My first job out of college was working as a credit manager for a department store. Since the military draft was looming over my head there weren’t a lot of choices. I was desperate and this company was in need of someone with a business degree. It was my job to repossess items when people had become delinquent on their accounts. One day I was asked to repossess a television from a family who were over four months behind on their payments. When I arrived the woman was very nice and invited me in. She sat on an old sofa with two small children. There was no other furniture in the house except the television. I told her I had to take it. She understood. As I removed the set from the home I noticed the sadness in the eyes of her children. I felt like I had taken their best friend. I thought to myself, "What an awful job this is, repossessing furniture from the poor."
But, this was my job and the company I worked for had rules. They had every legal right to repossess the television since they had not lived up to the terms of the agreement. As for me, I was just doing my job, protecting the company’s interest. Fortunately, I didn’t stay in that occupation very long. But as I look back at that event I wish now I had given that family a break. They did give me a partial payment and they were really down on their luck. I learned later that the company recouped very little on repossessed furniture. They just wanted the cash.
When I read this story that Jesus told his disciples I understand why the steward gave his customers a break. They were delinquent in their accounts and he lowered the balance so the accounts could be closed. It was a shrewd move and his boss commended him for his shrewdness. This kind of generosity was totally offensive to the tax collectors and Pharisees, however. Jesus had just preached to them about forgiveness through the story of the prodigal son. But now Jesus shifts his attention to his disciples.
To be persons of faith requires generosity which Jesus illustrates with the cancellation of debts. It is one thing to forgive a person for squandering away their inheritance. It is another to forgive debts. The behavior and lifestyle that will make Jesus’ disciples different from others is a life of grace rather than greed, benevolence rather than profit.
What Jesus is talking about here is use of authority. The tax collectors were taking advantage of people. They abused their authority by keeping great profits for themselves. The Pharisees abused their authority too, by forcing people to live by their rules which kept them in power. When I repossessed the television I had no authority to let them keep it. If I had, I might have been fired. The steward, on the other hand used his authority to give his customers a break.
I believe that what Jesus is saying that people of faith are people who use their authority to cancel debts. People who forgive when the opportunity arises, people who are compassionate. The God that we serve is The God of love, The God of grace.
When I was in college I had a summer job working in a bowling alley. I was the night manager at the desk. When bowlers completed their games they came to the desk and I calculated their what they owed. The establishment I worked in was very profitable but wasn’t very busy late at night. On several occasions I let some of my college friends come and bowl. But, when it came time for them to pay I said, "it’s on the house."
I never told the owner about my generosity or his loss of summer profits. I actually felt good about giving my friends an opportunity to do something for nothing. These were college students who didn’t have enough money for text books let alone resources for recreation. A few free games of bowling would have little if any impact on company’s bottom line.
Was I dishonest? Was I taking advantage of the owner? Was I unethical? Was I any different than the unjust steward who reduced the debts of his master’s accounts? Is the "right" thing to do always the most loving thing to do?
As I look back on these two very different actions I must be honest and say that I felt much better about giving free bowling than taking away the television set. It seems to me that what is the right thing to do is not always the most loving thing to do.
Some still may be wondering why Jesus would tell a story where an irresponsible employee is congratulated by his boss for manipulating the accounts of his clients. I believe that Jesus is not setting a precedence for being dishonest or unethical. I believe he created this scenario to help us wrestle with our actions in situations when folks are indebted to us. Jesus is helping us to see that faith is not just following rules, but actually the willingness to make love our aim rather than profits.
Followers are different than Pharisees and tax collectors. Rather than abuse power and authority by being greedy they empower others by making them free of their debts. They are willing to give others a chance rather than keep everything for themselves. Jesus wants us to remember that breaks and opportunities are faith in action, the very least of which can make a big difference.
In The 3rd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Diane Rayner tells the story about two families in San Francisco. One family had emigrated from Japan and the other from Switzerland. The two families were neighbors. The family from Japan grew roses and the family from Switzerland marketed roses. They both were very successful and had a good reputation in the San Francisco area. When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in l94l, the father of the Japanese family, who was never naturalized, along with the rest of his family were shipped to an internment camp in Colorado. Their neighbors promised they would take care of their business while they were incarcerated. As the years passed, the Swiss family took care of the roses and greenhouse for their neighbors. They worked long hours, taking care of both businesses.
Finally, the war ended. The Japanese family was released and permitted to return home. They wondered what they would find. When they arrived at their home in San Francisco they just stood and stared. There was their nursery, completely in tact, neat, prosperous and healthy. And their house was clean too. The Swiss family handed over the books which were completely balanced. On the dining room table was one red rosebud, just waiting to unfold. They took care of their neighbors home and business while they were away. And they attribute it to what they had learned in church, "to love one’s neighbor as thyself."
Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio