The Shrewd Fraudster
(Am.8:4-7; 1Tim.2:1-8; Lk.16:1-13)
Jesus’ Parable of the Dishonest Steward really puzzles some people.
A steward is caught squandering his employer’s wealth, and expects to lose his job. But instead of seeking forgiveness, he cunningly tries to win the favour of his boss’ clients by offering to cut their debt to him.
Surprisingly, he is commended, not for his dishonesty, but for being shrewd. Then Jesus ends the story saying, ‘You cannot serve both God and mammon.’
What are we to make of this parable? Why would Jesus praise a cheat?
Over the years, many writers have explored this question. Dostoevsky does so in The Brothers Karamazov, and Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice.
But Steven Spielberg explores it, too, in his movie Catch Me if You Can (2002). This is the true story of a remarkable con artist, Frank Abagnale Jr, played by Leonardo di Caprio.
From 1964 to 1967, Frank Abagnale successfully impersonated a Pan Am pilot and flew over two million miles for free. During that time, he also posed as a paediatrician in Georgia, and a lawyer in Louisiana. He forged, cheated and manipulated his way across the country.
He cashed almost $4 million in fake cheques in 26 countries and in every US state, and he did all this before his 19th birthday. Like the steward in today’s parable, he misused trust, he exploited weak systems and he evaded justice with remarkable skill.
Frank Abagnale was very clever, and became the most daring con man in US history. However, he was eventually caught and imprisoned.
But here’s the twist: instead of condemning him and letting his gifts go to waste, the FBI offered him a job. They recognised his skills and asked him to put them to better use by helping them catch other fraudsters.
So, he went from exploiting systems to protecting them, from selfish dishonesty to genuine service for others. He effectively became a faithful steward, still using his gifts, but now pointed in the right direction.
This, I think, is the point Jesus is trying to make. He isn’t praising the steward’s corruption; he’s recognising his remarkable skills.
And if we have particular skills, Jesus is inviting us to use them to help build his kingdom of love.
‘The children of this world,’ Jesus says, ‘are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’ In other words, lots of people today use whatever they have to pursue their own goals.
But Christians, by contrast, tend to be too timid, weak and passive. We might have many great qualities, but we’re not using them in our journey of faith.
Jesus wants us to be smarter in the way we follow him.
St Maximilian Kolbe heard Jesus’ call, and took it very seriously. He was a Polish Franciscan priest in the early 20th Century, with a great love for the Blessed Virgin Mary.
But he didn’t simply wait for people to come to church. He knew that if you want to reach people, you have to go out into the world using all the modern tools available.
So, he founded a printing press, a magazine and even a radio station. He trained other friars not only in prayer, but in journalism, publishing and management. He built an impressive media network, not to spread his own name, but to promote Jesus’ name through Mary.
Maximilian Kolbe was as shrewd as the steward in today’s parable, but his goal wasn’t to make money or save his job. His goal was to save souls.
Sadly, the Nazis caught him, shut his ministry down and sent him to Auschwitz. But there he did the greatest thing of all. When another prisoner, a father, was condemned to death, Maximilian stepped forward and volunteered to take his place.
He used the last ‘resource’ he had – his own life – to save someone else.
Maximilian Kolbe made many friends for eternity – people he had helped, consoled and inspired. He built the kind of treasure that moth and rust cannot destroy.
He was clever, and he used his talents for Jesus Christ.
This is what Jesus wants us to do. To use our time wisely, with eternity in mind. To use our blessings not just for comfort, but for love. And to use our relationships to pursue peace, justice, and holiness.
Jesus ends his parable with a sobering truth. He says: ‘You cannot serve both God and money.’
It’s not what we have that’s important. It’s what we do with it.