Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 22, 2019 - 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time - C
[Amos 8:4-7; 1 Tim 2:1-8; Luke 16:1-13]"For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." [Luke]
The parable of the Dishonest Steward is an opportunity to see how our faith can be shaped by the socio-cultural world in which we live - specifically the economic world. Every year I get a reaction or two from the Beloved Congregation about this parable because they believe that Jesus is approving dishonesty. He is doing nothing of the sort. The parable definitely does not square with our capitalistic environment, but we do not live in the environment that Jesus lived in. Money was very scarce in his time. Agriculture was the predominate focus of wealth and produce was the currency of exchange. Most farms belonged to wealthy landowners. Most farmers were tenants and had to pay rent in the form of crop-sharing. And there was the inevitable "agent or middleman."
A second currency, one that our culture has difficulty understanding when it comes to value, is "honor." We see this at work in Jesus' observations at a banquet when he sees people jockeying for positions of honor at table, or when James and John attempt to secure places of honor in the "kingdom." Our nearest idea of this might be "reputation" or "prestige." This remains extremely important in the Middle East and Asian socio-cultural environment.
In the parable, the rogue agent learns he is about to be dismissed because of embezzlement. His punishment could have been a lot worse. He is relieved, but sees an opportunity before the tenants find out he has been fired. He has them alter their crop-sharing rent, which would reduce his "commission" and the landowner's crop rent. This has two effects. First, it gains him "honor" and will oblige those tenants to help him in the future . Second, because the tenants think the steward is still acting on the part of the landowner, the landowner also gets "honor" because of his generosity! In our capitalistic way of thinking, "honor" is not money. In the Middle East and Asia, the opposite is true.
Jesus commends the prudence of the rogue steward in making friends with a long term view of reciprocity down the line. He will still lose his job, but the landowner will not repudiate the new contracts because that would cost him more in "honor" than he can afford. The next contract will get back to the usual punishing rent! What is important here is that material wealth should be shared and not hoarded. This is a constant theme in the Gospel According to Luke. The parables of the Rich Man and Lazarus {Luke 16:19-31] and the Rich Fool [Luke 12:13-21] should alert us to this. We cannot take money out of this world, but our "honor" lives on. We who live in a western capitalistic environment can learn from the prudence of the Dishonest Steward. AMEN
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