St Luke 16:1-13/1Corinthians 10:6-13/2 Samuel 22:26-34
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen
When I hear the word “manager” I tend to think of the guy who works at the Olive Garden, or the gal at Aldi. Are we really so Scripturally illiterate that we fail to understand the word “steward?” For the entire Old Testament is filled with references to stewards: Adam was a steward of God’s creation, Joseph was a steward of Pharaoh’s provisions, Aaron and his sons were stewards of the Temple and its sacrifices.
In the ancient world a steward was one who had authority over the goods of another. He was more than a manager, more even than an ambassador. He was a regent, ruling in place of the King, his Master. He spoke with his lord’s own authority.
In this world, when someone places a steward as caretaker over his possessions, to manage his portfolio, handle his business affairs, it is out of necessity or convenience. Such men are too busy and cannot be bothered, or don’t want to be. But in the case of our Lord, it is quite different. The Lord God appoints men as caretakers of the good gifts of His creation not because of necessity or bother, but because of pure grace and mercy.
St Paul addresses the Corinthian Christians in this morning’s Epistle. His warnings concerning idolatry in chapter ten are the final stepping-stones to his teaching on God’s good gift of the Lord Supper in chapter eleven. His catechesis began back in chapter four when he asked the rhetorical question, What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Cor 4:7).
My friends, you are stewards over the good gifts of God. God the Father almighty, your King and Master, has made you and all creatures. He has given you your body and soul, eyes, ears and all your members, your reason and all your senses, and still takes care of them! He gives you clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, spouse and children, and all that you have. He richly and daily provides you with all that you need to support this body and life. What do you have that you did not receive? If you received it, why do you behave as if you did not? As if you made your own way and worked for it? As if you earned it yourself?
Like the unrighteous steward in the parable, you will be hauled before your Master to give an account. What shall He say about you?
Repent. Do not waste time denying your sins. You have squandered our Lord and Master’s possessions. We have not used mammon as we ought: in provision for our neighbor, in support of the proclamation of the Gospel and the care of the Church and her works of mercy. Do not put Christ to the test, as Israel did. They worshipped a golden calf. We mock the absurdity of their idolatry, while we fear, love, and trust the almighty dollar. We are such hypocrites. If money were not our idol, the Church would not only be taken care of, but we would need to turn away givers because the generosity would be beyond what we could use.
It is true: The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. That is, unbelievers, the pagans, chase after their gods with focused clarity. The sacrifices made for status, for honor, for prestige, for luxury, for the things they think are important, put our faith to shame. Do not be deceived. Everyone has a god, even those outside the church. Look at their credit card statement, at their tax returns, and you will know what it is. The people of this world are more passionate about the things that pass away than we are about the things that are eternal!
But you are sons of light! You have been called out of the darkness of sin and death, out of the shadows of this fleeting world and its vaunted pleasures, into the marvelous Light of Christ. In Holy Baptism you have been crucified to the world and the world to you. You have received the very treasures of heaven – mercy and grace, love and forgiveness, the inheritance of the Son, the wealth and favor of the Father, the rights of the King – these are the true riches, and they are your own by faith in Christ.
And this is what Christ would have us learn from the parable of the unrighteous steward. Just as St Paul begins his catechesis in 1 Corinthians 4 leading up to chapter ten as a warning against idolatry, and chapter eleven on the gift of the Holy Eucharist, so too Jesus teaches this parable as the last stepping-stone in a series of parables about the true riches, the Kingdom of grace, and the forgiveness of sins given in the Word and His Body and Blood.
Consider this: the parable of the unrighteous steward actually began back in chapter fifteen. Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep – catechesis on the mercy of God who seeks out the lost one, throwing a banquet that costs more than the life of the sheep – and the lost coin; which is how the Church ought to carry high the lamp of Christ’s Word, diligently searching for all who belong to the Father. For even the angels in heaven rejoice over the sinner who repents.
Then the parable of the prodigal son, which is really the parable of the extravagant mercy and grace and love of the father, who represents our Lord. In His mercy He welcomes home all wayward sons who have squandered His property, throwing His absolving arms around them, greeting them with the kiss of peace, and clothing them in the baptismal garments of a true child and heir, even feasting on the slaughtered lamb.
You see, the shepherd who sought out the lost lamb was steward of the sheep. The woman who anxiously swept the house was steward of the coins. And the prodigal son does the very thing of which this steward is accused – he squanders his father’s possessions. And also like the steward, when he was caught, when he was down and out, he came to himself and banked on his father’s generosity and mercy, just as the steward banks on the mercy of his master.
For the master had to honor the transactions of his steward, because he spoke with his authority. When he said, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty, it was fifty. And when he said, Take your bill and write eighty, it was eighty. He cut the debt of his master’s debtors, and as steward, the master must honor these transactions.
