Foretaste Of The Sermon to Come
A little nibble of the Revised Common Lectionary
Sunday’s scriptures are Psalm 113, 1Tim 2:1-7, and Luke 16:1-13
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager is a tough one! What are you teaching us Jesus? I think because his parable is so difficult, Jesus may really want us to take it in many ways, wrestling with and working out what it could mean and letting it mean many things: The dishonest manager was only looking out for himself. The dishonest manager was charging a premium and skimming the overage. The dishonest manager was setting right the fees the rich man had overcharged. The rich man fired the dishonest manager but then still gave him time to get his books together – why? The dishonest manager uses the time given to him to further embezzle by relieving a portion of the debtors’ bills, ingratiating him to the debtors. Is Jesus condoning corruption? We could go on, but let’s try a different tack.
The rich man could have fired the manager on the spot, not giving him a chance to further cook the books. He could have pressed legal charges against the manager for stealing from him. This tells us something about the rich man…could he be a man of mercy? Could the manager be banking on the rich man’s mercy when he takes the time to create a path forward for himself? The rich man doesn’t seem to want to “undo” what the manager has done, and in fact commends him for coming up with this plan for himself.
After telling his story, Jesus gives some zingers about being trustworthy and serving the right master (“You cannot serve God and money.”). But something caught my eye. Verse 13 says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” The Greek word for “devoted” has the meaning or connotation, “to cling to a belief.” Luther would love this translation, saying, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.” (Large Catechism, First Commandment)
The dishonest manager (the Greek word for dishonest is the same word translated as “unrighteous”) clings to the mercy of the rich man. He lives in the “left hand kingdom” of the world, where he is a sinner who needs to support himself and his family financially, but he clings to the promise of mercy and imputed righteousness found in the “right hand kingdom.”
1Tim 2:1-7 is an excellent summary of Luther’s “Left- and Right-Hand Kingdoms” doctrine, with Paul praying for and being subject to civil law while at the same living in God’s kingdom of mercy and righteousness. And the actions of those who live in the Left-Hand Kingdom, while being informed by the Right-, will be merciful, peaceful, and godly.
As always, Jesus preaches the Law but he is the Gospel. Thanks be to God.
