2022 09 18 Sermon

The Currency of Eternity

Confirmation Sunday

Pentecost 15 C

Rev. Karl-John N. Stone

Luke 16:1-13; Romans 3:21-24, 5:1-8, 6:3-4

There’s a well-known R&B song by Barrett Strong from 1959. It’s been recorded and performed by many others over the years—the Beatles played it—maybe you’ve heard it: “They say the best things in life are free, but you can give them to the birds and bees. I need money! (That’s what I want.) Lots of money! (That’s what I want)…” I’ve been singing this song in my head all week ever since I looked at the gospel reading for today. And while this song, and the Parable of the Dishonest Manager from Luke 16, have nearly 2,000 years separating them, it goes to show that these competing sentiments are probably as old as human history. We like to say we believe that the best things in life are free. But we like to behave like the best thing in life is actually money. Lots of money!

Maybe these two points are the foundation on which Jesus built this parable, and that might help us make sense of this confusing story. Jesus basically says as much when he summarizes his point at the end: “No slave can serve two masters—you’ll hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” Or in the traditional translation: “You cannot serve God and Mammon.”

If you look into business practices in Biblical times, you’ll find lots of warnings in the Bible (especially in the Old Testament) about dishonest business dealings—warnings about not fooling with weights and measures and scales; warnings about charging excessive interest; warnings about making financial gains at the expense of others; warnings about dreaming up ways to cheat unsuspecting poor people out of what little they had. The rich man in the parable very well may have gotten rich using some of these practices the Bible warns against. And managers in those days made their money in a way similar to tax collectors of the time—they padded the bills people owed and kept the difference for themselves.

In short, neither the rich man nor his dishonest manager are lifted up as heroes in this story. If anything, the manager in particular is an anti-hero. We see that he’s doing something questionable, but maybe we root for him anyway, like Robin Hood, because he’s getting the better of his boss, and he’s helping people in the process. His boss even knows what he’s doing, and simply tips his cap in appreciation for being shrewd.

Usually, though, we want parables to have an easy to identify hero. In this case, however, Jesus gives us example of sinful humanity at work. And in doing so he hearkens back to a much older Biblical tradition: scoundrels like Abraham; rascals like Jacob; people who are known for living on the shadow-side of life like Rahab—folks who have no claim to good morals or exemplary behavior, who become the very people God chooses and uses to bring blessing, forgiveness, grace, mercy, and liberation into the world.

Folks like these know they have neither earned nor deserved God’s favor. And that makes them the perfect people to receive God’s grace and forgiveness as a free gift because they’ve got nothing left to lose, and they’ve been humbled enough to look to God for help. It goes to show—salvation doesn’t come from what you’ve done, or what you’ve left undone. It comes through who you know—or more to the point, through who knows you.

God’s grace comes through a relationship; through divine friendship with you. Friendships. Relationships. That’s the one thing the dishonest manager knows he’s got going for him. He uses his final hours on the job before being fired not to line his pockets with a few more coins, which will be gone soon enough anyway. Instead he calls his master’s debtors, and forgives debts. “You owe 100 jugs of olive oil? Let’s make that 50, okay? And you—you owe 100 containers of wheat? Is 80 good with you?” He uses his final hours on the job investing in the ways that will strengthen his relationships and friendships. His actions will end up strengthening the social fabric among struggling people, including himself. He’s going to build up community instead of being just for himself. That’s how he’s going to experience God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and blessings in the end.

He’s still a bit of a rascal. But at some level, aren’t we all? None of us is perfect. We each need grace. Martin Luther taught a Latin phrase “simil justus et pecator”—meaning each of us is a saint and a sinner at the same time; the good and the bad is all rolled up into one within each of us.

But like the dishonest manager, we do have something going for us. It’s not what you’ve done; it’s not what you’ve failed to do; but it’s who you know—or rather, it’s who knows you. Jesus knows you. And he used the wealth of his life to invest in sinners like us by going to the cross. With God’s grace being poured out upon the world from the cross, Jesus is letting us know that God is out of the sin counting business, and into the forgiveness and new life business. And now Jesus lives a risen life so that divine friendship by faith is really yours.

By sending the Holy Spirit, Jesus keeps investing in God’s relationship with you. When you think about, relationships are really the currency of eternity. How many people do you think you’ll meet when you get to heaven? In the meantime you can get a head start by getting to know some of the people you’ll meet in heaven, right in the here and now.

As with the dishonest manager, it’s friendships and relationships that really hold the most potential to transform us. So build your friendship with Jesus. Build your friendship with the people at church (which, by the way, is one of the few places anymore where we can be blessed by cross-generational friendships). Build friendships with neighbors, and in the neighborhood; with local businesses and organizations. Build friendships at work and at school. Build friendships through Confirmation Class, Sunday School, Youth Group, service organizations, mission trips, service projects. There are so many ways to build friendships; I’m sure you can think of more.

These friendships and relationships are some of the greatest treasures of God’s creation, and their value grows the more you give them away. Amen.