Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property…
(Luke 16.1
NRSV)
The manager was panic stricken. "What'll I do now?" he asked himself. "I'm not strong enough to dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg." He decided that the best thing he could do in the limited time he had left was to make friends with the wealthy man's customers. He thought, "If I do a favor for my boss' customers then they will remember me. If I ever need a favor from one of them, they will owe me." Of course, he would need a favor from them he would soon be out of work. Time was running out. He had to act fast before word reached his boss' clients that he was being fired.
He called in all the people, one by one, who owed crops to the wealthy landowner. He asked them, "How much do you owe my master?" The first person answered, "A hundred jugs of olive oil." "Fine," said the clever manager, "Take your bill and make it fifty." Another client came in who also had an outstanding bill to pay. "How much do you owe my master?" the employee asked. "A hundred containers of wheat," the man replied. "Take your bill and make it eighty," the clever manager said. And so he continued through the list of persons who owed crops to his master. He reduced all of their bills. All his master's clients would owe the shrewd manager something for the favor he did them.
What happens next, though? Well, use your imagination for a moment. Those farmers who had outstanding balances reduced were so grateful they went to the wealthy landowner's house to thank him and congratulate him on being such a generous man. Times were tough, and it would be a real hardship for each of the farmers to pay their balances off in full. It was a huge relief for them to have part of their outstanding balance reduced. They could hardly believe the landowner was so generous. It was a side of him they had never seen before. One of the farmers wanted to make him "Man of the Year" for his act of generosity.
Of course, the owner didn't know what in the world was going on. He never told his manager to reduce balances on accounts. What was his manager up to, he wondered. As the landowner gave more thought to what had happened, he realized that he had been outsmarted by his manager. The landowner was in an awkward situation. He had two options. He could have his manager thrown in jail and tell all the farmers standing in his front yard praising his act of generosity that a mistake had been made and they still owed the full amount. Or he could say nothing and gain a reputation for being a most understanding and generous man. The wealthy landowner decided to keep quiet and accept the "Man of the Year Award."
By the time the wealthy landowner caught up with his employee he was no longer angry with him. The owner commended the clever manager because "he had acted shrewdly." Shrewdness paid off for the manager. Instead of being out of work with no prospect of a job, he had a new opportunity to better himself. I would like to believe that given a second chance the clever manager would no longer squander his master's property.
A lot of people have trouble with this parable. It seems the shrewd manager is being rewarded for being dishonest. He is not. Remember, Jesus was a great story teller. Sometimes he used humor to get his point across. Obviously this is a lot of liberty with the retelling of this story, because it helps us understand the way Jesus originally told it. In this delightful little story, he is showing us a man who is clever and resourceful. He is a creative problem solver. The late British Bible scholar, T. W. Manson once said about the shrewd manager, "This is a fraud; but it is a most ingenious fraud. The steward is a rascal; but he is a wonderfully clever rascal."
Jesus is addressing his disciples. There is some quality in the shrewd manager that Jesus wants his followers to see. "The children of this age," says Jesus, "are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light." In other words, he expects his followers not only to be faithful and good. He also expects us to use our God given wisdom.
Dear God, may I use the wisdom you have given to me to expand your kingdom of faith, hope and love. Amen.
