1 He also said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a steward, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.
² And he called him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'
³ And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
⁴ I have decided what to do, so that people may receive me into their houses when I am put out of the stewardship.'
⁵ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
⁶ He said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'
⁷ Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' He said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'
⁸ The master commended the dishonest steward for his shrewdness; for the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.
⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.
¹⁰ "He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.
¹¹ If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches?
¹² And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
¹³ No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Interesting Details

• Context: The whole of chapter 16 is about the need to share our possessions with the needy.
• (v.1) "Rich man" was apparently an absentee landlord, typically not likable.
• (v.2) "summoned the manager": some day each of us will also be summoned before the Lord to account for what we have been given.
• (v.3) "What shall I do" is a way Luke uses to describe a crisis. The wicked manager was able to orchestrate an active response to the crisis.
• (v.4) "People will receive me": the wicked manager was able to recognize the value of people's favor.
• (v.5) "How much do you owe?" The amount probably includes a very high interest already, is what people must promise to pay back, much more than what they originally borrowed.
• (v.6) "One hundred containers": each container was about 5 to 11 gallons.
• (v.7) "Write eighty": the manager commonly does this, namely estimating what people needs to pay back plus the profit to his boss. Now he adds in a new component: what will be helpful to him later when he no longer has the control of any money.
• (v.9) "When [money] fails" or when it runs out, what is left is the effect of how the money was used.
• (v.13) "You cannot serve both God and Mammon." If money is the ultimate goal, then it is a Mammon. It needs to be subordinate to God and to loving, serving others.

One Main Point

Use our possessions wisely (serving the poor) so that when it runs out and when we are summoned to God in the final day, we will be received into God's house.

Reflections

1. What are in my possessions? How do I manage them? When God summons me, what can I say?
2. When my possessions run out, what is left? Will the Lord receive me?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community