The scriptures referred to are Luke 16:1-13.
There are a lot of things in the Bible that people don't know are there. And I don't mean Bible codes or secret knowledge that is intended only for the elite and initiates. God wants his message spread and understood, and he isn't as picky about the forms he uses as we think. So a lot of people don't realize the Bible contains many different literary forms. It's not all preaching, theology, history, and prophesy. There are proverbs, riddles, letters, love poems, hymns, and humor. That last category will surprise most people. Part of the reason they don't know this is that we read the Bible in translation and those translations are usually very reverent in how they express things.
But in the original languages, the Bible is full of wordplay. You really see this in the names. Isaac's name means “he laughs.” It's a callback to when God tells Abraham that his aged wife will give birth to a son and Sarah, eavesdropping, laughs at the idea. There is even a little comedy here in that God calls her out on this but she denies laughing. (Genesis 18:10-15) And since Isaac means “he laughs” and not “she laughs,” maybe this is Abraham and Sarah admitting God had the last laugh in this matter and joining him.
Some of the stories are humorous as well. If I were to make a movie of the story of Jacob, I would make it a comedy. He is basically a conman who tricks his brother out of his birthright and blessing and then has to flee his brother's murderous mood. He encounters Laban, who turns out to be a bigger conman. Jacob falls for one of Laban's daughters, but is given the other in a classic bait-and-switch scheme. He ends up with 4 wives due to an arms race of each sister trying to gain his affection by pumping out babies. At one point whom Jacob sleeps with one night is decided by which wife gives which a vegetable for dinner. Then there is a battle of wits with Laban over Jacob getting paid fairly, with each man trying to out-trick the other. Finally, when Jacob returns home to reconcile with his brother, he is told that his brother is coming out to greet him—with 400 men! Jacob has a very bad night trying to figure out how to save his family from being wiped out by his brother...who turns out to have gotten past their old rivalry and welcomes him. The conman is fooled, but the comedy has its happy ending.
The humor in the gospels is more often found in the bizarre mental pictures Jesus creates, as Elton Trueblood points out in his book The Humor of Christ. We are so used to hearing Jesus' words that we forget that he came up with some truly funny images, like people walking around with 2x4s in their eyes trying to help out those with splinters in theirs. (Matthew 7:3-4) Or the purity-obsessed Pharisees, picking gnats out of their cups before drinking, but then swallowing camels. (Matthew 23:24)
Jesus used sarcasm, too. When warned that Herod wanted to kill him, Jesus said, “Go and tell that fox, 'Look, I am expelling demons and finishing up healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day, I will complete my work. But I simply must journey on today, tomorrow and the next day for it would be impossible for a prophet to meet his death outside Jerusalem.'” (Luke 13:32-33) In other words, tell that genius that if he wants to kill me, he has to wait till the proper time and place. It simply wouldn't do to martyr a prophet of God anywhere but in the city of God. Burn!
Which brings me to my apparently unique interpretation of the truly bizarre parable Jesus tells in today's gospel. A rich man tells his manager he wants to look at the books because he's heard the man is cheating him. The dishonest manager decides to pull one last scam and, in cahoots with his master's debtors, reduces what they owe, so they will help him out when he is fired. So far the story makes sense. But then Jesus says, “And the master commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly...” Seriously? You might chuckle appreciatively at some clever con pulled on someone else but not if you were the one losing money to some crooked employee of yours!
Then Jesus says, “for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Jesus is praising this generation? The same generation he called “evil and adulterous?” (Matthew 12:39) The generation he called “faithless and perverse?” (Luke 9:14) The generation by which Jesus would “suffer many things and be rejected?” (Luke 17:25) Jesus is praising them? Really?
And Jesus gives the moral to this parable thus: “And I tell you make friends for yourself by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” So...Bernie Madoff and Jeffrey Epstein and several other crooked businessmen are destined for heaven rather than where you would think they belong?
Then Jesus does a 180 and says, “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful in much; and whoever is dishonest in very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” Now this sounds more like Jesus. But how could he say the things that went before?
