the value of 1000 bushels.  In other words, the trick was to add the interest to the up-front price – 20% in the case of wheat.  If he was going to pay back in oil he was simply charged double.  Eight hundred gallons instead of four hundred in this case – probably because oil was easy to dilute and it was assumed that the oil used in payment would be about 30% diluted.

As I said before, they were crooks all round, but that’s how it worked, that’s how it was done – and therein also lay the cleverness of the servant.  Because, although the master knew what he was doing, he could not do anything about it.  Because if he had admitted charging 20% interest on the value of the wheat, or 50% on the oil, he would have at the same time admitted to breaking the laws of Moses.  And so all he could do was simply to grin and bear it; and commend his dishonest manager, because he was shrewd.

The man was a crook, but he was shrewd, and it is this shrewdness which is emphasised and held up here in this story.  This is the first point of the parable.  We see that in vs 8 – “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of light,” says Jesus.  The people of this world – the non-believers – they know how to look after their earthly future well enough – they know how to promote their own interests – by hook or by crook they often make sure they get what they are after.

And so the first point Jesus makes is this: how about the children of light – how about us, as Christians?  Are we shrewd too?  Are we wise, are we concerned, like this manager was concerned for his own well-being?  Are we concerned for the spiritual good and the spiritual well-being and the spiritual interest both of ourselves and of the kingdom of God?

Are we concerned for our spiritual good and that of the kingdom of God, congregation?  Are we shrewd, as this man was shrewd?  That’s an important question.  For, let’s face it, so often Christians are not, are they?  So often they are quite impractical, quite naive, when it comes to kingdom matters.

Sometimes you get Christians who are naive in other matters as well, of course.  You’ve probably heard the expression: “he’s so heavenly minded he’s of no earthly good.”  Sometimes you get believers who seem to live totally in another world.  Oh yes, they love the Lord, but when it comes to practical things – even practical Christian things – they are totally useless.

But at other times you get those who are shrewd enough when it comes to earthly matters.  But when it comes to matters of the church, all of a sudden they lose all their business acumen.  So often the church misses out through lack of planning.  Properties are bought for the wrong reason in the wrong place.  Sometimes people dilly-dally so long that good opportunities are lost.  Sometimes churches are built which are quite impractical.  Sometimes money is miss-spent for quite the wrong reasons.

Far too often Christians seem to have far too little foresight.  And not only when it comes to church life, but in their own lives also.  They are not spiritually shrewd – and in their thinking they use worldly standards.

When you are in the position of buying a house, do you take into account how far it will be from the church?  Time and again it happens that people move away from the church, and as a result their attendance becomes sporadic, they find it hard to bring their children to catechism or youth-club, to attend the mid-week meetings, and their spiritual life suffers.  When you apply for a job, do you look only at the salary you’ll draw or also at the opportunities this particular job will give you to serve others in the name of Christ, and so become a light and a witness?

When you, young people, are considering a career, do you ever even consider the possibility of equipping yourself for specific Christian service?  And what about when you are looking for a marriage partner?  Do you consider his or her attitude to the church and her Lord?  Or doesn’t that enter into your calculations?  So many young people from Christian homes have floundered in their faith because they, on this account, made the wrong choices altogether.  You see, they were not shrewd, no, they were utterly stupid when it came to spiritual matters.

Or what about those of us who are older, those of us who are parents, when it comes to being an example to and educating our children?  Do we put their spiritual welfare and education first?  Or are we so concerned with their social and physical development that nothing else matters?

What about us?  Take a lesson from the unjust manager, says Jesus.  Elsewhere He warns His followers to be innocent as doves, yes, but also to be wise or shrewd, the same word is used in the Greek – wise as serpents.  Too often the people of this world are more shrewd, are more wise in dealing with their own problems than are the people of the light when it comes to their spiritual welfare and the good of the Kingdom of God.

That’s the first thing: we are to be shrewd in general spiritual matters.  But then there is also a second, and more specific, application – to do specifically with money.

We find that in verse 9, for there Jesus goes on: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

Now, admittedly, this is a difficult verse.  What exactly does Jesus mean here?  One thing it does not – one thing it cannot mean!  And that is that if we are shrewd, we can use our worldly wealth to buy our way into heaven.  It cannot mean that, because the Bible itself, elsewhere, outrightly contradicts that view.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” writes Paul in Ephesians.  We cannot earn, we cannot buy our way into heaven.  That’s not what Jesus means here.  The only way into the kingdom of God is by unmerited grace.

