Dear Friends
If you have ever read the parable in this week’s gospel reading Luke 16:1-13 and felt puzzled, confused, or even downright mystified by it, you’re in good company. Careful readers of Scripture have for centuries wondered why in the world Jesus commend this dishonest manager.
Recently, though, someone made a suggestion that helped me see this parable in a whole new way. He compared the “dishonest wealth” Jesus mentions to the fate of the Confederate currency near the end of the Civil War. As the prospect of a Confederate victory declined, those bills and coins became increasingly worthless, prompting holders to spend them freely in the hope of purchasing something, anything! before they held no value whatsoever. So also, with the “dishonest wealth” of the parable.
In fact, a better translation might be “the wealth of unrighteousness” the wealth, that is, of the kingdom of the world that is in decline and that will not be victorious. Such wealth, according to Jesus, has limited value and so should be spent freely now, before it’s too late! Moreover, it should be spent in a way that secures your future beyond the crumbling confederacy we call “the world.” And the only way to do that, according to Jesus throughout Luke’s gospel, is to use that fading wealth to help those in need. They alone have been guaranteed a place in God’s kingdom and therefore as you help them you help yourself.
For this reason does the rich man commend his dishonest manager he has recognized the fragility of his place in the world, realized that he has little time left to exercise stewardship over wealth of any kind, recognized that the value of all he once prized has diminished significantly, and has determined to use what little time and opportunity is left to him to try to help himself by helping those in need.
Still puzzled? I’ll admit that I am, though less with what the parable means and more with how or, probably more honestly, whether I will embrace and live it.
Solomzi