Trinity Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Sermons 

I suppose I ought to confess at the outset

that there is no agreement among anybody

about the meaning of this parable.

Some people call it

"the parable of the unrighteous steward,"

or, "the unjust steward,"

or "the dishonest steward" …

But others call him,

"the prudent steward."

And it’s not clear from Jesus’ comments

whether he is praising the steward’s actions,
or just being facetious.

Was the steward trying to cheat his master?

Or was he just subtracting interest off the debts,

which the master ought not to have charged anyhow?

Is the steward trying to make some new friends

on the outside real fast?

Or is he trying to correct a long-standing injustice?

We simply don’t know.

And let me tell you,

one of my greatest disappointments in my seminary Greek class,

is that this parable is every bit as confusing in the original language!

It makes you wonder whether Luke got the story second- or third-hand,

from one of those kind of folks

who can never remember the punch line of the joke.

Although in this case,

the punch line is pretty clear;

it’s just not at all clear how we got there!

What is clear,

is Jesus’ teaching in the last four verses.

No one can serve two masters …

though many of us may spend our lives trying!

Of course, Jesus here uses

the familiar example of God and wealth, God and money,

God and "mammon," as older translations said it.

In a sense, that’s kind of a misleading way of putting it,

because none of us really worships money or wealth per se.

We don’t have little altars in our homes

with a picture of a dollar bill

that we bow down before and sing praises.

We don’t sing hymns like "A Mighty Fortress Is Our Cash,"

or "Amazing Bucks, How Sweet the Sound" …

But if you were to describe it instead as "financial security,"

I think most of us would have to confess to it.

We spend most of our lives earning money

so that we and our families can live comfortably.

We save for retirement,

we buy insurance, just in case anything might happen.

We invest our money,

where we think it will be safe,

but still make us some more money.

We are scared half to death that somehow, someday,

we will run out of money.

Not money for its own sake, to be sure,

but for all that it can provide us with,

and protect us from.

It seems to be part of the human condition.

Even the ancient Israelites tried some pretty tricky business

to hedge their bets in favor of

future security and prosperity.

They got scared when Moses spent too long

up on the mountain with Yahweh,

and built a golden calf to worship,

just in case Moses was wrong and/or didn’t come back.

A century or so later, they were safe in the promised land,

worshiping God in the prescribed ways …

But just to be on the safe side,

they also occasionally offered sacrifices

to some of the Canaanite gods,

the gods of the people they had displaced.

Just in case.

Baal was one of the favorites.

He was the god of nature and the harvest and fertility.

And since the Israelites depended on the land

for their food and their survival,

they tried to keep Baal happy,

just in case he did exist!

This went on for a long time …

Elijah thundered at them,

"How long will you go limping with two opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him;

if Baal, then follow him."

But hundreds of years later,

other prophets were fighting the same battle.

We heard Jeremiah this morning, complaining on God’s behalf

that God has been provoked to anger

by the people’s worship of images and foreign idols.

Hedging their bets in the interest of security,

just in case the God of Israel turns out

not to be quite as powerful as they want him to be.

We see it in Jesus’ own time,

less with the worship of foreign gods,

more in a growing desire to protect against an uncertain future

by accumulating wealth.

Whether it’s by cheating people, as a tax-collector,

or by hoarding and not sharing,

like a farmer with a harvest too big and barns too small,

or by charging outrageous interest and keeping others in debt …

Jesus sees people trying to safeguard their own futures

not by trusting God and God’s promises,

but by their own shrewdness in building and keeping wealth.

Well, times may have changed in a lot of ways,

but we still can’t serve two masters!

When I was in college,

as some of you know,

I worked in a travel agency.

And I quite often had a terrible time

trying to decide which master to serve.

On the one hand,

I had a boss who assigned me

a number of unethical things to do:

drafting letters that were patently untrue,

forging signatures on those letters,

primarily of her family members,

who she claimed were employees when they weren’t,

back-dating tickets, etc.

On the other hand,

I needed that job …

I had rent to pay, food to buy;

by my senior year, I also had a dog to feed! …

And so I spent two years of my life

trying to serve two masters:

God, and financial security.

Not even wealth, just security.

And I consider myself lucky

that an ulcer was all I got.

