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Luke 16:1-15 · The Parable of the Shrewd Manager
There's Something about Con Men
Luke 16:1-15
Sermon
by King Duncan
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There’s an old story that many of you may know about a young man in Montana who bought a horse from a farmer for $100. The farmer agreed to deliver the horse the next day. However when the next day arrived, the farmer reneged on his promise.

“I’m afraid the horse has died,” he explained.

The young man said, “Well, then give me my money back.”

The farmer said, “Can’t do that. I spent it already.”

The young man thought for a moment and said, “Ok, then, just bring me the dead horse.”

The farmer asked, “What you going to do with a dead horse?”

The young man said, “I’m going to raffle it off.”

The farmer said, “You can’t raffle off a dead horse!”

The young man said, “Sure I can. Watch me. I just won’t tell anybody he’s dead.”

A month later, the farmer met up with the young man and asked, “What happened with that dead horse?”

The young man said, “I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars apiece and made a profit of $998 . . .”

The farmer said, “Didn’t anyone complain?”

The young man said, “Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back.”

Now there’s an enterprising young man. We might even call him something of a con man. There’s something about a con man that captures the imagination. There have been several successful weekly television shows through the years in which the hero is a former con man now using his creative skills for the greater good.

Jesus once told a parable about a man with that kind of wily disposition. He, too, was something of a con man. Most of you know the story quite well.

There was a rich man who had a manager for his estate. The manager, unfortunately, was a bit lax in his oversight of his master’s affairs. The master finally decided he had had enough. He called this manager in, told him he was finished, and demanded he provide an accounting of his work.

The terrified manager was beside himself with fear. “What shall I do now?” he wondered to himself. “My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg.” Then he hatched a plan.

He called in each of his master’s debtors one at a time. He asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?”

“Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,” the first debtor replied.

The manager told him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred gallons.”

Then he asked the second, “And how much do you owe?”

“A thousand bushels of wheat,” he replied.

The desperate manager said, “Take your bill and make it eight hundred.”

This guy’s ethics were certainly out of whack, but his sense of survival was kicking in at full speed. He used his privileged position to buy himself some friends so that he would have somewhere to turn when he was out of a job. He was taking a risk, of course the risk that his boss would have him thrown in jail. That’s what should have happened, of course. But this is Jesus’ parable, and, let’s face it, Jesus sometimes thought outside the box. Listen to how Jesus ended this little tale:

“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world,” said Jesus, “are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”

Whoa! Did we hear right? The master commended the dishonest manager? In most of Jesus’ parables, the manager represents God. What does this mean? Does God like con men? That would be outrageous. We glamorize con men, but the truth is they take advantage of weak and unsuspecting people. I suspect God despises con men and con women. However, for more than 2,000 years conscientious people of faith have struggled with this parable which is exactly what Christ intended. Jesus wants us to puzzle over his teachings. He wants us to stretch our minds and our spirits. This is how we grow. Let’s face it, many people have a superficial faith to which they have never given more than a couple minutes of thought in their entire lives.

There are some possible reasons why the master commended the dishonest manager in Jesus’ story.

First of all, Jesus liked people of action. In the parable of the Good Samaritan what made this Samaritan “good”? Did he keep all the commandments? Who knows? Did he subscribe to all the articles of orthodox faith? Nope. The fact that he was a Samaritan means that he was slightly outside the mainstream of faith. What made him good? He saw a person in need and he helped him.

Notice, a priest walked by. You don’t get any holier than that, but what did he do? That’s right he kept on walking. A teacher of the law came by the pillar of respectability. What did he do? Right absolutely nothing. But this despised Samaritan saw a man who needed help and he was moved to action. Jesus likes people of action.

Jesus has enough hand-wringers in the world. You know what I’m talking about people who look at the world’s problems and say, “Dear me, somebody ought to do something.” Well, yes they should. Let me rephrase that yes, WE should. There are times that call for immediate action.

I was reading recently about a man with the unlikely name of William John Cavendish Bentinck-Scott, the fifth Duke of Portland. We’ll just call him William. William was a recluse who was deathly afraid of having contact with other human beings. His home was a mansion, complete with a giant ballroom, but William rarely left his bedroom. He communicated with his staff by writing notes. No one was to speak to him, look at him, touch him. He had an elaborate tunnel built beneath his estate so that he could move around without ever being seen. In the unlikely event that one of his servants might actually see him, they were warned to pretend he wasn’t even there. (1)

Now, there is a man with a problem, a serious problem. We feel for him. But the truth of the matter is that many of us have a little of William John Cavendish within us. Our lives are dominated by fear, fear of what other people will think of us, fear of rejection, fear of making a mistake. So, we move through life making ourselves as invisible as we can, doing as little as we can. Not because we are bad we are simply afraid. The dishonest steward was afraid, too. He was losing his job. By his own admission, he wasn’t strong enough to dig, and he was ashamed to beg. What was he going to do? He hatched himself a plan. He would call in his master’s debtors and discount their debts, thereby making friends for himself that might do him a favor in return when he was out on the streets. Jesus praised him for taking action.

There are some people who won’t even act in their own behalf! Have you noticed that? Somebody or something outside themselves has to motivate them to get into action.

A sailor sent a hilarious story to Reader’s Digest. He wrote that on his first day in the fire room of a Navy destroyer, it was his duty to open a particular valve. Unfortunately, the valve control, the size of a steering wheel, seemed to be stuck.

After his best efforts failed to budge it, he reported his difficulty to the chief. The chief told him to keep trying and that he would send “Tiny” to help him.

