Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost (C—Proper 20)

September 18, 2016

Text: Luke 16:1-15

            Of course, for my first Sunday here with you our Holy Gospel would be one of the most difficult texts in Scripture.  The difficulty is that Jesus seems to be commending dishonesty, or shrewdness as Jesus puts it more charitably.  The manager was wasting his master’s possessions, and when he was caught, and it was evident that he was about to lose his job, the manager did something dishonest so as to buy the friendship of his master’s debtors.  He called them in, one by one, and reduced their debt, simply forgave a large portion of what the master was owed.  If anything, more waste, more sin, more guilt.  This is clearly a sin against the Seventh Commandment: “You shall not steal.”  And yet, Jesus commends this behavior as something we should emulate.  What is going on here?  You see the difficulty, right?

            Well, it’s not actually the dishonesty that Jesus commends.  He wants you to be truthful.  He doesn’t want you to cheat your employers.  But the point is this: The manager is banking on the mercy of the master.  The manager knows what kind of a man his master is.  He is gracious.  He is generous.  He is merciful.  The manager knows that forgiving debt is just the sort of thing his master would do.  And that kind of debt forgiveness not only reflects well on the manager and buys the friendship of the debtors, it also reflects well on the master and buys their loyalty.  Everybody wins.  The manager does a good thing and saves his job.  The master retrieves some of what is owed him and the rest becomes an investment in public relations.  And the people are freed up from the debt that has bound them for so long.  And notice the shift that has taken place in the heart and mind of the manager.  This is really a matter of faith.  He once had faith in money, namely, his master’s, which he wasted, presumably to enrich himself.  Now he has faith in the master, and in his mercy, by which alone the manager is saved.  Jesus does not commend dishonesty or cheating.  He commends faith in the master’s mercy.

            And this is what the parable comes down to.  You cannot serve two masters.  This is an either/or scenario and the application hits every last one of us where it hurts: In the wallet.  You cannot have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as your God and serve money as lord.  Saving faith in Jesus Christ does not trust money or possessions to deliver in the day of trouble.  Luther said that whatever you fear, love, and trust in the most is your god.  Our God, the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is a jealous God.  He will not share us.  This is a matter of the First Commandment.  You shall have no other gods.  If you love wealth, if you fear losing it, if you’re counting on it for the future, you have a god named Mammon.  And who of us does not fall under that indictment?  We scrimp and save, which is fine and good in and of itself.  I’m all for wise use of money and planning ahead.  But we put our faith in what we accumulate.  We hoard it up.  We cling to it.  Or we spend it on things we think will make us happy.  Either way, we’re looking for money to deliver what is good.  We think we earn it.  We worked hard for it.  We have it coming.  We deserve it.  And so we deny the One who gives us all good things.  Instead, we worship cold, hard cash.  Money is, after all, what makes the world go ‘round.  Money talks, as we say.  It makes things happen.  It opens doors.  When we talk about someone who is successful, we mean they make a lot of money.  We gage the health of the nation on how the economy is performing, and we vote for our politicians on the basis of our pocketbook.  And even in the Church, we talk a lot about growing (and we certainly want to grow!), but all-too-often what we’re really concerned about is more givers in the pew when the plate is passed.  Rich or poor, and everyone in between, we think the answer to all that ails us is more money, more stuff.  There is a demonic power behind this idol named Mammon.  Every one of us is prone to his deception.  But you cannot serve God and money.  God will not share us with another.  Beloved in the Lord, repent.

