Trinity 9
Dear friends in Christ. Today’s epistle reading brings us back to the days of the OT and the desert wanderings of the Israelites. Even though they had seen how miraculously the Lord had rescued them at the Red Sea and how He continued to provide for them food and water in the desert, we read that they became idolaters and became wrapped up in the immoral worship practices. So great was their rebellion and wickedness that in punishment, to draw them to a recognition of their sin, poisonous snakes were sent that bit and in the end 23000 had died.
Of course the parallel with us is clear: in the waters of Holy Baptism the Lord so wondrously and miraculously saved us from our enemies; He continues to provide for us physically and spiritually, showing us every grace and mercy—and what happens? We still are easily tempted and fall into in sin. Like the Israelites then in the desert and later throughout OT history were tempted by their neighbors and fell into the sin of idolatry, so too are we tempted into sin by the sinful world around us—and, like the Israelites, we have within us a willing accomplice, our old sinful nature. That’s why we hear the Holy Spirit say through St. Paul: Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. The simple point is this: just because we are Christians does not mean that we can take our faith for granted. With all the Lord’s gifts and blessings, with His promises and protection, with the certainty that all things will be ours, we dare never become over sure because that becomes carelessness and that becomes indifference. Instead, seeing the example of the Israelites and their sin and fall and God’s wrath, let us fight all the more against sin and live lives of repentance.
Like we read in the Epistle: Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer—God does indeed take sin seriously; and because He is a holy and righteous God, He must punish sin. As a merciful God, He has already punished sin—in Christ on the cross. But where this forgiveness in Christ is rejected by unbelief, there the sinner must stand before the wrath of God and face God’s wrath. That’s why faith in Christ—faith that receives this forgiveness of sin and grabs ahold of the righteousness of Christ which He fully and freely gives us—is so vital. That’s why it is vital that we do not take this faith for granted; that we, instead, do everything to guard and treasure this most precious of God’s gifts—faith, by which we grab ahold and receive the fullness of the heavenly treasuries. Lest we become complacent in the faith, careless and indifferent, it is vital that we keep in mind that we are sinners and that there is a day reckoning.
That’s the point Jesus drives home with his parable. Jesus also said to his disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'” In this parable, the rich man/ master is God; and the steward/ manager is us/ the Christian. What happens? An accusation was brought to [the master] that [the steward] was wasting his goods. Really, of which one of us can the same thing not be said? Don’t we all waste the Lord’s goods? With temporal/ earthly goods, don’t we so often take them for granted? Think that somehow we earn/deserve them? Take and enjoy the gifts the Lord gives us but never remember that they come from His good and gracious hand and give Him thanks for them? Do we take these gifts from the Lord and use them only for self and our pleasure—not using and sharing them with those in need, not regarding ourselves as dispensers of God’s gifts?
With the spiritual gifts the Lord gives us—the forgiveness of sin and eternal life—don’t we so often squander them as well? Do we really remember our baptism and what it means—that at baptism God drowned our sinful nature, like Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea? Since that sinful nature reemerges, we drown it day after day by daily repentance? Do we really remember that at baptism we were clothed with Christ—and do we strive to live that Christ-like life or do we still live for self? Do we remember that at baptism we were given the Holy Spirit and do we rely upon Him and His power to fight against sin in our lives—or do we all too willingly follow the temptations to sin? Do we read, mark, learn and inwardly digest God’s word or do we let our thoughts and attitudes be formed by the Godless culture around us? Do we have time for everything else in the day but when it comes time for prayer and study of the word, all of sudden there’s no time? Do we neglect the Blessed Sacrament or only receive it out of habit? Do we truly recognize that in it Jesus is giving us His very body that hung on the cross cursed by God for our sin and His very blood shed and offered God for our forgiveness? Dear Christian, if we are honest, we must with humble and contrite heart confess that we have squandered the Lord’s goods He has showered on us; we must confess that it is said of us: an accusation was brought to [the master--God] that this [steward—us] was wasting his goods.
But notice in this parable, there is something unexpected that happens. Although it is unexpected—and huge—it is easily passed over: So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' Did you catch it? Yes, the steward/ manager is fired, Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward, but he isn’t right away thrown in jail like would be expected. In fact, as we find out, he has time to “cook the books.” And this is huge: he doesn’t right away get the “just reward” for his crookedness, for squandering/ wasting the master’s goods—prison, or worse. So what has happened by the master not acting swiftly? He has shown the manager mercy!