I am apparently alone in saying this but I think the only logical answer is that Jesus was being sarcastic at the end of the parable. And to see why, let's look at the context.
This is part of a long passage of Jesus' teaching. It starts in the previous chapter when the Pharisees and teachers of the law are muttering about Jesus welcoming sinners and eating with them. Jesus responds with a series of parables. First he compares the joy of a shepherd finding a lost sheep and a woman finding a lost coin with the joy in heaven over the repentance and return of one lost sinner. Then Jesus tells the parable of the prodigal son. In that story, the father throws a party to welcome back the son who wasted what his father gave him but who came to his senses and humbly returned home. But the other son, the good one who stayed and obeyed his father, is angry at this. If the father is our loving and forgiving heavenly Father and the younger son is the sinner who repents, who does the angry older brother represent? The righteous religious leaders.
But are they as righteous as they think they are? In Matthew 23, Jesus gives a long excoriating denunciation of the Pharisees who oppose him. He accuses them of making it hard for other people to enter the kingdom of God, while enjoying the best things in life for themselves. He calls them hypocrites whose converts are twice as fit for hell as they are. Their priorities are askew, focusing on the little stuff but neglecting what's important like justice, mercy and faithfulness. They are supposed to be the custodians of the law but they are terrible at it.
So who does the dishonest manager in today's parable represent? The Pharisees and teachers of the law, who have let themselves be corrupted. The Essenes called the Pharisees “those who seek the smooth,” that is, those who take the easy way. In Mark chapter 7, Jesus gives us an example. He reprimands the religious leaders for using tricks to let a rich person get out of supporting his aged parents by designating his wealth as a future contribution to them, God's representatives. (Mark 7:9-13) That's just like the dishonest manager in the parable, who reduces what people legitimately owe his master. The religious leaders were letting people who can benefit them get out of doing things that God commands. Jesus says that sinners who repent will be welcomed into heaven. Do his opponents really think that those who are unrepentant will be welcomed into heaven by their co-conspirators?
Jesus is sarcastically telling this parable with an ending and a moral that shows just how distorted his critics' values are. If it sounds wrong, it's because it is! And the targets of Jesus' sarcasm know this is directed at them. I really wish those who decided on what goes into the lectionary just let this passage go on for 2 more verses. Because immediately after this it says, “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were ridiculing him. And he said to them, 'You are the ones justifying themselves in the eyes of men. But God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is utterly detestable in God's sight.'” (Luke 16:14-15) That's the whole point of the parable.
When someone hacked the adultery-arranging website Ashley Madison and revealed thousands of their clients' names, some social scientists decided to see if there was a connection between CEOs and CFOs cheating on their wives and their companies being fined for conducting shady business. And lo and behold! There was! If a guy can't be trusted in the bedroom, he can't be trusted in the boardroom either.
If you don't accept that Jesus is telling this parable sarcastically, then how do you reconcile it with all he says about integrity right after it? I have read commentators twist themselves into knots trying to make sense of this. But this is not the first time the Bible seems to immediately say the opposite of what it just said. In Proverbs it says, “Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself.” And the very next verse says, “Answer a fool according to his folly, or he will be wise in his own eyes.” (Proverbs 26:4-5) These back to back verses seem to contradict each other, but with a little thought, the paradox makes sense. First, don't let yourself go down the rabbit hole that some fool is trying to lead you. The belief in a flat earth has increased because of all the conspiracy videos on You Tube. Some critics of the flat earth theory have tried to debunk it, got caught up in its bizarre logic and became flatearthers themselves. As Mark Twain said, “Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.”
On the other hand, as the second verse in Proverbs says, sometimes you can, if you keep your own feet planted firmly on the ground, show someone the logical contradictions in their own argument. In an interview with a very smart reporter for Time magazine, Richard Dawkins had to face the basic flaw in his position. He had to admit that atheism is a logically untenable position. You can't prove a negative. You can't prove there is no God; you don't have all the necessary data. You can only assert that you don't think there's enough evidence to convince you. Dawkins conceded that logically he can't be an atheist; he can only be an agnostic. He simply doesn't know whether there's a God.
