He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
What will we hear when we stand before the judgment seat of God? We have been entrusted with much, with natural gifts and spiritual treasures. Jesus said that we will even be judged for careless speech, for every idle word (see Matthew 12:36). We don't have the strength our skill to gain or maintain the gift of life that only God can give. We aren't strong enough to dig. Hopefully we are not too proud to beg, since we know that God is often moved with compassion at our pleas for mercy. We know that our God is merciful. But we also know that he requires a response to his mercy. Even our begging will only go so far if it is only perfunctory and does not represent a real change of heart, a genuine desire for conversion.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.
The dishonest steward realized that there was no sense trying to maintain a temporal advantage in the face of potentially permanent consequences. This led him to make choices we can't entirely endorse. But part of his plan can be useful to us. We can use the temporary things of this world in the light of our hope for eternity. We can use the wealth of this world, which is always in some measure "dishonest", for the sake of finding habitation in the world to come. Whenever we use our time, talent, or resources, for the sake of others, we are winning potential friends who can help pray us through our final purification and into heaven. Even if it is not always they themselves who do so, we are also reaching out to Jesus who is present in them. He will ensure that what we do for the poor and disadvantaged will not be unrewarded.
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
We often have a hard time relinquishing those things that were entrusted to us, even when by doing so we can help to give freedom to others. We seem ready to hold on to them even when they aren't doing anything for us at the moment, and even though we know that we can't keep them forever. But in the light of the knowledge of the certain of judgment, and the shortness of life in this world compared to eternity, perhaps we can loosen our grip.
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
As Christians we act prudently when our actions in this world are ordered toward God and the world to come. Again, it does not mean that we are free to engage in immoral acts like cheating in order to attain our goals. But it does mean that we see the relative value and impermanence of things like wealth and put them to use accordingly. Or we may put it thus: let us cheat our egos for the sake of others. Any strategies we can use to slip past the protective shell that keeps us trapped inside ourselves is probably worth a try. Any way we can fool ourselves into letting go and letting God have his way in us is likely better than trying to hold what we know we cannot keep.
For I will not dare to speak of anything
except what Christ has accomplished through me
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