{"id":4508,"date":"2022-09-18T16:17:32","date_gmt":"2022-09-18T16:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/09\/18\/role-model-based-on-luke-161-3\/"},"modified":"2022-09-18T16:17:32","modified_gmt":"2022-09-18T16:17:32","slug":"role-model-based-on-luke-161-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/2022\/09\/18\/role-model-based-on-luke-161-3\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRole Model?\u201d\u00a0 based on Luke 16:1-3"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Parables are not fables. \u00a0They don’t
\nteach us a direct lesson that can be immediately applied to living a
\ngood life. \u00a0Case in point: the parable of the dishonest manager. \u00a0If
\nI were giving awards for the most morally ambiguous parable, this one
\nwould be in the running.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

For starters, the issue presented is of
\na DISHONEST manager, that’s who we’re dealing with as the… hero?
\nThe dishonest manager gets fired, but before the word gets out, he
\ncancels some of the debt of the owners debtors, presumably aiming to
\nget hired by one of them for his next gig. \u00a0So he is dishonest,
\nunderhanded, and self-serving. \u00a0And he gets commended by the person
\nwho had fired him and used as an example of kindom values by Jesus?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This guy is our role model?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Let no one say the role of the preacher
\nin interpreting the texts for a modern audience is easy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But… let’s give this a try.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

First of all, I think we better have a
\n<\/b>solid sense of this
\nstory in its historical context so that we read less into it and hear
\nit more as first hearers would have. \u00a0Here is redacted commentary
\nfrom the Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels:<\/p>\n

\tRich landowners
\nfrequently employed estate managers (often a slave born in the
\nhousehold) who had the authority to rent property, make loans, and
\nliquidate debts in the name of the master. \u00a0Such agents were usually
\npaid in the form of a commission or fee on each transaction they
\narranged. \u00a0While token under-the-table additions to loan contracts
\nwere common, all the principal and interest had to be in a publicly
\nwritten contract approved by both parties. \u00a0There is no warrant for
\nthe frequent assumption here that the agent could exact as much as 50
\npercent above a contract for his fee. \u00a0If that had been done, the
\nrage of the peasants would have immediately been made known to the
\nlandowner ,.. who would have been implicated in the extortion if he
\nacquiesced. \u00a0This is clearly not the case in this story.<\/p>\n

\tTraditional
\nIsraelite law provided that an agent was expected to pay for any loss
\nincurred by his employer for which he was responsible. \u00a0He could also
\nbe put in prison to extort the funds from his family. \u00a0If the
\ndishonesty of the manager became public knowledge, he would have been
\nseen as damaging the reputation of the master. \u00a0Severe punishment
\ncould be expected. \u00a0 Startlingly, however, in this story he is simply
\ndismissed.<\/p>\n

\tIn the case of
\nthe dismissal of an agent, the dismissal was effective as soon as the
\nagent was informed of it, and from that time forward, nothing the
\nagent did was binding on the person who employed him. \u00a0The plan
\nworked out by the manager thus had to be enacted before word of his
\ndismissal got to the village. \u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

\tThe scheme of the
\nmanager is to seek new patrons….<\/p>\n

\tThe debtors here
\n[paid a fixed amount of the produce]. \u00a0The size of the debts is
\nextraordinary. \u00a0Though such measures are difficult to pin down, they
\nare probably equivalent to 900 gallons of oil and 150 bushels of
\nwheat. \u00a0Storytelling hyperbole may be involved, or as recent
\ninvestigations have suggested, debts are large enough that they may
\nbe the tax debts of an entire village. \u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n

\tThe \u201crich man\u201d
\npresumably has …an interpersonal attachment to his manager. \u00a0Having
\ndiscovered the mercy of the landowner in not putting him in prison or
\ndemanding repayment, the manager depends on a similar reaction in the
\nscheme he cooks up. \u00a0It is a scheme that places the landowner in a
\npeculiar bind. \u00a0If he retracts the actions of the manager, he risks
\nserious alienation in the village, where villagers would already have
\nbeen celebrating his astonishing generosity. \u00a0If he allows the
\nreductions to stand, he will be praised far and wide (as will the
\nmanager for having made the \u201carrangement\u201d) as a noble and
\ngenerous man. \u00a0It is the latter reaction upon which the manager
\ncounts.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The more I read about the Jewish
\npeasants of Jesus day, the more I am convinced that they were well
\naware of the systems of injustice that kept them down. \u00a0I find this
\nto also be true of people living in poverty today.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I’m not sure if there is an actual
\nprotagonist in this story, really. \u00a0The rich man is definitely not
\nseen as a good man, in a society were wealth was assumed to be
\nstolen. \u00a0But, the person whose job it was to enable the rich man’s
\ncontinued wealth accumulation was ALSO not seen in a positive light.
\nMany people I know can identify with the managers bind. \u00a0He was
\nbetter off being a manager and getting a decent cut of the accounts
\nhe created than he was in most other positions he was eligible for,
\nbut working for \u201cthe man\u201d whose very wealth oppressed others was
\nalso inherently dishonorable work. \u00a0Or at least, I believe the
\npeasants would have seen it that way.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And quite often when I think too hard
\nabout what it means to work for \u201cThe United Methodist Church\u201d, I
\nfear it too is inherently dishonorable work, even if I believe
\nworking for THIS church is a moral good. \u00a0There are SO MANY jobs like
\nthis though. \u00a0Working for the health care system \u2013 YAY, caring for
\npeople! \u00a0But also, making wealth for investors in insurance
\ncompanies. \u00a0Sigh. \u00a0Working in education \u2013 YAY, teaching people
\nthings they need to know! \u00a0But also, participating in a system that
\nmaintains income INEQUALITY over lifetimes. \u00a0Groan. \u00a0Actually, come
\nto think of it a lot of jobs, probably most jobs, are really morally
\nambiguous given the fact that we live in a society that treats a
\nlarge percentage of people as expendable, and the institutions and
\nsystems of society are part of how we maintain this system.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

