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spent1804
The Apprentice
Text:
Luke 16:1-13
Date: Pentecost XVIII
10/3/04 no cd combat flight
In
the past weeks we have heard Jesus say some pretty difficult things
aimed at warning us about the cost of discipleship. We remember
especially those challenging words, “If anyone comes to me and does
not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers
and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be
my disciple…. Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has
cannot be my disciple” [Luke 14:26-27, 33 (ESV)]. God demands to
be number one in our relationships, and discipleship means bearing
burdens. Today he goes into detail concerning that last thing, the
renouncing of all that we have, the Christian's relationship to
possessions and money. While there may be some so-called “practical”
applications to be gained from these words, however, the key to
this difficult parable before us centers on the character of the
rich man, the master and landowner. It has to do with the crisis
of the coming of the kingdom of God and how the way of faith in
Christ changes all our other relationships including to our possessions,
daily work, employment and income.
Jesus
has been speaking in parables to the tax collectors and sinners
whom he welcomed as well as to the Pharisees and scribes who criticized
him. Today, however, he turns and speaks to his disciples, to those
who were following him. It is a story about relying on and trusting
in the mercy of God especially in times of confusion, fear and worry
about daily life.
The
parable reminds me of the current television show, “The Apprentice.”
“There was a rich man who had a manager.” This man was like “The
Donald” (Trump) who owned much property and had contracts with others
in the community to manage or farm it. Payment came each harvest
when he would receive an agreed upon portion of the crop, whether
it be olive oil, wheat or whatever.
Word
had come to the owner, somehow, charges against the manager that
he was wasting the owner's possessions. So the owner calls the apprentice
into his office and asks, “What is this that I hear about you?”
Then, after a moment of silence, he points at the manager and says
those dreaded words, “You're fired!” Don't miss the detail of silence
here. When asked, “What's this I hear about you?” the manager sat
silent! He didn't protest or try to make excuses. Apparently he
was caught red-handed. In the interpretation of this parable what
is not said is just as important as what is. For, the owner had
every right to have the manager thrown into jail and prosecuted
on the spot. But he didn't! This shows something about the character
of the owner. He already had a reputation of being fair and generous
and even merciful.
Notice
also the time sequence involved in the firing. He was told to turn
in his books, “for you can no longer be manager.” At this point
only he and the owner knew that he had been fired. Jesus then gives
us an insight into what the manager was thinking. He was looking
to his immediate future. Desk jobs often mean a challenge to remaining
in good physical condition. “I'm not strong enough to dig,” he thinks
to himself. So day labor was out of the question. “I'm ashamed to
beg” was his next thought. It was an option, but not for him. Then
in verse 4 he gets an idea. And what an idea! It required a little
dishonesty, a little juggling of the books before he hands them
in, but he was relying on the possibility that the owner's mercy
might even extend to this critical situation.
The
plan was this. While the renters still had no idea that he had been
fired, when he called them in to his office they assumed what he
was doing was still under direct orders of the owner. He summoned
them one by one to keep his actions as quiet as possible for as
long as possible. Shoving the contract before each one he asked
of the first to review his original agreement. “How much do you
owe my master?” The first says, “A hundred measures of oil.” The
manager says, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.”
He asked him to write “quickly” because time was of the essence
for his plan to work. “Wow! A fifty percent reduction in rent! What
a bonus! What a good guy is the owner and also his manager for talking
him into doing something like this!” To the second renter he asks
the same. “A hundred measures of wheat” he would owe at the harvest
time. “Take your bill, and write eighty.”
Much
study and even disagreement has been expressed as to whether the
discounts were coming off the manager's “cut” or whether this actually
cut into the owner's principal interest. It is important to know
that managers like this, while dishonest ones may indeed inflate
prices a little to pad their own pockets, were salaried workers.
So this price cut did affect what the owner would end up gaining.
In other words, the owner would end up paying a price to help the
manager he had just fired!
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