Crime and Punishment

 

I think Alfred Hitchcock must have liked Luke. Likewise, I’m sure Luke would have been a big fan of Hitchcock’s films, many of which had twisted endings in which crime and punishment were somehow turned upside down and left us wondering what just happened. And so it is with Luke 16:1-13. We’re convinced that the dishonest manager is finished, but is he?  

Most of us have jobs that conform to specific job descriptions that are beholden to specific performance standards to which we are accountable. If our performance exceeds expectations, we are rewarded; likewise, if our performance falls short of expectations, we can be subject to remediation, probation and dismissal. Now the “dishonest manager,” as Jesus has already named him, is an “employee at will” and fired without so much as an opportunity to speak, much less redeem himself. The rich man was completely in his right to fire him for squandering his property.  

So, here’s Luke’s surprise ending: instead of being punished and used as a model for bad behavior, the manager is given credit for being shrewd because he feathered his own nest by ingratiating himself to his employer’s debtors by discounting what is owed without any authorization. Instead of being thrown in jail, he was acknowledged for using his resources to provide for his future as he was forced to leave his job. I don’t think we would regard the manager as a model citizen but he was able to secure his future by establishing new friendships of those who were at one time in his debt. The dishonest manager was not respectable because he defied the law. Couldn’t the same be said for Jesus? He broke all the laws and was executed.  

Jesus refused to yield to the love of power and lived the power of love by defying the hypocrisy of those who sit in judgment. He reached out with compassion to the “crooks” and “sinners” in us all, who might otherwise never feel worthy of meeting the expectations of a “harsh judge.”   

Are there those we dismiss or overlook as though they have no value? How about those whose lifestyle is different from ours…do we dismiss them as having nothing worth contributing? Are they too young, too old, and too impaired to add anything to our lives and to our Church? Looking for the good in people is impossible if we treat them as having no redemptive value.   

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.” (Mother Theresa)

Lost and Found

We all know what it’s like to lose something or someone. Perhaps we can remember a time when we felt lost. We all know those associated feelings that border on fear, if not terror. Reading Luke 15: 1-32 helps us to remember how we felt when we experienced loss and the joy we felt when we were “reunited” or “found.”

One of my most memorable experiences with loss goes back to my early childhood and is indelibly ingrained in my memory. I was not more than five; my mother, little sister and I were at a beach in Coney Island. I suppose I got a little bored sitting on the blanket alone with my mother and sleeping baby sister and remember pestering my mother about wanting to get some water for my pail to bring back to the blanket where we were sitting and make some mud pies. Mom resisted my going to the shore alone and did not want to leave my sister sleeping and unattended. I finally convinced her that I would not get lost and would be always aware of where she was. She yielded and so I made my way with my metal pail and shovel in tow, carefully drawing a “tether” line in the sand with my foot. I played at the surfside for a bit, filled my pail and turned to make my way back to the blanket. Of course, the line was obliterated. I immediately panicked because I couldn’t find the line in the sand leading back, and above all could not see my mother. I remember being overcome with fear and began to cry. A woman standing nearby came to my aid, and assured me that we would find my mother, who within seconds, I’m sure, appeared. Although it must have seemed like an eternity to a child. I can still remember what I felt when my mother immediately gathered me up in her arms and held me close, assuring me that I was not lost and that I was always in her sight. I suppose the reason I can still remember this event so vividly is because of the “palpable” effect it had and continues to have even as I write today.   

I relate this childhood experience with the stories Jesus uses in our gospel to describe what it means to lose and be lost and to find and be found. It became apparent  that the more memorable of the two emotions, lost and found, was the joy of being found. In both instances Luke depicts the joy in finding what was lost and being found. There was no recrimination just joy. 

Sometimes when you lose something, it’s a good strategy to retrace your steps and find the spot where you lost it. Retrace your steps.  

Where did I mislay my time with God in favor of a crammed social or business calendar? Where did we temporarily misplace my compassion for the poor in favor of self-serving initiatives? And where did we leave our joy in proclaiming God’s Word. 

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.