Today’s gospel is one of the strangest parables Jesus tells. A dishonest employee, caught squandering his master’s property, is suddenly praised for his actions. That is not how we want the world to be. It does not make sense to us. Why would Jesus hold up such a man?
I think one of the key lines in this parable is found in the master’s demand, “Prepare a full account of your stewardship.” We have all heard those words in one way or another. The IRS may want to see our numbers…did you ever get called to the principal’s office? …the boss says she wants to see you…a spouse says, “We need to talk.” Each Sunday we begin Mass acknowledging our sins and opening our lives before God. In each case, an accounting is demanded. “What have I done?”
And let’s be honest – no one likes that. To account for our life means opening the books of our life that we would rather keep closed. Sometimes we do not want others to see the balance – sometimes we do not even want to see it ourselves.
But today’s parable tells us accounting is not really about numbers. It is about life. What are we doing with the gifts entrusted to us? Our time, money, talents, dreams and hopes, relationships, forgiveness, compassion, love. What do our ledgers say about the kind of people we are – and the master we truly serve?
And this is not only personal. Nations, societies, Churches, parishes, even the whole world must give an account. Jesus is blunt: “You cannot serve two masters.” We cannot serve both God and wealth, both love and self-interest, both compassion and cruelty. Yet, if we were honest, our world, and often our own hearts, are caught in that tug-of-war.
The steward in the parable faced ruin. But in that crisis, he saw an opportunity. The demand for an accounting became the start of a new direction, new relationships, a new life. Grace was hiding in the very thing that should have destroyed him.
And maybe that is why Jesus praises him. Not because of dishonesty, but because he seized the moment. He looked at his life, saw where it was headed, and chose differently. He turned a reckoning into a resurrection.
That is the invitation for us. The accounting God asks of us is not about punishment. It is about grace. It is about re-orienting our lives so that we invest our treasures – our time, our love, our gifts – in ways that lead to life.
So, hear the master’s words spoken to you today, “Prepare a full account of your stewardship.” What are you doing with your life? At the end of our life, God will not ask, “How much did you earn?” but “Whom did you serve?” Who are you serving? And most importantly, where is God’s grace calling you to begin again?