THOUGHTS ON THE PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARD. LUKE XVI by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 22, 1869

THOUGHTS ON THE PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARD. LUKE XVI.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

In this parable, Christ introduces a person who was steward to a rich man. A steward is one who has the charge, the oversight, and the management of another’s property. It is all in the steward’s hand for the time being to manage, to buy and sell, and use as he thinks best. All that the real owner of the property knows about it is, that at certain times, the steward gives him an account of how he is using the property. So while a person is thus a steward of another man’s property, say $100,000, he has the entire control of it as much as though it was his own. He is apparently a very rich man; yet at any hour he is liable to be discharged from his stewardship, and have not the control of a cent of all this money. Such a case Christ uses to illustrate a very important truth. This steward was accused that he wasted his master’s goods; that is, he did not use them for the benefit of his master, but, perhaps, used them in his own pleasure in eating, drinking, &c. His master demands him to give an account of his stewardship, and threatens to discharge him. Upon this the steward begins to consult with himself how he may secure to himself, after he is put out of the stewardship, a part of the property he now has control of. If he does not attend to this now while he has this property in his hands, he will soon be put out of the stewardship a penniless man, ashamed to beg, and not willing to dig. He devises this plan: He sends for those who owe his master different sums, and says to the first: “How much owest thou unto my lord; And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill and write fourscore.” Thus he did with those who owed his master more or less. In this way he made each one of them a fine present, and thus brought them under obligation to him and secured their friendship to himself. Now as soon as he is put out of the stewardship, what can he do? He will go to each one of these debtors whom he had helped and say, “Friend, you remember that I gave you $100 on your debt. Now I am in want; give me so much.” Thus he goes to all those whom he had befriended, and they now receive him into their houses and help him.

Now although this conduct of the steward was very unjust and sinful, yet he acted wisely according to the wisdom of this world, and his lord commended him for it. On this parable, Christ makes the following remarks: “The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” The application is this: The gold, the silver, the land, the cattle on a thousand hills,—all are the Lord’s. Men who have certain portions of these in their possession are, by the Lord, only entrusted with them for a short time as stewards. In the end they must give them all up, and withal, give an account of how they have used them. To-day I may have in my possession $10,000. I can use it just as I please, to buy, to sell, to trade, to eat and drink, to give in charity, or hoard up as I like best. My brother cannot control a dollar of it. But to-morrow I die. Now what about all this money that I called mine? Is it still in my possession? No; my stewardship has come to an end, and God has put me out of it, and given the stewardship to others. I cannot now control one dollar of that money. I am as poor and penniless as the veriest beggar. The time is coming when this will certainly be true of every one of us whether we own much or little.

This being the case, it is a very important question for us to ascertain whether there is not some way in which we can use this property while we are stewards of it, so that it will profit us after we have been put out of the stewardship. Indeed there is, and a lawful way too. To teach us this important lesson seems to be the whole design of this parable. How, then, can this be done? Christ’s advice is that we should make to ourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, or worldly property, that when we fail they may receive us into everlasting habitations. But in what way can we do this? To the rich young man, Jesus said, “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven: and come and follow me.” “And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” Here it is; by giving to the poor for the gospel, and for other benevolent objects, we may transfer our property to Heaven, where we shall receive it all again with a hundred fold after we have lost our stewardship here. Now who wants to be rich? Who wants property of their own that shall never be taken from them? Who wants an everlasting treasure? Here is a good chance for investment. My friend, how many shares are you taking in this kind of stock? Has God made you steward of much here? Are you using the privilege granted you of securing a part of this money for yourself? or are you so using it that when you are put out of the stewardship, you will be penniless?

Let us be wise while there is yet time.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Washington, Iowa.