|
When it comes to Bible translations, I generally default to the New Revised Standard Version (though I like the Common English Bible, CEB, quite a bit). When researching the scripture for a sermon, I frequently read several translations, including the blog “Left Behind and Loving it” by Presbyterian minister D. Mark Davis. Each week (most weeks) he publishes his rough translation (with copious notes) of the gospel for the next Sunday. This week, for Luke 16: 1 – 13, there were enough differences and interesting notes (is the manager dishonest or is he falsely accused?) in the text that I decided to share that translation in worship, and both translations were included as an insert in the bulletin (and are here) so worshippers can see both and note both where they are different and where they are the same.
Of course, which translation of the Bible is the best? The one you will read.
Luke 16: 1 – 13
A Rough Translation from Greek by the Rev. D. Mark Davis
https://leftbehindandlovingit.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-hedging-fund-manager.html
1 Yet he was also saying to the disciples, “A certain man was wealthy, who had a manager, and it was falsely charged to him that he was wasting his livelihood. 2 And having yelled for him, he said to him, “What is this that I am hearing about you? Give the account of your management, for you are no longer able to manage.” 3 Yet the manager said to himself, “What should I do because my lord is taking the management away from me? I am not strong to dig, I shame myself to beg. 4 I knew what I would do, in order that when I might be dismissed out of the management they would take me into their homes. 5 And having called to himself one by one the ones the lord’s debtors, he was saying to the first, “How much do you owe my lord?” 6 And he said, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” And he said to him, “Take up your bill, and having sat down quickly write fifty.” 7 Then he said to the other, “And how much do you owe?” And he said, “A hundred containers of wheat.” And he says to him, “Take up the bill and write eighty.” 8 And the lord commended the manager of injustice because he acted shrewdly; For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.9 And I say to you, “Make friends for yourself out of the unjust mammon, in order that when it should fail, they may welcome you into their eternal tents. 10 The one who is faithful in few is also faithful in much; and who is unjust in few is also unjust in much. 11 Therefore, if in the unjust mammon you did not become faithful, who will have faith in you (for) the true mammon? 12 And if in that belonging to others you did not become faithful, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No house servant is able to serve two lords. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or hold one and disdain the other. You are not able to serve God and mammon.
Luke 16: 1 – 13
New Revised Standard Version
1 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2 So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 8 And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.10 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
One of my favorite hikes of all time is a hike to High Falls just outside of Elkins, West Virginia. An eight-mile out and back hike that goes through fields and up hills, down old railroad tracks for a while, and through an old apple orchard until you arrive at this gorgeous waterfall where you could just sit for days. Unless, of course, you see a storm approaching and you know you need to start back on the four miles between you and your car. Which is exactly what happened on my 30th birthday. So we started to head back keeping a close eye on the darkening skies. Up, up, up we hiked. And then down, down, down. Only at some point in that down, we both began to wonder if we were on the right path. We hadn’t made a turn of which we were aware, but it just didn’t feel right. Unsure, we decided to keep going. And then found ourselves back by the river, just a ways upstream. Not only had we added a couple of miles to our hike we’d added another significant climb, and the skies weren’t getting any brighter. But, having gone the wrong way, there was nothing to do but turn around and step by step work our way back to the correct path.
Today’s parable is a little difficult to understand without a better understanding of the culture and practices of the time.
First, it should be noted that interest was forbidden - according to the Bible[1], according to the culture. It was not permissible to charge interest because interest rates inevitably took the most from the people who could least afford to pay them. Interest was banned in Jewish culture and practice.
Also, debt forgiveness was a natural part of the process. There were jubilee years. Biblically mandated, when the land would rest and debts would be crossed off, eliminated out, and the ledger would be restarted. It was baked right into the system. You could loan or borrow anything you couldn’t afford to have forgiven in seven or 49 years.[2]
Then, in this text, first, we have the owner, the wealthy man. He is an absentee landlord. Possibly Roman. He has no interest in the people or what their needs are, only to get money from them.
That is what the manager is for. Is he a dishonest manager as the NRSV contends or has he been falsely accused as other translations suggest? It’s something of a moot point because, either way, he is told he will lose his job.
This is when the man realizes he’s been hiking in the wrong direction. He’s been helping the wealthy man grow wealthier. In the translation I shared with you, this is why he is called a manager of injustice. He is part of a corrupt system. Maybe he thinks the man will have loyalty towards him. Maybe he wants to be like the wealthy man. But when he is fired, the scales fall from his eyes and he sees things as they truly are.
He also sees that his own prospects are dim. He has been seen as the enforcer for the wealthy man. Who knows what he added on top of the unfair expectation of the wealthy man? And so he takes those first steps - to correct his wrongs and to make his own future more possible. Instead of being a manager of injustice, he becomes a cultivator of relationships.
As one commentary suggests, this is why the man is praised, “for instead of employing your money to create a group that owes you favors, make friends with your money.”[3] Do good with it. Share it. Let it feed and bless others. And that he does. He eliminates much of the portion they owed the absent landlord – reducing it by as much as 50%.
Money, this scripture suggests, is not necessarily good and not necessarily evil, it is in how it is used. Used to help, used to cultivate relationships. Used to further the kingdom. Those are good things. Used to possess. Used to control. Controlling us. That is contrary to God’s hope and will for our lives. What are we raising for the CROP Walk that you will hear about in a little bit? Money. Money that will do so many good things.[4]
That’s one of the reasons I love stewardship. I love talking about giving. Because God’s plan for giving is a gift. It’s freedom. It’s fun. If you can give it away, it cannot possess you. Your money isn’t after all, yours at all. It’s all God’s.[5]
Money, and possessions, are things we receive and share and pass on. Not to be held onto too tightly. Just four years after Hurricane Florence, four years since so much was displaced and underwater, you understand this better than many people. Anyone who has a retirement fund, college fund, money invested in the stock market, and has been on the wild ride of the last few months understands this.
