I don't post here very often but I still write. I write an article for the weekly bulletin at work. I almost always comment on the lectionary readings that we read at Mass, a collection of a Hebrew Bible/Old Testament reading, a Psalm, a New Testament writing, and a Gospel reading. Most of the time I focus on the Gospel reading but the choices are very rich and worthy of comment.
This commentary is on the Gospel reading for yesterday (Sunday, September 18, 2022). You can find the reading here (the last reading) and I suggest giving it a quick read before tackling the below.
I posted this one because I liked it. Maybe I should post these more often...I don't know. As time goes on I've learned that while most of us have very strong feelings about religion, reading about it is a different affair. This particular story that Jesus tells reminded me a lot of conversations I've been having with myself about the films of Quentin Tarantino and I make a subtle reference to Reservoir Dogs (I wouldn't outright say it...far be it for me to recommend it to our congregation).
So here goes.
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Our Gospel reading this Sunday is interesting. Jesus presents a parable about a dishonest steward and the rich man who employs him. By the end of the story, he’s going to lift up the dishonest man as an exemplar to be imitated. It’s worth sitting with this story for a while because it’s a story that often confused the early Church, who tried to glean a moral from a story that was steeped in immorality.
First off, I think that telling a moral story involving immoral persons is a bit of storytelling genius on Jesus’ part. One of my favorite filmmakers has made several films where the protagonists are often thieves, murderers, drug dealers, liars, or some combination thereof. What’s interesting is that his stories are often strangely moral, despite the wretched things that his characters do. He might emphasize how the virtues of honesty or loyalty or honor play out even among the most unscrupulous people. In one of his films, a group of murdering bank robbers are faced with a situation where loyalty and honesty become intensely important to their survival. What these characters do is wrong. They are on the wrong side of morality. But somehow, some virtue still shines forth from the muck and the audience is left to reflect on how those virtues play out in their own lives.
The steward in our story is charged by his rich employer to give an account for all of the business affairs the steward has been managing on his behalf. Why? Because this steward has squandered his employer’s property. This is a reckoning day for the steward. He is losing his status and likely the patronage of the rich man. So, before news of his dismissal reaches his village, he devises a plan. He would play with his rich master’s finances one final time. Without authorization he makes deals with those who owe the rich man a debt. He then discounts their debt by 20 to 50% if they settle up with him now. Why does he do this? Because, having fallen out of favor with his employer, he might set up new relationships and perhaps be hired by them. He would then retain some position and perhaps gain a new patron. It’s good to keep in mind that this is not his money to do with it what he pleased. He is using dishonesty and deception to solve a problem caused by his own dishonesty and deception.
Then the unthinkable happens: the rich master commends the steward for his actions. To use another unsavory example, imagine a racketeer extorting a business owner for protection money for a mob boss. Would the mob boss be pleased to get only part of the money? Wouldn’t he feel like a lesson should be made out of the business owner? Or if someone owes us a debt, are we pleased to get only part of it? Wouldn’t it harm the relationship in some way to only get part of it? Already, we might be uncomfortable with all of the above examples. How are we to find a moral in a situation where there are no real good guys? Even the rich man would have most likely be seen as a “bad guy” to Jesus’ predominantly peasant audience, who frequently found themselves in debt to such men and therefore were less able to provide for their own family. They would’ve also have frequently dealt with debt collectors like this steward. And though this steward is being dishonest, they would have loved an opportunity to lessen their debt with an offer like his.
Why does the rich man commend the steward? One reason is that now the community sees the rich man as a merciful and compassionate man. The steward has unwittingly gained honor for his employer. He has made him look good. In the original Greek, the rich man says that the steward acted phronimōs, a word that can be tricky to translate. If it is translated as “shrewdly”, we gets hints of the steward’s craftiness and guile, which is not something we’d consider a virtue. Sometimes it is translated as “wisely”, “skillfully”, or “prudently”. These are much closer to virtues in the traditional sense but the same sentence in our Mass’s translation outright calls him “dishonest” (the Greek word is adikia and literally means “unrighteous”...while the rich man commends the debt-collecting steward, Jesus still sees him as an unrighteous man).
What values stand out, even in such an unsavory situation? Somehow, in a situation rife with exploitation, the virtues of mercy and compassion still stand out. Those who hold a debt over someone should be merciful and in Jesus’ scenario even an unrighteous person who is only looking out for his own interest learns that mercy is a good policy. The practice of mercy also gains honor for the rich man, even if that seems like all he cares about. Stewards and rich men in his audience would do well and learn from this story. But to Jesus’ predominantly peasant audience, a different moral of the story might’ve seemed clear. They wouldn’t have been as concerned with the ethical wranglings of immoral people. They would’ve seen debt relieved and they knew that debt relieved means more food to eat and an easing of suffering.
In this particular story Jesus, in a sense, is saying this (among other things): “Look, even immoral people can see that mercy is a good policy. Mercy is God’s policy and it should be yours too.” It also calls out church leaders who are themselves stewards acting on God’s behalf. Mercy has to be the way and we can’t be less merciful than an unrighteous debt-collecting steward. Even for him, mercy restores relationships and relieves suffering….sometimes we can learn something from the bad guy!
