September 21, 2025: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
This week, while noodling the texts for today in my head and preparing to write my sermon, I saw something on Facebook Marketplace that I had been looking for, and at a great price too. When I got to the woman’s house, I started to pay what I thought I owed her, but she said, “Oh, no – I lowered the price by half.” I paid her the new amount, and as I drove home, even happier with my purchase, I thought about this gospel today. And what a crazy one it seems to be.
Now, before we dive in more – this is one of those times when the advice to eliminate those pesky passage titles is so spot on. This particular story has a variety of titles in those types of bibles – like, “The parable of the dishonest manager,” or “The parable of the shrewd manager.” Well, which is it then? And… is it about the manager at all? So, let’s first hear it again.
The story starts with “”There was a rich man who had a manager.” If that sounds familiar, then you know other parables of Jesus in this gospel. One starts with “There was a man who had two sons, and another, which we will hear next week, starts with, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen.”
Anyway, Jesus then says that the man told the manager that there were accusations that he had squandered the man’s property. Now, let’s give these guys names to make it easier. Let’s call the rich man Bert and the manager Ernie. So, Ernie has this internal monologue where he imagines what will become of him when Bert sends him packing. So, he tries to make things right by significantly reducing what others owe – in a way like the person in my Facebook purchase. When Bert hears about this, he commends Ernie’s actions.
Then the text has that bit about Children of Light, which was likely an early add on to the original text, so let’s skip that and head right to Jesus’ summary of the parable. He says “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much, etc.…and then sums it up with: You cannot serve God and wealth.”
So, it leaves us with a puzzle – especially if you are inclined to believe that the characters of parables are always ascribed to God, humanity, etc. Sometimes they are not, so be careful about doing that, especially using our 21st century lens on ancient texts. In this case though, let’s return to the opening. “There was a rich man who had a manager.”
Remember the prodigal son – he squandered the inheritance he had demanded of his father and faced a life of poverty and hardship? The father welcomed him back when he returned home and asked for his father’s forgiveness? And the one next week – the rich man did not help those in need in his life, and loses the opportunity to do good in the world with his money after he dies.
So, here we have this man, Ernie, facing a similar fate as the prodigal son, does something too, only what does it mean and why do we even care?
Well, first – we need to understand a few things…
The passage says that Bert had heard that Ernie had squandered his property. Yet, the Greek word translated for the accusation means slander, lies. Ernie hadn’t necessarily done anything wrong. So why doesn’t Ernie protest this unjust accusation? We can’t really be sure, but perhaps it might have seemed to Ernie that nothing he could say would change what Bernie thought of him, or maybe – deep inside – he knew he could have done better by those who owed his boss.
So, he acts to fix the situation. And this is where it is helpful to know the context. It was perfectly okay for people then, as now, to charge interest on debts – except if you were Jewish, and the debtor was also a Jew. Then you could not charge any interest. As this gospel was likely written by a gentile for a gentile audience, it is unlikely that the characters are Jewish, or that Jesus is referring to Jewish law. So, back to Ernie.
As a manager, Ernie was justified in adding on a commission on the debt that gave him a profit on the loan. This was allowed. However, while it may be allowed by the rules of the Roman empire, by forgiving the interest, he helped himself in the eyes of Bert, the rich man, by making it easier for the debtors to reconcile their debts with Bert, not to mention helping his neighbor, the debtors. Sure, Ernie didn’t get much money off the deal, but he did save himself. That is shrewd indeed! Some say that Ernie wasn’t hired back, but in the context of other parables, I think his relationship with Bert was restored, like the son and the father in the other parable, and he went on serving Bert.
This story provides a good context for Jesus’ final statement – you cannot serve God and wealth. What is just by the laws of the state is not always just in the eyes of God. Ernie did nothing wrong by law, but he needed to do more than abide by earthly rules to be in right relationship with God and neighbor.
And Lord knows, we have seen this play out in our own nation since colonialists first landed here – justifying our lawful behavior, no matter the injustice of that behavior on others.
Slavery was legal by law – but unjust according to God’s kingdom.
Oppression of women was legal by law – but unjust according to God’s kingdom.
Incarcerating LGBTQ+ people was legal by law – but unjust according to God’s kingdom.
That was our past, but sadly even today we know that this disparity between what humanity has deemed legal, and what God finds as just, is huge.
Arresting undocumented people is legal – but denying them due process is not – even by our own laws – and denying them dignity and respect is unjust in God’s kingdom.
And keeping with the parable, charging interest on a loan is legal by our laws – but even in our laws and in the kingdom of God, it is illegal to charge an exorbitant rate, called usury or loan sharking.
In other words – we can do things legally here on earth, but that is not how we should order our life. Or, as the old Hebrew National Hot Dog commercial used to say, “It is legal to add fillers to hot dogs, but we are held to a higher standard.” That higher standard is not to build up wealth here, but to build up our wealth with God – and that is done by relationship with one another and with God.
