Transcript
Where do you make your investments?
The parable that we just heard deals with the question of investment. It’s called by various names: The Dishonest Manager. The Shrewd Manager. The Unjust Steward. It is, in my opinion – and the opinion of many commentators – the most difficult of Jesus’ parables to understand and interpret. Seriously, this is a tough one.
I’ll give you the synopsis of the story. You have a rich man, who owns fields and vineyards, and has made lots of money. This man has a manager, who invests the money; and also handles the business deals. The owner finds out that the manager has been wasting possessions, so he fires him. The manager panics, thinking, how am I going to support myself once I lose this job? So, he calls in each person that owes the master a debt. And for each, he cuts down the bill. Nine hundred gallons of oil. Ok, make it half that. A thousand bushels of wheat. Ok, make it eight hundred. The purpose of this is twofold. It gets money for the master; but more importantly it creates a loyalty bond between the manager and the people who owe something. They get a reduced rate, they’re happy. They will remember the favor.
Ok, interesting business deal. But what’s going to happen when the master finds out? Mad, right?
Actually, no. The master commends him. He commends the manager for acting shrewdly. The Greek word for shrewdly is Phronimos. It means wisely or prudently. It’s the same word that Jesus uses when he describes the wise man who built his house on the rock. So it’s a strong word – a good word. You want to be called phronimos.
But why would this manager be commended for what appears to be a sneaky business deal?
AND…. What does Jesus mean when he says, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal homes?”
Like I said, it’s a hard parable!
The key is to see the forest instead of the trees.
Jesus is raising at least 3 big questions:
First: Do you invest in people over things?
Second: Do you understand the temporal vs. the eternal?
Third: What do you mean by home?
Do You Invest in People over things?
The dishonest manager, for all his faults, does seem to understand relationships. He thinks to himself: “Well, when I don’t have this job, and I don’t want to beg or dig, I’m going to need friends to welcome me into their houses.” What Jesus is saying is, “Look, if this guy – this sneaky manager operating in the secular world, if HE understands the value of relationships, then how much more should YOU value relationships. You who, presumably, know better.”
Jesus says: invest in relationships. Invest in friendships. Build up bonds of loyalty. Take care of one another.
Practical example. I heard of a mission organization in a foreign country that said to its donors, “Look, we love that you send us money. Please keep doing that. But would you consider taking half what you give us, and using that money to plan a trip, to come visit us. Come see us; come meet us. We want to be in relationship.”
I admit that personally, I have had a difficult time doing this in my own life. I’ve moved a lot, and I haven’t been able to maintain friendships across time and space. I recently reconnected with a High School friend, and it was the best.
The good news is that it’s never too late. Invest money in relationships. The other good news is that, here you are. You are surrounded by potential relationships. Introduce yourself to someone that you don’t know after the service.
Well you say, “Ok, Fr. Matthew, you’re saying we just need to be more friendly.” No. It’s way more than that. CS Lewis famously said that there are no ordinary people. “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
What he means is that each one of us is an eternal being. Which means that we all matter, big time. Which means that the way we treat each other, how we invest in one another, will be remembered forever.
That’s a good segue… second point…
Do you see the temporal vs. the eternal?
Temporal means temporary. Everything is passing away. We know that. Nothing in this world lasts forever. Including wealth.
So what does last forever? What is eternal? Bishop Roert Baron has a brilliant reflection on this question. He says, “Think of it this way: What will you have in heaven?” Of the three theological virtues: Faith, Hope, and Love. Which of those will you need in heaven? Well, it’s not going to be faith. You’ll be in the very presence of God. You won’t need faith. What about hope? Hope is all about the future. You won’t need hope in heaven, because heaven is an eternal now. So what will you have? Love. The love of God. The love of others. Heaven is love.
Well, someone might say, that’s very sweet.
No, it’s not sweet. This is a worldview. When you read eternity back into the present, you begin to discern the keys to life. And one of the central keys to life is learning to love each other well. Love is seeking the highest good of the other. That points to eternal life. Invest your money in that which lasts forever.
Third point…
What do you mean by home?
Home is the place where they have to take you in. It’s a clever saying. I had to look up where it comes from. It’s from a poem by Robert Frost called, “The death of the hired man.” Here’s the full line: ‘Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in.’”
The dishonest manager in our parable – yeah, let’s get back to him for a second – he basically has this idea of home. They have to take me in. Verse 16 “I know what I’ll do, so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.” The Greek word there for house is oikos. It means house or household… the structure and the people in it. It’s a good word. Nothing wrong with Oikos.
But let me show you something. When Jesus recaps the parable he says, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal homes.” Eternal homes or dwellings. It’s a different Greek word. Skene. Which means dwelling. But literally, it means – ready for this? Tent.
Jesus puts these two ideas together. Tent, a temporary structure… which is eternal. A forever tent.
What does it mean? What Jesus has in mind, and what everyone who heard this would have had in mind was, “Oh, tent. Like in the desert.”
In the Old Testament, if you remember, the people of Israel had a tent; they called it the tabernacle. They would set up this tent in the desert, to worship God. But more than that, this tent, the tabernacle was where God was known to dwell. God, in a sense, would come from his heavenly tent to our earthly tent. Bringing the eternal to the temporal.
To dwell, watch this, in relationship.
“You will be my people; I will be your God”
Ok, I know, this is a lot.
Two practical applications.
- When you welcome someone into your home. Or when you are welcomed into someone else’s home. If you do this with proper hospitality, you are doing something Godly. Invest in that. Put your money toward that. Or if you don’t have a home where you can have people over, put your money toward people in other ways.
- This place. This church. Is also a home. This is a place where people dwell with God. And where God dwells with people. Invest in that. Put your money toward this forever tent.
The Church of the Good Samaritan is a home for anyone. A place where people dwell with God; and build relationships that last forever.
What could be a better investment than that?