Money, and possessions, are much like something I read last week in the New York Times’ weekly feature called “Metropolitan Diary.”[6]
My husband and I had just left the Museum of Modern Art when it began to rain. We hoped the rainfall would not become a downpour because we did not have an umbrella.
Crossing the street, we saw an unfamiliar man and woman approaching us with smiles on their faces.
“Here,” the woman said, extending an umbrella in our direction. “We’re on our way home and taking the subway.”
We thanked them, and they walked toward the train station. My husband lifted the umbrella over our heads.
“Oh, my,” he said. “It’s a really good umbrella.”
As we waited at the bus stop, a couple who appeared to be tourists walked by us with no protection in what was by now steady rain.
“Here,” I said, extending my arm with the umbrella. “Our bus has just arrived.”
Money. Possessions. When we cling to them, we miss the point.
And the majority of this text is about how a manager of injustice becomes a friend to his neighbors. A member of the community. But it’s just part of what Jesus tells us. Jesus then goes on to offer an interpretation. Fred Craddock offers his own interpretation of Jesus’ interpretation:[7]
In summary, therefore, the parable of the clever steward and its attending interpretations say to Jesus’ disciples that for all the dangers in possessions, it is possible to manage good in ways appropriate to life in the kingdom of God…. [and Jesus uses] an argument from the lesser to the greater. The life of a disciple is one of faithful attention to the frequent and familiar tasks of each day, however small and insignificant they may seem. The one faithful in today’s nickels and dimes is the one to be trusted with the big account, but it is easy to be indifferent toward small obligations while quite sincerely believing oneself fully trustworthy in major matters. The realism of these sayings is simply that life consists of a series of seemingly small opportunities. Most of us will not this week christen a ship, write a book, end a war, appoint a cabinet, dine with the queen, convert a nation, or be burned at the stake. More likely the week will present no more than a chance to give a cup of water, write a note, visit a nursing home, vote for a county commissioner, teach a Sunday school class, share a meal, tell a child a story, go to choir practice, and feed the neighbor’s cat….
It is in small ways that we discover where our loyalties lie, and where our love is given.
And friends, this is one of the places that this congregation shines. After Wednesday’s fellowship supper, I heard from one member what a delight it was to be there. And that she received so many hugs that she felt like she needed to go home afterward and get another shower.
And then there was the email of the take-out dinners – not pre-reserved – but given to take to a family just diagnosed with Covid, and what that meant to all of them.
Or the flowers from last Sunday’s worship that were delivered to someone whose heart was hurting.
Or the children who gathered in this sanctuary on Monday from the Preschool to hear about a God who does not lose you but will always search for you.
Or as I recorded the video version of this sermon last Thursday and realized that as I recorded pickle ballers were playing the Smith Center. The group Faith Connections (A multi-cultural, multi-racial interfaith organization serving New Bern) was meeting in the Session House, a local ukulele band was practicing upstairs. A new friend of the church had just stopped by to give me some handmade cards, one of which is already on its way to my daughter. A committee meeting was about to start as well as an AA meeting in the lighthouse.
Each of these ministries, outreaches, a small act of love that helps us keep our lives in balance. In community. Yes. We need to look at where our priorities are. And it’s easy to be like this manager of injustice and get off of the path.
When that’s with money, Jesus typically has a pretty standard response. A good way to get back in balance is to give some money away.
When it’s with life, Jesus typically has a pretty standard response, and that’s to help someone.
Here’s the important part for all of us. How Jesus tells us to proceed. When we find we’ve taken the wrong turn on a hike and are now further away from home than we want- we can’t take on big leap and get back, the answer is to take one small step in the right direction. That’s it. Just one step. The next will come later. It just starts with one. From the lesser to the greater.
Are you where you want to be in your life? In the management of your money, your time, your talents? What one step can you take in a faithful direction?
As Wendell Berry has written, “And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.”[8]
This week, I invite you to take one more step. Maybe a step that is new, or one that is well worn. Whether it is in giving or caring or complimenting or helping.
For we are not called to be managers of injustice, we are called to God’s outrageous, generous, harvest of care and of love.
Other resources used/consulted:
Leander Keck, New Testament Editor, R. Alan Culpepper, “Luke” in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary. Volume IX, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995).
https://www.pulpitfiction.com/notes/proper20c/#Luke16%3A1-13=
Particularly the video from Brian McLaren: https://vimeo.com/336184174
http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke16x1.htm
[1] 25 If you lend money to my people, to the poor among you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. Exodus 22:25 (this is just one of many applicable verses).
[2] Leviticus 25
[3] Walter Brueggemann, Charles B. Cousar, Beverly R. Gaventa, James D. Newsome, Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary
Commentary Based on the NRSV, YEAR C, (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1994) pages 524-526.
[4] https://events.crophungerwalk.org/2022/event/newbernnc
[5] 1 The earth is the LORD’S and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it; Psalms 24:1
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/11/nyregion/metropolitan-diary.html
[7] James L. Mays, Series Editor. Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. “Luke” by Fred Craddock. [Louisville: John Knox Press] 1990, pages 190-192.
[8] Wendell Berry, The Unforeseen Wilderness: Kentucky’s Red River Gorge
| 