So then, what does Jesus mean?  Well, as I said, that is a difficult question.  And different answers have been given.  Let me just state what, it seems to me, is the most likely explanation.  And that is, that what Jesus is saying here is this: as children of light, make sure that you use also your money wisely.  Make sure that you use it to gain friends for yourselves – in other words: that you use it not just for your own good, but also for the good of others.  For that’s what we are told elsewhere too – that’s what we should do as Christians.  Our money does not save us: but the way we use our money, too, is a sure sign of our salvation.

One of the most fool-proof ways to judge whether a person truly is a follower of Christ or not is to see whether his faith also reaches down into his pocket.  Whether she is willing to share the worldly goods with which she has been entrusted.  And so this is what Jesus means: the way you use your money, too, is a sign of spiritual shrewdness, of true spiritual wisdom.  Do we use it for ourselves, or for the good of others?  Do we use it to make friends, also in the kingdom of God?

Are we shrewd, like the unrighteous manager, also with our money?  What do we use it, for?  For our own earthly pleasures?  Is that uppermost in our minds?  Or is it concern for the good of others?  Is it concern for the work of the Lord and of his kingdom?  Earthly riches don’t last.  The day will come when they will all be gone, so use them wisely, says Jesus.  “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

That may well mean that the way we use our money here on earth will, in some ways, determine, not that, but how we are received in heaven.  When you get to heaven, will you find friends there – people who, because of the way you used your wealth on earth, will have cause to bless and welcome you in heaven?  Who, perhaps, are only there themselves because you used your money wisely?  How wonderful it will be when someone there will say to you – perhaps a loved one, perhaps your own child, or maybe even a total stranger…  When people will come up to us and say to us: “Because of how you used your money… because of what you gave, to the local church, to the work of evangelism, to famine relief, to missions…  because you showed true spiritual shrewdness, I was able to see the love of God in action… I was able to hear and believe and respond to the Word of God!”

Are we spiritually shrewd, also with our earthly wealth, brothers and sisters, young people?  That is the message of this parable of Jesus.  And it is a message which is very important.  For others, and for us, because the way we deal here on earth with our possessions will in some ways determine the way we will be treated once we get to heaven.  Not that we will get to heaven – that is by grace alone, as we have already mentioned.  But how we will be received – what responsibilities, what position we will be given.  That’s also the meaning and the message behind the next two verses: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.  So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?  And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?” continues Jesus.

In heaven, too, we will be given positions of trust and responsibility as God’s children.  And the kind of responsibility we get will depend on the way we have handled our earthly responsibilities, the way we have dealt with our earthly talents.

Let us be shrewd.  Sometimes it seems to me that all so many of us Christians are concerned with is how to get into heaven.  And as long as we are sure we will get in – because we believe in Christ – well, the rest doesn’t really matter.  If we are shrewd Christians, wise Christians, we should be concerned with more than that, brothers and sisters, young people.  We will learn to serve our Lord, already here on earth, with all our gifts and talents and possessions.  We will realise that they are not our own, but are entrusted to us by our Lord, that they are but temporary and are to be used to the good of our neighbour as well as ourselves, and to the Lord’s glory.  So that we may be equipped and found worthy to take up a responsible position in heaven.  So that the day will come when we will be entrusted with true riches of our own.

The parable of the shrewd servant!  Are we shrewd, brothers and sisters, boys and girls, young people?  Spiritually shrewd?  That is the message of this story.  It doesn’t tell us how to get to heaven.  For that we look elsewhere – at another servant.

At a Son, who also came to the debtors, not of his master, but his Father.  To cut down, their debt, not by 20% or 50%, but by 100% – all is forgiven!  “The debt has been paid in full, by me.”  The Son paid the cost – and not to his profit.

The unjust servant stole from his master, to his own advantage.  The Son bore the debt himself, on a cross – that is the difference.  That we might go free; that we might freely enter heaven.  By grace, through faith, that is the glorious message of the gospel.  And the message of this parable does not contradict this.  But what it says is this, to those who have been freely forgiven: are you wise, are you shrewd, do you live in the light of that salvation?

Do you realise that earth is not your home, that this is not your permanent abode, that death is not the end?  Are you, like the unjust manager, are you making plans for your retirement?  Also with what you have been given here on earth?  You cannot take it with you.  So use it, shrewdly, wisely – use your life, you young people; you adults, what’s left of it; you older ones.  Including your worldly possessions.  Use them for the things which really matter, for those things which will give you treasure in heaven.  For your spiritual good, and not just that of yourself, but also of your neighbour, and for the good of the kingdom of God.

Amen.