Tag Archives: parable

The Parable of the Life-saving Station

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On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was a once a crude little life-saving station. The building was just a hut, and there was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, they went out day or night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who were saved, and various others in the surrounding areas, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews were trained. The little life-saving station grew.

Some of the new members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was so crude and so poorly equipped. They felt that a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.

So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put better furniture in an enlarged building. Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they re-decorated it beautifully and furnished it as a sort of club.

Less of the members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired life boat crews to do this work.

The mission of life-saving was still given lip-service but most were too busy or lacked the necessary commitment to take part in the life-saving activities personally.

About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in boat loads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people.

They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin, and some spoke a strange language, and the beautiful new club was considerably messed up. So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most of the members wanted to stop the club’s life-saving activities as being unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal life pattern of the club.

But some members insisted that life-saving was their primary purpose and pointed out that they were still called a life-saving station. But they were finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the life of all the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own life-saving station down the coast. They did.

As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the old. They evolved into a club and yet another life-saving station was founded.

If you visit the seacoast today you will find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, only now most of the people drown.

Thomas Wedel, Ecumenical Review, October, 1953

The Unjust Steward (Luke 16)

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When preaching through Luke a few years ago, I was sorely tempted to skip the first part of Luke 16, the parable of the unjust steward. However, I know that when I’m tempted to skip some part of the Bible, that’s probably the very part I need to hear.

Let’s look at the parable: “He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.” (Luke 16:1-8)

Part of what bothers us about this parable is that the main character seems to be a crook. But there’s a very simple explanation for that: he is a crook. Notice that Jesus calls him “the dishonest manager.” I’ve seen all sorts of explanations that try to make this guy into a law-abiding citizen, but the fact is, Jesus sometimes used bad people to teach good lessons. When He said of Himself that He would come as a thief in the night, it was understood that He didn’t mean that He was coming to steal; He was talking about the element of surprise. When He used the example of the unjust judge in Luke 18, He wasn’t saying that God was like that man. Jesus sometimes used bad people to teach good lessons.

So what are the lessons Jesus draws? I see five lessons:

  1. “For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8) The manager used his present to prepare for his future. God’s people need to learn to do the same. We need to be shrewd in that way.
  2. “make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9) Relationships are our best investment. If our use of money leaves us isolated and alone, we haven’t been very shrewd.
  3. “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” (Luke 16:10-12) We are but stewards; what we have is not our own, but God’s. If we can’t handle physical things, will God entrust us with the more valuable spiritual goods?
  4. “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Luke 16:13) Money is a nice servant, but a terrible master. More than half of the parables that Jesus told had to do with material wealth. It’s an important topic!
  5. “For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) That one slaps me in the face. I get caught up in the pursuit of what the world says is valuable and forget that those things are not only not valuable, they are an abomination!

Any other thoughts on this unusual passage?

(My sermon on this passage can be read at SermonCentral.com)