Only One!

sailboat with American flag themed sail approaching Martha's Vineyard

“And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly…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.”

From what I’ve read, most commentaries and most sermons about this parable of the dishonest manager begin by noting that this is one of – if not the strangest and most difficult parable to try to understand let alone preach on. This parable is weird and complex and doesn’t make much sense. A dishonest employee is praised by the boss? Make friends by means of dishonest wealth? That’s not how we expect the world to work. That’s not what we teach our children. That’s not what we expect Jesus to say. That’s not what we expect to hear from the Bible, but here it is and it can’t be avoided. (Well, I could avoid this strange parable all together by preaching on another one of our texts for today but where would the fun and challenge be then?)

So bear with me. I’m going to begin by focusing our attention on a few particulars about this parable, and then – then get to the good stuff which is telling you a true story.

So…there was a rich man who hired a guy to manage all his money – nothing unusual there. So here we have from the get-go two privileged guys – two men high up in the system, two guys at the top rung of the ladder of success, a rich guy and his money manager. Word got back to the rich guy that his manger was cheating him – squandering his wealth, padding his pocket, stealing from him. When the manager realizes his hand has been caught in the cookie jar, the manager comes up with a clever plan. How do we know about this clever plan? Because the manager in the parable talks to himself. (A fun fact – the gospel writer Luke is the only one of the four –Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – who has characters taking to themselves!)

So the manager who is swindling his boss says 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 my boss fires me, so that people may welcome me into their homes.” So he calls on those who owe the rich guy money, the debtors, and drastically reduces the amount they owe. In one case he reduces one person’s debt in half. Why? So that when he is out of a job, they will like him. They will take him into their homes and provide for him. Pretty clever plan? Shrewd, dishonest to his boss, yes. But clever and resourceful. Can’t you just see this manager, this person of privilege licking his lips and rubbing his hands together delighting in his cleverness?

So here’s the story I’d like to share with you this morning. It’s been all over the news around the country and especially here in Massachusetts. The headline, “Two planes of migrants from Venezuela arrived suddenly Wednesday night on Martha’s Vineyard.” The background, the state of Florida under direction of the governor flew about 50 Venezuelan migrants to the island completely unannounced and without prior knowledge of anyone on the island.

It was a surprise or more accurately a shock to everyone involved except those who came up with this clever plan. In particular, the migrants, those seeking refuge in our country had no idea what was happening. One of the migrants who was staying in a shelter told NPR that a woman name Perla approached them outside a shelter and lured them on the plane, saying they would be taken to Boston and would get expedited work papers there. One of the migrants named Andres Duarte said this, “She offered us help. Help never arrived. Now we are here.”

Like the manager in our parable, the plan by the Florida governor was quite shrewd, quite clever, quite tricky. Can’t you just see the governor, this person of privilege like the manager in the parable licking his lips and rubbing his hands together delighting in his cleverness?

Here’s what his spokeswoman said about his plan, “States like Massachusetts, New York and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals whom they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as ‘sanctuary states.” The Florida governor also said something else about his clever plan that to some seems quite reasonable. He said this, “Every community in America should be sharing in the burdens. It shouldn’t all fall on a handful of red states.”

But there are other clever managers, shrewd politicians, tricky people of privilege from the other side of the political spectrum – you know – those from blue states – who weighed in as well. A Massachusetts senator said this, “…the governor of Florida could learn a lesson from Massachusetts on what patriotism and liberty really look like if he weren’t so busy using humans as props in a cruel stunt to buoy his political aspirations.” Can’t you just see this senator, this person of privilege like the manager in the parable licking her lips and rubbing her hands together seemingly delighting in her clever response to the Florida governor? And again, a Massachusetts representative similarly condemned the action for using refugees as political pawns in a taxpayer-funded stunt. Another clever, shrewd response.

So we have politicians lobbing grenades at each other – each thinking themselves cleverer with their actions, responses and words than the other all the while completely mismanaging their responsibility to fix our broken immigration system. We have shrewd, clever and powerful politicians like the manager in the parable who are failing at their jobs – not doing what needs to be done to create humane and workable immigration policies.

Instead the red state politicians come up with tricky plans that use people to make a point, and blue state politicians who come up with clever words that use people to make a point. It seems what they won’t do is use their power and privilege to do the hard work of negotiation and compromise to make laws that are humane and practical. Instead real human beings who are fleeing their homes scared for their lives, out of work, hungry, hopeless get side-lined, used, ignored and then plugged into a broken system.

Listen to some of the statistics: In 2010 (12 years ago) the number of new asylum claims made in U.S. courts was almost 33,000. This year with 4 months to go 156, 374 asylum claims have been made. In 2010 there was a back-log of claims of 100,000. This year, 12 years later, there is a back-log of 660,000. We have a broken immigration system that is not getting fixed.

Meanwhile when the 50 Venezuelans got off the plane, they didn’t know where to go. Someone told them the way to a community counseling center in town and so the 50 people some with babies and very young children walked almost 2 and a half miles to get to the counseling center. When they arrived much to the shock of those who worked there, one of the counselors called the local Episcopal priest, The Reverend Chip Seadale. “Can we use your homeless shelter that’s usually open only in the winter?” So the people of St. Andrews Episcopal Church took in those 50 dazed Venezuelans and provided food and shelter.

Rev.Seadale was interviewed by an ABC reporter who asked him this, “What do you make of what’s happened?” And I think his entire response is worth sharing with you. He says, “We’re all caught up in political machinery that’s lobbing bombs back and forth at each other. From the church’s perspective we are here to help and heal as many people as possible. It’s not our job to opine about on that. I feel most badly about the people who we’re trying to serve who got off that plane some with very young children. They have been traumatized in so many respects. They’ve become a political football.”

The reporter then asked Rev. Seadale what he thought of the actions of the Florida governor. “I know that the governor had his reasons for doing this. If for nothing else he’s called attention to the problem. Just to be honest – we all have to work through this together but once again from the church’s perspective we’re taking care of the people who need our help the most. That’s our job.” And then he says again, “Just to be honest, America is in real need of healing right now and in my estimation the church has a special place to help America heal and reconcile, and this would be a good place to start.” Let me repeat that. “America is in real need of healing right now and in my estimation the church has a special place to help America heal and reconcile.”

The church, the gospel has a special place – a special calling to name the dishonest and do-nothing managers who are in power and to advocate for sound policies based on our Christian values. You and I as the body of Christ have a special responsibility to call a spade a spade – to name when those on the highest rungs of the ladder are pursing power rather than empowering those just barely hanging.

At the end of the parable Jesus says this, “No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and wealth – or mammon from the Greek.” A more accurate translation is this, “You cannot put your trust in two very different things at the same time. You cannot put your trust both in God and in your own pursuit of power.” You cannot put your trust in both God and your own selfishness at the same time.

Whom did Jesus choose to serve? Whom does the body of Christ, the church, choose to serve? Whom do we have the privilege and joy to serve? Let’s take our cue from St Andrews where the people there, people of faith just like you and me, looked into the eyes of real human beings in need like Andres Duartes in need, and then dropped everything to care for them, to comfort them, to love them just the way they are.

Amen.