Grace and Peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
All of Jesus’ parables invite us to think about ourselves in light of His word and kingdom. A sower sows seed that falls on four different types of soil, inviting us to ask, “What kind of soil am I? Do I receive God’s word in faith, or do temptations and persecutions make me reluctant to let the word bear fruit in me?” A man hires workers for his vineyard throughout the workday but at the end of the day each laborer, regardless of how long they worked, get the same wage, causing the labors who were hired first to grumble and be sent away. This invites us to ask, “Do I think I deserve more from God that the person who is new to the faith, or am I grateful for God’s graciousness to me and my fellow workers? Ten virgins wait for the Bridegroom, five are prepared with oil, five are foolish and unprepared, inviting us to ask, “Am I prepared for Christ’s return? Do I replenish the oil of faith in my lamp each day?” A widow brings her cause to a wicked judge who refuses it for a while, but she doesn’t lose heart, she continually brings her petition before him, and he eventually gives her justice, inviting us to ask ourselves, “Do I continue to pray confidently even when it seems my heavenly Father doesn’t answer immediately, or do I lose heart and give up praying?” Then there’s today’s parable. A wealthy man’s steward is caught wasting his master’s possessions on serving himself, but before he gives up the ledger, he rips off his master even more so that he can be welcomed into the homes of the people he helped in his final day as the rich man’s steward. This invites us to ask . . .. What does this parable invite us to ask of ourselves?
This may be the strangest parable Jesus tells in the gospels. Here is this steward. He is in charge of the rich man’s entire estate. He’s to use His master’s possessions for His master’s benefit. Instead, he squanders them, he scatters them about on whatever he pleases. When his master fires him, he doesn’t repent and ask forgiveness so that Jesus can teach us about the gospel. Since there’s no repentance on his part there are no fruits of repentance. Instead of turning away from his wasteful use of his master’s goods, he doubles down on his dishonesty in the final moments of his stewardship. He called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” So he said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” So he said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” And he said to him, “Take your bill, and write eighty.” These men owed the steward’s master the full amount. But the steward misuses his master’s goods for his own benefit one last time, so that when he is relieved of the stewardship, these men he’s helped at his master’s expense will welcome him into their homes. Jesus doesn’t have the master condemn the unjust steward for this deceit and theft. Jesus says, “The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly, circumspectly, prudently, thinkingly.
If the parable weren’t strange enough to our ears, Jesus tells us exactly how to interpret it: “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” The sons of this world are the unbelievers, the heathen. They don’t think the things of this life like land, possessions, money, and the like, are their master’s goods because they don’t acknowledge the Triune God is their master who has set them as stewards over the things of this life. How do they use these goods? They waste them on selfish pleasures. They scatter those goods to pursue happiness and ease and comfort. They use unrighteous mammon to make friends for themselves, people who will defend them, support them, and encourage them in their wasteful stewardship. Like the unjust steward, they are generous with someone else’s money, using it to get every advantage for themselves. The sons of this world are shrewd, circumspect, prudent, and thinking when it comes to using the things of this life for their advancement, their pleasure, and their betterment. The sons of light—those who walk in the light of Christ by faith—aren’t near as shrewd, circumspect, prudent, and thinking when it comes to using the things of this life. But that’s exactly what Jesus wants the children of light to be. The difference is the steward and the sons of the world he represents are wise but unjust. Jesus wants us to be wise but just.
Jesus explains, “Make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.” Mammon is whatever anyone owns over and above what his needs require. Mammon isn’t unrighteous in and of itself. What makes it unrighteous is the unrighteous use of it. The sons of the world misuse mammon, squandering it on their own comfort, honor, pleasure, glory, and the like. Jesus wants the sons of light to use unrighteous mammon, not for unrighteousness like the sons of the world, but to make friends. How do you make friends for yourself with unrighteous mammon? Look at the unjust steward. He used master’s goods to make friends for himself. He thoughtfully used his master’s goods to benefit and help his neighbors so that when he failed—when he was given the boot—those whom he had helped would welcome him into their homes. Jesus wants the sons of light to use their master’s goods for the sake of their neighbors. He doesn’t justify injustice. He’s not sanctioning sin. He’s saying, “Look at how wise the world is with its money for selfish purpose. You be just as wise with temporal goods, not for selfish purposes, but for your neighbor’s good.” All that we have is a gift from God. He gives us mammon so that we might be stewards over it, using it as He wills. St. Paul says in Galatians 6:10, “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Doing good to others as we have opportunity is how we make friends using unrighteous mammon.
Those friends will then, on the day we fail, run out, and expire, receive us into an everlasting home. Consider the parable of the sheep and the goats. Jesus says, “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me” (Matt 25:35-36). He will praise the good works of the sheep because good works are witnesses to the faith in one’s heart, the faith that makes one a son of light. Those whom you help in this life will give public testimony to your faith on that Day. That’s how they will receive you into an everlasting home. St. Paul tells Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Tim 6:17-19). The good foundation we are to lay up for ourselves is good works of love that proceed from faith. Everyone knows the phrase “You can’t take it with you.” And it’s true. But the good we do for our neighbor’s welfare will go with us, ahead of us, even, as testimonies to our God-given faith working through love (Gal 5:6), waiting to receive us into our everlasting home.
Jesus’ wants us to use unrighteous mammon to serve our neighbor in love. He wants us to be shrewd, circumspect, prudent, and thinking about how we use want God gives us so that it might benefit others. By commending the unjust steward Jesus invites us to ask ourselves, “How am I using unrighteous mammon? Am I using it wisely or foolishly? Am I using it for my own interests only, or am I using it for my neighbor’s welfare, as well?” Too often, the sons of light live as the sons of this world, thinking that our Master’s goods are really our goods to use however we want. We may find that we have enjoyed God’s gifts to the point of misusing mammon and scattering our Master’s goods on selfish and sinful pursuits. There are times when the Holy Spirit convicts us that have not been rich in good works. There are times when we find that we have set our hearts on riches so that we expect all good things as long as have wealth. The Holy Spirit convicts us of these sins so that we repent of that unjust stewardship and receive the Master’s forgiveness which He has promised to all who repent. Forgiving our sins, and giving us His Holy Spirit and new hearts, our Lord sends us back to our stewardships as faithful, just, and shrewd stewards of His goods. The unjust steward lived as a son of this world, asking “What do I want?” and “How can I use my master’s goods for my pleasure.” The son of light, who walks in the light of the Lord by faith in Christ and loves his neighbor asks, “What does my neighbor need? What has God given me that I can use to help my neighbor in that need?” The son of light can treat the things of this world like this because His heart is not set on them, but on Christ, so that as long as He has Christ and His word, he has all he needs. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
