Insults Galore!

John 8:31-36, the gospel lesson appointed for Reformation Sunday in the Lutheran Church, is an unusual text in that it sits amidst a dispute narrative in John's Gospel.  In the section just prior to this reading Jesus says to his listeners, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.  I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he." (vss. 23-24)  And just following our lesson Jesus says to these same listeners, "You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires." (vs. 44)  Clearly Jesus is pulling no punches with these folk.  Likewise, Jesus pulls no punches with us who encounter this text today.  Let the reader beware!

(The following questions come out of a methodology I have developed in my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Word, that is Jesus, functions in a way that is clearly Law, but unique in that Jesus insults his listeners.  He tells them they are not free.  He tells them they are slaves to sin.  He also tells them that "there is no place in you for my word."  All these statements function as Law, declaring to them their lostness.  Another way this text is unusual, however, is that a word of Gospel is also present.  Jesus says, "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."  This is pure promise.  The conditional phrase is also telling for in effect it says, "Whenver the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."  Good news indeed!

2.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  It is always important to identify with the ones who are being addressed by the Word, and this text is no exception.  We are the ones who chafe at the notion that we are not free.  We are the ones who declare that we are descendants of Abraham and have not been slaves to anyone.  We are the ones who need to hear the word of Gospel that Jesus sets us free.

3.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The call to obedience is the word functioning to show us how to respond to God's work in our life.  Sometimes we call this "the call to discipleship."  In this text, that call is not present.  We will need to look outside this text for that call.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  There are several couplets which jump right out when we read this text:  in bondage/free; slaves to sin/freed by the Son; slaves/sons.

5.  Exegetical work:  There are many resources for this classic text. The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture offers the insights of early theologians, for example:  "Our freedom comes when we subject ourselves to the truth." (Augustine)  "The more freely people follow their perverse desires, the more closely they are in bondage to them."  (Gregory the Great)  "In whatever measure we serve God, we are free.  In whatever measure we serve the law of sin, we are still in bondage."  (Augustine) (ACCS, NT, IVa).  Martin Luther has much to say on this text in his Commentary on the Gospel of John:  "Anything that is not God's Son will not make you free."  "How, then, can I become free?  Men answer 'I will [do this]...'  But Christ says, '...No, let Him who is called the Son of God deliver you from sin; then you are free.  If you give yourself to Him and let Him set you free, all is well.'" (LW 23: 409, 413)  Kittel also offers some excellent insights into this passage in his extended article on eleutheros (freedom) in his Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  One example:  "...In the NT it is evident that freedom is not absent because there is inadequate control of existence but because there is no control at all, and therefore no self-dominion.  It realizes that existence is threatened by itself, and not by something outside; it realizes that it is itself deficient, with all that it does.  Hence to take oneself in hand is simply to grasp a deficient existence."  (TDNT II: 496)

Blessings on your proclamation!

A Jarring Turn-about

Both the teachings regarding prayer in Luke 18 include an explanation of the teaching as well as a parable illustrating it. In verses 1-8 we are given a parable about the "need to pray always and not to lose heart."  In Luke 18:9-14, the gospel lesson appointed for the 23rd Sunday after Pentecost, we are given a parable aimed at "some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt."  While the first parable announces the good news that God hears our prayers, the second parable is a word of law, which calls us back to reality whenever we are wont to say, "I am not like other people."  We do well to heed such a word.

(The following questions follow a method which gets at some of the issues for Law/Gospel preachers.  These questions are not meant to be exhaustive.  For a detailed look at this method, please see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  Luther sometimes said that the Word is like a hammer, breaking the rock in pieces.  Here we have a clear example of that. The Pharisee in the parable thanks God that he is "not like other people."  He basks in the righteousness of his own making.  He is content with a life lived entirely with "I" as the subject of every sentence.  In so doing he misses out on the righteousness which only God can grant, and the justification that God alone can give.  He misses out on the complete forgiveness and righteousness of God and trusts in himself.  The truth, which he does not see, is that he is like other people, and along with all others he needs the forgiveness that only God can bestow.  The Word in this parable, then, functions as Law, pointing us to our need for Christ.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  The Word functioning as Gospel is well hidden here, if not absent.  When the Word functions as Gospel it announces, "Here is Jesus, for you!"  There is no word like that here.  Having said that, we hear Jesus announcing that the tax collector who cried out, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" is justified.  This is certainly a gospel function.  This word reminds us that God does justify those who come to God humbly.  This word then encourages us to trust in this God who justifies.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  Many a writer has pointed out that we who are "church folks" are more like the Pharisee in the parable than anyone else.  We who serve and give and pray and sing somehow are very prone to self-righteousness  and to a hidden pride which clings to the fallacy that we are "not like other people."  We need to pray for the miracle of repentance which comes to the tax collector, for we truly are like other people, as in bondage to sin as any.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  The final verse in this text gives us some wonderful couplets:  humbled/exalted; condemned/justified; trusting self/trusting God.

