Introduction:

Jesus appears to be encouraging us to be shrewd in our dealings with others.

Each of the following parables is featuring bold behavior that appears at first glance to be unethical or subversive.

This way of Jesus requires action rather than passivity.  It requires imagination and thought.  It is highly assertive.  However, it is limited by the requirement to “love our enemy”.

 

(If any of these parables forms the basis of group discussion, expect lively debate.  Remember that Jesus has several intended meanings to his parables.  Stay curious and open to alternate and unexpected meanings.)

(note: Spend some time thinking about the following parables before reading the stories and commentary below.  It is not what other people say but what you say that is important. If you have a unique story or commentary, send it in.)

 

The Sayings of Jesus:

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Luke 16: 1-8

16 Jesus said to his disciples: “There was a rich man who had a steward; and this steward was maliciously accused to him of wasting his estate. 2 So the master called him and said ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give in your accounts, for you cannot act as steward any longer.’

3 ‘What am I to do,’ the steward asked himself, ‘now that my master is taking the steward’s place away from me? I have not strength to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that, as soon as I am turned out of my stewardship, people may welcome me into their homes.’

5 One by one he called up his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked of the first. 6 ‘Four hundred and forty gallons of oil,’ answered the man. ‘Here is your agreement,’ he said; ‘sit down at once and make it two hundred and twenty.’ 7 And you, the steward said to the next, ‘how much do you owe?’ ‘Seventy quarters of wheat,’ he replied. ‘Here is your agreement,’ the steward said; ‘make it fifty-six.’

8 His master complimented this dishonest steward on the shrewdness of his action.

Parable of the Barren Tree

Luke 13: 6-9

6 And Jesus told them this parable — “A man, who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, came to look for fruit on it, but could not find any. 7 So he said to his gardener ‘Three years now I have come to look for fruit on this fig tree, without finding any! Cut it down. Why should it rob the soil?’

8 ‘Leave it this one year more, Sir,’ the man answered, ‘until I have dug around it and manured it. 9 Then, if it bears in future, well and good; but if not, you can have it cut down.’”

By Their Fruit

Matthew 7: 16-17

16 By the fruit of their lives you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, too, every sound tree bears good fruit, while a worthless tree bears bad fruit.

 

Stories and Commentary:

The Parable of the Shrewd Manager:

Many are outraged at the behavior of the shrewd manager; he appears to be cheating the master for his own benefit.  Yet each of the parties in the story has benefited from the discounted payment of debts and in fact the shrewd manager has found a win-win-win solution!

Parable of the Barren Tree:

I use the lessons of the parable of the barren fig tree in my everyday life in two different ways.

First, if I am getting ready to reject something (be it a relationship, a job or a hobby), I give it a second chance for a generous period of time while I nurture it fully.  Only then do I decide to keep it or give it up.

The second way I use this parable is in dealing with unreasonable superiors.  I don’t want to quietly comply.  I don’t want to outright refuse their demands.  Instead I suggest a more productive course of action for a limited time and then a review of the situation.  It works!

By Their Fruit:

I had always ignored this saying.  But it is a deceptively simple statement in favor of the experimental method, which is a whole new way of thinking from our usual way of thinking.

The usual method to judge events is by using an accepted authority or our belief system.  We watch political parties make their predictable responses to every event using this method.  It is the way of ideology, the way of prejudice, the way of propaganda.

If I am honest with myself, my usual initial response to any statement or event will be comparing it to and judging it by my own ideology and prejudices.

Here Jesus is saying instead to use observation of outcomes to judge things.  This takes effort and thought.  It takes a detached curiosity.  It takes time.