The Ninth Sunday after Trinity
“The Dishonest Manager in Every Christian”
(Luke 16:1-13)
July 24, 2016
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.Amen.
There is a dishonest manager in every Christian. Consider the similarities from the parable:
1)The dishonest manager wasted his master’s possessions. So too we waste the material blessings our heavenly Father gives to us.
2)Someone brought charges against the dishonest manager to his master. Similarly, charges are broughtto our heavenly Father against us.
3)The master calls for the dishonest manager to turn in the account of his management. God does the same thing to us when He preaches His Law and asks what our account looks like, how we have done.
4)Finally, the master tells the dishonest manager that he can no longer be manager, that he is taking the management away from him. And our heavenly Father says the same to us, for we all die and must surrender all that we accumulate here on earth.
So, there is a dishonest manager in every Christian. The parable hardly sounds good at this point. And that’s because it isn’t. The wastefulness of each of us is why we die. “The wages of sin is death,” St. Paul says. That needs emphasis these days. People think death is something natural. I’ll hear people say, “Death is a part of life.” No it isn’t. It’s the opposite of life. But we have become numb to death’s cause. We do not readily consider that God is firing us for being so wasteful with what He has given us.
Nevertheless, the parable does not leave us without hope. The dishonest manager cheated his master and yet the only thing that happened to him was that he was fired. He deserved much more. If you commit fraud and get caught, you go to prison. Yet the dishonest manager didn’t. His master was merciful to him.
And so it is for us. When we confess our sin we say that we deserve not only “temporal,” or “present” punishment, but “eternal punishment” as well. Yet, as we Christians know, through Christ’s cross our “eternal punishment” is taken away. God is merciful to us, for even though we must die and give up management of all that He has given to us in this life, yet through Jesus Christ we are delivered from hell’s flames. Our heavenly Father is merciful to us, as well.
Now, that’s the first part of the parable. It’s easy enough to understand. It’s simple Law and Gospel. We sin. God’s Law accuses us of the sin. We deserve death and hell. But God is merciful to us in Christ and takes our sin away. So, even though we die, yet God in His mercy does not give us what we deserve. It’s simple enough; we get it.
The second part of the parable is a little more intricate, however. The similarities might not be as readily apparent. But they are there. Consider:
1)The dishonest manager is fired, yet he retains management for a little while longer. So too you and I die, but we don’t die right when caught in sin; rather, we are also given a little while longer to manage what God has given us.
2)The dishonest manager is not strong enough to dig, but too ashamed to beg. So we aretoo weak to dig ourselves out of our sin, yet too ashamed to act like we do not have the Holy Spirit who guides us to love our God and neighbor.
3)The dishonest manger seeks to make friends for himself so that when he is fired they will welcome him into their houses. This is how it is for us. We seek to use what God has given us to help our Christian friends, who will welcome us into the eternal dwellings when we die.
4)Finally, the master commends the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, his prudence, his wisdom. So too God will commend each and every Christian who uses what God gives here on earth for the sake of his neighbor.
So, again, there is a dishonest manager in every Christian. Whereas the first part of the parable taught us about our sin and God’s mercy toward us, the second part of the parable teaches us how we are to live with the knowledge of His mercy. This also is something that needs emphasis these days. God’s mercy toward you ought to influence the way you live. God’s mercy toward you ought to humble you so that you seek to do what He would have you do rather than what you want to do. God’s mercy toward you ought to make you think about how your fellow Christians are going to welcome you into heaven one day, and how that should influence your actions.
The problem with mercy having its way with us, however, and us living perfectly merciful lives is that we retain the sinful nature. The dishonest manager was not strong enough to dig. Neither are we. We can try and try to be merciful toward our neighbor, to feed the poor, to care for those in our lives in need, but our sinful nature makes it impossible to do so flawlessly. We are less vigorous in cultivating Christian virtue than the unbelievers are in seeking riches, cares, and pleasures. We fall into temptation and sin. As much as we don’t want it to be so, it is, and will be till we die.
Yet, like the dishonest manager we are also too ashamed to beg. That is, we are too ashamed to do nothing at all. We have received the mercy of God. We continue to receive His mercy as we are forgiven through His Word and Sacrament weekly here in the Divine Service. Receiving this mercy, we receive the Holy Spirit. We are reborn in Holy Baptism. We now possess new desires that fight against our sinful nature’s desires. So we Christians seek now to use our possessions to benefit our neighbors.
The dishonest manager, for his part, forgave a portion of the debt of his master’s debtors. You do the same. Have mercy on one another. Forgive one another. Give to one another when in need, as God does for you. Let hearing God’s Word of mercy be your greatest desire so that upon hearing it your desires are renewed each week and each day to be merciful like He is. Use the possessions that are often used for evil for good instead.
When the dishonest manager did this he thought about how after he was fired these people would welcome him into their houses. Jesus relates this to you and your fellow Christians. I am going to be in heaven. You are going to be in heaven. How have I treated you? How have you treated me? How have you treated each other? When I was on vicaragea sweet lady used to say to me, “Vicar, we are going to have to get along in heaven, we might as well start now.” Amen to that. St. Paul says, “Do good to everyone, but especially to those within the household of faith” (Gal 6:10). The emphasis here, the thought that Jesus wants to inspire in your minds and hearts is that the very Christians you are called to serve in this congregation are the ones who are going to welcome you into heaven.What a beautiful thought that is as I look out at your faces and as you look around at your brothers and sisters in Christ here! We are going to welcome one another into the eternal dwellings. That thought ought to drive us to love one another, to unite under God’s Word and not our own opinions, and to use our possessions for the sake of the Christian Church as best we can.
For not only will those Christians you serve welcome you into heaven, but your Lord will also commend you for your shrewdness, your wisdom and prudence. The dishonest manager was dishonest in the way he did things. Don’t imitate that part of him. But do imitate how shrewd and wise he was, and your heavenly Father will commend every act of mercy you show toward your fellow Christians here on earth.
No, these acts of mercy will not get you into heaven. But that’s irrelevant. They are good, right, and true, and your merciful Father commends you for doing them. That should be worth something. In fact,that should be worth more than the praise of any man or group of men. For your Father in heaven is the one who knows your wastefulness, calls you to account, and takes your earthly life from you. Yet He is also the one who has had mercy on you. He sent His Son to cancel your account. Jesus gave His account to God in your stead and suffered the punishment of prison in your place upon the cross. Your slate is wiped clean. You are forgiven. He is risen and you have eternal life in His Name. God has used His possessions, the wood of the cross, the iron of the nails, the very flesh and blood of His own Son, and an empty tomb to have mercy on you. Take comfort in this, brothers and sisters in Christ, and use the possessions He has given you for one another. God will commend you in the end.
There is a dishonest manager in every Christian, in every one of you and in me too. That means there is a sinner on whom our heavenly Father has had mercy. God grant that this mercy of our Father guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, your Savior, that your faith in Him would continue to grow and your love for your neighbor would flourish until the day your Christian friends welcome you into the eternal dwellings.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
— Rev. Stephen K. Preus —
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