Amos 8:4-6 (NRSV Updated Edition)
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, “When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain,
and the Sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah smaller and the shekel heavier
and practice deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.”
Luke 16:1-13 (NRSV Updated Edition)
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
“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. If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
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"Speaking to the Jewish leaders in Luke 15, Jesus uses unconventional figures to stretch their imagination toward forgiveness. Speaking to his disciples in Luke 16, Jesus now chooses more conventional characters who continue to live by the rules of debt-keeping according to ‘this present age.’ The rich man is not a stand-in for God, as the Prodigal Father is in Luke 15. No, this parable now plops us in the too-familiar setting of oppressive economics that yields a divide between rich and poor, and a few mid-level managers (stewards) in-between.
"We are not given the details, but this particular manager is not performing up to par and so he's fired, commanded to give a final accounting of his job-results. It is under these standard conditions of injustice - the conditions of this age - that the manager awakes to the light of debt-forgiving as alternative to the conventional world of debt-keeping. About to be demoted to the status of the oppressed, he at least acts to make friends among the oppressed. Even his master can see the wisdom of this and commends him. With nothing more to lose, the manager has made gains within his new community among the poor workers of the master's land."
- Paul J. Nuechterlein, from Opening Comments on the Girardian Lectionary page for Proper 20C (link in comments below)
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"It is crucial, I believe, how one translates 'adikias' in vv. 8 & 9 - translated as “dishonest” in the NRSV and “unjust” (v. 8), “unrighteous” (v. 9) in the KJV. And it is used to modify a different noun in each verse. NRSV: “dishonest manager” in v. 8, and “dishonest wealth” in v. 9 KJV: “unjust steward” in v. 8, and “the mammon of unrighteousness” in v. 9 (which reflects the genitive construction in the Greek; more below).
"Many commentators in the English language go consistently with “dishonest” and base their arguments around that rendering. But there are potentially misleading aspects to not noting the possible variances in translating adikias - the singularity, in fact, of translating it as “dishonest.”
"First, I think it is important to know that the word in these verses is related to the crucial NT word group around the root dik: dikaioō, to justify, make right; dikaiosunē, righteousness, justice; dikaiōsis, justification, vindication. [...] I would argue that translating adikias as “unjust” or “unrighteous” is a choice more consistent with the rest of the NT.
[...]
"Let’s be honest: “dishonest” has very different connotations than “unjust.” “Honesty” is a very different thing than “justice.” For me, “dishonest” reflects primarily on the trustworthiness of individuals, whereas “unjust” is often used of systemic fairness. This makes a bigger difference in vs. 9 when paired with “mammon.” “Dishonest mammon” would generally involve a dishonest person. A dishonest person taints the wealth. “Unjust mammon,” on the other hand, could involve a person who seeks justice, but the wealth involved is still trapped in systemic injustice, tainted by the system."
- Paul J. Nuechterlein, from Exegetical Note #3 on Luke 16:1-13, on the Girardian Lectionary page for Proper 20C (link in comments below)
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In his video homily for this week's lectionary (excerpt and link below), James Alison argues that the main context for this parable is usury, which was against Jewish law but which many lenders of goods found ways around to extract interest. In particular, apparently the "going rate" in the time of Jesus for lending of olive oil was 100% interest (hence a loan of 50 jugs would require repayment of 100), and the rate for wheat was 25% (hence a loan of 80 containers would require repayment of 100). If this is the case, what the 'shrewd' manager has done for the debtors is just to remove from their bill the 'unjust' interest they were being charged.
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"Now again the phrase “dishonest wealth,” it's quite quite technical, dishonest wealth refers to that bit of the wealth which was dishonestly acquired, in other words the extra 25% in the case of the wheat or the extra 100% in the case of the oil. That was the dishonest bit. So [Jesus is] saying, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth: if you've got something that is dishonest, use it to make friends. That's the recommendation. If something has come to you dishonestly, you can't use it for yourself because that would be to confirm its dishonesty, you would be entering into the dishonesty of the thing. But you can use that which is of morally dubious status to do things for other people. And that's a way of making things good. [...]
"“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.” Now, interestingly, our dishonest servant turns out to have been faithful in his dishonesty. [...] Remember this. The next line then says, “If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you true riches?” Remember our servant was faithful with the dishonest wealth, he took the dishonest wealth and made things right with God by not charging usury, gave his boss a good reputation, and made friends. [...]
"“And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another who will give you what is your own?” Okay, now that comes back to all of us. Anything that we have is what we have been given. If we make things dishonestly, then, with just the little things that we can add on, then we'll be dishonest with everything. But if, starting with something which 'someone' has given us, like a rich master, we are then able to turn potentially dishonest things into something honest, we will be able to be given much much more.
"“If you have not been faithful with what belongs to another who will give you what is your own?” In other words, the notion is that we start having to learn how to be really shrewd in working out how not to be exploitative but how to make sense of what has been given to us, in order to put us in the position of receiving more. The more we give away the more we'll get, this is absolutely the pattern of desire which comes through in Luke's gospel.
"“No slave can serve two masters, he will either hate the one and love the other or will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” In other words the law of God, remember, is against usury, it's greatly in favor of generosity. And here the words love and hate in the first verse and then it says devoted and despise. Actually the word for devoted is “cleave” and the word for despise is the word used very frequently of those who reject God. So these are the words referring “cleave to God” or “despising God.” So what is he saying here? He's saying the true Master the one who gives you absolutely everything, is God, and if you cleave to him you will find out ways of making things which are apparently dishonest into honest things, which can do you good. Or you'll find yourself actually being really interested only in the financial outcome, in which case you will pursue dishonesty and you will make yourself dishonest.
"In other words, it's what's coming upon you that is really the question of your riches, not what you start with. What you start with of course is that which enables you to open up to what is coming upon you. If what is coming upon you is from God then you'll be able to grow in generosity. If what is coming upon you is for money then you will be a slave to it and it will run your life. That seems to me to be what is being said in today's Gospel."
- James Alison, from video "Homily for Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2022 C" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH22kSULodE)
[Source of Paul Nuechterlein quotes, and for analysis and discussion on all the lectionary texts for this Sunday: https://girardianlectionary.net/reflections/year-c/proper20c/]
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