Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 19, 2010 - Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Amos 8:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13]I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
There is a soft place in the heart of many folks for the "Robin Hood" character who "steals from the rich and gives to the poor." We may simply ignore the fact that Robin Hood is stealing in the face of the dire need of the people who benefit from his activities. History has romanticized him along with the rest of his "merrie bande." (Friar Tuck, Little John, Maid Marian etc.) Once the "romance" is taken away, we may not feel such admiration for this "clever rogue!" In Jesus' time the process would more likely be the reverse: steal from the poor and give to the rich! Indeed that is what the Prophet Amos is talking about in the first scripture for today. In the gospel scripture, however, we are confronted with a "clever rogue" who, when caught in embezzlement, exploits the social values of the time to make both himself and his victim look good! Some folks think Jesus is praising the guy for his dishonesty. This is not so. Jesus is praising the guy for his "astuteness" in knowing how to think long term in regards to his life. First of all we should remember that in the Middle East, "honor" is one of the highest social values. Then we should remember that in the Gospel of Luke, material possessions are regarded with caution and suspicion because they can be obstacles to following Christ. The duty of the person who is gifted with wealth is to use it for almsgiving and thus receive true "honor" rather than the false honor of being materially wealthy. Jesus is not holding up the dishonest steward as a shining moral example, but neither is he commending the rich man! What happens depends on one's understanding of ordinary economic life at the time. Stewards acted as agents of landlords. Stewards were "expected" to make a commission on any rental agreement. One interpretation has it that the steward simply takes advantage of the opportunity (before the tenants hear of his dismissal) to rewrite the contracts to eliminate his "commission." Another interpretation has it that the steward simply takes advantage of the "honor" values by making the landlord "look good" for his generosity and thus cannot take back the new contracts without losing that honor! This means that the rich man, the steward AND the tenants all come out ahead! The moral of the story is in the quote above! Jesus goes on to point out that wealth can "master" a person unless that person takes charge of it and uses it with a view to eternal life. The "dishonest steward" was dishonest at the beginning of the parable, so we don't put a halo on his behavior for that. What happens in the story itself is what challenges us. What are we doing with what God has given us? AMEN
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