Trusting the Master to show mercy, he shows mercy in the name of the Master.
This has to be the strangest parable in all of Jesus’ teachings. No lost sheep, coins, or sons coming home for a party. No Good Samaritans helping the suffering on the side of the road. No seeds growing to produce fruit 30, 60, or 100-fold. No. Here we have a guy who gets fired, shortchanges the boss who fired him, and then gets commended for it all? And Jesus says, “That guy knew what he was doing!” What?
This may feel like one of those Sundays where you wish you started a series on the Timothy passages last week. But fear not, dear preacher! The hardest texts make for some of the greatest sermons. This sermon will require a bit of work from the pulpit but involve the congregation behind the scenes as you work through the text. I recommend preaching this parable verse-by-verse (or section-by-section) as you make your way towards the remarkable example of faith which the words of Jesus give us this week.
(I also recommend picking up Arthur Just’s commentary on the Gospel of Luke from the Concordia Commentary Series. He handles this account masterfully and I will be leaning heavily on his work in this piece.)
In fact, I would start the sermon by telling the church:
“Today’s parable may have sounded strange. Because it is. But, before us we have a remarkable picture of what faith in the mercy of God looks like, and what it is like to have a merciful God. For, here we have the story of a man who knew what it meant to bank on mercy.”
Then, invite the congregation to join you as you slow down and journey through Jesus’ story.
With this as your starting point, the sermon will end up looking something like this:
16:1-2: “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’”
So, we begin with guilt, sin, and judgment. Here is a man who has sinned against his master. We read about a landowner, the Master, whose estate agent is not doing his job. He, like the prodigal son, squanders what is given to him. So, the Master fires him. What is interesting to note here is that, though the man is judged and condemned, he does not get the fullness of the punishment he deserves. He is NOT thrown into jail or given any sort of corporal punishment, which would have been expected in those days. He is released for not doing his job, but he is shown mercy.
Regardless, you have a sinner who stands judged and things look hopeless for him. So, what does he do?
16:3-7: “And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
The man realizes he is in no shape to get a job working the ground and he is too proud to beg. He is going to need a residence soon, so what does he do? Well, it seems before word gets around that he has been fired, he finds the residents of the land who owed their Master rent. He takes what they owe and cuts it significantly. Cutting a hundred measures of oil in half would be cutting three years’ worth of debt in half. And, cutting what is owed in wheat is also a shockingly large amount of debt relief. He helps these debtors out. He shows them mercy, and he does it in the name of the Master.
He shows them mercy, and he does it in the name of the Master.
Notice how he acts quickly. If word had gone around that he had been fired, no one would pay him, but he presents himself as the Master’s collector, and in the name of the Master, decreases their debt. This will accomplish a few things. First, when word gets out that he is fired, these people will welcome him in, seeing how he helped them out a great deal. But, also, by doing this, he is making the Master look quite generous and merciful. The debtors will love the Master more for his graciousness. But, you say, when they find out the truth, will they not think the Master is foolish and got one pulled over his head? Well, here is the key, the manager is relying on the fact that the Master will approve. He is counting on the Master to show mercy, to be kind, and to, ultimately, be gracious both to the debtors and even to himself.
Sure enough, this act of faith proves to be true! We have this moment of shock at the manager’s actions. Did he really do that? What will the Master do to him now? These actions that bank on mercy are stunning, but they are nothing compared with the actual mercy itself!
16:8-9: “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.”
Notice, he is not praised for dishonesty, but shrewdness. This was a guilty man in a sinful world, but he knew he had a merciful Master. So, using unrighteous means (the only option he had), he acts, trusting he will receive mercy just as he had in the past. And he was right!
But wait, there is more here. Jesus calls us to imitate this shrewd manager, but not because of his unrighteous work. Rather, when Jesus says, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light,” it is as though He is saying, “If the sons of this world know how to be prudent in matters by bending the rules and playing the game, how much more should you, those who belong to me and know of God’s mercy, live your lives banking on God’s mercy?”
Notice what the man in the parable does. Trusting the Master to show mercy, he shows mercy in the name of the Master. If he does this in an unrighteous manner, how much more should you and I and all of Christ’s disciples do it in the right way. Remember where Jesus is when He is teaching this. He is being accused by the Pharisees of being unrighteous, eating with tax collectors and sinners, those who have sinned so much that their debt before God is unpayable. And here is Jesus, the righteous Manager, showing up on behalf of His Father, the Master of all creation, not only to cancel some of their debts, but to pay it all for them!
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Luke 16:1–15.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Luke 16:1–15.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
