Luke 16 :: Shrewdness has Its Place in the Kingdom

Luke 16

Today, I had to stop and back up a few times.  These parables are not easily understood by me.  On the first glance, they seem to be a bit out of character for the rest of the Lukan text.  In keeping with the consistent theme of inclusion and welcoming of the unwelcome, we must keep this in mind as we read these stories.

In the first story, Jesus is highlighting the manager's shrewdness in dealing with people after he is reprimanded by the master for only looking out for his own needs.  It's not a large leap to imagine this manager taking a bill owed to the master and inflating the cost so he could have a little something to take home for himself.  Now the master has fired him for this sort of behavior.  The man then goes out and uses the same shrewdness, but flips it to help others and to help himself.  He lowers the amount of the IOU's for the people, helping them, and he shows some initiative that impresses the master, helping himself.  I think there is something very powerful when people outside the kingdom of God come into his kingdom and begin using their gifts and talents for "what is right."  99 percent of us, as Springs, have skill sets that make us a living outside of the kingdom of God.  I believe that God is honored and in turn blesses, when we discover how to utilize those skills for use inside the kingdom of God (whether or not that ever happens in the church).  This manager's skill set was utilized inside the kingdom to extend grace to people who had debts too large to pay.  Justice served.

Do you have skill sets that have not been leveraged for the kingdom of God yet?  Perhaps God is challenging us to look deep inside ourselves to see how we can utilize those skills and talents to extend grace to people in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces or at our recreational spots.  If you would like to talk to someone about your skills and how you can begin to make this turn, shoot me an email and I would love to sit down and talk with you.