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September 21, 2025 - Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. TJ Mack - Union Congregational Church of Hancock

Luke 16 – New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

16 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ² So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹ 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. 

¹⁰ “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. ¹¹ If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³ No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

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It is important to know the source and context of what we are reading. When we read the New York Times we understand that the politics lean to the left. When we read the Wall Street Journal we know the articles slant right. When we read the Onion newspaper we know we are reading satire. Are you familiar with the Onion? One sample headline reads: “Wrong Turn in Ventilation Duct Results in World’s Largest Bakery Heist.” To read the Onion as legitimate news would be foolhardy. How will these newspapers be judged hundreds of years from now? Two thousand years from now? Will the readers know these parameters?  

It can be difficult to know the true intent of Jesus’ parables, Luke’s Gospel, or many of our Bible passages. They were written long, long ago. There are scholars that dedicate their lives to researching background and context so that we have answers to some of these questions. 

I am aware of at least three ways that theologians and scholars have tried to make sense of this passage.

It can be read as a metaphor with God as Master or “rich man,’” and us as the “dishonest manager.”  

It can be read at face value and served up with a twist of irony, reading verses 8-9 with “a wink and a nod” from Jesus. 

It can be flipped upside-down with the “dishonest” manager taking on the persona of a Robin Hood character, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. 

Sometimes our scriptures raise as many questions as they answer. That is not a bad thing if it gets us talking with God and with one another. 

Let’s consider them one at a time. 

#1 It can be read as a metaphor with God as Master or “rich man,’” and us as the “dishonest manager.”  

In what ways are God and humans typecast into the expected roles? The manager is summoned into the presence of God and required to give an accounting of his earthly actions. The manager, knowing that the imminent loss of status will sink him into poverty, “shrewdly” minimizes the amounts owed by the debtors, thus endearing himself to those individuals. The trouble is that according to the scripture, this also endears the “dishonest manager” to God. And we are left scratching our heads and wondering how one is rewarded for cheating. 

#2 It can be read at face value and served up with a twist of irony, reading verse 9 with “a wink and a nod” from Jesus. 

⁹ 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.

This version helps to soothe our dis-ease over the dishonest manager being commended for his shrewdness. Verse 9 acknowledges the cheating, scheming dealings of the dishonest manager are not so much “shrewd” as short-sighted. His corrupt business dealings cost him his job and means of support and those that he favored with reduced invoices will soon tire of him, welcoming him not into their homes eternally but leaving him out in the cold; hungry and alone. 

#3 It can be flipped upside-down with the “dishonest” manager taking on the persona of a Robin Hood character, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. 

In this scenario, we are still considering a “dishonest” manager, but one that is robbing from the “rich man” not for himself, but for others. Once discovered, a last-ditch effort is made to ease the burden of those in debt to his master by reducing what they owe because he knows they cannot afford it. This is tempting to entertain but probably not what was intended by the parable.

Nonetheless, I would argue that life deals us with some combination of all of the above scenarios to wrestle with on a regular basis. 

Regardless of which scenarios resonate for you, an important consideration, gleaned from reading the SALT+ blog this week, pertains to the “shrewd” behavior of the “dishonest” manager. 

The verse 8 text begins, “… his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” And that is where many of us get hung up. Of course Jesus wasn’t suggesting that we should all be dishonest in our business dealings and think only of ourselves when making decisions. We can clearly see how ridiculous that notion is, going against the grain of all that Jesus taught. Do not think of the manager as being praised for being dishonest. That was not his shrewdness. Think of the praise as being for the “shrewdness” of the manager’s creative problem-solving skills. The SALT+ blogger suggests that we “take a page from the playbook of the ‘dishonest manager’: he may be traveling in the wrong direction, but his chutzpah, practical wisdom, and moxie are worth emulating!” 

I do believe this scripture is to be read with a dose of irony; acknowledging the way things are and pointing toward the ways God desires. Acknowledging that everyone has something to teach us if we are open to learning. Acknowledging that we can learn from the unscrupulous as well as the scrupulous. What then can we glean from the practices of the dishonest manager? Imagine using his tactics for good. Think of what that manager – or any one of us – as upright and fair and just children of God could do – when we apply this same energy and effort toward deepening our relationship with God and making this world a better place for all. Shrewd indeed. 

This parable of the rich man and the dishonest manager ends with the emphatic statement, “You cannot serve God and wealth.” 

And yet, I dare say, we try. We want it both ways. We are God-loving people. And we are money loving people. We no longer simply have savings accounts and retirement accounts we now have “wealth management.” 

How much money is enough? How much money is too much? 

Is life really about the amount of money amassed or about who we are serving with the money? 

Is our primary and ultimate relationship with God or with our “wealth” manager? 

I don’t have answers – I have only questions – questions that I hope will lead to answers. 

The parable drives home that dishonesty begets more dishonesty and that faithfulness attracts faithfulness. 

The true colors of the manager shine through. As do the ethics of the people that he is doing business with. 

Our true colors shine through the choices that we make on a daily basis. Are we accumulating wealth for status, or as an obsession? Or do our daily choices support life, well-being, and thriving communities? 

It does come down to choice. Your choice. Our choice. 

The crux of the parable is that how we relate to others is how we relate to God, and how we relate to God influences how we relate to everyone. May that be our guide.

May we be shrewd in our decision making, applying our creative energy and efforts toward strengthening our relationship with God and making this a just world for all. 

Amen Rev. TJ Mack – September 21, 2025