5.  Exegetical work:  There are several telling details in this parable: 1)  The Pharisee's prayer is 33 words long; the prayer of the tax collector is 7 words long.  2)  The subject of the Pharisee's prayer is "I" four times; the subject of the tax collector's prayer is God.  3)  The Pharisee stands "by himself" indicating that he "trusts in himself"; the tax collector stands "far off" indicating his sense of unworthiness.  Another thing to be aware of is that these two characters are stock characters in Jesus' day; that is to say, they have expected characteristics.  In our day, a joke might begin, "A priest, a rabbi, and a lumberjack entered a bar."  Each one of those characters is a stock character with which we associate certain attributes.  So with Pharisees and tax collectors in Jesus' day.  What's most interesting is that the Pharisee was assumed to be righteous and the tax collector was assumed to be a scoundrel.  The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible gives this description of Pharisees:  "law-abiding, righteous, pious, religious folk." (III, 774)  Tax-collectors, on the other hand, are given these characteristics: "traitorous, base, despicable, greedy, 'robbers', excluded by common consent." (IV, 522).  This is interesting because for Jesus' listeners, the turn-around in this story would have been jarring.  The unrighteous one is the one who goes"down to his home justified", while the pious Pharisee does not.  We do well to attempt to enter into this jarring experience by substituting modern stock characters who might fit these molds.

Blessings on your proclamation!

Weary Faith

The parable of the indifferent judge and the persistent widow from Luke 18:1-8, the gospel lesson appointed for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, has much in common with the parable of the persistent friend and the annoyed neighbor in Luke 11:5-8.  In both parables the one to whom the request is made seems deaf to the needy one's concerns, and yet, because they are so annoyingly persistent, their requests are granted.  Similarly, Jesus' conclusion is, in the latter parable, "Ask, (and keep asking) and it will be given you," and in the former parable, "God [will] grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night."  It seems that both parables are teachings in persistence, with the assurance that God will grant us justice.  Take heart!

(The following questions attempt to get at some of the key issues for Law and Gospel preachers.  They are not meant to be exhaustive.  For a more complete look at this genre of preaching, and what its concerns are, see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com and amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  The Word functions to encourage faltering faith, therefore it is a gospel function.  Jesus says, in effect, "Don't lose heart.  If even unjust judges finally grant justice to some, will not the God of all justice grant you mercy?"

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  A word of Law is not present here.  When a word of Law is present its effect is to say, "You need Jesus."  There is none of that here.  The effect is much the opposite:  "God is for you. Who can be against you?"

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  The widow who cries out for justice, as well as all those whom Jesus speaks to "about their need to pray always and not to lose heart" are those with whom we identify in this text.  We all have times in our lives when prayer seems to go unanswered.  Jesus says here, "God hears.  God will grant you justice."

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?  The Word functions as a call to obedience when it shows us how to live in response to the gospel.  It could perhaps be said that this is exactly what this text is:  Because God is just, because God hears our prayers, keep praying. Do not "grow weary in well-doing," as St. Paul says.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  The context of the parable gives us a few ideas for couplets:  discouraged/encouraged; faith flagging/faith rewarded.

6.   Exegetical work:  I like what Amy-Jill Levine points out about the common translation of what constitutes the judge's motivation for justice.  She writes:  "The NRSV's mild suggestion that the widow will 'wear out' the judge is another taming of the widow.  The Greek uses a boxing term:  the judge is concerned that the widow will give him a black eye." (Short Stories by Jesus, p. 225)  Another way this term could be translated suggests that the judge is concerned that unless he does what the widow requires she will slander him or besmirch his name.  It reminds me of Moses' argument before God in Exodus 32:  "But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, ..."Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'?..."And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people." (vs. 11-14)  In that story, Moses has to remind God of the possible 'black eye' God will receive if mercy is not extended to the idolatrous Israelites.  Similarly here, the indifferent judge thinks to himself that he may receive a 'black eye' in the community if he does not heed the widow's cry.  Clearly the judge is the distinct opposite of God. The argument is as Luise Schottroff suggests, an "minore ad maius:  If even an unjust judge does justice, how much more will God." (The Parables of Jesus, p. 193)

Blessings on your proclamation!