In Jesus' satirical parable he is saying that real integrity is thorough-going and it is important to God. After all, faith is just another word for trust. And God expects his followers not only to trust him but to be trustworthy themselves, and not just in some things, but in all things. We've seen the fallout when Christians aren't trustworthy. People who have been abused by priests, pastors and elders, as well as those who have left cults, often lose their faith. This form of betrayal destroys not only their ability to trust other people but also their trust in God, whom we are supposed to be representing.
James says that those who teach the gospel will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1) While he is probably talking about being judged by God, it is also true of how we are judged by people. If what we say with our lips is contradicted by what we do with our lives, people will call us out. And rightly so. Not only does it affect our own integrity and faith, it affects that of others. It can get them to do things the Bible clearly forbids.
Jesus says, “Stumbling blocks are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! It would be better for him to have a millstone tied around his neck and be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to stumble into sin. So watch yourselves. If your fellow believer sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.” (Luke 17:2-3) Paul says, “Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual should restore such a person gently. But pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.” (Galatians 6:1)
Jesus warns us specifically about trying to serve both God and money. And that has always been a big temptation. But what Jesus says about not serving two master applies to anything else we try to put on the same level as God. Eventually you have to choose one over the other. Singers have abandoned gospel music in order to become big mainstream pop stars. Politicians have abandoned Christian ethics to gain popularity with extremist groups and win elections. Pastors have abandoned preaching the gospel to gain a bigger following by focusing on hot button issues that are fringe at best or not even Christian. More and more people say they are Christians not because they put Jesus first but because they think Christianity supports some issue that actually matters more to them. When confronted with what Jesus actually said on a matter, they will go through some amazing mental gymnastics so as not to give up their conflicting belief. And I think that's another reason why people miss the irony in this parable. They want to believe that you can somehow achieve salvation while using questionable practices to win friends and influence people and make money.
Honesty and conscientiousness and trustworthiness are not like a costume you put on when you are going to give a performance and then you can take off when you leave the stage. They must become part of you. We are in the process of becoming like Jesus and he didn't say things like “Your sins are forgiven...Just kidding!” Or “I'll unblind your other eye if you kick in some coins.” Or “Lord, let this cup pass or I am outahere!” No, he told the truth and did what he said he would. He healed all who came to him, even if it meant not having time to eat or rest. He did what God sent him to do even if it meant going to the cross. He didn't compromise on God's message. He didn't preach only what people wanted to hear and he wasn't willing to cash in to have a comfortable life or sell out to save his skin.
But Jesus wasn't dry and dull either. He used thought-provoking stories and sharp quips, uncomfortable questions and brutally frank statements, hilarious hyperbole and subversive humor to get his message across: that while people often love things like money more than other people and will use other people badly to get them, God loves people more than anything and he will use even satire and sarcasm to let them know.
Ultimately the gospel is a comedy in the classical sense. The hero wants something but runs into obstacles. So he tries something crazy. More problems arise and things look real bad for him. But in the end he triumphs. Good wins out over evil, things are restored to the way they should be and the hero marries his true love. In the same way, God wants a good world filled with loving people. When they choose not to love him back or love one another, he tries to get them back. Then he comes up with a crazy idea. He becomes one of them in order to teach and show them his love. Things go very badly for him but they can't keep him down...or dead. In the last book of the Bible we see that he triumphs, not merely putting the world to rights but recreating it as a paradise once more. And then comes the wedding supper of the Lamb, where Jesus, the bridegroom, marries his true love, the church. (Luke 5:34; Revelation 19:7) That's the happy ending to the love story between God and his people.
Of course, when you are in the middle of the story it may not look or feel like a comedy. It may seem to be veering into tragedy. But the story is not over. The last act has not played out. As the hero in the comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel says, “Everything will be all right in the end. If it's not all right, then it's not yet the end.” So let's put our faith in God and our hope in Jesus. Because God will get the last laugh. And he wants us all to join in with him.
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