Sermonalysis

The Dishonest Steward

The orator says
Let's put this in a cultural historical context
This was written in the time of the Roman Empire
So rendering to Caesar what was Caesar's was not much choice
So Jesus was creating a parable of a corrupt sytem
Something anyone could relate to, by showing how life really was
The guy swindling his master is found out
And told he's fired
So he thinks...
What can I do?
I can't dig and I won't beg
I'm financially ruined
So he thinks...
I know!
I'll reduce the debt by 50% for one and 20% for another
He does and the master is impressed by his shrewdness
Lets him keep his job
And why not?
His master is more likely to be repaid
You know
Lower your interest rates...
It's in your own interest
It rewards a shrewd even devious nature
Jesus is saying
Look we live in a corrupt system
I'm just pointing it out
You know it's true
Nobody really did that
Counter-intuitive
So how do you live in this world
Well some scholars say this
Some scholars say that
Let's put this in a cultural historical context
No one can decide what to make of the parable
Just work around the edges like the grand equivocator
Theologians, philosophers, historians
Are rewarded for seeing the "big picture"
Even when it doesn't say anything
Working around the edges
It's a devious nature that sucks in the intellectuals
Reaping rewards
Certainly beats digging and begging
Who wants to get their hands dirty
Well...what about knowing the system and working within it
With your own...some would say...God given gifts
What about working with clay
Sculpting your own images
It doesn't have to be clay
It could be poetry
The sculpting of ideas, shaping of words
Make something different
Delve into the mud and create
Iconoclast your way
Remold and cast away
You will not lose your interest
And you may keep some change.

Denis Streeter  5/17/15