“Resurrection Happens
“’More’ is a Four-Letter Word”Dr. D. Jay Losher, Jr.18 September 2016 + Massanutten Presbyterian ChurchLuke 16:1-13 = the dishonest stewardOnce when Mark Twain was lecturing in Utah, a Mormon acquaintance argued with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture which forbids polygamy?” “Certainly,” replied Twain. “No man can serve two masters.” We seem to think that if one of something is good, then more has got to be better. Yet wanting more than is necessary for healthy life and basic security often becomes an end in itself and derails our spiritual growth. Once down that path, ‘more’ is never enough. ‘More’ is a central problem in the Bible. The need for more is a fundamental problem for Jesus. As difficult as it is, Jesus always speaks of money as spiritually corrosive. In another parable, a rich man is so rich, he cannot store all his wealth. He decides to tear down what he has and build even more vast warehouses. And then in deep satisfaction, he says to himself: ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you… 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Our striving for more, our avarice, greed, pride, and jealousy are all condemned in absolute terms from the Ten Commandments to the prophets to Jesus. Indeed, ‘more’ is a deeply spiritual problem. In all of Scripture, ‘more’ is a four-letter word. Yet, here we have an anomaly: Jesus’ parable of the unfaithful manager seems to say the exact opposite. Here is a steward, a manager, whose greed and double-dealing ends up serving him well. Nonetheless, as in all of Jesus’ parables, the meaning is far deeper than the human actors’ intentions. The situation in Jesus’ day was hopelessly oppressive for the villagers. Between the demands for tribute from the Roman occupation forces and the avarice of the Herodian rulers, many former prosperous landowning farmers have now lost their property to the moneylenders and tax collectors, mortgaging their goods and land to pay the high taxes and bribes required. Absentee landlords had become the norm. Farmers, now reduced to paying extortionate rents to cultivate their former lands, they were overseen by intermediaries, stewards and servants, a whole cadre of so-called ‘managers’ in our parable today. The manager in our parable was able to extort arbitrary sums in addition to the debts, rents or taxes owed. Most of the victims could not pay and so fell deeper and deeper into debt while the so-called ‘manager’ got wealthy by extortion. Think of a world governed along the lines of the Mafia ~ everyone taking their own “cut of the action.” Think of a Ponzi scheme on steroids where the most vulnerable at the bottom are robbed so a handful can get rich ~ all of it sanctioned under Roman authority. In short order the ‘managers’ became fabulously wealthy by what Jesus calls here rather euphemistically “dishonest wealth.” “Ill-gotten gain” and “legalized robbery” spring to mind as well. Anthropologists have a word for this kind of economy: “kleptocracy,” governance by thieves. By the reckless pursuit of material gain, by extortion, by embezzlement from the absentee owners, the managers amass fortunes of false wealth, all the while losing a fortune of true wealth ~ an outcast in their own communities having betrayed the trust and respect of their fellow citizens. This steward in Jesus’ parable, having been caught embezzling by the landowner is wise like a snake. He calls all the debtors and sharecroppers together. He reduces their debts and rents to but a portion of the actual obligations owed. Thereby he tries to restore himself in the eyes of his neighbors. He turns “unrighteous wealth” into true wealth, gaining the gratitude and respect of his former victims ~ taking the LORD’s Prayer quite literally: forgiving real debts so to be forgiven. Jesus seems to turn this unfaithful steward into a hero. He seems to commend profoundly unethical behavior. Are we to be as sneaky as this dishonest steward? You know exactly what would happen today when the unfaithful manager is discovered. This worthless manager would be fired on the spot, IDs shredded, computer and all files confiscated, arrested and escorted off the premises by the police ~ civil and criminal charges following. God, the landowner in the parable, commends the unfaithful steward for his wisdom. God endorses this behavior because the manager is being strategic. Jesus is using a metaphor for us to be strategic, but in a different way. Jesus views the drive for more material possessions in spiritual terms: 9And 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. “Eternal homes” seem so esoteric. Jesus brings it down to the concrete: 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. 11If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? Jesus would naturally prefer for us to acquire what we have with honesty and integrity. Yet however we acquire our worldly possessions, whether “honest wealth” or “ill-gotten gain,” both are still under obligation to be used faithfully for the purposes of the real Landlord, our God the compassionate, the just. In Biblical terms, wealth is not necessarily a bad thing, but it always has within it a spiritual danger. Jesus ends with the powerful admonition: “you cannot serve both God and wealth.” Relentless pursuit of wealth is morally and spiritually bankrupt. In Scripture, ‘more’ is a four-letter word. The Apostle Paul states it clearly: 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. No one has summed this up better than Billy Graham who famously stated: “Money will buy a house, but not a home. It will buy medicine, but not health. Money will buy religion, but not salvation. He is so right. One might add:Money will buy an entourage, but not friends. Money can buy pleasure, but not happiness. It can buy travel, but not direction. Money can raise expectations, but cannot buy hope. It can attract infatuation, but not love. It can amass power, but not authority. And the list goes on and on. Being relatively well-off is not the problem ~ rather the problem is single-minded devotion to maintaining or raising one’s status ~ pursuing these will eclipse the most important goals. Relentless desire for more is the problem. Whether middle class, rich, or ground to poverty, God’s expectations are the same for each of us. ‘More’ is a four-letter curse. “More, always more” draws the focus of our life and energy away from what God requires: generosity of spirit and compassion for those at the bottom. Jesus’ message is clear: our ultimate concern should be serving the greater good not aggrandizement of self. We should be wise in using this world’s resources and use them frugally and with eternal purpose. This means ecology, economy, politics, society, everything. We should relentlessly pursue not more stuff, but God’s kindred community. We should use what we have, the worldly things we possess to gain true riches: faith, hope, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, compassion and thus focus all our heart, soul and mind on building God’s new community breaking into the world. ................
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