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Taken at
first glance, Jesus seems to be endorsing dishonesty in today’s gospel
parable when he says, “For the children of this world are more prudent
in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.”
Okay. So,
those who are wise in the ways of this world are adept at dealing with
others like themselves. And, Jesus praises those who are clever in
this way. The flip-side of what Jesus said is:
“For the children of the light are less prudent in dealing with those
who are wise in the ways of the world.” In other words, those who
seek to inform their decision-making process with God’s laws are likely
to get swindled by the more clever, that is, those who are wise in the
ways of the world. Is this what Jesus wants? For his
disciples to be duped?
Well, let’s think
about that a bit.
The late-Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen
who represented the State of Illinois in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s once
observed about the
federal government’s budget, “one million dollars here and one million
dollars there eventually adds up to some real money.” That’s
certainly the case with this steward who was responsible for managing
the day-to-day business affairs of an absentee landlord. A true “child
of this world,” this steward prudently took a small “cut off the top” of the
rent he regularly collected from the tenant farmers whom the steward had hired to work
the land belonging to the absentee landlord. In short, the steward was using small,
regular portions of the
absentee landlord’s income to build up what would become a rather sizeable “nest egg”
to secure his financial future. Everything was fine, we are told, until
the absentee landlord somehow discovered the steward’s scheme.
But, that’s not
the real point of this parable and it’s certainly not the behavior Jesus
was praising.
Since the steward
knew he was going to be fired anyway for cheating both the absentee
landlord as well as the farmers, he responded to his being caught by the
absentee landlord with
his “hand in the cookie jar” by reducing the debt the tenant farmers
owed. The steward’s sole objective? To curry favor with them. Now, the farmers would
owe the steward and he could count on them to provide financial
assistance in the future.
This is the behavior Jesus praises: the steward’s ability to respond so cleverly in
the middle of this crisis to ensure his long-term goal: providing for
his future worldly needs. Knowing he
was guilty of theft, the steward concocted and hatched that second
scheme so that he would continue collecting money from the tenant
farmers even after being fired. Jesus praised the steward because
he was a true
“child of this world” who used his time, talent, and treasure to build
up his nest egg for the future.
Metaphorically,
this parable uses the images of the steward and his ability to think on
his feet in a crisis about how he will secure his material
future—thinking about “little things”—as a way to contrast disciples and
their ability to think on their feet about how they will secure their
spiritual future—thinking about “big things.” Jesus says: “The
person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in
great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is
also dishonest in great ones.” The message is simple: when a
disciple takes even a small cut off the top to secure one’s material
future, that disciple is also dishonest in matters pertaining to one’s
spiritual future.
Although there
are many theological problems associated with the following image, it is helpful
in the context of today’s gospel to think of God as the “Absentee Landlord” who has
entrusted us with His time, talent, and treasure. As stewards of God’s
infinite wealth, we are entrusted with managing it so that when God returns, we
will be able to present back to God all that is His, including all of
what it has grown into due to our good stewardship of God’s time,
talent, and treasure.
But, there’s a
catch. Because God is an Absentee Landlord, we may find ourselves
tempted in small things to take a “cut off the top”—to keep a little back for ourselves
and put it into our “rainy day” account or into our IRA/401K
account—just in case we may need “a little extra” in the future. Trusting not
that God will take care of us in our need because of our good
stewardship of His time, talent, and treasure, we may be tempted to
trust solely in ourselves and to use all that God has entrusted to us to provide
for what we believe might be needed at some unknown point in the future.
If that’s a little
too abstract, thinking about making homemade cookies for your children.
The idea of making those cookies is motivated by care for your children.
You know the cookies will make them happy and, quite likely, you also
know they are going to devour all of them. So, as you put the
cookies into the cookie jar, you decide to keep a couple back for
yourself to enjoy later. You pick a couple of choice morsels out
of the batch, put them into a plastic bag, and hide the bag containing
the cookies somewhere in the pantry.
That’s precisely
what it means to serve “mammon.” Rather than using God’s time,
talent, and treasure to do go and trusting in God to provide
for our future needs, we use God’s time, talent, and treasure to provide
a little every now and then for ourselves. After all, we don’t
know just when we might need that “little” that has grown into “much.”
