Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the Holy Gospel reading which has already been read.

Dear friends in Christ, in today's Gospel reading Jesus tells us disciples a parable about a dishonest manager who not only squandered his master's possessions, but went on to cheat him out of significant accounts receivable. Why do you reckon Jesus would tell such a story to his disciples? Do you reckon He wants us to learn dishonesty?

I reckon not. Let's start off by making it clear that Jesus doesn't want us to imitate the manager's wastefulness or dishonesty. In the 4th century, the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate referred to this parable as a reason that he thought Christianity was inferior to pagan Roman philosophy. Julian thought Jesus was teaching Christians to imitate the manager's dishonesty, but this is a wrong and ridiculous interpretation of the parable. Here are three reasons Julian was wrong: First, Jesus elsewhere condemns wastefulness and dishonesty, as does the rest of the Bible. Second, parables don't establish Christian doctrines but give illustrations that teach about what God's Kingdom in Christ is like. Third, in all the parables, there are elements that are meant to reflect God's Kingdom and elements that shouldn't be emphasized.

So in this parable, the dishonesty of the manager should be rejected, but what Jesus wants to highlight is first of all the mercy of the master and secondly the shrewdness of the manager in recognizing that his master is merciful. To summarize the main points of this sermon before we get into the details: it is God's will that we stake all of our hopes for eternal life on His mercy in Christ, not in our own wealth or works or self-sufficiency; but at the same time, it is God's will that Christians be honest, hardworking, and not wasteful managers of what He has given us and we should use our wealth and talents to benefit others and support His Church.

Now, to the parable. The story begins with a demand from the master for reckoning from the manager. The master was a landowner with tenants who grew wheat and olives, and the manager (or steward) was entrusted by the master with the management of the accounts of what tenants owed the master for rent. In the days when Christ was telling this parable, a manager like this would have had practically full control over his master's business. The dishonest manager must have known that the master was a trusting guy, so he took advantage of the master's trust and squandered some of his master's possessions by carelessness or skimming off the top. And the manager didn't think the master would ever demand a reckoning or accounting of his stewardship.

But word got back to the master of what the manager was up to, and the master called the manager into his office and said, "Hey buddy, it's time to reckon with me. Give me an account of your management." And you know what the manager said to the master? Nothing! He was speechless, and this of course implies guilt. But what is amazingly merciful about the master's reaction is that he doesn't have the manager thrown into jail, but simply fires him and still gives him time to go write up his accounts and return later with the books.

Then the dishonest manager gave an honest assessment of his situation and recognized how hopeless it was. He was too weak for manual labor and begging wasn't an option. So he hung all his hopes on the mercy of his master, who had already shown great mercy toward him by not turning him over to the authorities for punishment. On top of that, the master didn't even ask for repayment for what the manager had squandered, and the master had given the manager an extended period of time with the account books. The manager counted on the master being a man of his word with a reputation for mercy, so he went to each of the master's debtors and reduced their debts significantly. This favor to the debtors would ingratiate the manager with them and give him places to stay while he got back on his feet, but here is what made the plan so shrewd and foolproof: this action of the manager would not only benefit him but also would have the effect of making the master look incredibly generous and merciful because the debtors would have assumed that the master was in agreement with this discount. Just imagine if your loan officer came to you and said, "Hey, I've lobbied with the bank on your behalf and we're going to reduce your mortgage by 50%." Later on, you'd be glad to do a favor in return for your loan officer, and you're going to be a loyal customer for life at that bank. People don't forget big favors done to them. So in the parable, the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, because the manager had staked all his hopes on the master's mercy and had made the master look good and merciful.

Now just consider how this parable is like our relationship with God, our Heavenly Master. He has entrusted us with life in this world and all our goods and possessions and said, "Use these to bring glory to me and to do good to your neighbor." And how have you done with them? Have you used all your wealth and talents for good purposes, or have you pursued unrighteous living with them? Have you given generously to those in genuine need, and supported the Church to the best of your ability; or have you been stingy and selfish? But before you even begin to respond, let me go ahead and cut you off and remind you that you are like the dishonest manager, without any defense, because you're a sinner and you owe God an account of your every thought, word, and deed. So today is a day of reckoning, time to answer up to God for all your sins: repent.

