Somehow such mandates, simple as they are, just do not cut it. Of the two, loving God sounds easy because it has been drummed into us since young. Giving your money to the Church that is a little harder to swallow. The Gospel requires a little parsing or excavating so that we may better grasp what God is asking of us.
Firstly, the scenario feels rather offensive considering our informed ethos. It would appear as if Jesus were commending someone who had been dishonest. Imagine, Jesus praising Najib for being such a crafty “Crime Minister”.
The background of the narrative is agrarian. In an agricultural society, cash is not really king. Apologies to Najib! When we speak of a town, there are no “high streets” lined with boutiques, sporting the latest range of Hermes’ Berkin bags or Bvlgari jewellery. Farm produce is the conventional currency which people appreciate most. What is the use of “money” if there is really nothing to buy? This backdrop is the context for the steward’s story.
He is to take charge of the master’s estates and to manage them in respect to the produce that is derived from renting out land. He gets a cut from the transactions with renter farmers. It is a sort of management fee. There are three ways of tenancy. For the usage of the land, the master gets 1. A percentage of the produce. It is like a kind of tithing. 2. Fixed amount regardless of how bountiful or poor the harvest may be and lastly. 3. Cold, hard cash.
In the Gospel, our steward was denounced for wastefulness, not laziness or even dishonesty. Thus he was dismissed due to the lack of accountability. However, he was quick enough to seize the opportunity to quickly work something out for himself. He reduced the debt, meaning that he simply forwent his cut for the contracts made. In a way, he was not “cheating” his master but securing a possibility of a future welcome from those to whom he has done a favour for. As such, the master cannot renege on or back out of the deal because that would constitute "mala fidei". In fact, despite the disadvantage of a reduced collection, the master’s fame would grow as the tenants will be singing the praise of his generosity.
The steward was smart or shrewd in the ways of the world. And this should characterise our relationship with regard to money, riches or possessions. However, when wealth is everything, this kind of insight might be hard to come by. I told one of our golden years aunty that the final destination where she will be going to, she cannot take her possessions with her. She had been lamenting that her phone was not working well. I suggested to her: Give away your money or spend it now. Buy a new phone.
Giving it away is one of the hardest things to do. And it is not on account of selfishness. Just to understand why it is hard, we take a side look at weight loss programmes. Do you realise that it is almost impossible to “lose weight”? Why? We naturally look for the items we have lost. Remember last week’s Lost Drachma? The lady swept clean her house to look for the missing coin. Thus, in wilfully attempting to lose weight, somehow unwittingly or unconsciously, we may be looking for the poundage we have shed. In other words, losing weight is really a losing proposition. If anything, one should desire to gain one’s optimal weight.
The point is that we are inadequate, and in our incompleteness, we tend to hold on to what we have, instead of letting it go. Our natural posture of survival is to “cling”, most especially if we have worked hard to accumulate. No one likes to see the fruit of his hard work squandered. Yet, it remains true that none of our achievements nor any portion of our collected wealth can ever cross with us through the portal of death except our merits before Christ the Lord. As Jesus Himself reminded us, “What gains a man if he wins the world but loses his soul?”.
The first lesson from the Gospel is that the astuteness praised by Jesus is not about being cunning or conniving. Instead, it is a kind of cleverness or a sense that sees the world ALWAYS through the lens of heaven. What should I do in order to gain eternal life?
Secondly, letting go is the beginning of true stewardship. The premise of Pope Francis’ “Laudato si” actually rests on a proper appreciation of stewardship. Passing through this world, that means we are no more than a watchman, an administrator or a “jaga”. We look after God’s creation in this world. Mary, the Mother of Jesus was right in her Magnificat: “He looks upon His servant in her nothingness”. We own nothing and if we do, we hold it in trust for the Lord. Many of our ecological and environmental disasters arise because we have forgotten the fundamental principle that we are no more than custodians. Trustworthiness is a mark of good stewardship.
Finally, the steward’s acumen was making arrangements that once his service was no longer needed by the master, he could secure a place amongst those whom he has helped. When we translate this into a spirituality, it is how we can be astute with regard to God’s abundant blessings and use them in a manner so as to gain a place in heaven. Wealth is never personal even though if feels very much so. It is mine. I own it. I obtain it through hard work. No matter how personal riches feel, it is gifted for sharing. If not, wealth has a way of insinuating itself into a god which is why the Gospel emphasises that a good servant knows who the boss is for he cannot be a servant of two masters. God is the only ruler who deserves our everything. It is good to be clever in the ways of the world but it is better to be wise in the ways of heaven. Better to store our treasures of goodness in heaven than to be dragged down to hell by the possessions we cling to.
