How are my investments doing? If you have any investments in the stock market or a 403b, if you’re receiving or counting on a pension from a public or private source, or if you have a business, for the last several years you’ve probably asked this question of your financial advisor or pension administrator: how are my investments doing? For the last five years or so, the answer has mostly been, “Not too well.” Many of our investments have lost value, many houses are still “underwater,” i.e., the debt on them exceeds their market value, and the vast majority of our savings accounts and CDs pay under 1% in interest. Are we “children of this world” handling our investments shrewdly enough? And what about our other investments?
It’s a tough parable Jesus puts before his disciples and hangers-on. Scripture scholars have debated for centuries why Luke included it in his gospel. And why, they wondered, did Luke put this odd story between the story of the Prodigal Son – don’t we all just love that story – and the one we’ll hear next week, the story of the rich man and Lazarus – which most of us wealthy First World folks don’t like at all. And all of us wonder what Jesus could possibly have meant in this odd parable of the shrewd manager.
The subject matter of the parable shouldn’t surprise us. In Luke’s retelling of the gospel story, Jesus has much to say about the proper use of wealth and possessions. Just think back to the story we heard three weeks ago. In that story, at a dinner party on the Sabbath, Jesus embarrassed his host by asking why he had invited only his own rich friends, rather than “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.” Two weeks ago, we heard Jesus warn us to plan ahead in our spiritual lives and to remember that, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
However, you might have been surprised at the outcome of today’s parable. The rich man, perhaps an absentee landlord, learned that his trusted manager was wasteful and careless in the investments entrusted to him. Didn’t you think that when the rich man then discovered that the manager had cooked the books and reduced everyone’s debts he would have had the manager sent to prison? Didn’t the manager commit fraud? Yet the rich man was pleased with the manager. Is this outcome just Luke’s way of making us think, by reversing our expected outcomes? Possibly. But possibly not. Knowing the debt collection practices of the ancient world, some scholars think that what the manager really did was cut his commission. That is, he was willing to forgo most of his income with these contracts in order to have a group of people grateful to him when he was out of a job. The master would still receive about the same amount of return in what would then be a win-win situation for everyone.
What’s even more surprising in this reading is that, after telling the parable, Jesus then interprets it. Remember that parables are a little like Aesop’s fables. They’re stories with a point. Here, in fact, Jesus provides three different, albeit inter-related, ways of understanding the parable. I’d like to focus on the first one. Perhaps astonishing the disciples, Jesus tells them, “The children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Jesus’ meaning is clearer, I think, in the words of The Message. “Streetwise people,” he says, “are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.” Or to put Jesus’ lesson yet another way: we are to be as shrewd about what truly matters as those of this world are about their – or our – monetary investments. As both individuals and as a parish, we are to be as intentional about our spiritual lives, including our use of our God-given resources, as we are about our secular lives, our lives “in the world.” We are to remember that discipleship is not a part-time job. We are to take our discipleship as seriously as we take any of our other worldly obligations. Ultimately, Jesus warns us, it is the relationships that we make with God and with each other in the spiritual realm that will last, that will bring us eternal life, when wealth and possessions have passed into the hands of others.
How do we respond to Jesus’ charge? How do we as twenty-first century people living in a decidedly unspiritual culture actually follow through on our professed commitment to Jesus’ way? The first step may be to look at our priorities – our real priorities? What truly comes first in our lives? Is church and everything associated with it, say, eighth in our first ten priorities, the “icing on the cake,” of a life consumed with other obligations and forms of idolatry? If we truly accept our obligations as Jesus’ disciples, then the next step may be to actually take Jesus literally and be more intentional about our use of our resources, especially our money. Make no mistake: our use of our money is a true reflection of our character. Where are you investing your money? Is your money advancing God’s agenda? In addition to asking this question of ourselves, we might also ask it of the church. Are we using our funds to advance God’s agenda, or merely to keep up a place where a handful of us can feel good about ourselves? We might ask this question of the non-profit agencies that we support. What are they doing to advance God’s agenda, to further the cause of justice and create a more peaceful world? Remember Amos’s warning that God cares especially for those who are poor and on the margins of society. Jesus only reiterates what the prophets began telling us nearly three thousand years ago! What are we and the agencies we support doing to meet God’s expectations? And when was the last time you wrote, called, or emailed your elected representative expressing your desire for policies that reduced poverty and enhanced the lives of the poor?
We might also ask ourselves whether we are investing our own selves, our own bodies in concrete acts of mercy. Unquestionably, a check or credit card donation is always appreciated: it’s all green, as they say. Even so, for some of us, perhaps most of us, Jesus encourages us to engage in face-to-face acts of mercy, to build relationships outside of our comfort zone, to truly begin to know people in need, in our own communities or even overseas. Remember the story of the dinner: Jesus didn’t tell his host to write a check to his favorite NGO. He told his host to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” into his home, to get to know them as real people worthy of attention and love.
Finally, we might honestly examine the content of our prayer. Do you have a set of prayers that you say by rote, remembering only a small circle of family or friends? The writer of the letter to Timothy reminds us that God “desires everyone to be saved,” and that therefore we are to pray for everyone. We are even to pray for kings! The goal: that all may live a quiet and peaceable life “in all godliness and dignity.” In the model prayers of the people in the Book of Common Prayer we do pray for “the leaders of the nations, and all in authority.” Yet, there are few countries in the world today where most people live a “peaceable life in all godliness and dignity,” where most people have homes, decent food, work, access to healthcare, and peace. The church must raise its voice in proclaiming peace and calling for justice. We too must pray and then make our voices heard so that our politicians know that we are dedicated to the cause of a peaceable life in all godliness and dignity for all people, and especially for those now excluded from the world’s resources. How can St. Peter’s be on the front line in advancing God’s agenda?
How are our investments doing? Are we as intentional about helping our spiritual investments grow as we are about our monetary investments? Are we using our resources to advance God’s agenda? Are we engaged in real acts of mercy? Are we praying for all, most especially our leaders? Holy God, you have called us to serve you. Guide us and make us worthy of our calling. Give us wisdom to use our resources and talents to your glory and to the benefit of all who are in need; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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