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The parable Jesus tells follows directly the parable of the Prodigal Son/Loving Father. Luke 15 is all about unconditional love, forgiveness, restoration, and the works of God, not man. That is also what our text today is all about.

First, the first sermon; the obvious one; (or maybe not so obvious) certainly the "surface level" one who's meaning appears from the actions, results and commentary of Christ at the end.

The Rich Man, the man with all the stuff, the merchant business man, had a steward who was either a crook or an incompetent. It came to the master's attention that his steward (i.e.: his supervisory servant) had been "wasting" his goods. Had he been embezzling, shoplifting, or just keeping such bad records and performing such low quality control that perishables were perishing? We don't know. Who cares? What we do know is that all of the steward's "work ethic" and job performance; along with his excuses and promises to work even harder didn't matter. He was going to be fired. In this story there are no enemies, no bad guys; the only evil is that the steward was "wasting" goods.

The fired steward wasn't fired immediately and thrown out. He had a little time left before his exit from the rich man's business. Why? We are not told.

He was honest with himself. That's what the Word of God is meant to do; the Law; to make one honest with one's self. The "soon-to-be ex-steward" recognized that without his master and lord he was nothing AND that there was nothing he could do. He knew he couldn't work (bad back) or beg (shame). It's good to have shame. It's good to know one is a "poor, miserable, sinner in thought, word and deed."

Now, what he did next is curious. It is not to be emulated in today's business world. It appeared to be just more "swindling" and theft. When you work at Wal-mart and sell your buddy a $14.99 cd for 6 bucks, that's stealing. But what did he do, that Jesus wants you to look at? He forgave debt on behalf of his Lord. He might not have had that authority, objectively speaking, but the debtors thought that he did. He exercised his apparent "agency" and "power of attorney" and wiped away huge amounts of debits.

The result is what's incredible. It's Jesus' story and He can tell it anyway He desires.

"So the Master commended (literally: praised) the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly (literally, he did prudently)." We are not given the details, nor the full thought processes of the master. Many commentators have "weighed in" over the centuries with their own interpretations. There is of course the text's brief explanation: "because the sons of this age are more prudent than the sons of light in their own generation." At the basic meaning, one could discern that if bad people, pagans, unbelievers use their assets, resources, skills (mammon) wisely for their own selfish benefit, then we Christians should at least be smart enough, "clever" enough, and disciplined enough to do the same. Well okay, DO IT! But you see, that's Law not Gospel. This text is not just another excuse for a pastor to preach "Stewardship Sundays," pledge drives, pastoral raises, or even fuller "time and talent" participation from the laity.

Jesus is talking about Grace, Mercy for the miserable, the Love and reach of the Lord for the unreachable. Just why did the Master in the parable react the way he did? Dr. Arthur Just has, I think, the right interpretation. After the steward's hasty held "fire sale," where did things stand? There were a whole bunch of debtors very, very happy. There were a whole bunch of potential customers (and advertisers) who were well disposed towards this generous Lord. Oh sure, the master took a financial hit, but he had his reputation elevated and his generosity "toasted" far and wide. Remember, the steward was only acting on the Master's behalf. Dr. Just says that the steward took a big gamble, a real risk, that his master would in fact turn out to be forgiving and generous. We might call it faith in the seeming absence of any evidence, of any guarantee.

And now, the second sermon:

Context is important. Audience is important. The context as we've seen is the heart of Luke's Gospel, chapter 15-- monergism, the good news that God does all the finding, all the saving, all the loving and forgiving.. The audience for this parable is you, to be sure, but, in the original setting it was spoken not to Pharisees, Saducees, or interested "seekers." It was spoken to Christ's handpicked apostles, the first ring of His New Testament Pastorate. "And I say to you, (the "you " is the "12 ") make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents."

Did the 12 "make friends?" Well, yes, I'm sure they did. All Christians have and make new friends. But I would suppose that they "made" a whole lot more enemies than they did friends. Preaching the Law makes enemies. Preaching the Gospel makes even more adversaries. The Word of God is the "smell of death" to those who are perishing; the Gospel is a "scandal," an embarrassing "stumbling stone" How did the Disciples "make friends," that is, how did they make disciples of all nations; brothers and sisters of the Lord; co-heirs of light and life? Did they do it by unrighteousness mammon? No. They did it by baptizing all nations in the Name of our Triune God; by teaching their catechumens "all things" which Christ had said, taught and done. How did the 12 "make friends?" They did so by loving, absolving, washing, serving in the midst of a people of "unclean lips."

Did the 12 fail? Yes, according to the world they failed miserably. They died away from their homes, their original families, their beloved Galilee. They were tortured and executed horribly for giving out Love Incarnate. But what was to be the reward for that human failure? "That they may receive you into the eternal tents." This everlasting home isn't some "retirement community for faithful apostles" because they spread around a lot of "seed money" for new mission starts, publishing schemes and stewardship programs. The "mammon" to which the Lord refers is that earthly stuff which will bring true spiritual riches. The Lord takes whatever we might have, whatever we might have been given, and makes it good. The Lord takes our un-righteous mammon (our riches, health, prosperity, land, time, intelligence, skills, personalities) and adds Himself to the mix. He takes us, we who are all born both crooked and incompetent, and makes us His brothers. It wasn't one of the original 12, it's a pastor who baptized you with mammon, ordinary water, but water connected to and comprehended with Jesus' Word. That's where you were made His friend, and friend of Peter, James, John, and all the rest of the heavenly host. It wasn't one of the Apostles who taught you and absolved you, but it's a pastor who is your steward, your servant, Christ's minister, who forgives you all your sins on the Lord's behalf. The pastor uses a hand + of mammon, he's clothed in a stole of mammon, and speaks with a mammon voice box. But united with Jesus' Word, it is as true and certain in heaven as if Our dear Lord had stood here visibly and done it.

Others before me, and now me, and others to follow, will continue to keep you friends with Christ and His Apostolic Church through the "mammon" of church: organs, pews, fonts, stain glass, pages of text, candles of light and incense of aromas. But always, your loving, forgiving, reconciling Master will forgive you your debts and welcome you, and all your other friends, into the eternal tents.