Creative accounting.
I imagine sometimes the things that stood out to Jesus in his earthly life must have been on such a different ‘wavelength’ to those around him – even those closest to him, though perhaps none were close – that he must have gotten used to keeping in the treasures he found with a wry smile. Things which otherwise he might have taken pleasure in sharing, had there been someone who would get the point. And then perhaps sometimes, he shared those things anyway. And it never seemed to bother Jesus particularly whether people understood him or not. He had faith in his Father that someone, somewhere, one day would understand.
The parable recorded in Luke chapter 16, so I imagine, is one of those things.
At this point it would be good for the reader to read the parable – Luke 16:1-14. Certainly better than to read what I have to say about it, if it were to be one or the other.
In summary, the parable concerns a rich man and his steward. Neither seems praiseworthy. The rich man judges his steward based on accusations before he has received the steward’s account. And for his part the steward, by his last acts in the service of his master, proceeds to defraud him further. Then Jesus, summing up, agrees with the rich man and commends the steward.
At this point I can imagine Jesus’ disciples thinking, well, if ever I was going to think of opening my mouth, or that I understand anything at all, I must again put any such thoughts far from me. I obviously know nothing at all. The rich man and his steward are clearly no role models, either of them – except that Jesus apparently just approved of them both. And Jesus is never bad, and never wrong.
Of those last points I believe the disciples were convinced, as am I, even if they no longer felt they had much grasp of what good or bad or right or wrong might mean in such cases. Jesus was it – whatever he might say or do.
And if we have ears to hear, the parable may also turn on its head what we ourselves in our modern Christian era might consider foundations of our own faith. More on that later.
So who are these characters in the parable? Whom might they represent?
I will not seek enlightenment in an exposition of ancient Jewish customs of business, of stewardship, lords and rich men and their ways in early first century Israel. Because such research wearies me and I do not find the treasures I seek. Others are good at that stuff.
But also, parables in general do not concern only particular, obscure individuals, but persons of relevance to us all in understanding the point of the story. All of us to whom the story is addressed – and I believe you, the reader, and I are among those.
From my own point of view, if nothing else (but there is much) the parable is a lesson in looking carefully at what is on the pages of the Bible. Because this parable as written is more finely tuned than it might at first appear. If I can impart nothing more than this, then I encourage the reader to receive this point – look carefully at the pages of the Bible. To eyes such as ours, much can be hidden in plain sight.
I would venture to say, the rich man of the parable is God – perhaps even the Lord Jesus himself. I say this mainly because Jesus echoes the judgement of the rich man in the parable, and adopts it as his own in verse 8 and subsequent verses (and incidentally calls the rich man ‘lord’ though I expect that term had a common meaning in the day, and perhaps would have been taken in that sense by most if not all who heard it then). Or if not God, it matters little – the rich man represents God in that he makes the observation that Jesus himself uses as the basis for his teaching leading on from the story. But as will be seen, the identity of the rich man as potentially God becomes clearer as we consider the identity, and especially the predicament, of the steward.
The steward is in a strange position. He has been told he will be dismissed – this seems certain. His lord has said it, and not with any doubt. Yet the steward hasn’t actually been dismissed. He still has to submit his final account, and in fact until that is complete he is no less the steward of his lord than he was hitherto. But certainly, his time is short.
Are not all men as this steward?
According to the scriptures, ‘all have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23). As Daniel proclaimed to Belshazzar, we are ‘weighed in the balance and found wanting’. Our conduct is sinful. Our time is short, and then we shall give account to our Lord and Master.
And, ‘the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). So our guilt before the law is certain, as is our salvation in Christ – praise be to God!
Still, the sentence of death stands for us all between ourselves and our final entrance to a life with our Lord. We shall die, our hope of eternal life notwithstanding (unless the Lord shall take us first). ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment’ (Hebrews 9:27). Yet for now, we live.
And so we find ourselves as this steward. Our sentence is certain. We are guilty and worthy of death. Were it not for the ‘Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ we should never have been born. And even with that hope, we nonetheless shall die in the flesh.
Our time is short. And we shall, like the steward, give account to our Lord. That is certain. Yet for now we are – dare I say it – in limbo. We may count ourselves ‘dead to the flesh’, and indeed we shall die in the flesh – yet for the time being we live in the flesh.
What then can we learn from this steward whose predicament is like our own, and that of all mankind? Seeing that Jesus declared him wise, and that he positioned himself well for his life to come.
Like the steward, if we give proper thought to our true circumstance – the coming reckoning, and what that will mean for us, and our life to come from that point on – then that should reasonably take precedence over every other consideration in our present lives. We have this one, brief chance to prepare and position ourselves for the dreadful transition (though our cause for hope is clearer than the steward’s). How then should we prepare? What should we do?
Before I consider the above question as it relates to ourselves, Iet us consider how it was for some others of those who heard the Lord Jesus in the flesh. Because we know that in addition to Jesus’ disciples, the Pharisees also were in attendance, because their response is recorded in verse 14. And these indeed were men whose lives were devoted to preparing themselves for eternity – or so they would have said. Indeed, the Pharisees’ belief in the resurrection set them apart favourably from the Sadducees who did not believe in such, so the Bible tells us. How then did the Pharisees set about positioning themselves for eternity within the brief span of their mortal lives?
