the shrewd manager

I'll be honest, Jesus parables are hard. I often find them confusing. And this morning was no different. I was actually asked by someone in my congregation about a particular parable and I was a little bit at a loss. That's a bad feeling as a pastor. But I couldn't blame him for asking about it. And while I sort of just wanted to not answer, I found that that wasn't really an option. The parable in question is one of the harder ones in my opinion. It is found in Luke 16:1-9 and is affectionately known as the parable of the shrewd manager.

And while I can't claim to be 100% certain about the full meaning of the parable (like most of Jesus parables) here is what I think Jesus was trying to make clear:

It seems to me that Jesus is contrasting this manager with the rich man found at the end of chapter 16. There the rich man walked by Lazarus every day and took no pity on him, hording his wealth. When they both die it is clear that while the man might have thought himself to be blessed by God because of his wealth, it was really Lazarus who experienced eternal blessing. Abraham tells the man he has received his reward on earth, for he wanted to be rich but had no room in his life for other people or the law of God as is made clear at the end where he is now nervous for his family. Abraham makes clear that those who do not recognize life as revealed through Moses and the prophets will not recognize it even if they see someone coming back from the dead. They have no concept of true life. Had this rich man been shrewd he would have recognized that his blessing on earth was not to be confused with eternal blessing and would have used it rightly to help the beggar he passed by every day and in doing so his heart might have opened to the kingdom life. Instead he got what he wanted, riches in this life, but he missed that that is of little import in eternity.

In a similar way, the shrewd manager opted for life after his job not by taking more from his manager but by giving much away. It is an example, like many of Jesus parables, of the upside down nature of the kingdom where we give in order to receive and lose so we might save. He is not commended for his dishonesty but for his wisdom into the nature of life. If life is found for him in giving and forgiving, how much more is eternal life found in this way. If only "people of the light" had such wisdom to understand the nature of blessing in life and in the kingdom of God.

The Pharisees "who loved money," (vs. 14) were not brought into the family of God by it. The parable teaches that money and other earthly possessions are to be used as needed for life here, but this life will come to an end. It's sort of like Jesus teaching on the rich having a harder time entering the kingdom. If your heart is set that earthly blessing is of great value and equates with eternal blessing you will find that you are mistaken.

Sometimes the pastoral life is a tricky one. I feel like I am still learning what Jesus' teachings mean in my own life, and then people ask me how to help them understand it. Yet we are all called to share what we have. I think this is money as well as time and knowledge. And we are to give it to others not to be found as a wealth of information, but in order that we might have space in our lives for the message of the kingdom to sink down deep. No matter what we give away, it is in giving that we receive. I was blessed to attend seminary and take a few steps down the road of understanding Jesus deep and sometimes confusing teachings. But this blessing was given to me that I might share it with others. That too is the pastoral life, passing on the wisdom that God has given, not just so that others can understand Jesus teachings, not just to dump knowledge from one person to another, but so that we might have open hearts that are ready to accept all that Jesus has for us. It is not primarily through study and reading that I receive from God but in giving what he has given to me to others.

women's ministry in the 21st century

I have a confession to make: when I hear the phrase, "women's ministry," I cringe. Immediately, images of doilies, cutesy teas, knitting, and flowery fonts on the cover of Bible workbooks parade in front of my eyes, ghosts from the small Baptist church in which I (almost literally) grew up. Many of the women I know have similar reactions. We suspect that "women's ministry" has nothing to offer those of us who, for example:

• don't have kids
• have kids AND a career
  
• dread arts and crafts
  
• don't believe that "submission" should be one-sided
  
• don't especially appreciate Beth Moore (or Elizabeth Eliot)
  
• are less emotional than the [stereo]typical woman
• didn't kiss dating goodbye
  

Don't get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for women who DO benefit from traditional women's ministry, and I realize that good, relevant women's ministries do exist - but I also know that stereotypes exist for a reason. I suspect that many women's ministries, particularly in smaller churches like mine, are not equipped to minister to those of us who don't fit the "church woman" mold, much less reach the majority of non-Christian women in our culture...

So what does "women's ministry" look like in the 21st century? How can churches meet the needs of ALL women, regardless of their vocation and place in life? I've been wrestling with questions like these lately as I have been taking stock of the overall needs and strengths of my congregation, in which there is no formal "women's ministry" in place.

After church this past Sunday, a man from the congregation mentioned that he and his wife were glad I am now full-time at the church, since they had just recently been discussing the need for more "women's ministry" at Redeemer. I bristled at this, of course, because that's probably one of the biggest pet peeves of most female seminary grads: being put into the "women's ministry" box when that's neither your passion nor specifically your calling. However, as I have had further conversations with the women at my church, I am beginning to see the need for and the value of "women's ministry," but women's ministry of a particular sort. Some heuristic thoughts:

• Young moms truly do need connections with other women in the congregation, and this takes some special intentionality. This doesn't necessarily mean that young moms should only get together with other moms, but for a single gal like me, it's good to remember that childcare is a must if these women are going to be able to come to church events.
• Women need encouragement to develop their giftings and talents, and to then use those giftings and talents in the church body.
• Younger women need the wisdom and encouragement of older women.
• Single women and married women need each other's perspectives on life.
• Even if a woman is well-educated and has a career, she still needs connections with other women in the congregation. She might also need opportunities to engage faith more intellectually, or on the flip-side to have a space in which she can allow her faith to engage and release her emotions.

In other words, women need discipleship. At the same time, it is only men and women together that bear the image of God -- what implications does that have for spiritual formation and discipleship? But that's a topic for another day...

So what shape SHOULD women's ministry take in the church today? I suppose asking questions is the first step toward finding answers...

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Case in point: After publishing this post, I visited a blog associated with the "True Woman" movement (hand-in-hand with the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood), and the most recent posts include, "You can't go wrong with Chester's Chocolate Mint Brownies," "Studying Housework," "He Never Helps Out," and my personal favorite, "Warm Fuzzies."