Sadly today, we keep trying to do this, even while we see so much horror going on in the world around us. We try to follow be in right relationship with God and our neighbor, but day after day after day, we see more of the horrific ways humanity can harm others, including ourselves. It can really wear any person down, no matter how faithful to God they may be.
Today, many of us can resonate with the lament in the passage from Jeremiah we heard this morning. This is one of this prophet’s many laments, as he tries to live out his life in service to God, and the words really hit home in these troubling times:
“My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. Hark, the cry of my poor people from far and wide in the land: “Is the Lord not in Zion?” …For the hurt of my poor people I am hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?”
If that last part sounds familiar, it is because you know that beloved hymn “There is a balm in Gilead.” Hold that thought, if you have that tune now running in your brain.
So, here we are – trying to live justly according to our God, trying to be good stewards like our guy Ernie. Yet some lie, others cheat, violence grows, and injustice abounds, and we are worn to the core. We might rightly cry out too “Is there no balm – no healing – no justice?” What can we do?
Well, the thing is – there is a balm – there is healing – in Gilead and elsewhere. And you know how to find it?
He was faced with an unjust accusation, and the loss of everything, yet he did even more to be righteous, forgiving those who owed him, just as God forgives. Was it self-serving? Sure. It saved him from a horrible fate. But perhaps he knew that more than his life could be saved in that moment.
And when we feel like Jeremiah – when we feel worn down by all that we see in the world, when our ministry seems to be overwhelming, then we need to remember the lyrics of that beloved hymn:
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole,
there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul. Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit
In other words…Keep on keepin’ on – living and serving Christ no matter what life throws at you, but breathe – come here for rest, allow the Holy Spirit to revive you, and keep doing what you are doing, because it does make a difference.
When injustice abounds against ourselves or others, and so many are crying far and wide in the land –be the balm of healing – showing in word and in deed God’s unconditional love.
When people claim to follow Jesus but offer the heresy of nationalist religion tinged with racism, sexism, and heterosexism – proclaim even louder the true gospel of Jesus – the Christ who healed others, who freed the oppressed, who commanded us to love as he loved, and who chose not the vestiges of power, but the humility of service.
When we feel that our joy is gone, that grief is upon us, that our hearts are sick – come here. Come here to be given that balm of healing for your own heart and soul – found in the body and blood of Christ and in his real presence with us as we gather.
We have choices to make in these difficult days.
We can rail against the injustice of it all – hanging our heads in despair, and crying out. Or, we can let the Holy Spirit revive our souls again, and continue our work of love and service in the name of Jesus.
But sometimes, we can wonder about that work. We may feel inadequate to the huge task we face in the world today. I mean, not everyone may be able to preach, or protest, or any of the other ways many others are living out the gospel. So how should we do as we are all called to do, even when healed by the Holy Spirit of our own pain?
Well, listen to the final verse of the hymn:
If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul,
you can tell the love of Jesus and say, “He died for all.”
Look – it takes no special talent to live justly in the face of injustice, to love in the face of hate, to offer hope in the face of despair. It just takes an open heart willing to breathe in the gift of the Holy Spirit and to speak openly and honestly about the love of Jesus.
Now, if that last part scares you because it sounds like that “Hey, have you found Jesus” sort of evangelism common among the fundamentalists (and really – I didn’t even know Jesus was lost?), well, don’t let that stop you! Because where those folks get it wrong is that telling the story of the love of Jesus isn’t about conversion of others. It’s about saving ourselves.
When we tell others about the love of Jesus, we remind ourselves that Jesus loved us for who we are – not for what others want us to be – and we feel the peace of God’s love for us.
When we tell others about the love of Jesus, we remind ourselves that Jesus told us he could be found in the prisoner and the poor, the sick and the immigrant stranger – and we see him there where we may have missed it before.
When we tell others about the love of Jesus, we remind ourselves that Jesus washed the feet of Judas who betrayed him, and of Peter who denied him, we find it possible to forgive others, and perhaps most especially, forgive ourselves.
Folks, we don’t tell people about the love of Jesus so they can come to church on Sunday. We tell them because we know this type of unconditional love will be the balm of healing that will change the world.
So be Ernie and don’t let the (insert b-word here) grind you down – go out and show the world that you know who is truly in charge and you know what you are called to do.
For then by your life, you will have preached far greater than Paul could have ever dreamed, and the audit of your life will be found to be just, true, and in service to God, and God alone.
And you will not only be healed by the Holy Spirit in your times of despair, you, as you tell of the love of Jesus, will be a balm for the healing of this broken world.
For the audio, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here (also available on Audible):
https://christchurchepiscopal.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Rec-001-Sermon-September_21_2025.m4a
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
Pentecost 15 – Proper 20 – Year C
1st Reading – Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
2nd Reading – 1 Timothy 2:1-7
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