            Our Lord Jesus Christ was born into poverty and scandal to make us poor sinners rich in His mercy.  Born of a teenage, unwed mother and laid into a manger, a feeding trough for animals, that He might feed beastly sinners with Himself, His own Body and Blood, for the forgiveness of sins.  St. Paul puts it this way: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9; ESV).  Here is what Jesus does for you, you who are all tied up with worries about money, will there be enough, what will I eat, what will I drink, what will I wear, how will I retire?...  You who look to money to provide all these things, you who have Mammon for a god.  He comes down, Almighty God, to whom all things belong, and He empties Himself of His riches and glory and becomes nothing.  Worse than nothing, He becomes your sin.  And He takes that sin, all of it, to Calvary, where it is nailed in His flesh to the cross.  And your debt is paid in full.  All of it.  Not just a part.  Not even a generous portion.  The whole thing.  The record of your debt is erased.  All your sin is forgiven.  And the proof of it is what happens on the Third Day.  Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  In His Body.  Still has the wounds to prove it, that it is Him, the same Jesus who was crucified for you, the very Jesus who died and was buried.  He is now risen.  And just so you know, just like Thomas in the upper room, He bids you come and touch Him.  Touch that Body, those wounds, and see.  Where do you do that?  Here in the Supper.  His Body.  His Blood.  Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  Placed on your tongue, poured down your throat.  The Church is born from the riven side of Christ and nourished from His wounds.

            And what is the result of all of this for you?  You’re free!  Because the demonic lie has been exposed.  Jesus alone is your Savior.  All other gods will fail you.  Money will slip through your fingers.  Money is a merciless master.  It’s never there when you need it.  But Jesus… He’s always there.  And He’s always for you.  After all, look what it cost Him to make you His own.  After all of that, He’s not going fail you now.  He will provide for you.  His Father loves you.  You God’s own child.  That’s what it means to be baptized.  He will feed you.  He will clothe you.  He will shelter you.  Yes, He will give you the cross to bear, which means you won’t always have what you want, or even what you think you need.  As a father disciplines his children, so our God disciplines us.  He gives us suffering to bear for our good.  But even this is from His Fatherly hand.  God does all things well, and He does them for your good, for your salvation.  He will always take care of you and make sure you have what you need.  Now, you should work if you can, and you should save, because God has given you these gifts as well.  But do you see how freeing this is, to know that God, the real One, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, takes care of everything?  I never really appreciated this as a kid, but Mom and Dad took care of everything.  They paid for everything.  Now, they didn’t always give me what I wanted, but they always gave me what I needed.  They always did what was for my good.  And what I really took for granted was the sacrifice it cost them to do that for me.  The work.  The sweat.  The worries.  The tears.  Of course, they didn’t need to worry.  As they took care of me, their heavenly Father was taking care of them.  And, in fact, my heavenly Father was taking care of me through them.  That is one of the reasons our God gave them what He did.  To provide for me and for my siblings and for their Church and for their neighbor who could not work and for all who were blessed by what our God had given them.

            You see, when Mammon is dethroned as a god, it is put in its proper place.  It is a gift given by our Father in heaven for the sake of Jesus Christ, His Son.  And it is given to be used for good and given away.  God blesses you to be a blessing to others.  God pours out His gifts upon you so that His gifts flow through you to your neighbor.  Like a cup that is filled to overflowing.  Go home this afternoon and hold a cup under your faucet.  Fill that cup to overflowing.  Notice how, as long as you hold the cup under the faucet, it is always full and always overflowing abundantly.  That is how the gifts of God work.  God is a never failing fountain of good.  He fills us to the brim with His good gifts.  And there is always so much good that it can overflow in love and sacrifice and generosity to our neighbor, without us experiencing any lack.  And that’s not just true in terms of money.  When you come to the Divine Service, the Lord Jesus fills you with Himself, His Word in your ears, His Body and Blood in your mouth.  He fills you to the brim with His forgiveness and life.  And you overflow.  You go love and serve your neighbor.  You bear with your neighbor’s weakness and sin.  You forgive your neighbor who has sinned against you.  You’re banking on the Master’s mercy.  That’s just the kind of God He is.  And that’s just how He would have you be.  And when you are, everybody wins.  You give and forgive.  The people receive your giving and forgiveness.  And they see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

            That is what Jesus commends in this morning’s Gospel.  Not dishonesty or cheating.  Faith in the Master’s mercy.  Faith in Jesus Himself.  Faith in our Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  He will never fail to provide you with all that you need for body and soul.  Put no faith in riches.  Do not look to your stuff to fill you or save you.  Rest in Jesus and His saving work for you.  In Jesus, crucified and risen for you, you have everything you need.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son (+), and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.