Now I hope you are seeing that this steward does not merely represent you in your dishonesty and misuse of God’s good gifts, but in a somewhat scandalous way he represents Christ, who speaks with the authority of the Father, forgiving the debts of His debtors, thus endearing men unto the King, who must honor the transactions of His Steward and cancel the debt of His debtors.
You are indebted to the Master and King, not only for the mismanagement of His good gifts, but on account of your sinful flesh. Not only have you grumbled and complained as Israel did before you, whining over the things God has not given you, as if His provision were somehow inadequate; but you have also made His good gifts into idols. We have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator!
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin! Against You, You only have we sinned, and done what it evil in Your sight. Purge us with hyssop and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit with us. Cast us not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation, and uphold us with a willing spirit.
My friends, Christ is the Steward of the good gifts of God. Was He not accused of squandering the Father’s mercies and grace? For He came cutting debt, forgiving sins. He came to seek out you, His lost little lamb, and bear you home upon His shoulders. He is the Lamb offered in sacrifice for the prodigal son, and He is the helper of Lazarus – the final parable in this series – who is comforted in the bosom of the Father, having received the implanted Word of Moses and the Prophets.
For you the Word took up flesh. Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the Angel of the Lord who guided Israel in the wilderness and brought them into the Promised Land, destroying their enemies and granting to them His good gifts. He has shown Himself merciful. He has saved a humble people.
For Christ came not merely cutting debts by twenty or fifty percent, but paying them in full. You have been ransomed from eternal death, you have been reconciled to the Father, your debt is paid. And it has come at the cost of the life of the Son of God, the outpouring of His priceless Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. For this is the true riches, the eternal treasure laid up in heaven – the very Eucharist itself – Christ; His Body and His Blood. Broken upon the Cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins; given freely to you here, as a pledge and seal of His promises. As His side was opened, Christ opened the treasury of heaven, and poured out her riches upon you. His Blood declares you righteous and forgiven and restored.
The Father has honored the transactions of His Steward, He has accepted the payment of the Son by raising Him from the dead. His actions were shrewd, even wasteful, seemingly dishonest, yet He is commended. That is, Christ is commended for having reconciled you to the Father in Himself by His free grace.
The Father sent the Son, His Steward, to reconcile His debtors. The Son trusted the Father’s mercy and shrewdly made use of all things in order that He might give away the one thing needful. And now, as the Father has sent the Son, so the Son sends His stewards, His pastors. St Paul writes, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 4 actually, This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful (1 Cor 4:1-2).
This is what pastor’s do. They stand in the place of our Lord Jesus Christ, taking the Master’s goods and giving them away. They are not to hoard them to themselves, but “squander” them on the people. Whenever you hear the Absolution, it is as if I am saying, “What does your bill say? What impossible debt do you owe on account of your sin? Well take your bill, sit down quickly, and write zero, paid in full. For the righteous blood of Christ has atoned for all your sin, covered all your debt.” The Master must honor such transactions. For when the called ministers of Christ deal with you by His divine command, that is, when they forgive your sins, that is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with you Himself.
And the mysteries with which stewards deal are the very Sacraments of God, the heavenly, holy, blessed things, given by Christ Himself, for your good. This is the true treasure, the greatest riches, the most blessed wealth – the Eucharist, the very Body and Blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And it is all free! Gratis, gift, grace.
He is like a vineyard owner who pays a full days wages to those who only worked an hour. He is like a shepherd who finds a lost sheep and throws a banquet that costs more than the sheep. He is like a landowner who sends His Son for the workers to kill that He might hand over to them the inheritance of His murdered Son. He is like a rich man who commends his shrewd steward after giving away his goods.
This is grace. He gives us for free what we do not deserve and could never earn. He gives us His Kingdom, His inheritance, His Name, His love. He says to beggars, to sinners, to poor stewards, Friend, come up higher. He says to those who did poorly, who blew it, who squandered their lives, money, and opportunities, to those who are not good and not faithful, Well done, good and faithful servant.
You live in faith toward God, freely receiving all that He has to give through His stewards, in His Word, in His Supper, by the means of His liturgy, here, in His house. He is not like the kings of this world. He does not give stewardship because He is too busy or bothered, but because of His grace and mercy. He gives you a part in His Kingdom. He gives you for your joy. And His Kingdom does not run on the economies of men, but they economy of grace. He loves to give away His Kingdom.
And you live in love toward your neighbor, using the unrighteous mammon of this world to make eternal friends for yourself. You are given to be shrewd, like the steward in the parable. Living by faith you are able to use the things in this life with an eye toward the life of the world to come; to be not wasteful, but extravagant in mercy.
