On the Unrighteous Steward

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit!

Brothers and sisters! Today you heard the parable of a man who suddenly became very rich. His field brought an unusually rich harvest (Luke 12:16-21).

This man did not think about his neighbors – about those who needed his help, nor did he think about giving a tenth to the Temple according to the law of Moses. The only thing that troubled him was that the barns he had would not be able to hold all the wheat; And then he decided to build new ones, cover them to the top with grain and spend the rest of his life in feasts and entertainments.

But that same night the rich man died suddenly, and the riches, like a ghost, disappeared, melted; his eyes were covered with a veil of death.

This parable is closely related to another, one of the most mysterious and difficult to understand: the unjust steward. It is, as it were, the key to its understanding.

A certain man had a steward who dishonorably squandered his possessions (Luke 16:1-13). When he learned of this, he summoned the steward and said, "I have heard unkind rumors about you, and I have decided to remove you from the place." The saddened steward began to grieve bitterly. "What should I do now," he seemed to ask himself, "I can't dig, I'm ashamed to ask; I know what I will do while I am still listed as a steward. I will call my master's debtors, and lessen their debts, and then, when I am driven out of this house, they may perhaps receive me under their roof." So he said and so he did.

He called one who owed a hundred measures of oil, and said: "Write a receipt that you owe fifty." He also called another, who owed a hundred measures of wheat, and said: "Write down that you owe only eighty measures."

The lord found out about this and praised it... an unfaithful steward, because he acted wisely; for the sons of this world are wiser than the sons of light in their own kind (Luke 16:8).

For many, this parable serves as a temptation. At first glance, it seems to contradict not only the lofty truths of the Gospel, but also simply the sense of morality. However, it is a temptation only for those who do not understand its deep meaning.

And today I would like to explain this parable to you.

The Lord God is the Lord of our temporal and eternal life, the Creator and Provider of the world; The manager of his property is a person, each of us. The master brings the steward closer to him, trusts him. In the same way, man is chosen from among all God's creatures, he is created in the image and likeness of God. We are His offspring (Acts 17:28) – testifies in the words of the ancient poet the Holy Apostle Paul.

The master entrusts the steward with his vast possessions. What "possessions" has the Lord entrusted to us? Our strengths, our abilities, our position in the world, our knowledge; finally, our earthly life itself and its time, all this is a property given by God for wise management. To govern wisely means to live according to the will of God, to fulfill His commandments.

But the steward did not treat his master fairly. He began to squander his possessions, that is, he began to use the time of his life, his talent, his abilities, not to do the will of God, but for vicious, sensual pleasures.