Claimed, gathered and sent

Here are some thoughts about this Sunday's gospel. Luke 16:1-13 1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take you...

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 9/22/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Luke 16:1-13.    Jesus’ parables are never easy to understand, but today’s is a doozey. It is so difficult that Luke attaches no fewer than four different lessons to it. Remember, too, that these are fictional characters in the parable and only after hearing the whole story could the audience determine its relevance to their situation, much less its relevance to our situation.    This confusing parable can be divided up into four sections: the shrewd manager (vv. 1-8a), worldly wisdom (vv. 8b-9), trust in trivial matters, (vv. 10-12) and serving two masters (v. 13a). The majority of the parable concerns the shrewd manage, vv. 1-8a. The steward or manager may be a crook, but he was shrewd and knew how to get ahead. By reducing the debt of the debtors, the manager is making those that owe socially indebted to him. Therefore, he can drop by for free meals...

This week's gospel text from Luke is a doozy. The following is the result of prayer and study with the scripture. This is what I'll be preaching tomorrow morning at Bethel. What in the world is Jesus talking about in today’s parable? There is nothing easy to understand about it.                                             Is this an early example of a debt settlement offer? How ideal for our culture of consumers who are overspent, overextended, and stretched beyond reason. We’ve probably all heard the ads on the radio or TV. “Call 1-800-BYE-DEBT and let us deal with your creditors.” They make it sound so easy. However, we all know there are no easy fixes and that if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Money issues are complicated. Why does Jesus tell this story? Is Jesus praising dishonesty and rewarding the “self-serving shenanigans of a [sleazy]...