A Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Patricia Gillespie

Amos 8:4-7(8-12)
1 Timothy 2:1-8
Luke 16:1-13
Psalm 138

It's audit time. The Boss is coming to check the books. Got your accounts in order? What how well have you managed your life?

The manager in today's gospel, we are told, has squandered the possessions of the rich man. In describing the behavior of the manager Jesus uses the same word he used in the story he just told about the prodigal son who "squandered" his inheritance.

Son and manager both end up in big trouble for their reckless, scandalous living. And then both end up being the focus of celebration. The Wild Son gets a big party. The Unjust Manager gets complimented. As we read through this part of the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus is telling a whole bunch of stories about things that go really wrong that are then followed by a party. Last week it was sheep and coins: lost and found and celebrated. Now some shady business dealings are being praised:

First the manager is accused of squandering his master's possessions. Then he doctors the books, recklessly canceling big portions of people's debts. Oh sure, maybe the portion of the debt he cancels is his own unfair commission -- perhaps an outrageous interest charge his master doesn't know about. But still, he's not making money on these deals, that's bad for business; and along comes the boss and says, "There you go, throwing away money again! Good job!" ???

What's going on here? Praising this disreputable scoundrel? This is lousy business management across the board. These guys need a good bookkeeper.

And then there's Jesus. We want him to be a bookkeeper, to help us get our lives in order. When we see the Boss coming at audit time, we know that there's no way we ourselves could ever balance our accounts or pay our debts.

And Jesus does balance the accounts . . . but he cheats to do it. He reconciles our messy records, but not by adding up neat columns of credits of good deeds or debts and mistakes. Instead he erases our mismanagement, smashes the calculators, and invites us to a party.

It's not fair. It's not just. It's lousy business. Jesus cheated. He's not a bookkeeper but a squanderer....Thank God. Just think how we'd fare if God had sent us a careful bookkeeper to manage our lives and we'd got what we really deserve.

The scandalous message here is that the way to care for the Boss's possessions is to give them away, to squander what we've been given. That's what Jesus did. Forget good business methods. God's not asking us to make or save money, or to accumulate possessions. We're being asked to use our money and our possessions -- that is God's money and possessions -- to make friends for the kingdom, to be willing to sacrifice our material security for the love of God.

In other words: Money is for making friends, not for earning interest. Jesus is pretty hard on folks who hide their money away to keep it safe. Relying on money in the bank and good bookkeeping for our security can soon become idolatry: Trusting money instead of God. So the rich man commends the manager who squanders the money, who recklessly gives it away, hoping to make friends.

Everything that Jesus had from his Father he squandered on us sinners and fools. He wasted his own life scandalously and recklessly on our account. Jesus was a lousy business manager. He squandered it all to make friends with a bunch of disreputable scoundrels like us. Jesus cheated in the bookkeeping; and now his crazy Father is planning the ultimate party for anyone who accepts the invitation.

"You cannot serve God and wealth." Make your choice. You can't have it both ways. Either we squander our money in service of God, to make friends to join in the celebration. Or we make money into a nice, safe, tame idol and let the party pass us by.

Like the unjust manager, Jesus is squandering his Father's gifts and canceling our debts. Forget the bookkeeping and come to the party.