Even if we don’t need it or use it, at least we have the comfort of
knowing that we’ve got it. And so, as the “children of this world” do, we end up
worshipping mammon—whether that’s money, the ability to think on our
feet in a crisis, getting others to “owe” us or, as with the steward,
all of these. Of these people, Jesus says: “You cannot serve both God
and mammon.”
Back to the cookie
example. You made the cookies for your children—an unadulterated
act of charity—but you sullied that pure act by hiding some for
yourself. You didn’t make the cookies just for the pleasure of
your children but also for your own pleasure. What was 100% good
and honorable is less so because it has been tainted by a small bit of
self-interested selfishness.
It is truly
wonderful to consider how God has entrusted all of with His gifts of
time, of talent, and of treasure. We possess an infinitely valuable
trust of which God has made us the stewards. God is the Absentee Landlord
who allows us to use what is God’s not to secure a future, as the “children of this world” would, but to build up God’s
kingdom, as the “children of the light” would.
This presents all
of us an almighty challenge!
We’re pretty much
used to “gotch-ya politics” and, no more than during election years.
Commercial after commercial depicts candidates for public office saying
one thing to one group only then to present the same candidates saying
exactly the opposite thing to another group. If all of these
commercials accurately depict what women and men have to do to get
elected to public office today, it’s quite likely that most politicians
don’t use the moral compass of God’s law to guide their decision-making process. The
compass most politicians appear to be using—if we are to believe the
political commercials—is the compass which augurs the current state of
public opinion.
This raises a
very important spiritual question for us to consider: Is an election
victory moral when a politician campaigns by lying about one’s opponent
or presenting one’s opponent in ways that turns public opinion against
the opponent? That is, is it legitimate to use illegitimate means—is it
moral to use immoral means—to attain public office? Quite likely, most
of us believe not. Then, in light of Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel,
why do so many politicians do so? To secure “mammon” for the future,
the mammon called “re-election”? If so, these women and men are
very clever “children of this world” whom Jesus would praise but they
are not “children of the light.” Isn’t public service just
that—serving the public’s interest not one’s self-interest?
It’s easy to pick
on politicians, especially during an election season, so let’s consider
other women and men we would hope provide moral leadership in their
important roles as stewards of God’s time, talent, and treasure.
How about
spouses?
We all know that
the marriage ceremony requires the bride and groom to vow themselves to
love, honor, and obey each other all of the days of their lives.
This vow is the “I do” part that changes entirely how the bride and
groom are to view themselves and their new life together. No
longer is the husband to be the center of his love and affection.
No, his wife is to take this
place. Likewise, no longer is the wife the center of her love and
affection. No, her husband is to take this place. And, because they
are married sacramentally, both must make God the center of their mutual
love and affection. This is the bedrock upon which the “children
of the light” build their marriages.
So, what is it
about the “I do” part that a husband or wife doesn’t get? What compass
are so many brides and grooms using today that allows them push their
spouse and God away from center stage and to make themselves the center
of their love and affection?
This raises a
very important question for us to consider: Do these spouses believe a
good marriage is built upon the bedrock of selfishness? That is, is it
morally right for spouses to deny the “I do” part simply because “I feel
unfulfilled”? Quite likely, most of us believe not. Then, in light of
Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel, why do so many spouses actually do
so? To secure “mammon” for the future, the mammon called the
“liberation of self-discovery” I am owed? What compass are they
using to determine what they should do? If they are using the
compass that points to what so many couples are doing—namely, as a study
reported in the New York Times this past week indicates, the
nearly 50% of couples married in the late 1960s and 70s whose marriages
didn’t survived to their 25th anniversaries—Jesus praises these spouses
for their clever ways of defining marriage as “being all about me, my
feelings, and my life” and reneging on their vows. Very clever,
indeed! Yet, is this not the bedrock upon which the “children of
this world” destroy what could be a good marriage? For the
“children of the light,” discovering their fulfillment by using the
compass of God’s law to determine what selfless love of God and one’s
spouse demands is the bedrock upon which a sacramental marriage is built
over the course of years and decades.
