1 Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. 2 He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’
Luke 16:1-13 (CEB)
3 “The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses.
5 “One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ 7 Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.
10 “Whoever is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and the one who is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much. 11 If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 If you haven’t been faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? 13 No household servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
This is one of the most confusing parables of Jesus found in the New Testament. Interpreting it accurately is a problem that the most seasoned of biblical scholars have found difficult. It’s not the kind of thing one can read a single time and come to a definitive answer about its meaning.
One thing that is clear about this story is that the household manager got himself in a fine mess and needed to come up with a solution to get himself out of it. The owner had called him into his office after learning that the manager had misused the owner’s assets and fired him. The nature of the situation was such that he could not sit back on his laurels and wait, nor could he simply ignore the problem and hope that it would just go away. He needed to take decisive action if he was going to ensure a positive outcome for his future.
In Jesus’ subsequent comments on this story about the household manager, he mentions the contrast between people who belong to this world and people who belong to the light, about how they each view and handle wealth vis-à-vis other people. Regardless of how we interpret and understand the parable itself, it is clear that Jesus is presenting the hearers with a problem that requires decisive action on their part. There is an urgent need to make a decision about how they are going to relate to God and how they are going to relate to their money in terms of which they will pledge their allegiance to.
There’s another thing to consider also: What constitutes a positive outcome for someone’s future? Does it mean money in the bank? Financial independence? Abundant resources with regard to food, clothing, shelter, etc.? If so, then the pursuit of these things will determine the nature of the decisive action we choose to take toward securing such a future. If our notion of a positive future looks like something else — an eternal home with God, the fellowship of others being added to the kingdom of God through the Church and it’s mission and ministries, then the decisive action we take will look much different.
And so, Jesus instills in us a sense of urgency with his choice of language, presenting two mutually exclusive, incompatible options with the unspoken but strongly implied challenge to make a choice, and to make the choice now: “No household servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth” (v. 13).
Jesus leaves the decision to us. God or wealth? Other or self? Worldly homes or eternal homes?
The choice is ours.
First United Methodist Church 