The Simple Gift of Thanksgiving

Luke 17:11-19, the gospel lesson appointed for the 21st Sunday after Pentecost, is also the appointed text in the U.S. for Thanksgiving Day.  It centers on the thankfulness of the 10th leper in contrast to the other nine who fail to return and give thanks.  Noteworthy is that the healing happens to them all without condition or prerequisite.  What follows the thanksgiving of the 10th leper is a further blessing: he now knows - and so do we - that faith saves us.

(The following questions are an attempt to come to terms with some of the key issues for Law and Gospel preachers.  Law and Gospel preaching is a genre of preaching that balances the demands of God with the promises of God. For more information on this genre, see my brief guide, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  Jesus, the Word, functions first to heal.  This is an act of grace, without condition, without demand upon the healed ones.  This is a gospel act.  Second, Jesus announces to the thankful leper that his faith has saved him.  Jesus announces his salvation.  This too is a gospel act.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is no real word of law here.  Jesus does wonder that the other nine have not returned to give thanks, but they are not present for his admonishment.  Furthermore, he condemns no one.  This is not a text shaming us for not returning and giving thanks.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are those addressed by the Word. We are the healed ones and the one who returns to give thanks. We are the ones who hear from Jesus' lips, "Your faith has saved you."  We are the recipients of the good news and of healing.  We are also those who need to be reminded to return and give thanks to God.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in the text?  The call to obedience is the Word functioning to instruct us how to act in response to God's grace in our lives.  Clearly the message here is:  Be thankful.  This is a call to obedience.  When we see clearly the gifts of Jesus in our lives, we can't help but live thankfully.  It is what faith does.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Several obvious ones come from the language in the text itself:  diseased/made clean; isolated/restored to community; dying/saved.

6.  Exegetical work:  The various translations of verse 19 are interesting:  KJV: thy faith hath made thee whole; TEV: your faith has made you well; JB: Your faith has saved you; NEB: your faith has cured you.  The Greek term used in this verse is most often translated in Luke's gospel as "saved" in agreement with the Jerusalem Bible translation.  It is clearly a different word than the one used in the rest of the story where the lepers are "cleansed" or "cured."  Some writers make much of this final verse and the implications of this, while others point out that Luke also uses this word regularly for being healed.  Fred Craddock, in his commentary, says that this text can be understood as two stories; one about the healing of ten lepers and their obedience and the other about the salvation of one lost soul. (Luke, Interpretation Series, p. 202-203) This analysis, of course, hinges on the translation of this final verse.

7.  How does the Crossings Community model work with this text? Steve Kuhl, in his working with this text, also makes much out of the distinctions between the words of healing and wholeness in the story.  In his diagnosis of the story he points out how the lepers are all pariahs - outcasts - and the invitation to go and show themselves to the priests is exactly what they are longing for - to be admitted back into the community.  They are, as Kuhl says, "cured, but not made well."  Kuhl sees that in order for us to be made well, we come to Jesus.  We return.  We repent.  And in that we are made truly well. You can see the entire analysis archived under Year C Gospel 2013 at crossings.org/text study.

Blessings on your proclamation!

The Joy of Tiny Faith

In Luke 17:5-10, the gospel lesson appointed for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, we encounter a well-known saying of Jesus that "if you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."  Noteworthy is the fact that this construction is a condition of certainty.  That means that Jesus is saying, "If you had faith - AND YOU DO! - you could do this."  In other words, Jesus is saying that the faith you already have is sufficient.  This is good news!  Jesus has never been about having great amounts of anything - save love.  This means we can celebrate the gift of faith given us, and spend our time living out the Gospel, not worrying about growing our faith.  How freeing!

(The following questions come from my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon. They are meant to get at some of the key questions for preachers of this genre.  For more insight into this type of preaching, check out my guide.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  Because of the construction of the saying by Jesus in verse 6, the Word functions here as gospel.  Jesus is saying, in effect, "The faith you have been given is sufficient; celebrate that!  The faith you have, though small, is more than enough to do all that you dream of and more."

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  Again, because of the construction of the saying, the Word is not functioning here as Law.  It is not saying, "If only you had a wee bit of faith, you faithless ones, then you could do great things."  No, because faith is a gift, and because God's grace is sufficient, even the tiniest piece of faith, like the tiniest sip of wine or taste of bread at the Lords' table, is sufficient for our needs.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are undoubtedly the apostles who say to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"  We wish to have greater faith because we mistakenly believe that more faith will mean greater power or greater wisdom, or perhaps even a greater station in the household of our Lord. The parable which follows Jesus' saying shows clearly that even when we have done all things well, we are simply the servants of Christ, no better or worse than any other servants in the household. So with faith - greater faith will not elevate us to a different place in the Lord's household.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience, is there in this text?  The parable within this text is simply that - a call to obedience. We are to do all that our Lord commands us, and when we have done that we have only done what is rightfully our responsibility.  We are servants; that is our identity.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Several obvious couplets come to mind in this text:  discontent with faith/trusting God; discontent with our station/trusting our Lord.

