The Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost

“…make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth…” — Jesus of Nazareth

There was once a man—let’s call him an accountant of sorts. He oversaw and managed the wealth of an important business man. One of his duties was to keep tabs on those the business man had lent money to and would collect on the debt when necessary. One day the business man called the accountant into his office after a lengthy review of his work and he fired him. He cited neglect and delinquency as the reasons for the termination. Upon hearing this, the accountant left immediately and went to those who had debt with the business man. They were unaware that the accountant had been fired, so, in a move of dishonesty, the accountant agreed to cut the debt in half if they would pay it off right away, and, of course, those in debt jumped at such an offer. The accountant did not have authorization for such a move, but he was motivated by his own fear of being without work and help that he gave away money from his boss in order to secure for himself future benefit from those whose debt he erased.

In our world, this could easily be considered fraud, and the accountant could be brought up on charges and likely convicted. Only, that is not what happens in our gospel reading this week. In fact, not only does Jesus not condemn the actions of the accountant, he praises him.

What on earth is going on here? What is Jesus teaching by means of this story? This will be our text for this Sunday, and I am very much looking forward to exploring this enigmatic parable with each of you. See you on Sunday!