Make Friends
A sermon by Brent J. Eelman
September 23, 2007
Abington Presbyterian Church

Luke 16: 1-13
    Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” ³Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” ⁶He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” ⁷Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
    10 ‘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. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’*    

I must confess my personal apprehension in regards to this morning’s sermon. It is based on the parable that was just read to you and this parable which might be one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament. It is usually called the “Parable of the Dishonest Manager” and Jesus concluded it by saying: “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you in the eternal homes.” What could that possibly mean? It is almost scandalous. Indeed, in the fourth century, the Roman Emperor, Julian the Apostate, used this text in an attempt to discredit Christianity and show that Christians were, in fact, scoundrels. This parable is often called the “notorious puzzle” by preachers and scholars who have wrestled with the meaning of it. Now you understand my apprehension. What I propose to do this morning is to look at this parable within its context, both literary and cultural. Second, I want to ask the hard question of the text: What is the gospel or good news in the parable. And then make application to our lives today.

I

First, let’s look at the parable. The first inclination is to interpret this as an economic parable. It is, after all, about money and property. The manager mishandled the funds of his master. He did not steal money. He did not embezzle. No. He mismanaged and squandered the funds with which he was entrusted. In the ancient world, the manager had a great deal of responsibility and that responsibility often gave him a license to enrich himself. Here is how it worked. The manager was in the middle of all of his master’s transactions. Say you needed to buy fifty jugs of oil on credit. This would be arranged by the manager, but the bill that he would write out for you would read 100 jugs. The manager stood to make a tidy profit. This was exploitive, but it was also a way for property owners to get around the usury laws of the day. This practice was also common knowledge. Consequently, when Jesus began his parable about a manager and a rich man, his listeners would have a great deal of antipathy towards these characters. The rich man made his money off of the backs of the poor, and the manager ran a glorified loan sharking scheme.

But something went wrong. The manager was careless, or he made some bad loans. We don’t know what happened, but he squandered the rich man’s money and word of this got to the his master. When the manager learned that his master knew what was going on, he thought, “I have to act quickly to save my own neck.” If he lost his job he would either have to do manual labor, (which had no appeal to him.) or he would have to beg. No one would ever hire him again. He was between a rock and a hard place. So he did something that most of us would regard as sneaky, underhanded and unethical. He reduced the debts that were owed to his master. Ironically, the reduction of these debts would not affect what the master would receive. They would just reduce the interest charge that the manager got. It was a very clever move. First, the wealthy man would be happy, because he would be collecting his debts, albeit with a little bit less interest. Second, the debtors would be very happy because they would not have to pay the exorbitant interest rates. Third, the debtors would feel very good about the rich man and see this as an act of honor and charity on his part. Finally, the manager would be happy because he could keep his job.

But there is something else at work here that might not be apparent to us. In the ancient Middle Eastern culture a person’s honor was highly valued. Respect was often worth more than money. In this exchange the wealthy man received a great deal of respect and honor. He would be perceived by his debtors as a charitable and honest individual. That too, contributed to his happiness at this occasion. This was why the master commends the manager for his shrewd actions.

II

But what is the gospel of this parable? What is the good news that it tells us? What is the challenge that it gives to us? I mentioned earlier that our first inclination is to think of this parable as one dealing the use or misuse of property and wealth. But we need to understand the parable in its literary context. It is in the midst of a series of parables in the gospel of Luke. Right before this parable is the parable of the lost sheep; the parable of the misplaced coin; and then the parable of the prodigal son. The parable of the lost sheep was not about agricultural techniques, nor was the parable of the lost coin about housekeeping. And the parable of the prodigal son was not about raising children. No… All of these parables were about relationships and the restoration of relationships. In each one of these parables a relationship was injured or broken. The lost sheep was found, and the flock was restored. The misplaced coin was found and the finances are restored. The prodigal returned home and the father/son relationship was restored. Jesus used these parables to share his vision of the kingdom of heaven. Ultimately in the kingdom of heaven, in God’s history, relationships will be restored and made whole. This includes our interpersonal relationships, to our national relationships, our relationship with creation, and our relationship with God. This is the vision of the prophets. Jeremiah proclaimed a new covenant. Isaiah envisioned the lamb and lion sleeping beside each other.

The parable of the dishonest manager is also a parable about the restoration of relationships. Through a series of questionable, perhaps comic, actions, relationships and honor were restored. The good news is that God works his purpose of reconciliation out, at times, through the questionable behavior of humanity

III

How does this speak to our age? To us? This is one parable that we cannot understand as an allegory or metaphor. We will confuse ourselves if we start thinking that God is the Master, we are the managers and the debtors those who live outside of the Christian community. It doesn’t work in that way. Rather we need to see this as a playful, almost comedic drama. Things got pretty tense for a while, but like a good play or movie, “alls well that ends well”. The parable that Jesus told was like the drama of salvation. It was a drama where God restores relationships, primarily between God and humanity, but also among all human beings.

When I titled this sermon, I wanted to pick up the challenge that Jesus gave us. I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. Make friends. Friendship is often an overlooked idea in Christian faith, but it was at the heart of Jesus ministry. He made friends with people. Not merely his disciples, he made friends with women. He made friends with sinners. (That was the primary indictment of his ministry). Jesus’ message to us, is that our future is directly related to the quality of our relationships. Make friends….. Go to great lengths to make friends… be a good friend to others…. Because relationships are at the heart of our faith. Because through friendship we witness to the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven! The God of Jesus is one who restores relationships, and calls on us to build and restore our friendships.

This is not one of the more satisfying parables. I have wrestled with it for a week, and lost sleep over it on Thursday night. Ironically, biblical scholars who do literary criticism tell us that this is one of the parables that rings with authenticity. I have discovered in my struggle that this is a truly hopeful parable, because it celebrates reconciliation and restored relationships. To those of us who hurt and live with the burden of brokenness, this is Good News. To a world, bitterly divided by race, religion, and political ideology, this is Good News. To creation, that (as Paul’s letter to the Romans declares) groans from the sin of humanity… this is good news. My hope and prayer is that you too will read and listen to this parable and hear the good news that it tells. Amen.

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org