September 18, 2022
One evening when I was home from college, I noticed an award was displayed on the fridge when I grabbed a soda. My little brother won a “Good Citizen Award” and I asked him about it. He said that he received it after turning in a lost wallet that he had found. When the owner of the wallet later came back to get it, the owner said that everything was in the wallet just as he had left it, cash included. When the principal heard that, he decided to give my brother the “Good Citizen Award” to commend his act of honesty and decency. He was quite proud of this award, and rightfully so. Acts and qualities like those, whether honesty, kindness, decency, or bravery, are beneficial for our world, and highly encouraged.
However, acts and qualities on the other end of the spectrum, things like lying, cruelty, indecency and cowardice, are not, and rightfully so. These are qualities and virtues that our world doesn’t want, or even commend. Have you ever seen a headline that reads, “Man going to be fired, steals money, owner pleased.” Has a city ever given an award to a person for a clever scheme that hurt and stole from its residents? Does the IRS commend people who expose tax laws and loopholes, or cheat on their taxes? The answer to these things are “No!” Strangely, though, the man in our text is commended for some shady and dishonest activity. Why is that? We’ll see this morning as we look at one of the Bible’s most challenging parables.
To understand and apply the parable of the unjust steward, I find it helpful to read this parable alongside the one that immediately came before it. Sometimes it is helpful to read the Bible like how we would watch a movie. When we watch a movie, we do so continuously, and with no interruptions. Doing so helps us to see the flow, connections, themes, and points clearer. Sometimes, when reading the Bible, it is helpful to do the same for the same reasons. It helps us to see the connections even clearer. As we look at the parable of the dishonest manager, I find it helpful to read this parable alongside the parable of the prodigal son. We will read it like we are watching a movie. For, believe it or not, the parable of prodigal son has many similarities with the parable of the dishonest manager, and even echoes the same themes. The prodigal son helps us to understand and apply the parable of the dishonest manager.
You know the story of the prodigal son. The younger son asks for his inheritance while his father is still living, and takes all that he has away to a far country. There, he squanders it all in reckless living. Who knows what he did with the inheritance, but it wasn’t good, and it wasn’t wise. His older brother accuses him of using it on prostitutes! Unfortunately, after the younger son spends everything, a severe famine broke out. Food became scarce and the price for it skyrocketed! If his plight was bad before, it now got much, much worse. Trying to get by, he hires himself out to a citizen to essentially be a butler to pigs. His job is to feed them, and he tosses them food as he slowly starves to death. Even the pods that the pigs are eating look good and desirable! The pigs have it better than he does! Sadly, no one gives him any food.
As he hits this new low, he has a moment of realization. He has what we might call a “come to Jesus moment.” The young son realizes his situation and plight. He is honest about himself, what has gone on, and has to face the issue, honestly. He is going to starve to death. His father’s house wasn’t that bad. In fact, it was quite good. Even the hired hands have an abundance of food while he perishes here with hunger. He has quite a dilemma, doesn’t he? Now let’s look at the dishonest manager.
This manager worked under a rich man, but he wasn’t good at his job, at all. Like the prodigal son, he squandered something, all right. He squandered what wasn’t his. He squandered what belonged to his master, who hears about this. Hearing the report, the rich man calls his manager forward. He tells him to turn in the book, for he is now fired! Fortunately, there will be no additional action taken against him. He won’t be taken to jail, or forced to reimburse what he lost. He just needs to turn in the books.
And like the prodigal son, he has a realization, and a moment to think, as he walks to get the books. He has a “come to Jesus moment.” Simply put, he messed up, and messed up big time. His mistake has caught up to him. What is he going to do? He isn’t strong to dig or do manual labor. No one will hire him to manage their possessions given that his track record stinks! He is honest and admits that he is too proud to beg. What is he to do? What can he do? He needs to figure it out!
We have been there, haven’t we? We have had those “come to Jesus moments,” haven’t we? There are events and times in our lives when everything is laid bare and we have to face the facts. There are times when we have to be honest about ourselves, and honest about our situation. There is no sugar coating it, or sweeping it under the rug. There are times when, like these men, we have to figure out what we are going to do and how to get through it!
