9 August 2020
Text: Luke 16:1-13
In the name of + Jesus. Amen.
There is an old expression: “Honor among thieves.” It’s ironic, of course, because by definition, thieves are not honorable. But in their world, there is still a code of conduct – especially among gangs and organized crime. Some prison gangs actually have written constitutions and bylaws. Breaking them results in, shall we say, consequences.
Thieves themselves have rules and expectations – though they are not motivated by love and helping others, but rather enriching themselves even if by dishonestly and even violence.
And even though we should never emulate the sociopathic values of the thieves and thugs – we can certainly learn from their stories. Sometimes, they even ironically outdo Christians in their wisdom (or “shrewdness” as Jesus says), their loyalty to one another (even if it is self-serving), their dedication to their cause, their growth in their craft, and their grit and determination. When I worked as a corrections officer, it always amazed me how hard criminals were willing to work to get out of work. If they channeled their brilliance and their energies into making an honest living, they would be living on easy street instead of in a cage.
Our Lord certainly understands the foibles of fallen man, our sinful human nature, and He is bold to use a criminal as an object lesson, and in the process, shaming Christians as a matter of the Law, and yet teaching them about His own scheme of “debt forgiveness” which is the Gospel.
The dishonest manager in our Lord’s story has been shirking. He “was wasting” [the boss’s] “possessions.” The dishonest manager is told to hand in his final report, for he is being fired. The “manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.’”
Motivated by losing his job, the dishonest manager – who had probably been lazy – now works like a dog, negotiating, making bargains, and closing deals. He spends a long day in meetings with “his master’s debtors one by one.” He rewrites their contracts without the boss’s permission. He essentially slashes the prices that the various clients have to pay. He figures that he is being fired anyway, so he might as well make friends in high places, so that when he does get fired, he can call in favors with his new friends.
And while this is completely crooked, you have to stand in awe of this crook that Jesus created as a character in a short story. People who love O. Henry stories, or “The Twilight Zone” or novels by Kurt Vonnegut don’t know what they’re missing by not reading the collection of short stories by our Lord Jesus Christ. Maybe they are put off by the term “parables,” but our Lord’s storytelling is sheer genius. He is God after all.
We look at the complex character of the dishonest manager through the lens of his boss. “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” Even as this crook was ripping him off, the boss cannot help but be, pardon the expression, gobsmacked by the conduct of his dishonest employee. The boldness of this plan, the strategy, the hard work that it took to make it happen, the mastery of human psychology – all of these are things to behold. Even as the boss doesn’t approve of being scammed, how can he not applaud?
Our Lord tells all of us who aspire to live the Christian life: “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” Indeed, the honor among thieves – as defective as it is – sometimes puts us Christians to shame. For we have the greatest news to share with the world, but we squander opportunities to do so. We have the promise of eternal life, but we live as if we fear death. We have the Word of God, which casts out demons, which is infallible, which is a supernatural life-giving Word that saves people from death and hell – but we barely bother reading it and studying it. We have the Divine Service in which our Lord comes to us in the preached Word, in Holy Absolution, and in the Holy Sacrament – but our minds wander, and we often just go through the motions without reflecting on the miracle.
While not being crooks, we should look to this fictional dishonest manager and emulate his shrewdness for the kingdom. Jesus says, “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails, they may receive you into eternal dwellings.” We should treat worldly wealth as a tool to advance the kingdom, while avoiding the love of money and becoming a slave to mammon.
But Jesus isn’t merely preaching the Law to us Christians as encouragement to do better in our faith and life, for believe it or not, there is something of Himself in the dishonest manager. Not that Jesus is dishonest, but our Lord does take our debts and cross them out. Though by our sins, we owe our Heavenly Father a debt of blood to be settled in death and hell, our Lord Jesus, who is shrewd and yet honest, renegotiates the contract, signs it in His own blood, and pays our “wages of sin” (which is death) out of His own account. He is the Lamb of God who is sacrificed for the sins of the world.
The devil may claim that this is dishonest, for justice requires that we all die and that we all suffer eternal condemnation for our sins. The Word of God says so. And the Word is infallible. God is just. We sons of Adam and daughters of Eve “shall surely die,” as our Lord Himself says. But there is a scheme. There is a shrewd plan to both satisfy justice and to show us, His beloved ones, mercy. There is a pardon for us, but one that requires payment in full by a Substitute.
Our shrewd Savior cheats the devil, pays the cost we owe, liberates us from our debt, and restores us to “be His own and live under Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” The Father commends the Son for His shrewdness: His love for us and His obedience to the Father. For this was God’s plan for you, dear brother, dear sister, from before the foundation of the world. “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write zero.” This is the Good News. This is the Gospel. This is what the Christian faith is all about.
In the Lord’s Prayer, when we say, “Forgive us our trespasses,” we are using the word “trespass” in an old way, one that means “debts.” By our sins, we are indebted by a cost that we could never pay. We are in a state of spiritual ruin, where even the interest is more than we could ever earn in a thousand lifetimes. But debt forgiveness reduces our bill to zero. This is why Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross. Yes, you did nothing to deserve debt forgiveness, and that is what God’s grace means. It is given to you by Holy Baptism. It is, as St. Paul calls it, a “free gift.” So take it, and receive Jesus into your houses, especially when your attempts at self-righteousness fail. Your good works and your money are no good here. There is no Purgatory to buy your way out of. Your debt is forgiven. Now live your life as free Christians, with gratitude for the One who renegotiated your contract, not to save His own skin, but because He sacrifices His own flesh and blood to save yours.
He even gives you His flesh to eat and His blood to drink, in His own words, “for the forgiveness of sins.” It is finished!
And let the honor of the Church exceed that which is found among thieves. Let our diligence in the kingdom put the example of the dishonest manager to shame. Let us rejoice and be grateful that by the shrewdness of Him who was crucified for us, our debt is forgiven. Let us not serve two masters, but rather let us shrewdly serve our Lord who serves us.
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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