If today’s Gospel leaves you confused, you are not alone. I consulted several commentaries, and they all differed. What is Jesus teaching in this parable of the “Unjust Steward?” The man is about to be dismissed because he has not taken care of his master’s interests. He thinks, in effect, “I will sacrifice my master’s interest some more in order to help myself. I will make deals with my master’s debtors that are favorable to them, but unfavorable to my master.” He does exactly that—but his master approves of his shrewdness.
There is general agreement among scripture scholars that the parable itself ends with verse 8. Verses 9-13 are commentary offered by Jesus—or perhaps even by Luke—to make sense of the parable.
God is never divided against himself. Jesus is not saying in this parable, “The end justifies the means.” He is not saying it’s OK to steal or cheat. Some commentators make a point that perhaps the steward was simply sacrificing his cut of the patrons’ debt. That interpretation makes the parable neat, but it doesn’t quite go with the comments in verses 9-13.
A Parable for Disciples
Today’s parable follows right after last week’s stories of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son. Those parables were meant for the public sinners and seeming righteous at a dinner party. The message was, “God wants to forgive sin and recover anyone who is lost—be they separated from God by sins of the flesh or sins of the heart.”
Today’s Gospel begins, “Jesus said to his disciples:” Might this be a further discourse on forgiveness and debt to God meant to reach the disciples who were neither public sinners nor Pharisees nor as committed to the Gospel as they needed to be?
If, in the story, the master is the Father or even Jesus, the unjust steward represents the disciples, and the debt is failing to fully embrace and live the Gospel, rather than wheat or olive oil, the story makes sense in a new way. Jesus is following up the stories of God wanting to welcome the lost with a story that perhaps says, “Meet the lost where they are. Unjust steward. Person with huge debts to God. YOU, disciples, take a lesson from the world, not serving the world, but serving YOUR MASTER, who is God. He is OK with forgiving debts, but he wants total loyalty from you.”
Jesus says in the commentary after the parable, “Make friends for yourselves through your use of this world’s goods, so that when the world’s goods fail you, a lasting reception will be yours.” He notes that what the steward did was the way people in the world do things—survival of the fittest, me first. Jesus does not say to copy the behavior, but to copy the attitude: work with what you’ve got to bring people to God.
The section today ends, “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other or be attentive to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money).”
St Paul later said something very similar:
Although I am free in regard to all, I have made myself a slave to all so as to win over as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew to win over Jews; to those under the law I became like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win over those under the law.
To those outside the law I became like one outside the law—though I am not outside God’s law but within the law of Christ—to win over those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, to win over the weak. I have become all things to all, to save at least some. All this I do for the sake of the gospel, so that I too may have a share in it.
The Core Admonition
The core direction Jesus is giving is that disciples mix with “the world” and use strategies that work in the world to meet people where they are in the world, but they are to be true to God. They are to serve THEIR master, who is God.
Amos 8:4-7 and I Timothy 2:1-8
So how do the Old Testament and Epistle readings fit today? One way to look at them is that they represent the expanse of the world disciples must witness to.
The prophet Amos wrote in the 8th century BC for the kingdom of Israel. He describes sins against the poor common in his time. Commentary in my Didache Bible describes the point of this section of Amos:
“Injustice against the poor is a sin of particular gravity in the eyes of God. Land confiscation, usury, unfair wages, and fraudulent deception of the needy are among the many sins that violate the Seventh Commandment. Since injustice toward the poor contributes to their physical harm and even death, those responsible are also in violation of the Fifth Commandment. Active concern and care for the poor must be motivated by the New Commandment to love our neighbor and to see Christ especially in the poor and suffering.” (CCC 2269, 2409, 2449)
Making friends with people, meeting them where they are, includes the poor.
The selection from I Timothy stretches disciples to a whole other direction: the world of politics and government. St. Paul is urging Timothy to be a good citizen and to pray for good government and peaceful times. This whole book is one of practical, fatherly advice from the apostle Paul to Timothy, a young evangelist in Corinth.
Making friends with people, meeting them where they are, includes the powerful and those in government offices.
Applications: Where Does This Lead Us?
The primary place the readings lead me is one that I find myself in more and more these days: the call to be strict with myself to follow the Gospel—from service to the poor to obeying the Commandments to doing my best to be both active citizen and citizen at peace in an unpeaceful world. I am taking to heart the Gospel that if I am representing my master, Jesus, what is important is move people toward God—from wherever they are. I am not an apostle or priest. I cannot forgive sins except those whom I perceive as sinning against me. I can do that. I am called to do that.
Prayer:
Lead me not into temptation, Lord, but deliver me from evil—evil in the wily stewards of the world around me, evil in myself, evil that oppresses people, evil that creates such polarities in religion and politics that it is hard for people to discuss their differences. And guide me, Lord. Guide me to see the good–in unjust stewards, government leaders, the poor I too often do not see with solidarity. Lead me, guide me, Lord.
