Jesus tells us a parable about a useless, money manager. We call this parable, “The Parable of the Dishonest Manager.” We’re not exactly sure how this manager handled the owner’s money. But this we know: everything he did as a manager was a failure. So the owner fired him and told him to turn over the books.
Now realizing that he was a dead man walking, the manager contacted those who owed his boss the most money and started refinancing their loans. But he had to work fast, while he still had time. The dishonest manager had but a narrow window of opportunity. So, he negotiated new, discounted loans. He cashed in on the owner’s reputation. He won friends for his new life to come, the life that awaited him.
How risky, but also cunning! You see, the dishonest manager worked for the owner long enough to know his character–even though the owner’s character had never changed how the manager lived or did business. He knew the owner would honor these new loans. But why? How could the dishonest manager, who ruined what the owner had given him, know the owner would honor these new loans? Here’s why: he understood what the owner was like. It just didn’t change how he did business.
For the owner was odd, different. He was like that eccentric vineyard owner that Jesus also liked to mention. Do you remember him? The vineyard owner paid out according to his generosity and love–not according to the labor that each worker had done. The vineyard owner paid everyone equally, whether they worked a full day in the field or only for an hour. That’s insanity!
For the owner didn’t run a vineyard specializing in production and profit. The owner wasn’t a shepherd who was an expert in profitable shepherding. Instead, He would leave of a flock of 99 on the hillside to rescue the one, lost sheep. That’s not smart business; that’s madness. But that’s the boss of the dishonest manager!
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager makes no sense if we understand it through our earthly eyes. It only makes sense if we understand the parable through the eyes of faith. That’s because the parable is about the Kingdom of God, not the kingdom of men!
If we understand the parable in worldly ways, we’ll get it wrong. We’ll think the point of the parable is to praise deception and thievery, for that’s what Jesus does. But that’s not the point. No, the parable is to bring us into a new reality. Jesus is painting a picture of the Christian life, of what it’s like to be in the Kingdom of God.
Before the dishonest manager was turned from his old way of life into the new, everything he did would only get him fired. The dishonest manager deserved to die to his job. He was a disaster when it came to managing the boss’s money. No matter what he did, it would never make the owner smile. That pictures the life of someone before he is brought to faith, before he dies to the ways of the world.
But once the dishonest manager realized that he was already dead, what did he have to lose? The owner had already fired him. He was dead to his job. He knew it. So why not go for broke? And now, for the first time, he did business in a way that would finally delight the owner. He wheeled and dealed like never before.
When the dishonest manager finally lived as if he were a dead man walking, then he shows us a picture of the Christian life. How so? It’s as the Apostle Paul tells us in the book of Romans. “[All Christians] have died to sin. How then can we still live in sin? Don’t you know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:1-2).
In baptism, you died to sin. In baptism, you became the dishonest manager who finally realized that he was already dead. For in baptism, the Holy Spirit joined you into Jesus’ death on the cross. Because of baptism, you don’t just have a relationship with Christ–you are joined to Him! You are one with Christ, not simply in some relationship with Him. So, like the dishonest manager, you now have nothing to lose! That’s the point Jesus makes.
The dead have nothing to lose, but everything to gain! Yet, there’s more to being dead than just being dead. As the Apostle Paul also writes, “So count yourselves dead to sin–but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11). Yes, you are dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus! That frees you to be a wheeling-and-dealing manager. You are a now a manager of what Christ has given you, for you’ve been baptized into His death. Like the dishonest manager, you now have nothing to lose. Believe that! Live like that!
Like the dishonest manager, you can now risk doing business, for, like him, you are a living, dead man. But also like the dishonest manager, you have only a short time-window in which to act. This short time-window is your life now on this earth, before you physically die. Like the dishonest manager, you are now to wheel and deal like never before. Like the dishonest manager, your wheeling and dealing is not for your life here, but for the life that is to come. For it is as Jesus says, “you are not of the world” (John 15:19).
That’s why Jesus says in the parable, “Make friends for yourselves using unrighteous money. That way, when it’s gone [and it will be, because you can’t take it with you], you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” Do you now get it?
“Unrighteous money” is the wealth of this world. Being dead to sin in your baptism, you are now to use the wealth of this world for things eternal. That is your life to come. You are to wheel and deal using the wealth of this world, so “you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
So don’t waste what God has given you. Don’t waste it building a kingdom here, for that is your past, before you died to sin. Invest in the future, where you have an eternal home. Indeed, is it as Jesus tells you, “First, seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness,” and the rest will fall into place (Matthew 6:33).
Everything you have is a gift from God–everything! It’s all a trust given to you by the Giver Himself. You are a manager of that trust, just like the dishonest manager when he finally realized he was a dead man walking, who finally was freed to use the owner’s wealth. Use it like God wants you to use it. For you can’t lose, because you have died in Christ Jesus. Like the dishonest manager, you have nothing to lose, but everything to gain.
The only way you can lose is if you live your life like the dishonest manager had done, before he realized he was as good as dead. Then, he managed the money he had for this life, not for the life to come. When that happens to you, you are again living like someone who has everything to lose, not as a dead man who has nothing to lose! Invest–not in this world–but in eternity.
That’s why Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” If you love your money, you’ll wind up hating God. If you devote yourself to your money, you’ll wind up despising God.
Yet, the sinner in each of us protests and complains. We shake our heads and cry out, “Get real! I have bills to pay and a mortgage. If you haven’t noticed, food and gas keep getting more expensive.”
And so the battle over money takes place. Who is your real god, God or money? You are tempted to use the money you have as the dishonest manager did before he died and changed. Don’t you get it? You’ve already died! You’ve already died to sin. Even more, it’s not your money anyway. You’re the manager, not the owner. Invest your money for eternity like you’re already dead and have nothing to lose!
Repent, from letting money control your life. Repent, for living your life in the past, instead of for the life to come! Repent, for using the money you have to build up your treasures here, instead of in eternity. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).
Return to your baptism. Drown the old, sinful self within you. Call out to God for forgiveness. For God is your master, not money. You are the manager, not the owner. Live like you’re already dead, as if you have nothing to lose. Learn from the dishonest manager and invest in the life to come.
For in the end, when God closes the books and parcels out the property, you will have an eternal dwelling. You will have a permanent home. It became yours when you died to sin in baptism. Jesus, the Son of God, fully paid your mortgage when He died to give you His life.
That’s the outrageous owner you have. Jesus, in His suffering, death, and resurrection, has canceled your debts. He has sealed you in this Love in the waters of baptism. He feeds you in this Love with His risen Body and Blood. He encourages and teaches you in this Love by His holy Word.
These are the treasures that moth and vermin cannot destroy and where thieves cannot break in to steal (Matthew 6:20). These are the treasures of heaven–even Christ Himself! And He is the One who guards and protects them for you, and who continues to give them to you. He is the lavish owner who cancels your debt.
Dear saints of God, that’s freedom, eternal freedom! Christ has freed you to live in this freedom. Live like that with all that God has given you, even your money. Invest in the eternity that Christ has won for you. Amen.
