Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost 2025

Luke 16 :1-13

Rev. Neli Miranda

 

Today’s Gospel presents one of Jesus’ most intriguing parables, one that speaks directly to the issue of wealth. It is important to note that Jesus never condemned wealth in itself, but he consistently challenged the systems that allowed for its accumulation in the hands of a few. His constant teaching was to share resources with the poor, who made up the vast majority of the population in his time.

To understand this challenging parable, we must place it in the economic context of first-century Palestine under Roman occupation. By this time, much of the land had been taken from its original family owners and given to local elites and Roman rulers. Land was concentrated in a few hands, forcing most people to become tenant farmers or day laborers. Furthermore, although God’s Law forbade it, the system allowed landowners to charge exorbitant interest rates, which they used to seize more land and drive peasants from their ancestral homes. Compounding this, a prevailing theology taught that wealth was a clear sign of God’s favor.

The parable tells us of a “certain rich man” who had a manager. The Greek word for “manager” is oikonomos, from which we get our word “economy”.  In the ancient world, an oikonomos was a trusted steward who managed his master’s estate and kept a clear record of all debts. In the parable, the rich man summons his manager based on an accusation—a rumor—that he is squandering his master’s property. Notice that the text never confirms the manager’s guilt. Some scholars suggest he may have been investing his master’s money in local businesses that benefited not only the master but also the wider community. It seems, however, that the rich man disliked his money being “wasted” for the benefit of others and so decided to fire him, saying, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management” (16,2).

The manager panics, worrying about his future. He feels he is not strong enough for manual labor and is too proud to beg. Then, he thinks of a shrewd strategy that will open doors for him after his dismissal. His plan is simple and benefits both himself and his master’s debtors. He calls them in one by one and reduces their debts: the first sees his debt cut from 100 jugs of olive oil to 50; the second, from 100 measures of wheat to 80, and so on.

His strategy relies on the powerful social conventions of reciprocity and hospitality. The debtors who have been shown this grace now owe the manager a favor. When they learn he has lost his job, they will be socially obligated to return the favor by welcoming him into their homes.  Finally, the manager’s strategy works not only on the debtors but also on his master, who ends up praising him for his shrewdness. Why would the master praise him when it appears the manager is stealing from him?  Some Bible scholar suggest that the manager likely canceled the debts by forgiving his own commission, a practice that was legal and benefited the debtors at his own expense while cleverly making his master appear merciful.

Verse eight is the key. We read that the master commended the “dishonest” manager because he had acted shrewdly. The Greek phrase is oikonomon tēs adikias, which more literally means “the manager of injustice”.  This suggests something profound: perhaps the source of injustice is not the manager himself, but the economic system in which he operates. He is simply using his wisdom to navigate a corrupt system for the good of others. It makes one think that we need more managers like him—people who can wisely use the resources of an unjust system to build community. Those who manage our countries’ economy should read this Jesus’ parable!

Sisters and brothers, at the conclusion, Jesus seizes on the manager's shrewdness and holds him up as an example on how to deal with an unjust economic system: “And I tell you, make friends for on yourselves by means of dishonest wealth [unjust wealth] so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes” (16,9). Jesus is teaching us that earthly wealth, which is often tied to unjust systems, must be used not for selfish gain but to “make friends”—that is, to build a community where the greatest treasure is the well-being of all.

Imagine the wonderful welcome into “the eternal homes”—in the presence of God—for those who use their lives to build such a community. Sisters and brothers, in the midst of an unjust world, may we be shrewd stewards who live by God’s economy, building equitable communities where everyone is welcomed. Amen.