How about
parents?
We all know that
when young people want to get some new gadget or gizmo or to do
something that presents a proximate occasion of sin, it is not unusual
that young people will say to or beg of their parents, “I really need
this” or “Everyone else’s parents are letting them do it.” What compass
do parents use when a child pushes the envelope? Is it the compass that
measures how happy a child will be if given that new gadget or gizmo?
Is it the compass that measures public opinion, namely, what other
parents allow their children to have or to do? Or, is it the
compass of God’s law that measures what is required if their child is to grow in
grace and wisdom? Sadly, the compass many parents appear to be using—if
we look at what many young people are allowed to possess and to do—is
that compass which augurs what other parents are doing.
This raises a
very important question for us to consider: Is good parenting a matter
of doing for children what they want or what other parents do for their
children? That is, is it morally right for parents to abdicate their
God-given authority simply because “everybody else has one” or
“everybody else is doing it”? Quite likely, most of us believe not.
Then, in light of Jesus’ teaching in today’s gospel, why do so many
parents actually do so? To secure “mammon” for the future, the mammon
called “I want to be my child’s friend”? If so, Jesus praises
these Moms and Dads because they are very clever, indeed. They are
giving their children everything they want so that their children will
like them. This is the bedrock upon
which the “children of this world” raise their own children. For
the “children of the light,” good parenting is defined by using the
compass of God’s law to determine what selfless love of God and one’s
children demands so that they grow in grace and wisdom before God and humanity?
Isn’t this what is required of any parent whose interest is the true
well-being of each child?
Today’s readings
from scripture suggest that how we act as stewards of God’s time,
talent, and treasure has eternal consequences. We may think—like the
steward who was responsible for managing the affairs of the absentee
landlord—that we’ll never get caught when, like “children of this
world,” we squander for our own purposes what God has entrusted to us.
But, the steward did get caught and in that moment of crisis, he
responded even more cleverly by using the absentee landlord’s possessions to
secure a future for himself. And, for being this clever and astute
regarding worldly matters, Jesus praises the steward.
But, we miss the
point of the parable, if we stop there. What is of far greater
significance than trifling “little things” like worldly matters are
those “big things” called spiritual matters. God—the Absentee
Landlord—has entrusted each of us with an infinite wealth of His time, talent, and
treasure to tend and to care for all of God’s creation. God entrusts
politicians with His time, talent, and treasure to create a more just
and peaceful nation. God entrusts spouses with His time, talent, and
treasure to create loving marriages. God entrusts parents with His
time, talent, and treasure to co-create children with God whom they will
nurture in grace and wisdom before God and humanity.
The Stoic
philosopher of ancient Rome, Lucius Seneca, wrote: “Life is not given to
anyone as a possession, but as something we are stewards of.” Yes,
Seneca is correct, we are all stewards, that is, God has entrusted to
all of us—not just politicians, spouses, and parents—His time, His
talent, and His treasure. When we use the compass of selfishness to
guide our decision-making process concerning how we will use what is
God’s in “small things,” we are serving mammon not God. But, when we
use the compass of God’s law to guide our decision-making process
concerning how we will act as good stewards of what is God’s in “big things,” we
serve God not mammon.
It isn’t the case
that we shouldn’t be temped to make some of what is God’s our own.
After all, it is in the crucible of temptation that we determine whether
we are trustworthy in small things. As Jesus said, “I tell you,
make friends with dishonest wealth so that when it fails, you will be
welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Those decisions made in
“little things” render us trustworthy or untrustworthy in “big things.”
In light of
today’s gospel, even though we are “children of this world” and must be
prudent, let us place our hope not in our ability to outwit the tenant
farmers or the Absentee Landlord. Instead, as “children of the light,”
let us place our hope in the promise of the prophet Amos who said, “The
Lord has sworn…Never will I forget a thing they have done!” May
our purpose, as disciples, be not to let God forget what good stewards
we have been of His time, talent, and treasure by presenting to God a
better world because we made God’s law the foundation for our decisions.
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