Two of Christ’s most puzzling parables, sometimes known as the parable of the unjust judge and the parable of the unjust steward, are in the Gospel of Luke. In both stories, the central character is saved not by turning toward virtue but by his own venality. The unjust judge is afraid that the woman who implores him for justice will attack him, so he gives her justice. The unjust steward, relieved of his responsibilities after wasting his master’s resources, seems to cheat his master by summoning people who are in debt and forgiving parts of the debt in exchange for instant payment. He does this so that he will be welcomed into their homes, and he is commended by his master for his decision. Jesus’s gloss on the story includes his famous admonition that it is impossible to serve both God and Mammon, but it also includes the frankly mystifying advice to “make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
As with the parable of the talents, in which the steward who buries his portion is condemned, or the fig tree, which withers because it will not provide fruit out of season, it sometimes seems like Jesus prefers action of any kind to waiting, even if waiting seems like the purer or more appropriate action. In this reading, the unjust steward is jolted from waste to activity, which is an improvement even if that activity itself is not admirable. Similarly, the unjust judge is not planning to rule against the woman who comes to him; he is simply not going to rule at all.
This interpretation, whatever its merits, does not really make the parable easier to understand. And it leads to another problem. Some of Jesus’s stranger statements are exhortations to act now rather than wait for the right moment to act. Spiritual life seems to require an awful lot of waiting. For many of us, Easter, arriving after the gray months of winter, is the reward for weeks of patient waiting, just as the life of the world to come is a reward after patiently enduring our life in this world. If Jesus is trying to tell us it’s important not to wait around, why so much waiting?
One answer is that Lent is not a season of waiting. It is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, all of which are active choices. Prayer only seems passive from the outside. Fasting in Lent is something people do even if they have no other connection to Christianity—that’s what “giving something up” means—to the point where it has overshadowed the other two disciplines. Almsgiving, though, is the practice we’re all most likely to neglect, even though it’s the simplest, because it’s just giving people money. It’s clear from Jesus’s parables that part of his condemnation of the wealthy is that they hoard their wealth without helping others. Without almsgiving, a wealthy man isn’t just like the rich man who ignored Lazarus, but also like the servant who buried his talent in the earth.
There are a lot of stewards in Jesus’s parables, and one of the worst is the steward whose debts are forgiven but who refuses to forgive the debts of others. We could call him the “too-just” steward: He insists on being given what he’s owed. The unjust steward’s acts of generosity are self-serving and not particularly altruistic, but there’s still something better about his decision to forgive debts than the decision of the too-just steward. Again, one way to read this story is as Jesus commending the choice to do what one can in the moment rather than waiting for the optimal time and the best possible action.
I myself certainly lapse into treating Lent more like a clock ticking down than a time for action and preparing my soul. I sleepwalk through the forty days; I avoid meat on Fridays and otherwise treat it like any other time. These two figures, the unjust judge and the unjust steward, help us to remember that the path to holiness does not always begin in the most exalted places, nor is it always taken for the highest possible reasons. It is always possible to choose to be more generous, even if we just want other people to like us more. Better motivations are always available later.
Two of Christ’s most puzzling parables, sometimes known as the parable of the unjust judge and the parable of the unjust steward, are in the Gospel of Luke. In both stories, the central character is saved not by turning toward virtue but by his own venality. The unjust judge is afraid that the woman who implores him for justice will attack him, so he gives her justice. The unjust steward, relieved of his responsibilities after wasting his master’s resources, seems to cheat his master by summoning people who are in debt and forgiving parts of the debt in exchange for instant payment. He does this so that he will be welcomed into their homes, and he is commended by his master for his decision. Jesus’s gloss on the story includes his famous admonition that it is impossible to serve both God and Mammon, but it also includes the frankly mystifying advice to “make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
As with the parable of the talents, in which the steward who buries his portion is condemned, or the fig tree, which withers because it will not provide fruit out of season, it sometimes seems like Jesus prefers action of any kind to waiting, even if waiting seems like the purer or more appropriate action. In this reading, the unjust steward is jolted from waste to activity, which is an improvement even if that activity itself is not admirable. Similarly, the unjust judge is not planning to rule against the woman who comes to him; he is simply not going to rule at all.
This interpretation, whatever its merits, does not really make the parable easier to understand. And it leads to another problem. Some of Jesus’s stranger statements are exhortations to act now rather than wait for the right moment to act. Spiritual life seems to require an awful lot of waiting. For many of us, Easter, arriving after the gray months of winter, is the reward for weeks of patient waiting, just as the life of the world to come is a reward after patiently enduring our life in this world. If Jesus is trying to tell us it’s important not to wait around, why so much waiting?
One answer is that Lent is not a season of waiting. It is a time for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, all of which are active choices. Prayer only seems passive from the outside. Fasting in Lent is something people do even if they have no other connection to Christianity—that’s what “giving something up” means—to the point where it has overshadowed the other two disciplines. Almsgiving, though, is the practice we’re all most likely to neglect, even though it’s the simplest, because it’s just giving people money. It’s clear from Jesus’s parables that part of his condemnation of the wealthy is that they hoard their wealth without helping others. Without almsgiving, a wealthy man isn’t just like the rich man who ignored Lazarus, but also like the servant who buried his talent in the earth.
There are a lot of stewards in Jesus’s parables, and one of the worst is the steward whose debts are forgiven but who refuses to forgive the debts of others. We could call him the “too-just” steward: He insists on being given what he’s owed. The unjust steward’s acts of generosity are self-serving and not particularly altruistic, but there’s still something better about his decision to forgive debts than the decision of the too-just steward. Again, one way to read this story is as Jesus commending the choice to do what one can in the moment rather than waiting for the optimal time and the best possible action.
I myself certainly lapse into treating Lent more like a clock ticking down than a time for action and preparing my soul. I sleepwalk through the forty days; I avoid meat on Fridays and otherwise treat it like any other time. These two figures, the unjust judge and the unjust steward, help us to remember that the path to holiness does not always begin in the most exalted places, nor is it always taken for the highest possible reasons. It is always possible to choose to be more generous, even if we just want other people to like us more. Better motivations are always available later.
