September 18, 2022
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Debt Forgiveness: An imperfect Model”
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
September 18, 2022 Based on Luke 6:1-13
There’s a podcast I was recently recommended that has an intriguing title. “Death, Sex, and Money” The intro to the show reads like this: “This is…Death, Sex, and Money. The show from WNYC about the things we think about a lot...and need to talk about more.” [https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/episodes/i-love-you-theres-money-thing?tab=summary] Now, we won’t be talking about Death or Sex, at least not today, so hopefully you can breathe a little easier about that. But we will be talking about the last topic, which is equally a thing we think about all the time, and have a hard time bringing up, even though it is absolutely something we need to talk about more often. Money is a complicated topic. And frankly it can be awkward to talk about. We know it’s a topic that brings disagreement and so we avoid it. We all have different baggage around it, and we all have different practices of handling our money and different assumptions and opinions about what is right. When I do premarital counseling, it’s one of the topics I spend the most time asking questions about… Are you a spender or a saver?, do you use a budget and how?, Do you have any debt you’re bringing into this marriage? What about any inherited wealth? What are your plans to manage that? What expectations do you have about your spouse and how they use your money? These are issues that can make or break a relationship, because even in a marriage, between two people who have covenanted to share all of their life together, even these couples find money to be a topic that is so hard to talk about! Jesus wasn’t shy about money. In fact, a little more than one in four of his parables talk about money. About what you do with money; About how we use it in life; about the value we place on it, and about our perceptions of money, how whether we feel we have too little or too much causes us to relate differently to others. Money seems to be one of his favorite topics. Eleven of the thirty nine parables Jesus shares has to do with money and the parable we just heard today clearly belongs in that group. Now, I have read a lot of these parables in my life. Sometimes the point these parables make seem pretty clear. The main character is set some big example that is amazing, like the good Samaritan, stranger doing what the local leaders could not do and caring for someone who was brutally hurt. Other times it seems like the story is intentionally confusing and vague, so that is perks your curiosity, like it wants you sit with it awhile and chew on it over a few days in order to gain any clarity about it. Our parable today definitely falls in that second camp. In fact, it’s one of the few times I’ve read a bible commentary on a passage and the commentator began their writing by saying “None of the Parables of Jesus has baffled interpreters quite like the story of the dishonest steward…” “Most likely, there are as many perspectives and interpretations of this parable as there are readers.” [Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 4, Luke 16:1-13, Exegetical perspective and Homiletic Perspective, pg. 93.] So clearly, if the brightest minds of biblical scholarship can’t quite come to a consensus about what Jesus means in this parable, we can at least allow ourselves some room to try our hand at reflecting and also allow ourselves some grace when we don’t get it exactly right. There are some things about this parable that are clear. It obviously has something to do with money and our relationship with it. The main character is a wealthy business owner who is clearly in the business of lending and making a profit off loans. From the reading you get the sense that this business was more about the profiting than the lending, like this may have been a predatory loan practice. Like maybe this business wasn’t held in the highest regard in its community. Then there is the business manager of this predatory lending firm, who, we are told, hasn’t been doing a very good job, in fact, all signs point to the manager skimming money off the top and working the numbers so that he profits personally. The owner of the business confronts the manager, and makes it clear he’s about to be fired. It reads more like a plot line for some modern financial crime drama than one of Jesus’ parables, doesn’t it? And yet here we are, with Jesus presenting this sketchy business manager as the hero of our story, the person who he tells us to emulate. The manager thinks to himself… I’m about to be out of the job. What will I do? I won’t have income, and my work up to this point has been taking advantage of folks down on their luck… the same folks who I’m now going to have to live with and rely on. There is no way they will let me into their homes, no way they will support me. “How am I going to survive?” It’s clear the guy has some wits about him, he’s street smart, he thinks quickly… and decides that while he still has a job, he’ll go and collect on the loans that are still out but will cut the amount that they owe. That way his boss can get some of the money back and the people get this great deal and maybe this’ll make his community be little more gracious with him once he is out of the job. It’s like Ebenezer Scrooge at Christmas, realizing just how much he’s prioritized working and money in his life, how miserly he’s been and realizing just how much he has isolated himself in the process… and in desperation realizing he needs to change, he needs to make it right, he needs to reconcile with his community. So, the business manager cuts the people a deal, he forgives a portion of their loans which makes them happy with him, which makes him happy that he’ll be able to survive after he loses his job. Then he collects on the rest of the loan which should save face with his boss. So, to recap, because of his cleverness, the people are happy, he’s happy and somehow after everything the owner of the business is happy with this too. He’s this sly and clever guy who is used to twisting things and manipulating people, but in the past he’s done that to seek his own advantage, to make more money for himself. But now, in this crisis, he’s realized he needs to factor