I'm glad I shared a joke last week, at the beginning of my sermon, because this week, I don't have anything lighthearted or funny to use to get us into our gospel lesson. In fact, our gospel lesson for this morning is probably one of the most problematic texts in the Bible, where we hear the story of a dishonest steward, whom Jesus appears to be praising!

     In commenting on this passage biblical scholar, William Barclay says, "It is quite clear that this is a difficult parable to interpret. It's a story of about as choice a set of rascals as one could meet anywhere--starting with the steward!" So, let's begin with the steward. Most likely, in the first century world, this steward was a slave--but a trusted slave who was placed in charge of his master's whole estate. In Judah, it was a common practice to have absentee landlords. The master in this story may well have been one, and his entire business affairs may have been in the hands of this steward. In the hands of this dishonest steward--this dishonest steward who, it seems, had been using the master's goods illegally, and wastefully; so much so that the master, upon learning of the steward's actions, fired him on the spot--telling him to turn in his account books. Because of his dishonesty, the steward had lost his job. But if that weren't enough, he then had a brilliant--if underhanded idea. He said to himself, I know what I'll do--I'll falsify the entries in the account books before I hand them over, so that the debtors will be shown to owe far less than they actually do. This, he knew, would have two practical effects. First, the debtors would be grateful to him; and second, and probably much more effective for this "rascal", now he had involved the debtors in his own crimes so that if worse came to worst for this man who was too weak to dig and too ashamed to beg, he was now in a position to exercise a little judicious blackmail, shall we say--providing himself with a bit of unemployment insurance. And as hard as it is for us to understand why the master, upon learning of the crime, praises the dishonest steward for his shrewdness, what is even more difficult for us to grasp are Jesus' own words, as he appears to lift up the example of the steward, asserting that the "children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of light", and that the disciples should, in a similar way, make friends for themselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails, they may be received into a dwelling which lasts forever.

     Now, how in the world are we to make sense of that? There really are two keys to unlocking the difficulties of this text.

     One: we need to ask ourselves, what could there possibly have been in the thought and action of that steward that would warrant the admiration of Jesus? The answer is: the man evidenced a simple and single-minded concern that he have a home for himself after his life as a steward ended. Faced with the reality of his situation, that he might be without food and shelter, the steward set himself urgently and without wavering to the task of assuring himself a place at the tables of those he helped. He could think of nothing else, this concern was so all-engrossing. And isn't that dedication to a task, at least, worthy of notice? Even as we take note, perhaps, of Muslim terrorists, in Palestine, in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Chechnya in our own day, abhorring their violence and disregard for human life, but having to concede, at least, that they are a determined lot, as they have their sights set on their goals, and they don't seem to be deterred by time, overwhelming power or their own destruction. Surely, Jesus was not condoning the actions of the dishonest steward, anymore than he would condone the terrorism of Al Qaeda. But he wants us to take note of one thing...that we ought to be as single-mindedly determined, with our sights set on what is to be our goal in life--our eternal homeland; that when the time comes, we might be welcomed by those who already inhabit the "eternal habitations" as Jesus calls it. And what style of life does Jesus call forth from us, children of light, concerned not so much for this present generation, as for the generation to come?

     That brings us to the second key to unlocking this mystery--Jesus' words in the last paragraph of this lesson, where he speaks very directly about the lives of his disciples. There he says quite candidly that his disciples are to be faithful and honest in a little, and in much, in our day to day dealing with unrighteous mammon, as well as in the true riches entrusted to us. We are to be faithful and just in business and in work, as well as in Sunday morning church activities. For, says Jesus, we cannot serve God on Sunday, and mammon the rest of the week. Jesus says, "no servant can serve two masters; for that person will hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other." That's the way it is with servants and their masters, says Jesus, and we, his disciples certainly are to be servants of him who is our Master. But, what might that mean for us, disciples, in real life?

     The Jewish Rabbinic writings tell a story that's meant to show us what this might mean, when they tell of a certain greedy man who was always very anxious to invest his wealth to the best advantage. He asked a trusted friend to invest a portion of his earnings, and some time later inquired of the friend where he'd made his investments. The friend answered, "I have given all your money away, to the synagogue, for the poor, the orphans and the widows." "What?" shouted the man "Why would you do such a thing?" To which the friend replied, "You know, if you were going to take a journey into some foreign country, wouldn't you change your money into the currency of the place to which you were headed? You would convert your coins and notes into that used in your place of destination. Well, remember," said the friend, "that we will all be taking a journey into a land beyond the grave, where our money, pride, worldly interests and success will have no place; these will not be the currency of our new homeland. So," said the friend, "I have sought to exchange your earthly wealth now, to secure for you, instead, faith, love, charity and honesty." And the man was so moved by the words and actions of his friend, that he consecrated his possessions, his daily work, his home and family anew, to his Lord and God--to the Master whom he would now serve.

     That, truly, exemplifies for us what Jesus means when he calls us to be concerned not so much for this country, this existence, as for that country beyond the grave where we hope to make our eternal home. But just as that's the meaning of Jesus' parable--part of the reason this passage is so difficult for us, is that Jesus aims here, to deal with us--to show us our double-mindedness; to show us, perhaps we are still trying to serve God and mammon! He is trying to show us that we would very much like to keep one foot firmly grounded in this life, while reaping the benefits of the promise of eternal life. Jesus wants us to see that we are guilty of exchanging some of our unrighteous mammon, into heavenly currency, while keeping an emergency supply, "mad money" close at hand, just in case. If today's gospel lesson tells us anything, it probably tells us how devoted we still are, to our master, mammon: to our gods of work, money and possessions. And just so, it tells us how we are all in need, of "God our Savior", as St. Paul writes to Timothy in our second lesson. How much we need God our Savior, who, in spite of our idolatry and guilt and greed, desires all people to be saved--and desires it so much, that he gave us "one mediator, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all", to purchase us with his own blood from our bondage to unrighteous mammon, that free--we might be free, to love and serve but one God, with all our hearts and souls and mind and strength now, as well as when we are, finally, to be received into "the eternal habitations". That is God's hope for us--and God's plan for us, in Christ Jesus. Is that our hope and plan for life, and eternal life, as well?

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.