Does that sound familiar? It should—that’s what happens between us and God. He doesn’t just “zap” us the moment we sin. If that were the case, none of us would be here. Instead, He gives us time to repent of our sin. That’s mercy! St. Peter [2 Peter 3.9, 15] writes: The Lord…is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance….And count the patience of our Lord as salvation. God is patient and doesn’t judge/ condemn us at once—just like how Jesus describes the master in this parable.
So what is the picture of the master in this parable/ what is the way Jesus describes God in this parable? First off, God is described as one who expects obedience and acts in judgment. Secondly, He is described as showing mercy and generosity. These are two characteristics of God—He is both holy and righteous and gracious and merciful.
So, how does the steward/ manager react in Jesus’ parable? He knows that he has a short time to act. He knows the master will soon act in judgment—but he hasn’t yet and he makes the most of the time. The accusations are true; he doesn’t try to make excuses for his squandering and get off the hook. So what does he do? He acts quickly! Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. Remember Jesus is telling this parable to his disciples. So since the steward/ manager is a picture of us, the Christian, what does this mean for us?
It means, simply, that we know that the end/ judgment/ the day of reckoning is coming. Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward. It will be at the moment of death or at the moment of Christ’s return—neither of which we know or which one will be first. Here we learn from this steward not to make excuses for our sins—especially our sin of squandering our Lord’s goods, both temporal and spiritual. Instead, we act quickly by making the most of the time—by confessing our sin and seeking our Lord’s forgiveness.
2. Our text: I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.' So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' So 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?' So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'”
The manager acts quickly because time is short. Soon people will find out what happened; but for now, they think he is still in control and has authority and is acting on behalf of the manager. They come when summoned and end up lowering, very likely, how much rent they owe the master. Just think how popular someone is who comes in and lowers your payment! That’s what happened to this manager—he lowered everyone’s rents and now everyone thinks he’s a great guy and now both he and the master are popular. Because everyone thinks the steward is a great guy it won’t be so difficult for him now when he’s out of work.
So, what was behind this manager’s action? What was he banking on? The master’s mercy—that same mercy he experienced before when the master didn’t haul him off to jail. He knew that the master was generous and merciful and it was precisely on this mercy that he relied to get him out of his difficult situation. In reality, the master, with the lowered rents, pays for the unjust manager’s rescue. Does that sound familiar? It should! It’s the Christian’s life! The basis of our lives as Christians is the fact that God is generous and merciful.
Just as the manager in our Lord’s parable relied on his master’s mercy that he had experienced, so, too do we rely on the Lord’s mercy He has shown to us in Christ. And just as the manager acted quickly, so too does our Lord’s dear Christian act quickly when we by conscience or by God’s holy word of Law are accused of sin: 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' We do not try to excuse our sin, rationalize it away, get the Supreme Court to declare our sin not to be sin; instead, convicted and condemned of sin, we acknowledge our sin, sorrow over that sin that by it we have offended the holy righteousness of God and rely on the mercy of our Lord to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. This is not a crap-shoot; a wishful thinking. Instead, like the manager in our Lord’s parable knew that the master was generous and merciful, that he himself had even experienced his mercy, so too do we know our Lord God to be generous and merciful; we ourselves have already, and often, experienced His mercy at baptism, in the absolution, in the word, in the Blessed Sacrament. Having experienced His mercy, we again and again, treasure that mercy and keep going back to it/ relying up it.
This is faith at work in our everyday lives—going to the Lord, throwing ourselves upon and relying upon His mercy and receiving once again the generous gifts of forgiveness and life He gives in Christ. By daily examining our lives in the light of God’s holy law, by recognizing that a day of reckoning/ judgment is coming, by relying upon God’s mercy to us in Christ, we, then, cannot become over sure in our Christian lives, careless and indifferent to sin. Instead, we are truly wise as we daily make use of and trust in our Lord’s mercy. So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt wisely. After all, if the unjust manager in the parable solved his problem by relying on his master’s mercy, how much more will our gracious Lord help us as we rely on His mercy? INJ