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(Shrewd Christians)

Luke 16: 1-13
I Timothy 2:1-7

It was 50 years ago that Ayn Rand’s 1,200-page= novel Atlas Shrugged was first published. It quickly became somewhat of a sacred = text for those who believe it is the right of individuals to live entirely for themselves --- and if everyone did, the world would be better for it. It’s said that Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Chairman who’s recently been in the news, was greatly influenced by Atlas Shrugged. He found in its philosophy a moral defense of capitalism. The book was criticized, of course, by some for promoting the idea that greed is goo= d. And while greed and capitalism don’t have to go hand-in-hand, they of= ten feed off of one another. In reviews of 50 years ago and in many since, selfishness raised to the level of virtue in Rand’s novel was either praised as a means for the salvation of humankind or pillo= ried as an example of everything that is wrong with the world.

Our attitude toward wealth and worldly possessions; = the wisdom, foolishness and timing with which we use what’s available to = us; and our inclination to share --- or not share --- what we have with others = are all issues raised in today’s reading from Luke. We begin with a parab= le about a rich landowner and the steward he had put in charge of handling his accounts and who, subsequently, gets accused of mishandling them. It’= s a story pointing out a type of behavior from which Jesus wants his disciples = to learn something, even though there’s nothing exemplary about any of t= he characters in the story or the particular ends for which their behavior is employed.

The dishonest manager in the story is commended by h= is master for acting shrewdly, a translation of the Greek word phronimos which refers to a practical action taken to accomplish some particular end. The question of morality is peripheral to the steward’s action. In the parable, his behavior is simply acknowledged as having been a prudent strat= egy on his part for handling the new situation in which he found himself, indeed the new situation in which he had put himself. Sometimes we have influence = over the changes in our lives and sometimes we don’t.

Jesus, in telling this story, is not suggesting that= the dishonest steward should be emulated in the manner in which he failed to be responsible for that with which he’d been entrusted. He shouldn’= ;t! But Jesus held him up as an example of someone who didn’t waste time wallowing in either guilt or self-pity, but acted decisively to deal with t= he new reality confronting him: he was going to lose his job and didn’t = find the alternative ways he could imagine supporting himself thereafter to be v= ery inviting.

The “shrewd” manager was also lifted up = by Jesus as an example of one much wiser than most in the ways of the world, a= nd thereby more likely to succeed in getting what he wanted. That’s more than could be said of typical religious-types whose idealism about what mak= es the world go ‘round can be a bit out of touch with reality--- which is not always helpful to the work of bringing God’s kingdom to earth.

Being “shrewd,” or “clever,”= or “prudent” is not something we remember Jesus promoting with his followers. Loving others, perhaps . . . giving the shirt off one’s ba= ck, perhaps . . . feeding the hungry and housing the homeless, perhaps . . . but being shrewd? On second glance, however, Jesus didn’t counsel his disciples to shun opportunities to manipulate worldly treasure for spiritual ends. Jesus talked about money and material possessions more than any other topic. He knew how easy the human soul can become enslaved to the pursuit of worldly riches. And he knew how impossible it is to serve both God and mamm= on (an Aramaic word for money or wealth).

“Get real,” Jesus says to his disciples.= Deal with life as you really experience it, not just as you think it ought to be= or how you want it to be. . . . I wonder how many times through the years I’ve talked with teen-agers who were dealing with an absentee parent (usually a father) who often was not there for them in ways that they needed them to be there for them and wanted them to be there for them. At what poi= nt does a child of divorce and emotional neglect deal with the reality of who = that person --- who happens to be their parent --- really is, and decide to have= a relationship --- or not --- with who they are rather than continuing to be sad and angry over who they are not? In dealing with the world that we may wish to change= , we have to start with the world as it is.

I recall the first time I rode in a car that had a g= lobal positioning device that could be given information about a destination and = then would not only plot a course for you but talk to you, telling you that a tu= rn is approaching or which exit to take from the traffic circle. I mention “traffic circle” because we were heading into Boston and they have those around there= . At one point my friend who was driving decided not to follow the computer̵= 7;s directions and turned off onto a different route. I was wondering if the techno-voice was going to say something like, “Dummy, you just missed your turn!” It didn’t, of course. It simply re-figured the route home from our new location.

That’s something like what the shrewd manager = did in today’s parable. Dealing honestly and effectively with new realities = is a task given all of us as individuals many times during our life’s jour= ney. It’s a task given the church again and again as the world changes aro= und us. It’s a task given to our church in particular at this point in ti= mes as we deal with the new reality of having to rebuild programs and reach out= to people who will make faithful use of our renewed facilities; the new realit= y of having to pay off a mortgage so that financing that debt doesn’t lead= to reductions in staff and program in the future; the new reality of changes in pastoral leadership that will be happening over the next few years.

I was at Alma College last week t= o meet and hear Madelaine Albright. She had represented our country at the United Nations and was later Secretary of State during the Clinton Administration.= In the course of her speech and in answering questions later, she discussed so= me new realities she believes are facing our nation. She addressed the issue of how the United States = can rebuild trust with other nations around the world who are appalled at our ‘go it alone’ behavior that led to the disaster of Iraq.

She addressed the issue of how our country can regai= n its moral stature among the nations after the shame of our torturing people and arrogantly claiming the right to do the very thing our ideals have always l= ed us to condemn when done by others; and she addressed the issue of how our nation might move beyond the polarization that has descended on Washington = to the extent that elected and other officials who differ on issues no longer socialize together, indeed, hardly speak to one another. That’s a new reality, and it needs to be our concern, since we are the people who have b= een recdonciled to God through Christ and charged with doing the ministry of reconciliation with one another.

Secretary Albright had been on Alma’s campus that day talking with groups of students and got a laugh from the evening audience when she acknowledged how refreshing it had been to be amo= ng nice people all day because there didn’t seem to be any nice people l= eft in Washington! That’s a reality not good for the future of democracy. We could use s= ome ‘shrewd managers.’

A story I’ve heard a friend tell many times ov= er the years about her grandmother captures, I believe, the spirit of one of the k= ey points Jesus wanted his disciples to learn. The setting is a homesteaded fa= rm in Montana during the Great Depression. Several years of drought had produced minimal crops at a time when things were already tough financially. But the right c= ombination of sunshine and rain had finally produced a bumper crop that the family knew would get them a good return. They’d even talked about having some mo= ney available to do some fun things, and were having fun just thinking about the possibilities. The wheat was standing tall and the harvesters were coming t= he next morning to cut and bail it for market.

But that evening a violent hail storm struck the are= a. Ice the size of golf balls rained from the heavens and in no time the fields of wheat were laying flat on the ground, ruined. There was nothing left to harvest, and the family looked out upon that scene in a state of shock. As = the story goes, my friend’s grandmother took decisive action before self-= pity could take control. She went to the kitchen, gathered their pots and pans a= nd gave them to all the kids, telling them to go outside and fill the pots with the hailstones that were covering the ground. “We’re going to m= ake ice cream,” she said!

And they did. . . .