Devotional - January 19, 2022
An audio recording of last Sunday's service can be found on our website: https://www.citrusspringscongregational.org
Bible Study at 10 am. on Wednesday
Luke 16: 1-8
Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions.
And he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.'
And the manager said to himself, 'What am I to do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.'
And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
And he said, 'A hundred jugs of oil.' And 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?' And he said, 'A hundred kors of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
And his master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light."
An interesting set of circumstances indeed... And, not necessarily one that one would think Jesus would use in a parable. All the wording in this parable is couched in language that does not allude to any analogies. What is said is what it represents. So, we have a VERY wealthy man who has entrusted his business affairs to his manager. The manager has no wealth. Everything he manages and enjoys belongs to his employer, including his house. Apparently, his circumstances went to his head and his antics hit the rumor mill. Not good..., when his employer called him in and told him to fess-up, he knew he was out the door which meant he would be living on the street. To understand his plan, you need to understand his position and how it fits into the traditions of his time. As the manager, he represented his employer in every way. Meaning, if he signed a contract, he signed for himself and the rich man. The contracts then are binding between the richman, HIM, and the contractee, all three have their name on it. So, when he rewrites the contract, or better put, when he let's the contractee who owes rewrite the contract (can you imagine their delight), the contracts are contingent on HIM, just as much as the rich man. When the contract is signed, the rich man is bound to the contract whether he knew about it or not. You may ask, why can't the rich man revoke the contract? Well, the person at fault would not be the manager or the contractee. It would be him. The way the process worked, he was at fault and should have known better than to let the manager take control of his business in the first place, so he can't revoke the contracts. Now, these contracts are not contracts made with just anyone, they are made with other very wealthy individuals. So when the manager is handed his bags and shown the door, he can smile and bid farewell as he makes his way to any number of other wealthy households who had dealings with his employer. The way the parable is arranged, it makes us think that we are only told about a few of the business dealings the manager renewed... Should the now ex-manager come to any of their doors and ask for lodging (hospitality), they were obligated to oblige. To reject someone who did what he did for them would be unheard of, he saved them huge amounts of money. Not to mention, in a worse case scenario, he could always threaten to go back to the rich man and say, gee, I made a mistake on one of those contracts. If you check the inventory you will see. Let me rewrite it. The figure is really supposed to be... and then he could renew it again.
The point Jesus makes with this parable speaks both to the people of His day as well as ours. The rich man fires the manager for his dishonesty and mismanagement of his affairs. But, he has a strange way of doing it, he commends, "compliments", his "shrewdness". What? Jesus is trying to make a point which He poses as a question, even though it is not stated as such. The question Jesus asks is, why are people, who are not Godly, so well versed, so motivated, and so creative in dealing with their socio-economic scene in which they are benefitting from, and Mine (the children of the light) are not? Mine show little to none of that savey when serving to benefit God's Kingdom, ...why? Add to that, who He is addressing, specifically, when he tells this parable? He is speaking to the disciples. Ouch! He is speaking to us... Granted, I am not saying you do not show the utmost in this endeavor. I hope you do, but I think you would agree the church as a whole has come up a bit short in this area. I have seen some real initiative in recent years though. There are movements in the church that are showing real creativity and dare I say, shrewdness, when serving God, but that is usually the exception, not the rule. Whatever the reason for our reluctance, let us go a little further in our desire to serve God with all that God has given us. Not in a reckless way, but as Jesus put it, being wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).
Pray with me, ...Holy God, we confess that, at times, our service to You is something we put second in our lives. We seek You after and not before. What You ask for is not overbearing or excessive, but what You give is life itself and for that we are thankful. Bless our efforts and encourage our hearts as we seek to serve Your Kingdom. We ask that You also bless our loved ones in accordance with their needs. And bless our church, so we can continue to serve You. In Jesus name, Amen.
God's peace,
Pastor Brian