6.  Exegetical work:  There is an extensive article about faith in Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.  I would recommend it to you.  Here are a few pieces I found especially helpful:  "As the Old Testament understands it, faith always is man's reaction to God's primary action.  Related here is the fact that older Old Testament religion was collective in structure, and it was difficult to give expression to the inner life of the community." (TDNT, VI, 182)  "'Faith' in the Old Testament denotes a relation to God which embraces the whole man in the totality of his external conduct and inner life." (TDNT, VI,  188)  General Christian usage of the word faith is 1) To believe God's word; 2) To obey; 3) To trust (i.e. God will fulfill promises); 4) To hope; 5) To be faithful. (TDNT, VI, 205)  Martin Luther had this to say about faith in his Sacrament of Penance, 1519:  "Now if God allows faith to remain weak, one should not despair on that account, but rather recognize it as a trial and temptation by means of which God tests, prods, and drives a person to cry out all the more... with the apostles, "O Lord, increase our faith."  Thus does a person come to learn that everything depends on the grace of God; the sacrament, the forgiveness, and the faith.  Giving up all other hope, despairing of himself, he comes to hope exclusively in the grace of God and cling to it without ceasing." (Luther's Works, 35:19).

7.  Consider the insights of the pioneers of the New Homiletic?  Henry Mitchell always urged preachers to include celebration in their sermon design.  Since this text lifts up the sufficiency of even a wee bit of faith given to us by God, what better time to celebrate than that?

Blessings on your proclamation!

The Great Chasm

Luke 16:19-31, the gospel lesson appointed for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost, is noteworthy in that chasms of every kind play key roles in the parable.  There is the spiritual chasm between the rich man and Lazarus which prevents the rich man from seeing the poor man lying at his gate.  Then there is the chasm in Hades between the rich man in torment and Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham.  And finally there is a chasm of faith that prevents the five brothers from mending their ways even though someone should rise from the dead.  How will these chasms be crossed?  That is the question.

(The following questions are taken from my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.  They are not meant to be exhaustive, but they get at some of the issues for law/gospel preachers.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  There is little question that in this text the Word functions as law.  The Law always points us to Jesus saying, in effect, "You need Jesus."  The last line, particularly, shows us our broken state:  "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?  There is no gospel word here.  Yes, Jesus will rise from the dead; yes, the poor man has been comforted; but still there is no word here that says, "Here is Jesus come to bring you life."  We will need to explicitly bring the Gospel to bear on this text by using other texts.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  It is always important to identify with those being addressed by the Word. Who are they?  In this text they are most likely the Pharisees, as revealed in verse 14.  They are revealed there as "lovers of money."  Is it comfortable identifying with these folk?  No, it is not.  In the parable the Pharisees are portrayed as the rich man and his five brothers.  Again, are we comfortable identifying with the rich man and his brothers?  No, we are not.  Yet that is the Word we are given.

4.  What, if any, call to obedience is there in this text?   The call to obedience, the Word functioning to show us how to follow Jesus, is not primary here, although it might be argued that the call to feed the poor is an obvious call to obedience.  While it is certainly true that the call to care for the poor is part of following Jesus, the function of the Word here is not primarily to address that.

5.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Given that this is not a gospel text we must imagine a new scenario in order to complete a couplet.  Some suggestions are:  in agony/comforted; chasm between God and us/chasm crossed; deaf to Moses and the prophets/hearing in faith.

6.  Exegetical work:  There are any number of excellent commentaries on the parables of Jesus.  Here are a few insightful comments from some of those scholars:  Bernard Brandon Scott writes:  "The rich man's fault is that he does not pass through the gate to help Lazarus.  It is not simply that at the end there will be a reversal or that God will help the poor.  Even more, 'so long as there is time, the gate/door to the neighbor lies open to be entered and passed through, while one day the chasm between those distanced from each other will not be able to be bridged.'" (Hear Then the Parable, p. 158-159.)  Luise Schottroff has this to say:  "The Pharisees (or better: some Pharisees) are not really being addressed as representatives of this wealth, but rather as those whose interpretation of Torah legitimates this wealth and indirectly profits from it. The Lukan Jesus presents his social analysis in accordance with Torah.  It is his vision that Pharisees and wealthy Jews should remember the Torah - and that means its idea of social justice - so that the universal liberation of the people can become a reality." (The Parables of Jesus, p. 170)  Amy-Jill Levine, in her recent commentary, challenges many traditional readings of this parable which see neither a teaching about the afterlife nor a teaching about economic status in this parable.  She asks: "What if the parable does say something about the afterlife, which is what the church fathers thought and probably what the majority of the original auditors of the parable... thought as well?  What if we took seriously Jesus's own concern for how people related to each other, or how they might live if they already had one foot in the kingdom of heaven?  What if the parable does say something about economic status, a major concern of both the scriptures of Israel and Jesus of Nazareth?"  (Short Stories by Jesus, p. 250-251)  Good questions.

