You may have heard the story about the time the multi-millionaire, Henry Ford, made a donation to a charity hospital. The hospital trustees begged Ford for a donation, so he sent off a check for five thousand dollars.
The next day one of the trustees telephoned Ford and apologized profusely. He said there had been a terrible mistake. The local newspaper had printed a huge page one article. The headline read HENRY FORD DONATES FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
The trustee offered to make things right. He would demand a retraction. The retraction would read that Henry Ford, the world’s richest man, had donated just five thousand, not fifty thousand dollars to their hospital. Grumbling, Ford wrote out a check for the remaining forty-five thousand dollars and sent it off, with one provision. The trustees had to erect a marble arch in front of the hospital. It was to read, "I came among you, and you took me in."
Now, what does that have to do with today's gospel? The hospital trustee was very shrewd. He found a way to turn $5000 into $50,000. Today's gospel lesson is a strange little story for the Bible - one that makes you want to scratch your head and say, "Huh?" It doesn't seem to make any sense when compared to the many other stories that Jesus told. It makes you wonder what lens we should use to understand it. It's not really about money - it's not really about honesty - it's not really about fairness - it's not really about any of the qualities we consider to be "God-like." But this manager is ultimately commended for his shrewdness - some of us might even call it his dishonesty.
There are too many variables in this story that we don't have a clue about. Jesus is being somewhat cryptic.
First: The manager is squandering the rich man's property: maybe it's left up to us to decide what that means - being wasteful in some way? skimming some off the top? paying too much for items bought? overcharging for items sold? Maybe he's running some kind of "ponzie" scheme.
Second: He's called in to give an accounting. . . you can no longer be my manager... Well, obviously he's being fired, but not just yet. Is the accounting like a trial, or maybe like a senate hearing? or just a showing of the books? The owner may not be asking for an accounting of the financial records. He may referring to an accounting of his relationships with the clients - his reputation.
Third: And even though the manager is being fired, he has the time and freedom to call in the master's debtors and change the amounts that they owe. There's just a lot going on here that we don't necessarily understand.
But here's something we do understand - it's scary to lose a job. How many people do we know that have lost their jobs in recent years? - not because they were being unethical in any way, but because in our economy - layoffs and company closings have been all too abundant. So maybe it would be easier for us to tie into what's going on in the mind of the manager who is losing his job.
We can definitely understand his anxiety in how he is going to provide for himself and his family. He knows that he is not suited for hard labor. Getting up in years myself, I can relate to this. I know that there are definitely things that I could do years ago, that I am no longer physically able to do.
And I sure don't see myself out begging on the street corner. While I was rector of Church of the Redeemer in Houston, I had ample opportunity to get to know street people. They lead a hard life, and they can be there by choice or by chance. Some will go on to get back on their feet and become productive members of society, but others never will. I can understand the manager's reluctance to beg.
So he turns from the idea of "What can I DO to make money to survive" -- and begins to look at the idea of "How can I BUILD RELATIONSHIPS that will help me to survive." In other words, he becomes creative and begins to think outside the box. All of his life he has been self-sufficient, doing whatever he needed to do to get ahead. And now he finds himself on the outside, without recourse to his usual resources.
The manager’s intentions in his scheme were clearly selfish, but the results where that both he, and the rich man, were seen as generous, and that appearance of generosity helped to build relationships. And he begins to understand that we are NOT alone, and sometimes to survive, we need the presence and the help of others.
Money and financial means will come and go as many people have found out as the economy turns topsy-turvy and stock markets crash and burn. Something you have saved for all your life can be gone in a flash. And what is left when the money is gone? I will tell you that the only thing which will live on forever, even after death, are the relationships that you build here on earth.
Houses can be destroyed by fire, flood, tornado or earthquake - but the relationships you build within those houses (and outside those houses) will last forever. Money may buy you lots of things and surface friends, but hackers and stock markets and con artists can drain you dry faster than you can say "Jack Robinson."
Therefore the relationships that you build, even using that money, have the ability of lasting forever. For example, if you buy an important person a fancy lunch to win their favor for whatever reason, when your money is gone, they may not even remember your name. But if you use that same money to buy a poor man a pair of shoes when he's trying to get on his feet, chances are he will remember you when you are trying to get on your feet.
As the annual stewardship season kicks off, one of the things we learn in this lesson is that it all belongs to God - the money, the relationships, even our very lives. We are only stewards in this life. One day we will all be lifted up to Him, and we will give an accounting of how we have used the resources He has provided for us - the money, the relationships, even our very lives. You've heard it before, "store up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not consume, where robbers do not break in and steal." Instead, build your relationships on earth and they will live on, both here and in heaven.
Amen
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