Luke 16:1-13
This text is used for the Lectionary Year C on September 18th, 2016.
Which one of these acts with the most cleverness? Is it a student composing a poem, a small business owner trying to turn a profit, or a preacher working to convince listeners to live like Jesus? The Parable of the Dishonest Manager challenges ministers to think outside the box.
Jesus looked at the disciples and did not see much thinking going on—inside or outside the box. Jesus’ followers have not always been known for their creativity, but it is not because Jesus did not try.
Jesus tells this outrageous story about a rich man who gets word that there is a bad apple in the barrel. The snitch noticed the manager driving a car that was a little too nice for a mid-level manager’s salary. The rich boss summons the dishonest manager and gives him a pink slip: “Audit the books, turn them in, and clean out your desk because you’re done.”
The manager knows he is in big trouble: “I’m no good at manual labor. I’m too old to start over. I’ve grown accustomed to this lifestyle, and unemployment compensation is peanuts. All I’ve got left is my ingenuity. I’ll outsmart them.”
He moves quickly because the news of his termination will not be news for long. He gets together his boss’s biggest clients at an expensive restaurant—one last fling on the corporate credit card.