Blessings on your proclamation!

Serving Two Masters

The parable of the dishonest manager, a piece of the gospel reading for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost, Luke 16:1-13, is one of the most puzzling of Jesus' parables.  The puzzle revolves around verse 8 where Jesus reportedly says "[the] master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly."  This commendation is jarring.  How could a faithful master commend this man? Perhaps part of the problem is that we assume motivations are more important than actions.  Are they?  Or perhaps we are assuming that the master's values are ours?  Or maybe our very assumptions about the consistency of God's mercy are being questioned.  In any case, our assumptions are being challenged here, and when we are forced to grapple with our assumptions that always leads us to new insights.  We must, therefore, pay attention to this.

(The following questions I find helpful for examining a passage from a Law/Gospel perspective.  For more on this perspective, please see my brief guide to Law and Gospel preaching, Afflicting the Comfortable, Comforting the Afflicted, available from wipfandstock.com or amazon.)

1.  How does the Word function in the text?  Until the last two verses in the text, the audience for these words are the disciples of Jesus.  The summary teaching verse in the passage seems to be verse 13:  "No slave can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and wealth."  With these things in mind, the Word is functioning primarily as a call to obedience.  Jesus is teaching his disciples how to follow him; i.e. to be faithful in even little things and to serve only God, not wealth.

2.  How is the Word not functioning in the text?   The functions of law or gospel are not present here.  It's true that Jesus calls attention to the unfaithfulness of the dishonest manager, but this is not done to drive his listeners toward God, but to teach them about faithfulness.  The Law always drives us toward God.  The gospel function of the Word gives us the gifts of grace.  These functions are absent here.

3.  With whom are you identifying in the text?  We are Jesus' disciples, those listening to this parable and the subsequent teaching.  We are the ones who need to be reminded that faithfulness in little things is important.  We are the ones who are continually trying to find ways to serve two masters.

4.  What Law/Gospel couplet is suggested by this text?  Since neither the Law nor the Gospel are present in this text we are hard-pressed to see couplets in the text.  Nevertheless the main teaching offers a few ideas:  serving wealth/serving God; children of this age/children of light.

5.  Exegetical work:  There are several interesting commonalities between this parable and the parable of the Prodigal Son, just prior to this in Luke 15:  The dishonest manager was accused of "squandering" his master's property - this is the same word used for the actions of the younger son who traveled to the far country and there "squandered" his property in dissolute living.  Also the conversation the dishonest manager had with himself once he realized how much trouble he was in is reminiscent of the conversation the younger son had with himself once he realized he needed to return to his father.  Finally, the jarring commendation of the dishonest manager by the master reminds us of the extravagant welcome the younger son receives from the father.  In neither case is the wickedness of the offender denied, nor is it a stumbling block for the one with whom reconciliation is sought.

There are a number of good commentaries on the parables of Jesus.  Two that seem particularly helpful with this parable are Bernard Brandon Scott's Hear Then the Parable, and Kenneth Bailey's Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes; A Literary-Cultural Approach to the Parables of Luke.  Scott summarizes the parable this way:  "The parable presents a counterworld to the hearer's normal, implicit world.  In that normal world of patron and clients, power and justice are coordinates.  The rich man possesses power, and his initial judgment, arbitrary and summary, can be carried out because he is powerful.  The steward also possesses the power of a victim: he draws the hearer to his side by sympathy, allowing one and all to enjoy his getting even....By a powerful questioning and juxtaposition of images, the parable breaks the bond between power and justice.  Instead it equates justice and vulnerability." (Scott, p. 266)  Bailey gives us a very extended analysis of the parable, leaving no stone unturned in examining this puzzling parable.  Finally he says, "...the parable of the Unjust Steward is a parabolic ballad followed by a three-stanza poem on Mammon. The parable in an unforgettable backhanded way illuminates, from a unique angle, the splendor of the grace of God in which alone the believer must trust." (Bailey, p. 118).

Blessings on your proclamation!