And the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has forgiven all your sins by the gift of His Holy Spirit, shall bring you into the eternal dwelling. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen
When I hear the word “manager” I tend to think of the guy who works at the Olive Garden, or the gal at Aldi. Are we really so Scripturally illiterate that we fail to understand the word “steward?” For the entire Old Testament is filled with references to stewards: Adam was a steward of God’s creation, Joseph was a steward of Pharaoh’s provisions, Aaron and his sons were stewards of the Temple and its sacrifices.
In the ancient world a steward was one who had authority over the goods of another. He was more than a manager, more even than an ambassador. He was a regent, ruling in place of the King, his Master. He spoke with his lord’s own authority.
In this world, when someone places a steward as caretaker over his possessions, to manage his portfolio, handle his business affairs, it is out of necessity or convenience. Such men are too busy and cannot be bothered, or don’t want to be. But in the case of our Lord, it is quite different. The Lord God appoints men as caretakers of the good gifts of His creation not because of necessity or bother, but because of pure grace and mercy.
St Paul addresses the Corinthian Christians in this morning’s Epistle. His warnings concerning idolatry in chapter ten are the final stepping-stones to his teaching on God’s good gift of the Lord Supper in chapter eleven. His catechesis began back in chapter four when he asked the rhetorical question, What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Cor 4:7).
My friends, you are stewards over the good gifts of God. God the Father almighty, your King and Master, has made you and all creatures. He has given you your body and soul, eyes, ears and all your members, your reason and all your senses, and still takes care of them! He gives you clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, spouse and children, and all that you have. He richly and daily provides you with all that you need to support this body and life. What do you have that you did not receive? If you received it, why do you behave as if you did not? As if you made your own way and worked for it? As if you earned it yourself?
Like the unrighteous steward in the parable, you will be hauled before your Master to give an account. What shall He say about you?
Repent. Do not waste time denying your sins. You have squandered our Lord and Master’s possessions. We have not used mammon as we ought: in provision for our neighbor, in support of the proclamation of the Gospel and the care of the Church and her works of mercy. Do not put Christ to the test, as Israel did. They worshipped a golden calf. We mock the absurdity of their idolatry, while we fear, love, and trust the almighty dollar. We are such hypocrites. If money were not our idol, the Church would not only be taken care of, but we would need to turn away givers because the generosity would be beyond what we could use.
It is true: The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. That is, unbelievers, the pagans, chase after their gods with focused clarity. The sacrifices made for status, for honor, for prestige, for luxury, for the things they think are important, put our faith to shame. Do not be deceived. Everyone has a god, even those outside the church. Look at their credit card statement, at their tax returns, and you will know what it is. The people of this world are more passionate about the things that pass away than we are about the things that are eternal!
But you are sons of light! You have been called out of the darkness of sin and death, out of the shadows of this fleeting world and its vaunted pleasures, into the marvelous Light of Christ. In Holy Baptism you have been crucified to the world and the world to you. You have received the very treasures of heaven – mercy and grace, love and forgiveness, the inheritance of the Son, the wealth and favor of the Father, the rights of the King – these are the true riches, and they are your own by faith in Christ.
And this is what Christ would have us learn from the parable of the unrighteous steward. Just as St Paul begins his catechesis in 1 Corinthians 4 leading up to chapter ten as a warning against idolatry, and chapter eleven on the gift of the Holy Eucharist, so too Jesus teaches this parable as the last stepping-stone in a series of parables about the true riches, the Kingdom of grace, and the forgiveness of sins given in the Word and His Body and Blood.
Consider this: the parable of the unrighteous steward actually began back in chapter fifteen. Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep – catechesis on the mercy of God who seeks out the lost one, throwing a banquet that costs more than the life of the sheep – and the lost coin; which is how the Church ought to carry high the lamp of Christ’s Word, diligently searching for all who belong to the Father. For even the angels in heaven rejoice over the sinner who repents.
Then the parable of the prodigal son, which is really the parable of the extravagant mercy and grace and love of the father, who represents our Lord. In His mercy He welcomes home all wayward sons who have squandered His property, throwing His absolving arms around them, greeting them with the kiss of peace, and clothing them in the baptismal garments of a true child and heir, even feasting on the slaughtered lamb.
You see, the shepherd who sought out the lost lamb was steward of the sheep. The woman who anxiously swept the house was steward of the coins. And the prodigal son does the very thing of which this steward is accused – he squanders his father’s possessions. And also like the steward, when he was caught, when he was down and out, he came to himself and banked on his father’s generosity and mercy, just as the steward banks on the mercy of his master.
For the master had to honor the transactions of his steward, because he spoke with his authority. When he said, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty, it was fifty. And when he said, Take your bill and write eighty, it was eighty. He cut the debt of his master’s debtors, and as steward, the master must honor these transactions.
