Luke 16:1-13
Revised Common Lectionary
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 21, 2025
“What if we get it right?”
That’s the question marine biologist and policy expert Ayana Elizabeth Johnson says we rarely ask about the climate crisis. In her book, What If We Get It Right? Visions of Climate Futures, Johnson imagines what could happen if we actually used the resources already in our hands – the science, the technology, the policies, the collective will – to meet this challenge head-on. She calls her book “an invitation to imagine.” Adding, “goodness, do we need more imagination right now, to create clearer visions of desirable climate futures… a future we can see ourselves in, where there’s a place for us and the communities we hold dear.”
Her question is haunting in its hope: What if we get it right?
Luke 16:1-13 is not the first place I’d expect to find resonance with such a question. Charles Cousar, the late professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, describes the parable of the dishonest manager as “one of the great exegetical mountains” preachers must climb in his Feasting on the Word commentary. And when you read it, you, like me, will nod along with Cousar’s words, shaking your head in bewildered frustration.
A wealthy master hears his manager has been squandering resources. He calls him in and fires him. Faced with unemployment, the manager panics. He’s not strong enough for manual labor and too proud to beg. So he hatches a scheme: he slashes the debts of those who owe his master, hoping that when he’s thrown out, they’ll remember his “generosity” and welcome him into their homes.
By every moral standard, this is brazen, self-serving deceit. We, the readers, wait for the hammer to fall — for the master’s rebuke, or for Jesus to wrap up the story with a tidy moral about honesty and integrity. But in a shocking twist, the dishonest manager is praised. Praised! For acting “shrewdly.”
Luke tells us this parable is about how we handle resources: wealth, possessions, money. For Luke, wealth is dangerous because it so easily becomes its own master, demanding our loyalty, shaping our lives. Yet wealth is also a tool that can be used for faithful purposes.
The dishonest manager isn’t feeding the poor or donating to charity. He’s making back-door deals to protect himself. And yet, Luke highlights his ability to act with urgency and imagination when the future demanded it.
Angela Davis once said, “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” The shady manager acts as if his world can change — and then makes moves to change it. I don’t think Luke offers this as an endorsement of dishonesty, but as a challenge to our complacency: if even a dishonest employee can use resources creatively to shape a future for himself, shouldn’t the children of light be even more committed, more creative, more determined to act for the sake of a future where all God’s children can flourish?
And here’s where Johnson’s question comes back: What if we get it right? What if we used our wealth, our possessions, our resources, not just our money, but our time, our talents, our imagination, in ways that serve the climate, the poor, the oppressed? The dishonest manager reminds us that the future doesn’t just happen to us. We are always, through our actions, investing in one kind of future or another. If we imagined boldly, acted shrewdly, and generously used every resource at our disposal for the sake of love and justice, what kind of future could we prepare? Only God knows. But God’s given us more than enough to get it right.
Questions for reflection on Luke 16:1-13
- Where in your life are you tempted to let money, possessions or resources be your master, rather than using them as tools for God’s purposes?
- What “future possibilities” might God be inviting you to imagine — and what shrewd, creative steps could you take now to help bring that future closer?
- Ayana Elizabeth Johnson asks, “What if we get it right?” How does that question challenge or inspire your faith, especially when you think about the church’s role in shaping a more just and generous world?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for the Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost.
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