Soon what appeared to be the largest sailor in the Navy loomed over the young sailor. The sailor grinned, thinking that Tiny would solve his problem. But instead of taking the wheel in hand, Tiny merely pointed to it and said, “Open that valve right now!” The young sailor got the valve open. (2)

Tiny motivated him to discover strength he did not know he had.

There are some people who will not get into action even to help themselves. They have to have someone else motivate them to do what they know needs doing.

Pastor Richard Stetler tells about two men whom he calls Jim and Bob who worked in the same division at AT&T Wireless. Both of these men lost their jobs when AT&T merged with Cingular Wireless in 2005.

When the news reached Jim that he was going to be laid off, he grew very bitter. He was 54 and immediately began to lament about company politics, and how he had given his life and soul to AT&T only to be treated with no respect. He grew extremely fearful. He said, “What company would want to hire a person at my age?”

Bob, Jim’s colleague, was 56. He, too, was faced with the possibility of losing his job. However, he began thinking of possibilities. He had friends in Human Resources at Verizon and in other smaller companies. He had networked well during his career. He placed his resume into their hands and carried himself with a hopeful, enthusiastic attitude, believing that this change only represented a blip on his career path. He knew he had a wealth of experience and an institutional memory that his younger counterparts would not have.

“Regardless of what anyone believes,” says pastor Stetler, “there is a barrier that separates these two men . . . Jim’s bitterness did not serve him during subsequent interviews with other companies. His hurt feelings and unhealed spirit would bleed through. The obvious happened. Bob left his position early and is currently with Verizon and Jim is experiencing a gulf he cannot cross.” (3)

Some of you have seen that happen to people. Like Jim, they are faced with a difficult situation and they become paralyzed with fear and uncertainty. That usually leads to bitterness and anger. There are some people who, for whatever reason, become defeated and refuse to act in their own behalf.

The amazing thing is how religious some of these people are. I may sound a little cruel here, but we are dealing with a deep spiritual problem.

You realize, of course, that one reason people come to religion is that they are afraid. Religion helps them deal with a stressful world. So, when some people have a problem they pray . . . and they pray . . . and they pray some more. And they wait. And they wait. And they wait some more. And all the while they’re being very religious. The problem is that at the same time they are praying and waiting, God is also waiting waiting for them to do something about their own situation.

Please do not misunderstand. God wants us to pray when we are in a difficult situation, but God also wants us to act. Pick up the phone. Enlist the help of family or a friend. Learn some new skills. Don’t sit there passively and expect someone else to rescue you.

Jesus says something interesting at the end of this little parable. “The people of this world,” said Jesus, “are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light . . .” Jesus understood how the real world operates. He knew that sometimes even scoundrels are successful, not because they are smarter or more talented, but because they are opportunistic. They are not held back by their fears. They are not held back by their doubts. They have learned to be self-reliant and self-motivated.

We have a phrase that’s not heard much anymore. Have you ever heard someone say, “He worked like the dickens”? The “dickens” is another name for Satan. In fact, you may hear someone say, “He worked like the devil to get it done.”

The implication is that the devil is always busy seeking to achieve his wicked ends. He never misses an opportunity to tempt, to discourage, to embitter.

Well, there’s a little truth in that. I guarantee you that if you hit a rough patch in the road, and you sit around feeling sorry for yourself, the tempter will move in quickly and work like the dickens to cause you to quit trying.

Jesus praised the dishonest steward because he did not give in to his fears. He reached out and made friends who would help him when he was out on the street. Jesus obviously would not approve of his methods, but that’s another parable. Here his purpose is to spotlight the dishonest man’s resolve. He was in a predicament and he took action, and Jesus praised him. And that is what Jesus wants us to do as well. Don’t get discouraged. Don’t sit around feeling sorry for yourself. Pray, yes, in all circumstances, but if there is something you can do for yourself, do it, and God will bless your effort.

There is a delightful story of a man who was shipwrecked on a lonely unknown desert island. To his surprise he found that he was not alone. A large tribe of people shared the island. Amazingly they welcomed him warmly and treated him very well. In fact, they made him their king and catered to his every desire.

He was delighted but puzzled. Why were they treating him in such a royal fashion? As his ability to communicate increased, he learned that they had a tribal custom to choose a king for a year. But when the year was over, this king would be transported to a certain island and abandoned. The man’s delight instantaneously turned into distress. Things were great now, but soon he would be alone on the deserted isle.

But then he hit on a shrewd plan. He was the king! He could order people to do whatever he wanted. So, over the next several months he sent members of the tribe to clear this other island. He had them build a beautiful house, furnish it and plant crops. He then sent some chosen friends to live there and wait for him. Then when his time of reigning was over, he was put in a place carefully prepared, full of friends delighted to receive him. (4)

It’s not in scripture that God helps those who help themselves. This saying is usually attributed to Ben Franklin. He quoted it in Poor Richard’s Almanac in 1757.

The saying is only partially true at best. God helps all those who call upon His name, not just the highly motivated. But God will not do for us what we can do for ourselves. If God constantly worked to solve all our problems for us, we would remain forever emotionally and spiritually immature.

Got a problem? Here’s the answer: Pray and work. God likes us to pray, but he also likes people of action. Pray and work. Don’t attempt one without the other.

1. “Man of the year: Duke Digger” Maxim, May 2002, p. 40. Cited in Homiletics, Dec. 2002, p. 45.

2. Contributed to “Humor In Uniform” by Roger A. Kirkland.

3. Rev. Richard E. Stetler, http://www.stmatthews‑bowie.org/Worship/Sermons/2004/sermon_09_26_04.asp.

4. http://www.swiftcreekbaptistchurch.com/Sermons/Luke16_01-9.pdf.

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Dynamic Preaching Sermons Third Quarter 2010, by King Duncan