That, at least can be cured.

I worry about the fact that we live in a world

in which too many people have to make the choice on a daily basis

between doing what they know is right,

and doing what will help them and their family stay alive.

I wonder whether that’s the position that the "unjust steward" found himself in.

When he did "the wrong thing" according to his master’s interests,

was he doing the right thing with relation to God?

It isn’t clear from the text,

but it’s worth thinking about that possibility.

A German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, once said,

"Our pocketbooks can have more to do with heaven,

and also hell,

than our hymnbooks."

Worth thinking about.

Maybe for you, though,

money and finances aren’t a big issue.

Don’t let that fool you into thinking

you’ve got it made!

Presbyterian preacher Lloyd Ogilvie comments that

"we all develop secondary loyalties

that distract or debilitate.

We wonder why we have little

spiritual power, or vision, or daring.

The reason, often,

is that we have blended our commitment to God

with a god of our own culture’s making."

He goes on to ask,

"What loss would shatter your security?

On what or whom do you depend

for life’s meaning or happiness

in addition to God? …

What is the Baal in your back yard?"

What is the idol to which you give more attention than you should?

Now, I can’t tell you for sure

what all of your individual backyard Baals are.

I could make some educated guesses!

But rather than doing that (!),

let me just run some of these by you.

See if any of them sound like you.

For many people –

mainly men, but also a growing number of women –

work can become a very difficult master.

And not just for financial reasons.

For many of us, our whole identity

is tied up in our work.

We feel that we are a worthwhile human being

because we work.

We contribute to society, because we work.

Now there’s nothing wrong with

taking pride in your work …

But for many of us, it goes beyond that.

Look, for example,

at the high percentage of men

who die within one year following their retirement.

They honestly feel, perhaps subconsciously, that

they have ceased to be useful human beings

because they are no longer working in a regular job.

And –

it’s no coincidence that

in places where there is high unemployment –

especially right after a series of layoffs –

the incidence of spouse abuse and child abuse skyrockets.

Again, the work that gave life meaning

has been taken away.

And one common response to that sense of frustration

and that sense of worthlessness

is to lash out violently against those that are nearest to you,

and weaker than you are.

For many of us, who are already retired,

these may no longer be issues in quite the same way.

But they also strike us in times when, because of health,

we can’t do the things we used to do,

whether paid or as a volunteer.

When the memory starts to go …

when a stroke or a tumor leaves us partly paralyzed …

how quickly we start to feel ourselves useless.

Like we have gone from being a contributing member of society

to being a drain on our loved ones’ resources,

and of no use to anyone.

Where did we get the notion that God only loves us and wants us

if we are doing something that appears "useful"?

That’s not God … that’s an idol.

That’s a Baal in our back yard.

Now for some other people,

their false god has been the family.

Traditionally, this has been more of a problem for women.

Again, I’m not dealing here with

the struggle to provide financially for the family.

But I’m talking about those who

submerge their identity completely

into that of the family.

Those whose whole meaning in life

comes from being a spouse and a parent.

Who have no interests outside the home.

Who try to give their spouse and children

anything they want,

no matter whether they need it,

or whether it’s even good for them!

If you’ll pardon the stereotype,

it’s the whole "Jewish mother" thing.

You know: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb?

None. "You kids go out and have a good time;

I’ll just sit here at home alone in the dark."

Any time we place the needs and desires of our family, or our friends,

ahead of our relationship with God,

we’re trying to serve two masters.

Which, as Jesus reminds us, cannot in fact be done.

We will end up hating one and loving the other … or vice versa.

Who is your boss?

Who is my boss?

We can’t have two.

Jesus requires that we get our priorities straightened out.

And that nearly always poses a challenge

to the way we would like things to be.

We want to be able to have double loyalties,

or triple loyalties, or more!

And hope that God won’t notice!

Which is highly unlikely.

How long will we go limping with two opinions?

If a golden calf is God,

we should worship it.

If money is God, then by all means,

let’s change the words in the hymnal and sing what we really mean.

But if the Lord is God, as we claim,

it is time to decide to follow God.

And leave all else to God’s care.

Amen.

©2007 Julie Adkins (e-mail: DrJAdkins@trinitypresdallas.org