Selected Sermons, Volume 3

126 A Second on the Same

SERMON 126 A Second on the Same1 ow beneficial and advantageous it is to untie the knots of debts and unlock the shackles of bonds, the example of this present steward teaches and informs us; while reducing the amount owed by a merciful arrangement, he not only avoided the very tight straits of an audit , but he also gained the praise of the auditor which would last for ages. And, brothers, since my promise concerning this present reading has put me in your debt,2 show forbearance by listening very devotedly, so that a harsh audit may not burden you and me together,3 when a proper understanding of this parable could have provided us welcome relief. Therefore let us now make our way through what remains of the Gospel reading and listen to the counsel that the steward took. 2. He said to himself, we are told: “What shall I do, now that my master is taking my stewardship away from me? I am unable to dig, I am embarrassed to beg. I know what I shall do.” And so, after summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first: “How much do you owe my master?” He answered: “One hundred jugs of oil.” He said to him: “Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write down fifty.” Then to the next one he said: “And you, how much do you owe?” He answered: “One hundred measures of wheat.” He said to him: “Take your invoice, and write down eighty.” And the master praised the steward for having acted prudently (Lk 16.3–8). 181 1. This sermon on the Unjust Steward was preached next after Sermon 125. See Sermon 125, nn. 1 and 16. 2. On the preacher being in debt, in that he owes a sermon he had promised his congregation, see, e.g., Sermon 123.1 and n. 2. 3. On interpreting the Scriptures as a cooperative venture between the preacher and the congregation, with the latter contributing their undivided attention , see Introduction, FOTC 109.25–26, and, as another example, Sermon 139.1. 3. Certainly now it is clear, certainly now it is evident that there continues to be a great number of questions in the Gospel readings which remain obscured with their divine mysteries and veiled with heavenly meanings, and that what is uttered by the mouth of Christ concerning celestial secrets is not easily accessible to the human intellect. And the master, he says, praised the unjust steward for having acted prudently (v.8). I ask you, what does an earthly mind grasp in this text? What does ordinary hearing grasp and understand from this?— Where a plan of clever deceit between the steward and his master ’s debtors is praised; where the honor of the debtor is removed , where decency is taken away, where innocence is violated, where respect is dead and buried; where the steward, at the time when he must give an account, is more eager for deceit than he was panting after a lifestyle of extravagance during the period of his stewardship; where at the very moment of the audit he was furiously engaged in disposing of more of what belonged to his master, than he wasted and exhausted during the days of his employment; and he who had earlier reduced the property by squandering it, by reducing the debts did even more damage; and he has no concern about how he might be able to make up the difference, but he keeps scheming about how he might be able to lessen what remained. 4. He said to a debtor: How much do you owe my master? (v.5) He did not say: “How much do you owe me?” By speaking in this fashion he was addressing the conscience and bringing to light the intention of the debtor. And why is it that without any regard for the master the debtor conspired with the steward to commit such deceit? “How much do you owe my master?” He answered : “One hundred jugs of oil.” “Take your bill, and write down fifty” (vv.5–6). The steward conspired to commit such deceit, and the result was that he lost all credibility by cutting the bill in half. How much do you owe my master? Both of them knew that the heavenly Creditor was present always and everywhere, and he could not be hindered by their deceit; but not even under the watchful gaze of his Lord...