Now I hope you are seeing that this steward does not merely represent you in your dishonesty and misuse of God’s good gifts, but in a somewhat scandalous way he represents Christ, who speaks with the authority of the Father, forgiving the debts of His debtors, thus endearing men unto the King, who must honor the transactions of His Steward and cancel the debt of His debtors.
You are indebted to the Master and King, not only for the mismanagement of His good gifts, but on account of your sinful flesh. Not only have you grumbled and complained as Israel did before you, whining over the things God has not given you, as if His provision were somehow inadequate; but you have also made His good gifts into idols. We have exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator!
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to Your abundant mercy blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin! Against You, You only have we sinned, and done what it evil in Your sight. Purge us with hyssop and we shall be clean; wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow. Create in us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit with us. Cast us not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of Your salvation, and uphold us with a willing spirit.
My friends, Christ is the Steward of the good gifts of God. Was He not accused of squandering the Father’s mercies and grace? For He came cutting debt, forgiving sins. He came to seek out you, His lost little lamb, and bear you home upon His shoulders. He is the Lamb offered in sacrifice for the prodigal son, and He is the helper of Lazarus – the final parable in this series – who is comforted in the bosom of the Father, having received the implanted Word of Moses and the Prophets.
For you the Word took up flesh. Christ Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the Angel of the Lord who guided Israel in the wilderness and brought them into the Promised Land, destroying their enemies and granting to them His good gifts. He has shown Himself merciful. He has saved a humble people.
For Christ came not merely cutting debts by twenty or fifty percent, but paying them in full. You have been ransomed from eternal death, you have been reconciled to the Father, your debt is paid. And it has come at the cost of the life of the Son of God, the outpouring of His priceless Blood, given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. For this is the true riches, the eternal treasure laid up in heaven – the very Eucharist itself – Christ; His Body and His Blood. Broken upon the Cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins; given freely to you here, as a pledge and seal of His promises. As His side was opened, Christ opened the treasury of heaven, and poured out her riches upon you. His Blood declares you righteous and forgiven and restored.
The Father has honored the transactions of His Steward, He has accepted the payment of the Son by raising Him from the dead. His actions were shrewd, even wasteful, seemingly dishonest, yet He is commended. That is, Christ is commended for having reconciled you to the Father in Himself by His free grace.
The Father sent the Son, His Steward, to reconcile His debtors. The Son trusted the Father’s mercy and shrewdly made use of all things in order that He might give away the one thing needful. And now, as the Father has sent the Son, so the Son sends His stewards, His pastors. St Paul writes, at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 4 actually, This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and the stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful (1 Cor 4:1-2).
This is what pastor’s do. They stand in the place of our Lord Jesus Christ, taking the Master’s goods and giving them away. They are not to hoard them to themselves, but “squander” them on the people. Whenever you hear the Absolution, it is as if I am saying, “What does your bill say? What impossible debt do you owe on account of your sin? Well take your bill, sit down quickly, and write zero, paid in full. For the righteous blood of Christ has atoned for all your sin, covered all your debt.” The Master must honor such transactions. For when the called ministers of Christ deal with you by His divine command, that is, when they forgive your sins, that is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with you Himself.
And the mysteries with which stewards deal are the very Sacraments of God, the heavenly, holy, blessed things, given by Christ Himself, for your good. This is the true treasure, the greatest riches, the most blessed wealth – the Eucharist, the very Body and Blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And it is all free! Gratis, gift, grace.
He is like a vineyard owner who pays a full days wages to those who only worked an hour. He is like a shepherd who finds a lost sheep and throws a banquet that costs more than the sheep. He is like a landowner who sends His Son for the workers to kill that He might hand over to them the inheritance of His murdered Son. He is like a rich man who commends his shrewd steward after giving away his goods.
This is grace. He gives us for free what we do not deserve and could never earn. He gives us His Kingdom, His inheritance, His Name, His love. He says to beggars, to sinners, to poor stewards, Friend, come up higher. He says to those who did poorly, who blew it, who squandered their lives, money, and opportunities, to those who are not good and not faithful, Well done, good and faithful servant.
You live in faith toward God, freely receiving all that He has to give through His stewards, in His Word, in His Supper, by the means of His liturgy, here, in His house. He is not like the kings of this world. He does not give stewardship because He is too busy or bothered, but because of His grace and mercy. He gives you a part in His Kingdom. He gives you for your joy. And His Kingdom does not run on the economies of men, but they economy of grace. He loves to give away His Kingdom.
And you live in love toward your neighbor, using the unrighteous mammon of this world to make eternal friends for yourself. You are given to be shrewd, like the steward in the parable. Living by faith you are able to use the things in this life with an eye toward the life of the world to come; to be not wasteful, but extravagant in mercy.
And the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has forgiven all your sins by the gift of His Holy Spirit, shall bring you into the eternal dwelling. Amen.
RSS Feed