Holy Wisdom In A Crooked World

Text: Luke 16:1-9 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Many people in this world are shrewd. That is just the reality. The world runs on cunning attitudes, calculated strategies, and backstabbing techniques.  As they say, it is a dog-eat-dog kind of world. In this world, if you are not alert, wise, or on your toes, you will get swallowed up and spit out before you even realize it. 

You know this is true! 

People in the world are always watching out for themselves, always working the angles, and always trying to get the upper hand. Truth be told, many of them succeed with their shrewdness.  

Now, contrast that with what we often see in the Church—especially here in America. Tragically, Christians in America are told and trained to be meek – to be “innocent as doves.”  As a result, many Christians believe that being soft, naïve, passive, and nice is the epitome of good piety.  Tragically, the American Church has confused Christian innocence with gullibility, and then we act surprised when the world runs circles around us.

But dear friends, that is not Christianity. That is not the way of Christ. Yes, we are to be innocent as doves—we Christians should not be sneaky trying to seek revenge.  Instead, we Christians should be quick to forgive and slow to anger.  We are indeed to be innocent as doves. But keep in mind that we are also called by Jesus to be wise as serpents – we are to be sober-minded, alert, wise, and shrewd. In other words, we Christians should know the world, know its traps. We need to know how to walk through the world without getting devoured while simultaneously being wise with the gifts we have been given. That’s the tension Jesus gives us: to be both innocent as a dove as well as wise as a serpent.  

In the reading from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is precisely teaching us not about being innocent as doves but as wise as serpents.  Today, we hear about a parable – a story of a shrewd and dishonest manager.

Now I’ll admit it is a strange parable. Jesus tells us about a crooked manager—someone who mismanages his master’s wealth. When the manager is caught and fired, though, he doesn’t fall into despair. Instead, he quickly rewrites the debt records to make friends for himself—so that when he’s out on the street, he’ll have somewhere to go. And so, he acts shrewdly. And then Jesus, surprisingly, at the end of the parable, He praises the manager—not for his dishonesty—but for his wisdom.

In fact, Jesus goes on to say in the reading from Luke that pagans in the world are shrewder than Christians. In other words, sometimes unbelievers understand how to navigate the world with shrewdness better than we Christians do. 

But dear friends, this should not be the case.  It should be the other way around.

Why? 

Because we Christians, of all people, know what this world is. We know its end. We know its ruler. We know the lies of the world. And, most importantly, we know our Lord—who has given us His Word, His Spirit, His promises, and His very self. We know the truth about ourselves and about the world and about Christ, and that truth sets us free to live wisely in this age.

Baptized Saints, please listen up!  To be shrewd—to be wise—is to be aware of your surroundings. It is to understand how the fallen world works. It is to know your limitations. It is to use the time, resources, and relationships you’ve been given not foolishly, not selfishly, but rightly—in light of eternity.

That’s what the manager in the parable understood. He saw the writing on the wall. He knew his position was gone. His power was temporary. So, in a last effort, he used his resources to make a place for himself in the future.

Now, keep in mind that Jesus is not telling you to cheat or to swindle. He’s not telling you to lie or manipulate. But He is saying: 

“Look at the urgency! Look at the clarity! Look at how the manager in the parable acted in light of his end.” 

That’s what Christ wants from us – urgency, alertness, and a keen eye towards being shrewd!  

But instead, far too often, we Christians fulfill that old slanderous saying, 

“We become so heavenly minded that we are of no earthly good.”  

Tragically, we will be innocent as doves but then fail miserably to be as wise as serpents.  

And so Jesus tells us this parable not to make us cynical or be mean, but to wake us up. 

To call us to holy wisdom. To say, 

“You who belong to Me, act like it. Live like you know how this story ends. Walk through this world as a person who is awake — not lulled to sleep by religious comfort. Pagans are shrewd, but you are more.”

Baptized Saints, this may sound a bit harsh to hear this morning, but consider again what it means to be a shrewd Christian: as a Christian, you are free from needing to pretend. You don’t have to prop up your ego. You don’t have to hide your sin. You don’t have to make this world your heaven. You can confess your sins. You can acknowledge your weakness. You understand death and the resurrection.  You can know your place in the world, because you know your place in Christ.

And because you know your limitations, you are in the best possible place to live wisely. You are in the right posture to be shrewd. You are no longer owned by your possessions or enslaved to the fear of death. You don’t have to waste your life defending your pride or proving your worth. Because your worth was already settled—on a cross.

Let me announce the Gospel to you again!  Let me remind you who you are: Christ saw your debt. And He didn’t just reduce it—He canceled it. Paid in full. He didn’t use you to secure His future—He gave up His future to secure yours. He did not just act shrewdly—He acted sacrificially. He gave up everything that was His and took on everything that was yours. Your guilt; your shame; your unrighteousness – exchanged for Jesus’ righteousness.  

Baptized Saints, Christ made Himself your friend—not by bribing you, not by rewriting your account books, but by becoming poor for your sake, dying your death, and rising again for your life.

And now, dear Baptized Saints, everything you have—your time, your money, your relationships, your abilities—none of it is for hoarding. All of it is gift – gifts that you can manage in this vale of tears called life.  

To the point - be shrewd. Be wise. Not like the world, but wiser than the world. Use what you have now to bless those around you. Invest in people. Love your neighbor. Share your goods. Give generously. Work hard to set this church up for the next generation of Christians. Live with eternity in view. Not to earn your salvation—you already have that—but to bless those who will be with you in the Kingdom of God.

Because one day – if you think about it - when you will be laid to rest and when the world has forgotten your name, you know that you will stand before your Lord. And at the great eschaton, you will not be surrounded by your possessions. You’ll be surrounded by people. Fellow sinners redeemed by the same Jesus. Brothers and sisters who may just say, 

“Lord Jesus, that Christian—they loved me. They gave to me. They welcomed me. They showed me Christ.”

That’s the wisdom Jesus is commending. Not worldly schemes, but holy wisdom. Yes, wisdom that has eyes open to eternity, hearts freed from greed and life not lived for the bottom dollar, but for Christ and His people.

So don’t be ashamed of being a Christian in this cut-throat world. Don’t be afraid of being innocent. But don’t mistake innocence for ignorance. Be as wise as a serpent. Be sober-minded. Be strategic. Use the things of this world for what truly lasts. Be shrewd—not for selfish gain, but because you belong to the One who gave Himself for you.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.