21 September 2025

21 September 2025 - 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time

Transcript

Reading:  

Luke 16:8

Write:  

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

Reflect:   

I think there are two ways you can take this Gospel story. On the one side, this dishonest steward was trying to cheat his employer. On the other side, he was trying to cheat his employer’s debtors.

Apply:   

Let’s take a look at the second one first, since I believe that is the least likely. Did he somehow know how much these two debtors would be able to repay his employer in that moment? Did he know that he could ease their indebtedness and not do too much harm to their own wealth? That would not really be cheating his employer’s debtors, but would be trying to make himself look good to everyone. His goal was not to help everyone else, but to pave the way for his own smooth transition in life. Did he think they would employ him after what he had done?

As I said, I think that is the least likely. So I am not going to spend any more time on it. I think what was happening was that this guy was trying to figure out how to cheat his employer. I think he was also calculating that – knowing his employer’s wealth – he could get away with knocking down the indebtedness in an artificial way. He said to both of the debtors, “Here is your promissory note…” And then proceeded to tell them how much they could get away with in cheating his employer out of those goods.

Remember, Jesus next called this guy a dishonest steward. He then said that his employer “commended” him for acting “prudently.” But, did he get away with it? That is a question Jesus does not answer. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.”

What a wonderful thing it would be if everyone who is named as a Christian could be known for this simple line. There would be no need to swear an oath, because our ‘Yes’ would mean ‘Yes,’ and our ‘No’ would mean ‘No.’ The reason to swear an oath in court is to ask for God’s help to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” 

Simply put, I’m talking about the virtue of honesty. Our lives should be dedicated to one purpose: revealing the glory of God by what we say and do. This dishonest steward was not acting in the best interest of his employer. He was trying to look out for himself. This was a dumb mistake, but was probably – no, is probably – something many of us face. How many times in our lives have we said or done something to “save face”?

What “wealth” have we been entrusted with? And how do we use it? St. Paul urges the slaves in his day – slaves in his day were probably more like indentured servants than the kind of slavery we had in our nation’s history – to do all they could for the good of their masters. Read Paul’s letter to Philemon about Philemon’s slave Onesimus. 

But that takes me away from the point I’m trying to make. How does Jesus view the work you do for Him? Ultimately, if we are Christian, we are working for Jesus. The daily work we do for ourselves or for some other employer needs to be work done for God. “No servant can serve two masters.” I think it is one of the hardest things about being a follower of Jesus. How do we keep our dedication to Him foremost in our minds? It is so easy to allow other things to invade that “first place” in our lives. On my vacation, I finished rereading C.S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy. The third book really puts a point on this issue. I recommend them wholeheartedly.

Another more modern poet or songwriter, named Bob Dylan, wrote a song whose refrain was very simple: “you’re going to have to serve somebody – it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord – but you’re going to have to serve somebody.”

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the tragedies that have befallen our country in the last two weeks. There is no excuse for the kind of violence that has been perpetrated by means of assassination – both literal physical assassination, and assassination by words. I will not say anything more, because I do not believe anything else should be said. We serve an awesome God whose promise is to walk with us, and those who do violence – either physically, or emotionally – are not serving God. Period. You cannot serve both God and Mammon – whatever that Mammon may be. Be it money, reputation, or an inflated personal ego. There is far too much – especially of the last one. This too is being a “dishonest steward.”

Pray/Praise:   

So I think it is important that we pray for all those involved in the tragedies of these past two weeks. I would have us take a moment of silence before we continue. (And I leave that to you who hear this on the podcast.)

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