I’ve been thinking a lot about heaven lately. When you minister to the dying and the bereaved, you can’t help but think about what heaven is going to be like.

In the midst of all my pondering, I was helped by, of all people, Dennis the Menace. Under a tree, obviously just enjoying life and reflecting, a friend says “I wonder what heaven is like?” In successive frames that conveys seriousness, satisfaction and conviction, Dennis responds, “Well...it probably looks like toy shop.”....Sounds like a carousel....”....and smells like a Deli....

Wisdom comes from unlikely places. For Dennis, Heaven is as good as it gets. Looks like a toy shop, sounds like a carousel and smells like a Deli.” All right, Dennis. I can go on that, too. Wisdom comes from unlikely places. Jesus knew that, so He told the parable of the dishonest steward. It’s a troubling story...not one that we do not get the message on first reading. In fact there’s some confusing signals in that it demand we stop and work through them. Rehearse the story. An imaginary rich man had a steward. Now a steward is simply a manager, someone who manages the resources and wealth of another so the owner can enjoy the wealth without bothering to attend to the details of the management. Many rock stars, successful athletes, and people of that nature, who have great wealth, do the same thing. They hire mangers who, in turn employ accountants and lawyers to handle their client’s wealth. In Jesus’ story, we have a very wealthy person who employed a manager - in biblical language - a steward. The steward’s task was to take care of the wealth of the master. But the master discovered the steward , in some fashion, was squandering or abusing his stewardship. So, the master called him in and said, in a sense, “You are fired! Would you please put the books in order before I put you out the door?” The crooked employee then began to consider how he was going to live after he is kicked out on the street. He decided he was not strong enough to dig, and he was too proud to beg. What was he going to do? He hatched a very clever scheme. He invited all of his master’s debtors into the office and, one by one, he inquired how much money they owed the master. (We are getting a hint of why he was not a very good steward. He does not seem to know how much is owed the master.) Systematically, he reduced the indebtedness by as much as 50 percent, apparently so that when he was fired, he would have people who were indebted to him and his life would be the easier for it. Apparently the master discovered what was going on, - this is the thing that is so shocking to us coming from the lips of Jesus - called in the dishonest steward, and commended him for his shrewdness. (Dr. Carl L. Schenck, “Godly Shrewdness”)

Now that’s what’s troubling. The master commends the manager for his shrewdness. Actually the manager has been dishonest. What have we here? Is Jesus praising shrewdness? Is He affirming dishonesty?

The key to the parable is Jesus’ commentary on it in Verse 8: For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

Remember parables generally are pithy little stories that generally illustrate only one point. So the key to understanding this story is found in what Jesus says at the end of the story - - the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

We need to see this parable as a trickster story — the kind of story that appears everywhere in every culture, and in every age. They are stories about how an underdog gets the best of the top dog, stories in which the mighty are knocked from their thrones and those of low estate are elevated. The heroes and heroines of these stories are people who, because of circumstances of poverty, or birth, or misfortune, are at a disadvantage in this life, or find themselves in a crisis, or in a situation of overwhelming odds. And in that situation they use creative and ingenious schemes to gain some advantage or to make a fool out of their adversary. That’s why they are so popular. They appeal to that instinct in all of us that roots for the underdog. That is, unless we happen to be the top dog. Br’er Rabbit stories are trickster stories told by oppressed blacks in the Old South. Huckleberry Finn had something of the trickster in him. (Mark Trotter, “Jesus and the Trickster”)

So Jesus tells this trickster story not to affirm dishonesty but to affirm shrewdness. Now don’t get ahead of me. Jesus is not calling us to be shrewd in the fashion that we use the word. Our use of the word carries a lot of extra luggage. In fact a part of the dictionary’s definition of shrewd includes the word sly. But the basic definition of the word is “sharp or wise; sagacious, artful.”

In that meaning of the word Jesus is affirming shrewdness. On another occasion He had called us to be “as wise as serpents and as harmless as doves.” Here the point of His parable is made clear in the commentary: “For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”

I.

