Dishonest. Honestly.

Luke 16:1-13

“And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly…”  --Luke 16:8

Jesus’ parable in this week’s lesson reminds me of the Disney film, Pirates of the Caribbean.  I have always enjoyed this swashbuckling adventure (or should I say, “mis-adventure”) story.  In the film, the character of Captain Jack Sparrow is very much like the manager in the parable.  He is a pirate.  He is a self-serving thief and con-man who loves treasure, women and rum.  Hardly a character to emulate!  And yet, somehow, Captain Jack keeps doing the right things for the wrong reasons.  Somewhere deep beneath the crusty barnacles of his irreverent and immoral life, lies a kind heart and a weird kind of compassion that oozes out in spite of him. At one point in the movie, someone says, “Yes, he is a pirate…  And a good man.”  And there’s truth in that.  In the end, his miscreant behavior manages to bring together the hero and the heroine for a happy ending to the story.  

The dishonest manager in the parable is, well, dishonest.  As Jack says in Pirates, “You can always count on a dishonest man to be dishonest.”  That is true of this manager.  All attempts at scrubbing this man to make him seem more noble require us to read things into Jesus’ parable that simply aren’t there.  Even his own boss says he is dishonest while he is commending him!  But, in the end, his miscreant behavior significantly reduces the huge debts of the two people whose bills he adjusts.  I would guess they were grateful.  Somehow, in spite of himself, he manages to do the right thing.

Jesus seems to join the master in commending the man’s dishonesty. But, I don’t think he is suggesting that his disciples become dishonest scoundrels who squander their property. (Any more than Jesus commends the behavior of the Prodigal Son who squanders his inheritance in the parable that immediately precedes this one).  No.  Instead, I think Jesus wants the disciples  to understand that even scoundrels can do the right thing…  even if it is for the wrong reasons.  The point is, if a scoundrel like this dishonest manager can do the right thing, so can they.  

In Luke, Jesus talks a lot about wealth and possessions.  He commends those who use what they have for the sake of others (even if it is in spite of themselves!) and is critical of those who hoard their possessions or use them for their own benefit.  Jesus is trying to teach the disciples, and us, that we need to think about how weuse our possessions and wealth for the sake of others.  

Recently, I heard someone ask the question, “Do you control your money or does your money control you?”  I think that’s a good question.  Or to put it another way, “Do you serve your wealth or does it serve you?”  Or, to push it a little further, “Do you serve your wealth or do you use it to serve God?”  Or maybe even to push it a little more, “Do you serve your wealth, or does God use it, through you, to serve the world?”  Maybe even in spite of you?  Jesus’ frequent teaching throughout the Gospels suggest that how we use our money and possessions is a spiritual matter.  Generosity is good for you. It will open your heart to others and to God’s eternal generosity for you.  In the end, I like to imagine that the dishonest manager and maybe even Captain Jack Sparrow figured that out.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

Thanks for reading!  Pray for those who help us invest wisely, and for those who give us the opportunity to share what we have with others.  

The Carpenter's Pencil

Luke 15:1-10

‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’  --Luke 15:9

Last week, during my vacation, I built a set of steps for my deck.  The old ones had rotted to the point of collapsing, and safety demanded their replacement.  I am a slow carpenter.  One of the reasons I’m slow is that I often set down my tools around the work area and then can’t find them.  During this particular building project, I managed to lose my only carpenter’s pencil.

With increasing frustration and irritation, I searched and searched for the pencil in the small area I had covered between where I had used it last and where I noticed it was missing. After searching for what seemed like forever, I was convinced it had been swallowed up by a black hole.  I was just about to give up when…  there it was… laying hidden in a tuft of green grass. I was convinced it had been spit up by the black hole.  I was sure I had searched that same spot at least ten times.   

I rejoiced.

Can you think of a time when you found something you lost?  Can you remember finding something you had given up on ever finding again, or were about to?

Think about how YOU felt. 

I think that’s what Jesus was trying to say about how God feels when God finds us!  OK, God never really loses us!  But, we humans do have a bad habit of falling out of life’s pockets and slipping into the gaps between the sofa cushions of the world.  Like pencils, we slip out of holes in shirt pockets and wind up hiding in the grass. 

No matter how lost we are, God always keeps looking for us.  Unlike me and my pencil, I don’t think God is ever ready to give up on us.  Like the woman and the coin, the scriptures teach us that the God of steadfast love persistently searches for God’s lost ones.   As Paul writes, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  I believe that!  I count on it!

Jesus didn’t give up on those around him either.  He welcomed tax collectors and sinners, along with prostitutes, lepers, and those discounted by the world.  He even ate with Pharisees and others who were his enemies!  He invites us to do the same.  Not because we’re so righteous or better than the lost ones of our worlds.  Not because we’re like the woman with the coin.  But, we join Jesus’ search because we know we’re lost coins too.  We are compelled to invite everyone to the table because even the likes of us have been invited by Jesus. 

My pencil could do nothing to make me find it.  It could not shout or cry out or confess its faith in me or do anything else to help me in my search.  When it comes to being lost from God, there is nothing we can do either. And yet, somehow, God still manages to find us, reclaim us, and rejoice over us.  That’s grace.  Grace worth sharing.  The cornerstone of our faith.

Peace,

Bishop Mike

Pray for those who feel lost and alone, and who wander and wait to know the God who loves them. Pray that God uses us to accompany them and help them discover the God who never loses track of any of us.  Not once.

Thanks for reading.