The Ninth Sunday after Trinity – August 17, 2025Psalm 54; Proverbs 16:1-9; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13St. Luke 16:1-13
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today’s parable is the most difficult
parable of our Lord to understand. It seems as though the shrewd and
unrighteous steward is being praised for lying, cheating, and stealing. He is
accused of wasting the master’s goods and is being fired. When the master sends
him to collect the financial records, the steward quickly brokers deals with
all of the master’s debtors, seeking to gain favor in their eyes so that when
he is kicked out of the master’s house, he will have friends to stay with and
possibly even job opportunities. The master commends these shrewd actions and
the parable ends.
Thankfully, our Lord summarizes the
parable with the words, “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their
generation than the sons of light.”[1]
He is telling us to take notice of how hard the steward worked to secure for
himself a future. The master did not have to give the steward the opportunity
to fetch the books. He could have had the steward immediately thrown in jail
while another servant was sent to gather the financial records. The steward
recognizes his golden opportunity and seizes it. He analyzes his situation,
seeing that his job prospects are minimal. His body is unfit to dig ditches,
and he is too proud to beg. So, he concocts the plan to forgive portions of the
debts owed to the master to gain goodwill among the debtors.
This plan is not without risks. The
master might become more angry and invoke his right to have the steward jailed
for his crimes. The debtors might turn out to be greedy, and although the
steward helped to lower their debts, they might still turn him away in his time
of need. But the steward has already considered these as well. By lowering the
debt of the debtors in the name of the master, he has increased their view of
the master. It appears to the debtors that their master is generous and has
done a kind thing for them. His reputation is improved by the actions of the
steward. The steward’s plan puts the master in such a position that to punish
the steward would only increase the steward’s reputation before the debtors
while harming his own.
As for the debtors, it is true that
some of them might turn out to be greedy and refuse to help the steward. That
is why he did this for all of the master’s debtors. He wasn’t putting his eggs
in one basket, to use a common phrase. The steward has carefully thought
through every aspect of his plan and then put it into action.
And for what? He is planning for his future security, safety, and provision. He can’t take the physical work of digging and he is too proud to beg, so he works diligently to make for himself a future where he can provide for himself.
If we understand our Lord to be
referring to the steward as one of the sons of this world, who is cunning in
providing for himself in this world, then what of the sons of light? The
primary distinction between the two is the goal for which they are striving.
The sons of this world are looking for rewards on earth. They are looking for
security for their future days in this world. The sons of light are striving
for something else. They look toward eternal life. The sons of light are sons
of the Light of the world, which no darkness can overcome.[2]
Their source is the Light of Christ, and their goal is eternal life in the
world without end.
So now, we can understand the rebuke
and admonition of our Lord. He is saying that the sons of this world work
diligently and think shrewdly about how to achieve their goals in this life
while the sons of light are lazy when it comes to achieving their goal; lazy
both in thought (or planning) and in deed.
In terms of planning, the sons of light
are called to plan for eternal life through diligence in the Word of God. Notice,
that as the shrewd steward is forming his plan, he is considering all the
information he has at hand. For the Christian, this information is the Word of
God. No matter how many times you’ve read the Bible, there is always more to
learn. New insights will occur every time you open the pages of Scripture. It
is an unending well of insights into God and His actions working toward your
salvation.
However, if this gaining of information
is kept within the pages of Scripture, then it will be of little use. As you
read the words of Scripture, it also necessary to lift your eyes from the page
and consider how these Words apply or affect the world around you. For
instance, it would be an error to read the words of creation but look at the
world around you as having developed over billions of years. Rather, take the
words of creation and see how wonderfully designed the world is; how everything
has been formed by the hands of God to work in concert.
More directly connected to our text would be any Word of God which concerns the fleeting nature of this world and the eternal nature of the world to come. As Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are being thrown into the fiery furnace, they tell Nebuchadnezzar that the Lord is able to deliver them from the burning fiery furnace and even if He doesn’t, the Lord will save their souls.[3] That is, they trust that the Lord is on their side and that they will endure unto life, whether life in this world or in the glory of the next. They count their temporal lives as but one step on the journey toward glory.
As for putting this wisdom gained from
God’s Word into action, we have another word of Christ, “Make friends for
yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into
an everlasting home.”[4]
This is where Christians are called to be shrewd, to be wise as serpents and
innocent as doves;[5]
to use the things of this world in service to God, both for the benefit of
their neighbor and the benefit of their own souls. We are called to put our
time, our abilities, and our resources to the best use we can, according to the
Word of God and the vocations into which God has called us, so that this
mammon, the things of this world which are unrighteous by the fact that they
cannot offer salvation, would be used for God’s glory. Then, when our bodies
fail, we will be welcoming into our everlasting home with great rejoicing among
the angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, our
stewardship of the things of this world does not gain, nor secure, our
everlasting home. Our reading from the Proverbs makes this clear: “In mercy and
truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.”[6]
It is not our stewardship that provides for iniquity, nor is it our preparation
for forgiveness, nor even our sustaining of righteousness. It is the Lord
alone, through His great mercy and truth, who has covered our sins and paid the
penalty they deserve.
Christ taking your sins upon His
shoulders, dying upon the cross, and rising the third day that has satisfied
the wrath of God against you. His atonement provides for iniquity, and it is
the Holy Spirit who sustains you in that righteousness. Your stewardship of the
unrighteous mammon of this world is the result of this atonement provided for
you. The call to righteousness is what follows salvation. Even at that, it is
not as though “you better do it, or else…” The admonition of Christ is the
guide for the sons of light who desire nothing more than to be conformed to the
righteousness of Christ.
It is the attitude of the sons of this world to look for gain, how they might work and position themselves for the greatest gains. The sons of light already possess everything they could ever need in the atonement of Christ. However, the sons of light also see the darkness clinging to their flesh and the darkness of the world around them. They need guidance in how to conquer that darkness, continuing to bring the light of Christ to those around them. Hence, Christ gives admonition into how to steward what you’ve been given so that you would continue to live within the mercy and truth which He has provided.
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.”[7]
All the shrewd planning, consideration, and actions of even a righteous man
have no guarantee of results. It is the Lord who directs the outcome of our
steps. It is the Lord who has guaranteed the result of our salvation. And
thanks be to God for that fact, because if it were left to us in even the
smallest of ways, we would stumble and fall. “He so cared for and esteemed me
that the Son He loved so well, He has given to redeem me from the quenchless
flames of hell…So my many sins and errors find a tender, pard’ning God…Grant me
grace, O God, I pray You, that I may with all my might, all my lifetime, day
and night, love and trust You and obey You. And, when this brief life is o’er,
praise and love You evermore.”[8]
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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