Let’s make one big point about the primary meaning of the parable and then move to our particular focus. The point is this: If we believe that Jesus is Lord, and that God keeps His promises, why do we allow ourselves to be defeated by adversity?

Now you wonder how I get that out of the parable? Go back to what Jesus said: The children of this age - - other translations have it the sons of this world - - are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.

“The children of this world is a code word for those who live without faith in God. They don’t believe that their lives are guided by providence. They are what we would call in our day, secularists. They don’t believe that God guides the future. They don’t believe that there is such a thing as providence. They think it’s all up to them. They also believe that life is basically unfair, and that nothing will change that. But they are determined to make the best of things anyway. Nor do they complain about misfortune. They take life as it comes. And with gusto, they throw themselves into living the life that is given them.

Now here is the point. How much more should you, who believe in providence, who believe that life is fair, who believe that Jesus is Lord, and that His Kingdom is waiting for you, how much more should you take life as it comes, making the best of it, trusting that God keeps His promises, living life to the full in gratitude and in thanksgiving.

He invites the comparison. The children of this world are more shrewd than the children of light. The children of this world, the tricksters, are the ones who appear to be more faithful than the children of light. What faith ought to mean is that you don’t give up, and you don’t bemoan your fate, and you don’t complain that life is unfair. If you believe that the future is in God’s hands, then you keep on working, and you keep on believing, and you keep living your life to the full, even in the face of a crisis.

It is interesting to note that the early Christian theology, we would call it “primitive theology”, actually pictured Jesus as a trickster. It was in the first theory about what happened on the cross. It said the Jesus fooled death by trusting God. The message of the cross ever since then has been that death has no power over those who trust the Promise. That’s why Paul said, in his letter to the Corinthians, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?...Thanks be to God who give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Here is what that victory looks like. Bonnie Kittle taught Old Testament literature at Yale Divinity School. She lived with cancer for years. Few knew that. Those people in her classes, they did not know it.

She came into class one day and lectured on Moses’ farewell speech to the nation in the Book of Deuteronomy. It was a lecture of such special excellence that the class arose and gave her an ovation. Visibly moved, Bonnie Kittle came back into the class, told everybody to sit down. She told them that this would be her last class with them because she was going to the hospital. They were stunned. They didn’t know. She had never mentioned anything.

Her last lecture was on Moses’ farewell speech. Moses had taken the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years. He wanted now to enjoy the culmination of that pilgrimage and enter the Promised Land with them. But he couldn’t do it. He was not allowed. He accepted that in faith. He faced death now as he faced every other moment in his life, trusting in the providence of God. The class saw the parallel. The saw Bonnie Kittle had lived the same way.

Her father, at her memorial service, said this about her. “For these last three years this is the way she lived; with her husband and her two boys. Three surgeries, four bouts with debilitating radiation, a year and a half of chemotherapy, a wheelchair, and then finally confined to bed.” Then he asked, “Did she crawl or curse or complain or strike out against the world? No. After surgery she and her family went to Israel. There were four trips west; to Yosemite, Sequoia, Disneyland, Idaho, and Mt. Ranier and the Grand Canyon. Then finally they all went to England. There were the lectures, and a week at summer camp, and ordinations, and installations and counseling, and all the while, remaining a wife and mother.”

And then Dean Keck spoke. “She bonded with the one on whom death no longer holds a claim. And in her sometimes lonely battle for life, she knew that salvation is nothing if it does not deliver us from death.” And then he said this, “This is the victory of the victim which we celebrate.” The victory of the victim. (Mark Trotter, “Jesus and the Trickster”)

Now that’s the big point of the parable - - that we children of light ought to be at least as wise as children of the world. That we don’t have to cringe from life, that we don’t have to back away when life deals us a rotten hand.

So hear the question again: If we believe that Jesus is Lord, that God keeps his promises, why do we allow ourselves to be defeated by adversity?

II.

