PASTOR’S CORNER, Rev. Jason Toombs, Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, Liberal
In Luke 16, we hear as Jesus says, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”
Breaking news: Jesus commends dishonesty. This would have been a headline in the days when Jesus walked on the earth. At least that is how some in the media might have portrayed Jesus’ words. Yet that is not what the Scriptures say. Jesus says, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.”
It is one thing for the media to portray words, actions, and intents falsely; it is another for them to outright lie. Yet they will not claim that they are lying, even while they are doing it. They will issue a buried retraction, while keeping the original report up, sometimes modifying the headline slightly to make it less damning on them should a lawsuit be brought against them. Instead of burying a retraction or apology, they should be required to paste it front and center, yet their subscribers wouldn’t care. Sure, the advertisers might, but the base constituents of their viewers would hardly read past the first few pages.
While Jesus never commends dishonesty, He does commend shrewdness. Shrewd are the acts of those who know they can never repay the debt that they owe. Elsewhere, in Luke 7:36-49, Jesus tells a story about two debtors owing money to a moneylender. The one who had a large debt and the one who had exponentially less debt, 500 and 50 denarii. Both were forgiven, and the one who had the larger debt loved the one who forgave more than the one who owed less. This was a placeholder for the unrighteous Simon and a known sinner. The one, Simon, may have thought his sins lightly, but the known sinner knew her sins were great, yet greater still was the forgiveness of Jesus.
As it is with sinners, so it is with managers of all types. They might be shrewd in their business dealings, but they need to be shrewder to the Lord. After all, He died for their sins and trespasses and covers their iniquities with His blood. Yet sinners scoff at this understanding as they feel the pinpricks of the condemnation of the law and brush them aside.
Instead of brushing aside the accusations of the law that is broken, we need to realize that it will crush our foolish pride. Yet vain are the hopes of man as he multiplies transgressions. Sins are added to sins across the globe, and lost in all the sinning is the love that sinful man should have for God.
It is not just the unrighteous who sin; righteous sinner-saints will, and do, sin. Yet their sins are forgiven because they are holding fast to the love of Christ as He sheds His blood and covers their sins. They are sinners in the moment, and they are saints who confess these sins and receive the wonderful forgiveness God imparts.
When we turn from the person to the actions, or to the wealth as Jesus speaks, we see that it is not just the person, it is the action that matters as well. Many things can be done with the earthly unrighteous wealth that is viewed as shrewd in the world.
Shrewd are those who pinch pennies. Dickens portrays one who is shrewd in business dealings as the greedy and miserly Mr. Scrooge. Ebenezer is shrewd with the things that he thinks belong to him, but the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows him what the end is for those who are worldly.
Yet death comes for all, not just the worldly. For we are in the world, not of it, yet death comes for us as we are sinners. Saints we are, and saints we will be in the resurrection, but we are sinner-saints who walk this earth, just as Christ Jesus walked the narrow way that led Him to Golgotha’s holy mount.
For the righteous, wealth comes from the same place as righteousness, from Christ, given to you. Christ paid out His life-blood on Calvary’s cross as He gave His body into death and shed His blood for you.
You have a righteousness not your own, just as you have a righteous wealth that is not your own. It doesn’t come from you, but it is given to you. It is put on you as you have been washed and made clean. It is given for you as Christ gives you everything you need to dwell with Him forever.
