The Shrewd Steward

" Jesus told His disciples: ' There was a rich man whose manager was accused of squandering his property. So, he called him in and asked him, ' What is this I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' The manager said to himself,
 ' What shall I do now ? . . . .  I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses'.

So he called in each of the master's debtors. He asked the first, ' How much so you owe my master?' 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly and make it four hundred.'

Then he asked the second,' And how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. He told him, ' Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'

The 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. Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one or love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.'  The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and ridiculed Him. Jesus said to them, ' You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows what is in your heart. What is highly valued among humans is an abomination to God.' " [Luke 16: 1-13.]

This Scripture is a puzzlement. Many Biblical scholars have debated its meaning.

Here is a manager who mismanages his master's property, taking on too much debt. Then, when confronted with this mismanagement, the steward decides to "clean up" the debts by marking them down by as much as 50%. If I had a manager like that, I would fire him!

But Jesus says, "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly." Now why would Jesus say such a thing?

This manager kind of reminds me of my father. My dad was a shrewd, clever man when it came to accumulating and compounding his assets. He counted every penny. His income he invested, and reinvested.

In this world, a man like my father would be commended. Perhaps, others would even emulate his strategies.

I can tell you, though, that often his behavior humiliated me.

When we were on holiday a few years ago, I was a young adult. We were driving in the country and were looking for a place to buy a sandwich for lunch. We drove and drove, but could find no place of business on the country road we traveled.

Finally we backtracked and went into a convenience market. The market did not sell sandwiches. So we pulled a few ice creams from the freezer. When he went to pay, my dad realized he was short about a dollar. He told the owner, 'This is all I have.' The owner protested, ' You are short from what you owe.' My father told him abruptly, ' It does not matter'.

The owner told him firmly, ' It may not matter to you. But it matters to me. How can I run my store, if everyone shorts me like this? '

I stood there, mortified. I was frantically searching my purse and pockets forsome extra change. My father glared at me and said, "Never mind!" My father plunked down the money, grabbed the ice creams and exited.

I suppose some could praise my dad for being a shrewd manager. But God knew what was in his heart. What was in his heart was the narcissism of  dictating his own price, and dismissing the need for the owner to make a living.

And then, something like this happened again. My dad had bought a case of sparkling water. After we arrived back at the place where we were staying, he realized that 2 or 3 of the cans were sealed but actually empty--- filled only with air. I thought that was a wonderful mystery, how those few cans came to be sealed in the factory, when they contained nothing.

But my father was furious. He packed up the few empty cans and stormed back to the store. At the service counter, he confronted a young man at the register. When he pointed out the empty cans, the young man said that he was sorry that had happened. My dad said, "You SHOULD be!" ( As if the young man had been the one at the factory to sneak in some empty cans, just to be fraudulent. . . .?!)

The young man reimbursed my father for the empty cans. This amounted to about 15 cents apiece. I was humiliated.

These two incidences taught me that my father was "dishonest with very little", with his pennies and his dollars. 

My dad pinched his pennies. He could squeeze pennies out of anyone, even if it meant greedy and rude behavior.

He was also " dishonest with much." Unsurprisingly, his behavior at home was equally cruel. Because every night, he came home from work and got quietly drunk. That was when the ugliness began and most of it was directed at me-- the baby and the daughter, who had nothing to do with his rage.

I see the painful truth that, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

My dad loved money. He did not even know God. Nor did he care to. God meant nothing to him. My dad served Money. And his own needs. 

Is it any wonder that I grew up to detest money, but to love God? I know that God does not want us to starve. To go cold and homeless and hungry.

But I cannot worship the Money that my dad twisted and manipulated to his will, at the abuse of others.

I often wonder, what would this world be like, if all those who manage their wordly wealth with cunning cleverness, would bestow that resourcefulness on working for God?

I am not sure, but I am willing to try. For, "No servant can serve two masters." I chose to serve God. His Eternal Riches are worth far more to me than any worldly wealth that I could accumulate in my lifetime.

[Related Posting: "The Hoarder", August 5, 2013].

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