Maybe this happened when a word spoken in anger destroyed a friendship, or when unchecked jealousy made a messy situation. Maybe it happened when addiction spiraled out of control, or when your heart was broken from a divorce. Maybe it is when years of poor choices have caught up to you, whether it is in the sphere of health or finances. And, if we are honest, spiritually, we have had these moments, too. It might happen when that sin finally catches up to us like the prodigal son, and we are holding the pieces of our lives in our hands. It might happen when our sin is finally exposed like the manager, and we are forced to deal with it and the repercussions. These “come to Jesus moments” are never fun, and can be quite painful, and embarrassing. What do we do? What did the younger son do?
He came up with a plan. He will apologize to his father, and plead with him to be a hired hand. He can’t say “no” to that, can he? He couldn’t possibly expect to be a son again after what he had done. Being a hired hand will be just fine, and he begins the trek toward home. However, his father ruins all of this. He ruins the plan. Sometimes parents can do that, can’t they? While he is in the distance, his father runs to meet his lost son, and gives a loving embrace. Before a word of his rehearsed apology is every uttered, he is reinstated as a son again. The best robe is brought, a ring given, and sandals put on his feet. The best calf is killed and a party with music, feasting, and celebrating is started! What happened to the younger son? He was overwhelmed by grace, and treated as if he never left!
But what about the manager? He, too, after all, has a plan. He decides to devise a way to have people welcome him into their homes once he is fired. He still has the books after all, and hasn’t yet turned them in. The manager begins to call all of his master’s debtors, one by one, to change the amount that they owe. For the man owing a 100 measures of oil, he tells him to write 50. For the person owing 100 measures of wheat, he tells him to write 80. The amount of debt written off for each person would have been equivalent to 18 months of wages. If this happened to you, and if you saw this man on the streets, wouldn’t you be inclined to help him? That is his gamble. The manager then does this with all his master’s debtors.
The time of confrontation comes, and the manager gives the rich man his books back, and the rich man realizes what his manager did. All of the numbers have been changed, causing him even more financial losses on top of what he squandered. What does this rich man say to him? “I will see you in court, and you will be locked away forever…” “I’ll remember this and get you back….” Does he call him a name? He does neither, but instead, “Good job! Well done and well played. Where was this shrewdness before I fired you?” The rich man commends him for acting shrewdly. Instead of receiving grace from those he helped, he receives it from the one he wronged, just like the son. He is overwhelmed by grace!
But what about you? We come to God with plans, alright, but we might not always realize, or see it. Don’t believe me? It sounds and looks like this: “If you help me get this job, if you answer this prayer, if you help me get better, if you change this situation, if you forgive this sin, if you take away the pain, I’ll do…blank.” Blank? I’ll go to church every week. I’ll never ask again. I’ll pray every day. I’ll read my Bible. I’ll help at the soup. I’ll….do something.” If you do this, God, I’ll do that….We come with plans. All of this is wrong, though. God says, “Hush! I don’t care about your plan!” We when have these “come to Jesus moments,” any moment, we see that He comes to us with overflowing, abundant grace! We are blessed today and every day by Jesus coming to us with grace beyond our imagination or deserve. Grace is His undeserved mercy and love. You don’t deserve it; I don’t either!
We might try to bargain or plead with God, but God wants none of it! We are overwhelmed by grace when health issues come, financial challenges crop up, divorce hits, or when we make a mess of our own doing. We are overwhelmed by grace when we think we can’t be forgiven, but in Christ, we can and are! We overwhelmed by grace when sin catches up to us like the prodigal son, and we are welcomed back into God’s family because of Jesus. We are overwhelmed by grace when we are exposed like the manager, and our sin is shown, but we receive Christ’s forgiveness. We are overwhelmed by grace because of Jesus and His death and resurrection for you. That is where it comes from! God’s undeserved mercy and love are showered upon you because of Jesus! We are overwhelmed by grace like the son and manager!
All of this changes how we see ourselves, and our lives. By faith, we see who we really are, sinners, and what we really truly need, grace! This encourages daily repentance of our sin because we have a God who forgives us and supplies grace abundantly! He is not stingy about it or limits it. He squanders it on you! And this even changes how we see our possessions, and how we use them. Our security and life are not found in them, but in Him, and we are free to use them to expand his Kingdom, and use them for His glory. His grace helps us to lessen our grip on them because we see the grip that He has on us! So, what about you? The son was overwhelmed by grace, the manager overwhelmed by grace, and the same is true for you! You are overwhelmed by God’s grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.