As said, I am no expert on the beliefs and manner of the ancient Jews, so I will write what I have been led to believe about the Pharisees. But also I am informed by the scriptures.
Sadly, it seems the Pharisees were not preparing themselves well for the great reckoning. As Jesus states clearly elsewhere (e.g. Matthew 23) they were in a most dangerous position with regard to eternity. In part I believe this was because they had not received the sentence given by their Lord i.e. that they were worthy of death. Instead, they set about to establish and confirm their own righteousness and worthiness for eternal life.
The Pharisees were indeed preparing to give account, and they expected to do so favourably and to be accepted by God. And whilst holding forth their own credentials, they condemned and persecuted others who in their view did not make the same high grade. For example, the Pharisee found in a different parable, Luke 18:9-14. (Is that even a parable? Or simply an account?)
As we consider the follies of the Pharisees, at least some merits of the ‘unjust steward’ begin to emerge. If nothing else, he took the word of his lord seriously. He accepted the finding of his lord that he was guilty of serious misconduct – to use today’s ‘HR’ terminology – and he did not dispute the sentence, nor doubt that it would be carried out.
In our own, packaged version of the gospel, this is the first step: admit you are a sinner. At least, the AI assistant on my computer would have me believe that this is the first step, according to none other than Billy Graham, so it says. And I don’t disagree.
To position ourselves for eternity, and the reckoning that is before us, we must accept everything that God says about us. The unjust steward did this. His whole strategy to position himself for his ‘life to come’ depended on receiving his lord’s words with the utmost seriousness, not doubting or resisting, but using the resources his lord had given him to respond to his lord’s message while he still could.
For a brief time, the steward still had his stewardship. So he set about putting that gift to use, and in a particularly self-interested manner which, interestingly, his lord did not condemn. Because it turns out this rich man had an appreciation for wisdom, and did not resent those who could turn it to their own ends if in so doing wisdom itself was given its due. Not only does this make me think of God, but I feel I am learning about him through the example of the rich man in the parable.
By contrast, there were other strategies the steward could have chosen. He could have made a run for it. But then if caught, he was in worse trouble. A life on the run can only last so long. And if he funded his escape with the proceeds of his employment (how else could he fund it?) without first giving account, he might be counted a thief. He could end up not only unemployed, but in prison.
The steward could have disputed the sentence or process of his lord. Many a case heads to the employment tribunal today. That the steward does not even seem to give this a passing thought suggests to me he was probably guilty of at least some of what had reached his lord’s ears. His defence, if any, was flimsy.
The steward could have acquired a house or land or goods for himself by some more creative accounting at his lord’s expense. But then again, his possessions could be confiscated and he be found a thief.
The steward did none of those things. He looked for his inspiration to the very one who condemned him: his lord. And he took stock of the resources and powers he had been given, and was exceedingly clever. The steward invested in people.
The steward realised that any attempt to justify himself was a lost cause. So then, what would it matter if he cooked the books a little more? His sentence would be the same. But by bestowing his fraudulent benefits upon others, he made it much harder for his lord to get those benefits back. After all, was not the steward the representative of his lord? Were not his lord’s debtors entitled to accept whatever calculations the steward might make on his lord’s behalf? And who had kept record of anything different?
By investing in people, the steward invested in his ‘afterlife’ – his life to come. The investments he made were not bound to his own condemnation, but were safely invested in others who in turn were safe from his lord.
The Pharisees, by contrast, amassed wealth for their present life (they were ‘covetous’ – verse 14). They did not consider how their riches were a gift from their Lord, entrusted to them for their investment in their Lord’s interests. They did not consider that their wealth was among the many things for which they would give account in that fateful day of reckoning. After all, they had given the tenth as an offering, by which they felt justified.
They did not consider, as Jesus warned them, that they might ‘fail’ and be found wanting, like the steward. Had they invested their wealth in charity to others, then those investments would stand on their own merits and by their own value despite all the failings of the Pharisees themselves, who despite all their preparations, could not ‘make the grade’.
‘He that has pity upon the poor lends to the Lord; and that which he has given will he pay him again.’ (Proverbs 19:17)
‘And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.’ (Matthew 25:40)
Such acts and gifts have more than their own value, and beyond the one who gives – their value is in the one who receives. And ultimately, that one is God. That is a connection that cannot be undone, because God never fails, and never discounts what has value to him. Like himself, and because he values it, its value is everlasting.
Summarizing the parable, Jesus makes a point of referring to all money as ‘the unrighteous mammon’. To me he is saying, you are up to your necks in this whole godless system, you can’t fix it, and you can’t make your little bit of it good. But as with the steward, why should we worry? If we look to our own righteousness, we are condemned in any case. So to use money, which is unrighteous (and seeing we more or less have to) will make no difference. Just as a bit more creative accounting made no difference to the steward. So far as that went, his sentence had already been passed. And so has ours. Rather, seeing we must use money, we should use it for good.
Like the steward and like the Pharisees, in our brief existence and despite the upcoming reckoning, we find ourselves the recipients of resources and a measure of agency from our Lord. We have things, we can do things, we can make choices and put them into action.
If we are wise like the steward, it is the words of our Lord which shall guide how we choose and how we act. And some of those words given for this very purpose are contained in the parable of the unjust steward.
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