When There is No True Repentance

Just two cute little girls hanging out with their
Pa and Bagogo at the zoo. It's a joy to 
experience the purity of the heart of a child. 

Scripture:

Luke 16:1   Then Jesus^a said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ² So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ ³ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ ⁷ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ ⁸ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. 

Observation:

This parable has always been one that has fascinated me. It comes right after the parable of the prodigal son, and yet, it is such an odd comparison. We have divided up the chapters and somehow thought they belonged to two separate scenes or scenarios. However, when you place it directly in comparison with the prodigal son, it almost sounds like a tongue-in-cheek story of what happens to someone who does not truly repent. Neale puts it this way, “The lost son and Zacchaeus act with true repentance; the roguish jester performs a sort of anti-repentance by compounding his sin with more shenanigans!” (NBBC).

So, we contrast the life of the manager with that of the prodigal son. When the manager comes to his senses, he does not repent, but tries to find a clever way out of his situation. Eventually he is praised by his master for being shrewd and dishonest. This makes you wonder about his master. Notice, this is a master, and not a loving Father. This is the enemy, or the evil one, who praises his servants for their dishonest acts. There is no forgiveness for the manager, but he has made friends. Then, just imagine the irony of how Jesus speaks at the end…that your dishonest friends “may welcome you into the eternal homes.” What eternal homes? The only one with an eternal home is Jesus, who invites us into the home of the Father. The “shrewd” manager has just sold his soul to the Enemy and has no place to spend eternity. 

Jesus is telling the disciples that they will witness these types of games among the “children of this age.” This is their way of getting around true repentance. They try to make themselves look good among other people. But their reward will only reach as far as this present age. 

Application:

I think Jesus was trying to tell the disciples that it’s easy to fool yourself into a false kind of repentance. These actions might even win you praise from the world, but when juxtaposed against what God has to offer you, it becomes empty and hollow. Heaven rejoices at the repentance of one lost sinner who returns home. Friends gained from dishonest wealth cannot welcome you into their eternal homes, for they have none. They offer you something as long as you have something to offer them in return. When you have nothing left to give them, they will have no time for you. 

It’s really easy to get caught up into believing we are participating in the eternal by doing good works. While this may be true, to an extent, participating in good works does not replace repentance and salvation. There are many good causes out there these days and it’s easy to get involved, volunteer, and support to bring about change. However, change, simply for the sake of change, is nothing without Christ. That’s the point that I think Jesus was making here. The stories are radically different because one has a temporal impact, the other eternal. One is about God’s kingdom, the other is about figuring out how to get along with the people of this world. It’s easy to fall into this trap, but the world has no eternal home to offer — only our Heavenly Father. 

True repentance is required for all of God’s children. We need to be preaching repentance and not just trying to bring about social change. There must be a both-and, which is witnessed in the life of the prodigal son, and Zacchaeus. They were genuinely repentant, their lives changed, and their interaction with others was altered. This is the real change that the Lord wants to work in the world today, through followers who are truly repentant. 

Prayer:

Lord, may I follow you through genuine participation in your transformational work in the world. Amen.