(Right now I feel like John Oliver when
\nhe talks about how incredibly cheery his show.)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So in the midst of the realities of
\nincome inequality, injustice, and violations of Jewish law, comes
\nthis incredibly morally ambiguous parable. \u00a0I think the way I can
\nmost easily make sense of it is if the debts forgiven are the debts
\nof the whole village. \u00a0That brings the whole thing together for me \u2013
\nincluding that it suggests the Rich Man owns the whole village which
\nwas common enough in the Roman Empire but INHERENTLY immoral in the
\ntradition of the Ancient Jews who believed that every family got land
\naccess that could not be taken away from them. \u00a0This is related to
\nthe banning of INTEREST, which keeps people from being stuck in
\npoverty cycles. \u00a0The rich man owning the village means that the
\nmorals of the community have been deeply violated, and both the rich
\nman and his obsequious servants are at fault.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The post-firing actions of the
\ndishonest manager have some accidental Robin Hood implications then.
\nHe cancels debt, creates a better balance, eases the lives of the
\npeople. \u00a0But, it is still pretty clear that he does this FOR HIMSELF,
\nand the benefit to the people is mostly accidental.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now, this has some themes that fit
\nother parables and other teachings of Jesus. \u00a0There is a value in the
\ncornering of the rich man into being generous, in winning the
\n\u201cshrewd\u201d fight, and in taking care of the people, no matter the
\nintention.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

While I believe that the \u201cmoral\u201d of
\nthe story is likely tacked on later, the Jesus Seminar thinks it goes
\nback to Jesus and I think Luke placed it well. \u00a0\u201cNo servant can
\nserve two masters. \u00a0No doubt that slave will either hate one and love
\nthe other or be devoted to one and disdain the other. \u00a0You can’t be
\nenslaved to both God and a bank account.\u201d \u00a0The book \u201cDebt: The
\nHistory of the First 5000 Years\u201d says that the world’s major
\nreligions emerged IN RESPONSE (to counter) the world’s first market
\neconomies. \u00a0That is, there started to be an assumption that markets
\nwere GOOD, and defined what life should be, and those who won at the
\nmarket deserved it and those who lost at the market deserved it, and
\nthat was just how life was. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In the face of that, religions said,
\n\u201cnope.\u201d \u00a0I would make a claim the author didn’t, that this was
\nrelated to the Spirit of God NOT being invested in the markets and
\nthe hierarchies they created in the \u201cvalue\u201d of human life. \u00a0But,
\nin a quite literal sense, religions countered the claims of the
\nmarket. \u00a0Money is NOT what matters most. \u00a0Individual wealth is NOT a
\nsign of a persons goodness. \u00a0Instead, all people have value.
\nInstead, goodness is related to the way All the people are cared for.
\n Instead, the COMMON GOOD is the definition of a successful society.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

God cares for the peasants, even though
\nthe market does not. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This morally ambiguous parable is
\nlikely NOT one we want to take as a simple role model story. \u00a0BUT, in
\nthe vein of great parables, it is one that invites us into
\nconsideration of our own lives and our own roles. \u00a0When are we
\nserving \u201cthe rich man\u201d and harming the poor? \u00a0When are we serving
\nourselves, and who is that helping and hurting? \u00a0When are we serving
\nthe poor, and why? \u00a0How are we implicated in the systems that
\noppress, and how and when are we motivated to shake them up? \u00a0And,
\nmaybe \u2013 when we are backed into a corner afraid for our own
\nwell-being, can we find ways out that help others along the way?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Serving God and not money is not
\nencouraged in our society. \u00a0I often fear our economy is the actual
\n\u201cgod\u201d of our society. \u00a0But the God of our Bible, and the God we
\nlearn about from Jesus is deeply invested in offering us alternatives
\nto worshipping the economy. \u00a0Thanks be to God for being worthy of our
\nworship for being the worthy center of our lives. \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n

1<\/a><\/sup>Bruce J. Malina and Richard L. Rohrbaugh Social-Science
\n\tCommentary on the Synoptic Gospels (Minneapolis: Fortress Press,
\n\t2003) \u201cTextual Notes: Luke 16:1-16\u201d p. 292-3.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she\/her\/hers
http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a>
https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/FUMCSchenectady<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

September 18, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Parables are not fables. \u00a0They don’t teach us a direct lesson that can be immediately applied to living a good … Continue reading \u201cRole Model?\u201d\u00a0 based on Luke 16:1-3<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[34,28,39,33,1568,1265,1569,1567,1484,358,56,69,1565,1566,1564],"class_list":["post-4508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fumc-schenectady","tag-rev-sara-e-baron","tag-thinking-church","tag-umc","tag-dishonest-manager","tag-first-umc-schenectady","tag-good-questions","tag-morally-ambiguous-parable","tag-pandemic-preaching","tag-progressive-chrisitianity","tag-schenectady","tag-social-science-commentary-on-the-synoptic-gospels","tag-sorry-about-the-homophobic-umc","tag-still-pandemic-preaching","tag-thanks-linda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}