Sermon - Forgiving the Unjust Steward

Fraternal Forgiveness, Andrey Yanev

A sermon given during Holy Communion at St Giles-in-the-Fields on Sunday 6th August 2023 (The Ninth Sunday after Trinity) based on readings from 1 Corinthians 10.1-13 and Luke 16.1-9

If your take-away from today’s gospel reading is a sense of bewilderment - you are not alone! For centuries, the brightest and best biblical scholars have reached this parable in the Gospel of Luke and have also done a double take.

Which could be a fitting description for what the unjust steward has been up to.

Not only has he been taking liberties on the job. Not earning his keep by collecting the debts due to his Lord and master. But when his boss sacks him for non-performance - the steward takes things a step further, colluding with the debtors to cook the books. And they’re all too happy to play along.

This cunning plan not only makes his master’s accounts seem more favourable, but also allows the steward to ingratiate himself with a whole supply-chain of potential future employers.

And what is his master’s response to all this?

“Fair play guv!”

He commends his former steward for acting “wisely”.

Perhaps the lord has made so much money taking advantage of other people’s losses that he’s amused to see his protégé do the same? The steward lost his job but made a whole bunch of new friends who might put him up when he’s down and out. And the debtors? Well, they were laughing all the way to the bank – not out of pocket nearly as much as they thought they might be.

Their whole world seems to be smelling of roses.

But – do you smell a fish? Something doesn’t seem right?

And why does Jesus encourage us to follow their example – “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness” he says, “that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”

What can we learn from this seemingly unrighteous mob?

Pioneering psychiatrist Elisabeth Kübler-Ross developed what has become known as the five stages of grief. Devised to help explain the emotions we go through following the death of a loved one, she later adapted the model to understand how people cope with all kinds of loss – including loss of employment.

In Kübler-Ross’ model, the first stage of coping with loss is characterised by a sense of denial or isolation. We might deny the reality of the situation – this can’t be happening to me – or seek to withdraw from engaging with others, isolating ourselves from friends and family.

The next stage, once the initial shock has passed, is characterised by anger toward ourselves, our boss, at the circumstances that have led to our loss of employment.

Once the anger has subsided, we may enter a phase of bargaining and desperation, either seeking to negotiate with our boss to keep our jobs on different terms, or desperately jumping into a job search, applying for anything and everything without much of a plan.

The paralysis of depression can creep up at any time – causing us to question our skills and our worth.

In the fifth stage, we come to accept the loss. We may not feel great about it, but we learn to embrace the change in our circumstances.

Of course a single model cannot possibly explain or account for every example. But when we analyse how the unjust steward reacts to his loss of employment, not only do we find no evidence of any of the typical responses to loss identified by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross – but often, quite the reverse!

At no point does the steward seek to deny his situation – and rather than isolate himself his immediate reaction is one of relationship-building - seeking to determine a way in which people might “receive him into their houses.” Despite being made redundant with no opportunity to account for his prior conduct, the steward exhibits no anger toward his master.

 

And while his plan to reduce the amount due by his master’s debtors may seem like bargaining -  there’s no doubt that this is all part of the steward’s plan to move on – no sense in which he is hoping to retain his position; nor does he appear to be sad or depressed about it.

 

The unjust steward doesn’t seem to respond to his situation by grieving for loss at all.

And when we respond the parable likewise, we see something very different.

It is perhaps no coincidence that today’s reading follows another parable that also appears only in Luke’s gospel. A story in which the exuberant -  extravagant - prodigal - generosity of God is laid bare. The parable of the Prodigal Son.

The selfish younger son, who having taken his inheritance early and wasting it, finds himself destitute - salivating over the pigswill intended for the animals he has been hired to watch.  Humiliated, he returns home to offer himself as a servant to his father. Instead of a cold shoulder, he finds a warm embrace – immortalised in a famous painting by Rembrandt. A lavish party is thrown in his honour – much to the chagrin of his elder brother, who has been on his hands and knees on the farm while his fun-loving sibling was living the high life.

The father comes out to plead with his firstborn to join the party – but he refuses to revel in the unbridled joy of “one sinner that repenteth.” He’s grieving for what he has lost.

 

When we look at life with a preference for taking rather than for giving, we look at the world through the eyes of that jealous elder brother.

Perhaps today’s parable encourages us to see things differently?    

Giving the steward the benefit of the doubt opens up the possibility that he may have been lax in calling in his master’s debts for any number of reasons – good and bad. In forgiving a significant portion of the debts owed to his master, perhaps the steward was seeking to counter extortionate price inflation?

Perhaps rather than colluding in fraud, the debtors simply accepted this reduction graciously, as a generous gift?  When we look at the parable with a preference for giving, we notice that the master forgives the steward before we notice the value of his assets that has been taken away.

If we go through life with a preference for taking, we always smell something fishy. Things won’t feel right.

Because life in Christ is not about give and take. This is not a zero sum game. Thinking and doing what is rightful means adopting a preference for giving. Forgiving others, just as we have been forgiven.

Forgiving others whether we have proof they are at fault – or just suspicious about their motives.

Forgiving others unconditionally.

Even – perhaps especially – when it is difficult or messy to do so.

It is hard. Just as seeing the good news in today’s gospel reading is hard!

It is impossible in fact, without the grace of God.

Perhaps the take-away from today’s parable is to give-back the forgiveness we have received. In doing so we move a step closer to those “everlasting habitations” – as our gospel reading describes the Kingdom. Where perhaps the “unjust steward” shall receive us?

So this week, each time we pray:

Lord, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us.

Let us do a double-take and check that we mean it.

 

Image: Fraternal Forgiveness, Andrey Yanev