Luke 16:1-7: a reflection

1He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a manager. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3“The manager said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. 4I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’ 5Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’ 6He said, ‘A hundred batos of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred cors of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’

Jesus tells a puzzling parable about a dishonest manager who, on learning he is about to be fired, acts quickly and shrewdly to secure his future, reducing his master's debtors' bills so that they will welcome him when he is out of a job. Jesus does not commend the man's dishonesty, but he does draw attention to his shrewdness, his decisive foresight in using his present position to prepare for what was coming. The man saw the reckoning ahead and acted wisely, in his own way, to be ready for it.

Notice what Jesus points to: not the man's crookedness, but his foresight. Facing a coming crisis, he did not drift or delay; he saw what was ahead and acted decisively to prepare for it, using the resources at hand while he still had them. Jesus' sober comment, in the verses that follow, is that the people of this world are often shrewder in their own affairs than the people of light are about the things of God.

That comparison is meant to prick us. Worldly people can be remarkably foresighted and decisive about their earthly futures, planning, preparing, using their resources wisely toward the ends they care about. Are we as wise about eternal things, about the reckoning we know is coming, about using what we have now, our time, our resources, our opportunities, in light of eternity? Let the shrewd manager rebuke our spiritual carelessness. Be at least as wise about the things that last as worldly people are about the things that pass. Use what you have now, with foresight, in light of the future that truly matters.

Lord Jesus, you pointed to the shrewd manager's foresight, how decisively he used his present position to prepare for what was coming, and you noted that the people of this world are often wiser in their own affairs than the people of light are about the things of God. Let that comparison prick me. Worldly people plan and prepare so carefully for their earthly futures; make me at least as wise about eternal things, about the reckoning I know is coming. Help me use what you have given me now, my time, my resources, my opportunities, with foresight, in light of the future that truly matters. Keep me from spiritual carelessness, and make me wise about the things that last.