With that as the foundation, let’s move to other lessons in the Scripture. These lessons huddle around the suggestive phrase in verse 2: “Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.

Now the old Revised Standard Version and the King James Version puts it in this way: “Give”...or “Turn in an account of your stewardship”

Isn’t that the request the Lord constantly makes of us? “Turn in an account of your stewardship.” Wouldn’t life take on more intentionality and seriousness if each of us closed our day deliberately responding to this request of our Lord? “Turn in an account of your stewardship.”

Let me suggest two areas that we might focus on. One, the degree of our devotion. How would you feel this morning giving an account of the degree of your devotion to Christ?

Do you remember the story of the rich young ruler? He came to Jesus wanting to know what he might to do inherit eternal life. Jesus responded to him “You know the commandments — do not commit adultery — do not kill — do not steal — do not bear false witness — honor your father and mother.” The young ruler responded, I have observed all these commandments from the early days of my youth. Then comes one of the most probing words in all of Scripture - - “One thing you lack.”

Often times we focus on what Jesus said following that - - “One thing you lack - - go sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor.” It’s important to hear that latter word - - but the first word is the most important one. One thing you lack.

If Jesus said that to you - - one thing you lack - - what would you expect Him to follow it up with? He may say go sell all that you have and give to the poor - - though my hunch is that is unlikely for most of us. But He would say something - - one thing you lack. What is the big thing missing in your life that betrays your full devotion to Jesus Christ?

Is it a lack of compassion for the poor?

Is it a disregard for the growing number of elderly in our nation who are hidden away as names and numbers in giant filing cabinets called nursing homes?

Is it a failure to even think about a vast prison population and a criminal justices system that produces and enhances criminal lifestyle rather than rehabilitation?

One thing you lack, Jesus said. “In as much as you did unto the least of these - - the poor, the hungry, the shelterless, the prisoners, the sick, the widow, the orphan - - in as much as you did it unto the least of these you did it unto me.”

One thing you lack. Do you lack a gentle spirit, a heart of mercy? Do you lack a passion to be like Jesus? Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Is your heart broken over the things that break Jesus’ heart? Do you ever look out over our city, as Jesus looked over Jerusalem, and weep for it?

If Jesus said to you, one thing you lack, what do you suppose He would focus on? In our Scripture He’s talking about money, and the use of money. And that is not unusual. In fact, Jesus talked as much about money as He talked about anything else. If you’re familiar with Jesus’ teaching, it is no surprise that He would close His lesson with that word in verse 13:

No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

It’s one of the biggest issues in our life. Money and our use of it. Nothing is more telling of our devotion to Christ than our attitude toward and use of money.

An enormously rich man complained to a psychiatrist that despite his great wealth which enabled him to have whatever he wanted, he still felt miserable. The psychiatrist took the man to the window overlooking the street and asked, “What do you see?” The man replied, “I see men, women, and children.”

The psychiatrist then took the man to stand in front of mirror and asked, “Now what do you see?”

The man said, “I see only myself.”

The psychiatrist then said, “In the window there is a glass and in the mirror the is glass, and when you look through the glass of the window, you see others, but when you look into the glass of the mirror you see only yourself. The reason for this, “said the psychiatrist, “is that behind the glass in the mirror is a layer of silver. When silver is added, you cease to see others. You only see yourself.”

Whenever your devotion to money and material things causes you to be self-centered, you in essence deny God’s intention for your life. It is also a denial of the Christ, for Jesus came into the world so that we might be in union with God.

The implication in the parable that Jesus told is that if you allow money to be your master, there is no way you can say “Yes!” to God. There are some things money cannot buy. Money will buy a bed, but not sweet dreams. Money will buy books, but not wisdom. Money will buy a house, but not a home. Money will buy pleasure, but not joy. Money will buy a crucifix, but not a Savior. (Dr. Rodney E. Wilmoth, “Mentor, Mediator, and Master”)

Give an account of your stewardship, Jesus says to us. Make course corrections in life as a response to His probing word: One thing you lack.