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P I R I T U A L F O R M A T I O N |
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CHILDREN'S EDUCATION |
SERMONS The
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost By John Sewell The manager was never sure who turned him in.
But somehow the master had gotten wind of his little “on the
side” business deals and called him on the carpet. The boss
said that an outside accountant was auditing the books and just as
soon as it was completed and he knew exactly the mange had been up
to he was out on his ear. Back in his office the manage
thought to himself, “what will I do, I’m too puny to dig and too
proud to beg.” Then it hit. He would fix things
so he would have a few friends when he needed references. Now and infomercial on stuckness. We have
all experienced being stuck when the way we have always done it no
longer works. This happens to individuals, institutions and
nations. What happens when things get stuck? 1. People keep trying harder but with no new
results. There is a treadmill effect of trying harder.
No one changes perspective or direction, they just keep trying
harder. When I was in Topeka a robin saw his reflection in the
window of my room and for a couple of days bouncing off the window
in an attempt to get at that other robin. Trying harder will
not get you unstuck. 2. People keep trying to find new answers to old
questions instead of changing the question. Questions are
perceptions. The very way you phrase a question determines the
range of possible answers. For example is you put a
person on the witness stand and say, “now answer me yes or no, do
you still beat your spouse.” If indeed you do not and have
never beaten your spouse, the question won’t let you get at the
truth. What is needed are new questions. I
wonder if that is why Jesus generally never answered questions he
was asked. He generally asks another question. 3. People get polarized. They only see deep
black or pure white. Things are really good or just shy of a
disaster. Not only are there extremes but also there are many
options in between. Polarizations keep people from coming up
with new possibilities. A stuck system gets unstuck through
adventure. In 1492 Columbus sailed west to go east and on his
way to Japan found the Americas. What you find may be more
valuable than what you were looking for. Now back to our story. The dishonest manager
gets unstuck: 1. He doesn’t keep doing the same old thing only
harder. He does a new thing. 2. He does not look for new answers to old
questions, he asks a new question. 3. He’s too puny to dig and proud to beg, but
between those extremes are lots of options. Since no one knows he is about to be fired he
calls in the accounts payable and says to the first, “How much to
you owe my master?” The answer: “a hundred jugs of olive
oil.” The manager said, “Take your bill, sit down quickly and
make it fifty. Another marks his hundred containers of
wheat down to eighty. What is he doing? In that culture a manager did not earn a salary
for running the estate, and so, when he agreed to lend on his
master’s goods, he had been paid in kind, correspondingly
increasing the amount of the bill. Fearing for his future the
manager cuts his markup and reduces the receipts to their real
amount. While he had previously inflated the bills to enrich
himself, now, he sacrifices his markups not cheating his master in
the process. By giving up what was ill gotten he made an
investment in good will in the community without costing the master
anything. At any rate, when he heard what the manager had
done, the master commended him for his shrewdness or prudence.
His adventure had gotten him unstuck. This parable is disturbing but that is what
parables are supposed to do. They create distance and they
provoking. Parables challenge one’s sense of how things are
supposed to be. The manager is not praised in general but only
for his “prudent actions.” The manager recognized
the critical nature of the situation. He did not lets things
take their course, but boldly, resolutely, and prudently moved to
make a new life for himself. Jesus is saying to his listens
and to us that we need to wake up and discern the real situation.
Discern what is going on and take action. In the past couple of weeks we have been brought
up short. Suddenly things are not normal and things will not
be the same again. We feel stuck as a nation and as individuals.
We are afraid. We feel paralyzed. That is the very point
of terror. That we give up being up we are and become the very
thing that terrifies us. For us the challenge of this
hour demands shrewdness There are two kinds of situations in that I might
call level I and level II. A level I situation is one in which
nothing we do will make a difference. We have seen level I
situations in that past weeks. Level II situations
are those in which our response makes a crucial difference.
Do you remember the old TV show McIaver? In
every episode, the hero, McIaver would find himself in some
situation that appeared to be a level I situation. But he
takes a hairpin, the contents of his fountain pen and some aluminum
foil and escape. His response to the situation made all
the difference. Most situations we encounter in life are level
II. But all too often we go around mistaking level II
for level I circumstances. Our response is crucial. We
must dig deep into our faith and find the resources that conquer
fear. As our Lord said, “Perfect love casts out
fear.” And as Christians we believe that the worst
things that can happen to us are never the last things.
For Jesus has overcome the world. If we are shrewd we recognize that our wealth
cannot get us out of the ultimate crisis. No says Jesus,
“read the signs and be shrewd. Don’t depend on
wealth that is passing away. Rather depend on those things that do
not pass away – love: God’s love for us and our love for each
other. The resurrection of Jesus opens up vast possibilities
because he has overcome the ultimate level I situation.
Remember the way to get unstuck is adventure. I believe that
Jesus says to us, “Trust me. Come and follow me on the
adventure of an eternity. Your may be scared but you will not
be bored. For I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Our response here is crucial – do we accept the call of Jesus or
not? It is up to us. Amen. John
Sewell Proper
20, Year C
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Chapel
of the Cross · 674 Mannsdale Road · Madison, Mississippi
39110 · (601) 856-2593
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