Good at Being Bad (Reflections on Pentecost Eighteen, Year C)

Eugene Burnand (1850-1921) "The Dishonest Steward"

“…the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of the light.” (Luke 16:8b)

Well this blows. I’m sure glad that this passage from Luke’s Gospel (Luke 16:1-9) only pops up in the Revised Common Lectionary every three years, because—after checking several commentaries and conferring with my learned colleagues—I’ve concluded that no one has any freaking idea what point Jesus is trying to make by making this slimeball manager the hero of his story. Check it out: the guy is an embezzler who openly admits to being both arrogant and lazy (v.4) and plans to retire by sponging off the poor folks he’s been financially screwing.

His boss is just as big a feminine hygiene product (metaphorically speaking) as the manager. The brilliant New Testament scholar Barbara Rossing points out in her research in this weeks “Working Preacher” website article that predatory lending practices were just as common in Jesus’ day as in our own. It was not uncommon for lenders to charge up to 25% interest on cash loans and 50% on the loan of goods. Just like the bottom feeders of today’s banking institutions who charge usurious rates on credit cards or “pay day” loans, the wealthy of Jesus’ time tacked on huge interest rates in the hopes that the poor would default and surrender their land to the lender. This is in spite of the fact that Mosaic Law forbade the lending at interest to fellow Jews (Ex. 22:25-27, Lev. 25:36-37).

Most really smart Bible scholars agree that what the shrewd (crooked, arrogant, and lazy) manager did was roll the debts back to their original amount, probably giving up the commission he was shaking the poor slobs down for. If his boss was Jewish, he couldn’t very well complain since he’d been breaking the Law by charging interest in the first place. Instead, his hat is off to the manger for ripping him off so successfully.

So what’s Jesus saying? On face value, it looks like he’s telling us something we already know—dirtballs are really good at being dirtballs. It’s a pity that Christians aren’t as efficiently and decisively motivated by the Gospel as sinners (and we’re both, remember?) are motivated by greed and the “security” of wealth. Maybe we should think about this.

Let’s face it, the dirtballs have created a whole industry on promoting and buying and selling debt. The unsuspecting or extravagant among us get into debt, are charged huge sums of interest, and, when they can’t pay, the creditor writes off the bad debt at the expense of the federal government and sells the debt to some sleazy bill collector. The sleazy bill collector gets a fraction of what is owed but still makes a profit.

This Gospel lesson is paired with the dramatic story of the prophet Amos (Amos 8:4-7) as he confronts Amaziah, the priest of Bethel who is the chief henchman to the wicked King Jeroboam II of Israel. Amos is technically a foreigner from the southern kingdom of Judah, but God has called him across the border into Israel to warn the power structure that their continual abuse of the poor by rigged markets and predatory lending is not making God do the happy dance (v.7).

The problem for a pastor like me in a little blue-collar neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia is that none of the folks I’ll preach to this Sunday are the myrmidons of a greed-crazed financial system (I don’t think any of them are loan sharks, either, but I can’t be sure. This is Philly, after all). What does your average Joe Pewsitter do with these scripture lessons? I’m thinking there are about four points I can make.

First: Let’s be conscious of the fact that people in America and around the world are suffering from crippling debt. As I’ve said elsewhere, the greatest threat to an American’s freedom and liberty is not terrorism of government regulation. It’s poverty, and poverty is fed by lots of crappy things—low wages, drug and alcohol addiction, medical expenses, and debt. As individuals, we may not be able to alleviate the debt of others, but we can support organizations which advocate for debt relief and we can be responsible citizens who elect leaders committed to fair lending practices. Compassion dictates that we remain awake to this problem.

Second: We can refuse to feed the beast ourselves. Good stewardship requires that we model responsibility in our financial matters. If you’re in debt, pay it off. Don’t use credit cards with high interest rates. Don’t reward institutional greed. God has promised to provide your daily bread. You don’t need to charge a month’s supply on your VISA card.

Third: We need to teach our kids good financial stewardship. My Builder Generation parents feared debt and understood the concept of delayed gratification. Let’s share a bit of that wisdom with our grandkids (Proverbs 22:6).

Fourth: Let’s acknowledge that we are dealing with spiritual warfare. The power of sin manifested in greed is cunning and beguiling and always with us. We need to be conscious of what our economic choices mean. We’re dealing with a powerful enemy who is really good at being really bad. We need to step up our game at calling out injustice, at proclaiming what our faith means to us, and in being in prayer for the healing of this poor society.

Like the manager in Jesus’ parable, we are all of us stewards of wealth which, essentially, does not belong to us but to God. Someday each of us will be called upon to give an accounting. Fortunately, that accounting will be for our own benefit, not that of the Master. He’s already paid our debt in full.

Thanks for reading, my friend. I appreciate your visit.

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