Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s)
Here’s what we read this morning… can anyone make sense of this for me? Jesus seems to be saying, use money like the world does, so you’ll have a reward in eternity… but, you can’t serve God & money… still trying to figure out what he meant here…
Luke 16:1-13
Jesus said to his disciples:A rich man once had a manager to take care of his business. But he was told that his manager was wasting money. So the rich man called him in and said, “What is this I hear about you? Tell me what you have done! You are no longer going to work for me.”
The manager said to himself, “What shall I do now that my master is going to fire me? I can’t dig ditches, and I’m ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do, so that people will welcome me into their homes after I’ve lost my job.”
Then one by one he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, “How much do you owe my master?”
“A hundred barrels of olive oil,” the man answered.
So the manager said, “Take your bill and sit down and quickly write `fifty’.”
The manager asked someone else who was in debt to his master, “How much do you owe?”
“A thousand bushels [a] of wheat,” the man replied. The manager said, “Take your bill and write ‘eight hundred’.”
The master praised his dishonest manager for looking out for himself so well. That’s how it is! The people of this world look out for themselves better than the people who belong to the light.
My disciples, I tell you to use wicked wealth to make friends for yourselves. Then when it is gone, you will be welcomed into an eternal home. Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters. If you cannot be trusted with this wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? And if you cannot be trusted with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something that will be your own? You cannot be the slave of two masters. You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than to the other. You cannot serve God and money.
I think part of the problem is the translation. The verse that threw me of was verse 8 because it seems to imply that this reduction of debt was only about the dishonest servant. The Greek [I’m a dork] actually only calls the servant wise [NIV shrewd] which, in my opinion, is a different message.
Jesus’ point, as I would understand it: use what you got to help others because it actually helps you in the long run. The servant reduced debts to help others out so that, eventually, they’d help him.
The Pharisees, who were bogged down in a system that taught those who had possessions were more blessed and better people, rejected this teaching.
Not sure if that makes sense, but I actually just looked at this text in my Historical Jesus class.
Good thoughts, Steve. Pretty funny that you had just been talking about this in your class…
I’ve read the story before of course. And I think had some explanation before… but today it just seemed like, “Huh?” 🙂
I wonder too if it’s more general than just the money. The servant was thinking of himself, but the way he “took care” of himself was to help out other people. It’s a convoluded way to get there, but I think that Jesus was always thinking of others more than himself. Perhaps just with different (better?) motivation.
And as for the Greek. Yeah, you’re a dork. 😉
(But a valid point… in all its dorkiness…) 😉
ya bad translation, “wicked wealth” is a pretty loose and biased interpretation…
I don’t think Jesus is saying be like this servant. Look out for yourself at the expense of your boss. This guys boss was impressed with the employees keen sense of self preservation. This guy was a weasel extrodinaire..
I think the key is v. 11. Can you be trusted with resources in this life. This text leads us to believe the answer is (at least in part) are you using your resources to help further God’s kingdom.
I forgot that I have preacher friends who read this blog! 🙂
So… right. I thought Jesus was setting this guy up in the story as “Don’t be like this guy”… but then he seems to commend him. Then he even says be “wise” or “shrewd” or whatever… and then says, “You can’t serve God and money”. So… 🙂
Obviously you can’t trust the “weasel extraordinaire”, so we can learn from him that we don’t need to look out for ourselves? If we do, we can’t be trusted… and then we won’t be trusted in eternity… where stuff really matters?
Still not quite grasping what he was getting at here, but appreciating the insights.
Gracias.
Oh, man. I don’t know what translation that was but my head hurts from reading it.
What I get from Mr. Weasel is that if you help others, they’ll be more welcoming of you and whatever you have to offer. In this particular case, it was absolving them of some debt. I mean, if someone from Countrywide came up to me and said, “Hey, Chi, you know all that money you owe for the house? Knock 20% off it!” I’d be a lot more inclined to let the guy in my house even if he wanted to talk about something boring.
That last part about serving two masters seems like a “BTW” kinda thing. Just took a tangent from what he was talking about.
Eh, I dunno. I don’t even go to church.
So… I get it. Help other people out, they’ll help you. Think about other people before yourselves. If “people of this world” can understand that (even though the guy is clearly looking out for himself) then “people who belong to the light” should get it even more.
But isn’t it a strange way to point that out?
Not my favorite story, but thanks for a few more viewpoints from which to consider it.
Except Ryan. Not “going to church” clearly disqualifies him from having anything to say about the Bible.
😉
It is like an example of absurdity…
Weasel boy was cheating his boss and cheated him more to make sure he would have a job after he got canned. Very wise/shrewd. He was looking out for himself he did not care about the people who owed his former employer. I think one can argue this guy is someone you would not want to trust with resources. He knew he would not get a glowing reference from his current boss so smooze the potential new boss.
I.E. non christians get the idea. In a Christian application use your resources to share Jesus.