Lord God, heavenly Father, who hast bountifully given us Thy blessing and our daily bread: We beseech Thee, preserve us from covetousness, and so quicken our hearts that we willingly share Thy blessed gifts with our needy brethren; that we may be found faithful stewards of Thy gifts, and abide in Thy grace when we shall be removed from our stewardship, and shall come before Thy judgment, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Unjust Steward - Unrighteous Mammon
KJV Luke 16:1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
I. OF THE UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON.
1. This is truly a Gospel for priests and monks, and will bring them money, unless we prevent it. Before entering upon the consideration of it, we must accustom ourselves to the language used, especially the word mammon.
Luther's humorous introduction to this sermon should be noted and remembered, because this parable is a trap for those who do not understand it and difficult for those who try. Like all of the "hard sayings" of Jesus, this one opens up the meaning of the story, in an unconventional way. Two terms must be understood - the Unjust Steward and the Mammon of Unrighteousness.
1. Unjust Steward - Key Person
The steward - or manager - in this story is unjust, and not a believer. He is dishonest in his dealings and in his fake repentance. Nothing he does is commendable, and that is why the rich man appreciates the steward's dishonesty. We have to remember that the Rich Man only cares about cash flow, not honesty.
2. Mammon of Unrighteousness - Key Meaning
Mammon is not money but extra money, more than we have to have, beyond our normal expenses. That means it is neither bad nor good.
Luther was very much against the righteousness of works, which is so easy for the bishops to use against the people. "Build this chapel to St. Matthew the Rotund and God will reward you with grace."
In this parable the steward (manager) is seen by the others as being wasteful. They report him to the Rich Man, who threatens the steward with expulsion and its consequences, poverty.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
Unstated is the fact that the Rich Man did not become wealthy by being a choir boy, as they say. An estate owner would always be eager to capitalize on bargains, droughts, weather calamities, and changes in currency. A written bill has a lesser value as a debt than cash. A dishonest eye practice tried to make money from a bill when they had already admitted malpractice. The bill collector thought he had a pile of money to use, just for making a phone call - $800! I said, "They admitted their errors and canceled the $200 bill. You paid something for the piece of worthless paper, so you get to eat it." The bill collector was not happy since he wanted to cash in on the dishonesty.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
The founder of the University of Phoenix wrote in his book that he and other higher education businessmen routinely gave money to the right people to make their schools legitimate. The right people hold the power in granting certifications with its complicated rules and demands, varying state by state, a lot of hungry mouths to feed. The founder gave one lobbyist $500,000 to get one of those certifications done. Everyone in the education business knows. One LCMS college thought the sure way to success was something called HotChalk, an integrated system of online education in one package. Now they want their $300 million from the college.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
Here we have to say, with Luther (see the linked sermon) that the conclusion is not parallel to the Rich Man and the Unrighteous Steward. This is a very condensed way of saying, In spreading the Gospel, share what you have with the poor.
12. Luke has described the fruit of faith thus: Give to the poor and make to yourself friends. As though he would say: I will not now speak of faith, but how you should prove your faith. Wherefore do good to your neighbor, and if you can give from the heart you may be assured that you believe.
Thus the Scriptures speak at one time of fruits, at another time of faith.
Again, they also speak of fruits, when they teach, Matthew 25:42, how the Lord will speak to the lost on the last day: “I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was athirst, and ye gave me no drink,” and the like.
This means, you have not believed, as I will prove to you by your own works.
13. The Scriptures in some passages speak of the outward conduct, and in others of the inner. Now if you will apply that which is said of the outward to the heart and confuse matters, you pervert it and do wrong. Hence you must let the distinction remain, and observe it. These expressions: I have been hungry, thirsty, shelterless, naked, sick and in prison, and you have shown me no work of mercy, refer to the external conduct, and signify as much as: you have never exhibited any outward conduct by which you have shown your faith; and to prove this, I appeal to the poor as witnesses.
Therefore, faith alone must be present first to make us good, after that good works must follow to prove our piety. This now is one point, namely, concerning works.
14. The second point is far more difficult, when the Lord says: “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles.” You say, our adversaries cry: you say a person shall not do good works to obtain eternal life; behold, here it reads differently. Now, what shall we answer?
This is Jesus chiding the disciples to spread the Gospel by caring for the poor. The scribes and Pharisees stayed back because they wanted to treat Jesus as unclean. The poor crowded around Him and asked for healing and understood through His miracles that their sins were forgiven through faith, something far more powerful than the righteousness of works.
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| CFW Walther's nephew read a lot of Luther - and it shows. |
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