Parables Humor, Challenge, and Teach

18 September 2016 

Proper 21C 

There once was a turtle that lived near a hare. The hare made fun of the turtle for going 

so slowly all the time. One day, the hare had a marvelous idea. He was going to 

challenge the turtle to a race! Then he could really make fun of the turtle for losing. 

There was no way the hare with all his speed wouldn't win! When the hare saw the turtle 

the next day he challenged the turtle to a race and surprisingly the turtle accepted. They 

set the agreed upon start and finish and got themselves ready. At the starting sound, off 

they went along the path. The hare bounded ahead and soon became so far ahead he 

couldn't even see the turtle behind him anymore. After a little while, he thought to 

himself, I am so far ahead, I have time to take a little nap. I'll wake up and still have 

plenty of time to finish. So he found a nice spot and sat down for a nap. The turtle 

however, had been steadily walking all the while. Soon he came upon the hare along the 

side of the road taking a nap. He shook his head and kept going. After the turtle had 

crossed the finish line, the hare came bounding up. What!? he exclaimed! He had lost 

the race! While he had been sleeping, the turtle had passed him. We know the story, we 

know the moral. Slow and steady wins the race. This is a parable and in this parable we 

see a challenge, both for the characters in the story, but also for us. We see some humor, 

situational irony, in that it is funny that a slow turtle would win a race against a fast 

hare. And we learn a lesson, something to help change the way we live our lives every 

day. 

This happens over and over again in our readings of the gospel texts. We run into 

parables that are meant to challenge, humor, and teach us. Sometimes parables don't 

always make sense at first glance, or even second or third. The thing about parables is 

that they are supposed to make us think. Yes, we are supposed to be thinking in church! 

Thinking about what Jesus means. Because Jesus knows one of those human being quirks about us that we don't always know about ourselves. We learn better when we 

think about what we are learning. The parables are one way Jesus makes us think. 

Parables are stories or sayings that are usually metaphoric. They illustrate a point in 

such a way as to be personal, in such a way that we connect with what is being said. They 

want us to think. They challenge us. Some of them are even meant to be humorous. 

Gasp! To think, Jesus probably had a sense of humor. Sometimes I have to wonder, 

which one of the disciples was the jokester of the group? I cannot imagine thirteen men 

wandering around the countryside without a few inside jokes. And while we joke about 

the humor of God and the humor of Jesus in modern memes, most of the time we don't 

seriously consider where the humor of Jesus might show up in our bible studies. Yet, 

when I think about the stories people most often share and the ways we teach our 

children through stories, all those lessons, morals, stories include a bit of humor. It 

stands to reason that the gospels also include a bit of humor. 

In looking at all these aspects of a parable we can come to understand more fully the 

point that Jesus is trying to make. Luckily for us, we have a system of looking at the 

gospel texts in such a way that if we are regularly attending church, we see the same 

passages over and over and over again. This is helpful because we can see each parable 

differently each time. We are given the time and perspective throughout our lives to see the parables in new ways. To allow the parables to challenge, humor, and make us think 

in new ways. There are countless stories across the church of people seeing a certain 

parable always in the same way until something happens in their lives and all of a 

sudden, a new understanding or way of seeing a parable occurs to them. Of course, 

sometimes a parable has to challenge us in the same way over and over again before we 

have learned the lesson. 

When we turn to the parable today, what we see at first glance is a very confusing 

parable. "Commentators routinely remark that the parable of the Dishonest (Corrupt) 

Manager stands among the most challenging texts in the New Testament, often

regarding it as the most perplexing of Jesus' parables."1

 

We have a shyster, a slick, no-good manager and a wealthy owner. We don't know much about them, but we get to see 

into this bit of their interactions. The no-good manager is accused of squandering 

property and the owner realizes that he needs to fire the manager. So he brings him in 

for a conversation and tells him this. Then, either before or after being actually fired, the 

timeline isn't clear, the manager goes and forgives parts of the debts owed to the owner. 

Which is very much both a tricky and compassionate act. He both makes himself and the 

owner look good, but he is really only doing it to save his own hide. When the owner

finds out about the forgiven debt, he calls the manager in for another talk... and then 

praises him for acting shrewdly! Whoa, where is the upbraiding chastisement we were 

expecting? To top it off, Jesus seems to think this is the way we should be acting. 

There are some clues here, some clues to the challenge that Jesus is putting before us. 

Some clues to the humor of Jesus in this situation, some clues to the lessons we are to 

learn from this parable. Of course, there are multiple ways this can be seen. 

Two of the challenges that are offered for us in this passage are in the acts of forgiveness 

and faithfulness. The manager forgives parts of the debts of those who owe the owner. 

In a way, he is praised for doing so. His forgiveness helps everyone in the situation. The 

owner looks good and his reputation increases. The manager looks like a good man and 

someone who can be invited in after his displacement. Those who owe, now have to pay less than they did before, meaning they get to keep more for themselves, to eat or sell for 

other goods. Forgiveness in this story is a win-win-win. Forgiveness is always a win. 

Even though one could argue that the manager does it for the wrong reasons. The 

importance of faithfulness is also shown in this story. Early in the story, we hear that the 

manager is squandering the property of the owner. He is not being a faithful steward 

with what he has been entrusted with. However, in his self-interested turn around, he 

does act shrewdly and is a much better steward of the land and the owner's goods. He is 

also praised for this change in his stewardship. 

The humor of this story is in how strange it is. This is not how people act! Now, it may 

not all be haha funny humor. You may be reviewing the parable for this morning and 

thinking, but I didn’t laugh... The parable contains situational irony, the irony of 

juxtapositions of situations and surprising actions. But Jesus was not asking his 

followers, his disciples to act in the same way as the rest of society around him. He 

wanted to show his disciples a new way of living. When it comes to figuring out the lessons to be learned from this parable, we can easily 

look at the series of rhetorical questions afterwards. He wants us to forgive, to act 

shrewdly, and with great faithfulness. “We are given as stewards all of creation and a 

tremendous number of relationships. What we do with them does matter.” (Bishop 

Andrew Doyle) 

As we look at this parable, no matter how you understand it, it presents a challenge to 

the way in which you are living your life. Not many of us are able to forgive in the way 

that has been done here, or praise another's actions even after they have hurt our own 

feelings. Not many of us act as shrewdly as the manager in service of the kingdom of 

God. Our shrewdness is held for our own survival and comfort. (The Rev. Whitney Rice) 

“Jesus is saying that we would do well to be just as shrewd for the things of God, like 

good relationships, justice in our dealings, and love for each other.” Jesus knows the 

difference a story like this can make in our lives. Something to get under our skin. I 

invite you to take the parable home with you. To read it out loud and ask yourself, what 

challenge does this story present to me this day? Where do I find humor in this story? 

What lesson do I need to learn from this story? The answers that come out of such 

contemplation bring us closer to God and move us forward in the way of following 

Jesus.