But look at how merciful your Lord has been to you. He could have justly thrown you into the eternal hellfires for every sin you have ever committed, but He hasn't; He has mercifully spared you because of what Jesus did in His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus, the perfect and holy God-Man, stepped in and paid all your debts for you. In His life He perfectly managed the gifts God gave Him and then He suffered under God's wrath against your sins on the cross. He died for all of your wastefulness, stinginess, and greediness. He paid the price you owed with His holy, precious blood in order to redeem you from sin, death, and hell. The day of reckoning for your sins was actually 2000 years ago on Mt. Calvary, where Jesus died for you.

And now, instead of giving you what you deserve-death and eternal damnation-Jesus has baptized you in His own blood to give you what you could never earn-life and eternal salvation. And on top of all that, unlike the parable, God still keeps you on as a manager in His Kingdom, as a disciple of Christ; He still gives you all your possessions and life and lets you to be a good steward with all of them. Unlike the parable, God hasn't fired you but rather redeemed you for the sake of what Jesus has done.

And now Jesus commends to you the example of the dishonest manager; not the dishonest part, but the shrewdness of living with confidence in the mercy of your Lord, who doesn't want to condemn you but to save you. So live freely under His mercy, but don't take that freedom as a license to sin but rather to be a good steward. God wants you to be shrewd, hardworking, and industrious with them for the sake of God's Kingdom. Jesus said, "the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light," that is, than Christians. So just as worldly people put so much thought and effort into earning money, Jesus wants us Christians to devote all our energies and resources to serving Him and others. Think about how much energy the world devotes to wealth and pleasure; we are supposed to devote an even greater amount of energy to the things of God.

And as you continue to work under your Merciful Master, He wants you to forgive the debts of others, that is, forgive their sins and be reconciled to them. He wants you to take the Gospel message of salvation and share it freely with others. And He wants you to take the wealth and talents He has given you and not be enslaved to them but be willing to give them away. Don't reckon that all the things you have are actually yours; no, they belong on God's ledger and are just on loan for you to use. In the parable, from the master's perspective, it wasn't a waste of his possessions when the manager cancelled part of the debts that were owed to him; the master knew he would earn goodwill by the cancellation of the debts. Likewise, God doesn't consider it a waste when you give away the possessions He has put you in charge of. God doesn't want to be known as stingy and greedy with His possessions, but as generous and merciful. So that means Christians must use the gifts God has given them for the benefit of other people and the extension of His Kingdom.

Jesus said after the parable, "I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings." Unrighteous wealth doesn't mean dirty money, but it means that all wealth and possessions in this world are unrighteous because they don't help us get right with God. Nothing in this sinful world is truly righteous. The only righteousness that can reconcile us to God is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But unrighteous mammon (wealth) has its uses in the Christian life. The dishonest manager had used unrighteous wealth to make earthly friends who would help him out; Jesus wants us to use unrighteous wealth-that is, any money or possessions or talents we have-and use them to benefit our neighbors so that they might see a reflection of the generosity and mercy of God in our love of others. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16).

Likewise, when we give our unrighteous wealth to the Church for use in supporting the ministry of Word and Sacrament, we are making eternal friends for ourselves through that unrighteous wealth because the Church needs such unrighteous wealth to function, and the Church exists to bring new members, new friends of Jesus into God's eternal Kingdom of mercy. These are friends we will have for eternity in heaven!

But Jesus also warns us in the Gospel reading that money may be useful but it can never be our friend, it can never come before faith in God. Jesus said in our Gospel, "You cannot serve God and money." You are ruled either by God or money, so examine your life to make sure you have the right ruler. The best way to show yourself that money isn't controlling you is by being willing to part with it. One of the ways that you can show your money "who's boss" is by giving it away to the Church.

But this warning from Jesus , "You cannot serve God and money," reveals the depths of our sinfulness, because all of us have tried to figure out a way to serve both God and the stuff of this world. So again, repent. Don't ever reckon that your stewardship of God's gifts is what keeps His mercy with you. No, as we pray in the Communion liturgy, "Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, and His mercy endureth forever!" His mercy is shown to you when He reckons your sins unto Christ, that is, when He takes the guilt from your ledger and puts it on Christ's ledger, and when He takes the righteousness that Christ has accomplished to save you and put s it on your ledger. With that sort of reckoning in your favor, do you reckon your salvation is sure and certain? I reckon so. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.