September 19, 2004

Mindekirken, September 19, 2004
Pastor Jens Arne Dale

Luke 16.1-13

My parents-in-law used to run a big business in Oslo. They had several stores and a lot of trade. But at one time everything went wrong. One reason was that the display manager was a rascal. He liked working at nighttime best, he claimed. That was the time when he was the most creative. Unfortunately he used his creativity in a rather dubious way. Goods were stolen from the stores on a large scale. Cars were filled up with stolen clothes. Finally the whole firm ended up in the ditch.

Today’s text tells us something similar. It’s about a corruption scandal where all involved were more or less rascals. At the time of Jesus it was pretty common that landlords lived in big cities like Damascus. They had managers who were in charge of production out in the provinces. In this case we hear about trade with olive oil and wheat. But the manager didn’t run the business well. Money was wasted. At least that’s what the rumors told. The landlord fired the manager. It was a shame that he didn’t let the manager explain and defend himself. That was disrespectful of the landlord. But even if the landlord showed himself to be a rascal, he had enough sense of humor to praise the unfaithful manager who treated him a last time.

When the manager was fired, he first panicked. What would he do now? He was not strong enough to dig. Hard manual work was out of the question. And he couldn’t figure himself as a beggar. He was too proud to be that. So he ended up doing what he did best, cheating his master. He summoned his master’s debtors one by one. The one who owed 100 jugs of olive oil got the bill changed to 50. 100 containers of wheat became 80. Was this moral? No, but was it smart? Yes, at least seen from his angle, even his master praised him for his smartness. The manager made the debtors rascals and fellow conspirators. He judged that manipulating the bills would give him future goodwill that he might need badly.

This story is about swindling, but we don’t hear any voice of an Old Testament prophet condemning corruption and demanding justice. This story of Jesus is far from teaching business ethics. It’s more of a criminal short story where the scoundrel is the hero. How should we understand the story? It’s not easy to see the light of the Spirit over such a dim business. Is there something we may learn here? Let me first say this: Jesus used pictures from every day life. He often portrayed people without a halo in his parables. Jesus said for instance once that he would return as a thief in the night. That didn’t mean that Jesus would be a thief, but that his return would come as surprisingly as a thief who breaks into a house.

Even though the manager was a rascal, he was smart. And it is the smartness in dealing with money that is the main point here. As the manager was smart in his evil doings, we’re supposed to be smart in doing what is good. The children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of the light, says the master in this parable. Jesus wants us to act more shrewdly in our goodness. In particular this is about how we deal with our money. Over and over again Jesus repeated that money shouldn’t rule over us. He warned about the lure of wealth. In another parable he portrayed a farmer whose only concern was to become rich in this world. He failed to be rich in God. His investments only gave him a short false joy. Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes, Jesus says today.

When I was a little kid, I was sent to Sunday School every Sunday. We had a small card and got a star on it for every time we attended. And my parents always gave me a crown for me to put in the Sunday School offering plate. The offering was for the orphanage of Mangarano in Madagascar. At that orphanage lepers got treatment. I don’t know, but maybe one day in God’s heaven, a man from Madagascar will come to me and show me his hand, saying: This hand was inflamed by leprosy, but thanks to the money from your Sunday School I got treatment. And maybe he will add with a big smile and a pearly row of bright shining white teeth: Your coins made it possible for me to hear the gospel and be baptized.

To give to the kingdom of God is the best thing we can ever do. Dishonest wealth can create eternal values. Paul talks about the joyful giver. Wealth shouldn’t be measured by what we have, but by what we give. Money may make us egoistic, but we may also choose to spend our money in a way that will be a blessing to others.

When the immigrants settled on the prairie, one of the first things they did was build churches. They gave to the kingdom of God, because they knew that spiritual values are important. And it didn’t take more than a couple of decades before they started to collect money and send their sons and daughters to work for the kingdom of God under distant skies, for instance in China. In this respect, Mindekirken has a wonderful heritage. We are called to give in order to grow our own congregational life. But as a congregation, we should also be generous in giving to others. Growing churches are characterized by generous donations. Our bishop talked about this recently. He said that healthy congregations often give as much as 15% to mission projects. We are a small congregation with limited means. Every year it’s a struggle to make ends meet. But it’s a signal of danger if we spend all our money on our internal projects. This is about being faithful in little. If we don’t learn to give when we have little, it will be more difficult to give generously when we one day possibly may have much. You don’t learn to be faithful in much by not being faithful in little. Therefore it’s important that we as a congregation are generous. The kingdom of God is about mission, to pass on. If we claim we’ll wait to give to others until we have solved all our internal tasks, we’ll end up being self-centered. Look up, Jesus said, and see the fields are white. We are sent out to harvest. We are called to show the same smartness in doing good work, as the unfaithful manager did it in his doubtful work when he falsified the debt bills. To donate releases the blessing of God. It’s a spiritual truth that giving makes one rich.

God has given each of us a lot. We have time, power, talent, family, friends, treasure and goodness. How do we use it? Do we use it in an egoistic way, or are we generous? The text today adjourns with a challenge to serve God, not wealth. We have to consider for ourselves what is the most important for us. Don’t let greed and lust for money rule over you, but seek the freedom by giving willingly. We are called to serve God; we are called to see all we have as God’s gifts. We use it on his behalf. Let’s do that faithfully and eagerly.

Glory be to God, the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen.

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