other people into the equation. Jesus, tells this story, to the disciples, and to the crowd of folks gathered there, and says the moral of this story is that we should be like this manager. This guy who is quick witted and street smart sure, but also seems to only be thinking of himself. Jesus says be like this manager, but for good things… I’ll be honest… I’m not sure this is Jesus’ best parable. The hero of this story, the manager, comes across as a bit of shmuck. He’s a bit skeezy, he’s rough around the edges and it isn’t clear how we are supposed to see ourselves in this person. Of all the lessons Jesus teaches, I think this is one of the most confusing. But there is something I appreciate about it. I appreciate that this business manager isn’t perfect. He’s not some archetypal person that is so good and amazing that he’s immediately elevated to sainthood and is therefore out of reach for us. The guy is human. He’s flawed and egotistical. He changes because it’s the best choice available for him. And though he does some good by forgiving debts and seeking the welfare of others, at the end of the story he’s still thinking of himself. If the manager were Jesus or God, he would have done something that was all Good. He would have stuck it to the business owner and forgiven all the people’s debt. But he doesn’t quite get there. He comes to a realization that the way he’s been living, the way he’s been self-serving, and seeking his own wealth isn’t right, it’s not what God wants. And so, even though it’s not for the best motives, he chooses right, he does a little better, he forgives people more than he used to. And this is why I appreciate this parable. It gives permission for us to be human. It allows us room to improve and grow but then it’s also honest that we are works in progress, we will fall back into old habits, we will struggle with this whole following Jesus thing. But there is always the possibility to do a little better. And that’s kind of the point. Because God is not ever done with us. So friends, be like the skeezy, self centered business manager, who is so far from perfect, but has begun to find the right path to reconcile his relationship with his community, to reconcile his relationship with God. May it be so for us as well. Amen
We welcome all who worship here this morning!
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
INTROIT “Sing and Rejoice” Emma Lou Diemer
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: Beloved children of God, in supplication and prayer, with intercessions and with thanksgiving,
All: we come to worship God.
One: In hope and in humility, with joy and with concerns,
All: we come to worship God.
One: In faith and in uncertainty, with questions and with conviction,
All: let us worship God.
*HYMN No. 792 “There Is a Balm in Gilead” BALM IN GILEAD
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Rachel Concitis
Gracious God, you know our shortcomings and our sin: We have squandered the gifts you have given us. We have failed to forgive our debtors as you have forgiven us. We have been unfaithful and dishonest in small things and great things alike. We are shrewd in seeking wealth and foolish in following your way. Forgive our failure, O Lord, for your name’s sake. Make us faithful stewards of the grace you have given and generous in forgiving others; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Silent prayers of confession are offered.
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE # 695 “Change my heart, O God” CHANGE MY HEART
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Be Thou My Vision” arranged by Alice Parker
Conducted by Ariel Alvarado
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Parker Wilkinson
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE: Luke 16:1–13 MSG
Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’ “Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ “The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’ “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’ “He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’ “He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’ “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
God Sees Behind Appearances
Jesus went on to make these comments:
If you’re honest in small things, you’ll be honest in big things; If you’re a crook in small things,
you’ll be a crook in big things. If you’re not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store? No worker can serve two bosses: He’ll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second. You can’t serve both God and the Bank.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
*HYMN NO. 709 “God, We Honor You” ABUNDANT BLESSINGS
Sung one time through with all.
Second time through sung as Canon, Pulpit Side first, Font Side Second.
SERIVCE OF WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
UNISON WELCOME
With joy and thanksgiving, we welcome you into this family of faith. We promise to love, encourage, and support you, to share in the good news of the Gospel with you, and to walk alongside you in your journey of faith. Welcome sisters in Christ!
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH
THE LORD’S PRAYER
TIME OF OFFERING **Special Cash offering to support Columbus Cultural Orchestra
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE #596 “You Are Holy” DU ÄR HELIG
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
Gracious God, source of our daily bread and Sabbath trust, you feed us with your love and equip us to share in your purpose. Receive the offerings of our wounded spirits, our guarded purses, our meager strength, and continue to expand our hearts, until we live with the boldness and joy your Son modeled for us all, Amen.
*HYMN NO. 700 “I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me” I’M GONNA LIVE
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE “God Be With You Till We Meet Again” William G. Timer
Sung by the Chancel Choir
POSTLUDE
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452
WORSHIP LEADERS
Pastor – Rev. Trip Porch
Liturgist – Rachel Concitis
Children’s Message – Parker Wilkinson
MUSIC LEADERS
Chancel Choir
Organist – Orlay Alonso
Director of Music – Christopher Dent
Assoc. Director of Music – Ariel Alvarado
Flowers this week are given in celebration of the birthdays of Sharon Renkes and Bekah Concitis.