By St. Asterius of Amasia
A Word of Asterius, Bishop of Amasia on Luke’s Parable of the Unrighteous Steward (Luke 16:1-13)
Many times, in speaking with you, I have said that a deceptive and false idea that has taken hold of people multiplies sins and diminishes the virtues that each of us is obliged to practice in our lives. This idea is precisely this – to think that everything we possess and use in this life we have as our own masters and rulers. And because of this delusion we zealously fight for them, we fight, we sue and we become attached to them as to some exclusive possessions.
But the truth is not like that, on the contrary – it is completely the opposite. Everything that we have received is not ours; We are not the true masters and rulers of this life, as if we were in our own house, but rather strangers, foreigners, and pilgrims, who are taken where they do not wish and when they do not expect. Our possessions are taken away when the Lord decides, because they are not truly ours.
Therefore, this temporary life is also an impermanent thing: he who is glorious today may be miserable tomorrow, worthy of pity and help; he who is rich now and enjoys the abundance of material wealth may soon become poor and not even have bread to sustain him. This is precisely where God excels mortals, because He always remains the same, unchanging, possessing unchanging life, glory, and power.
But why did I begin to speak this? Perhaps for those who have understanding and love the word, it is already clear. Luke has just presented us with a parable in which he describes the steward of another’s goods, who fell into difficulty and anxiety because he heard the following words from the master of the property and riches: “Give an account of your management and get out of the way, for I will no longer allow you to dispose of my goods as your own.”
However, this is not an explanation of some real event, but a parable that teaches moral virtue to those who perceive the words in a deeper sense. Let everyone know that he is only a steward of another’s goods and, having cast away from his soul the pride of self-government, let him with meekness and reverence accept the role of a responsible steward and manager. Let him always wait for his Master and with fear prepare the account for his defense.
For you are only a stranger, who has been granted permission for a short and temporary use. If you doubt what is obvious, look at what is happening and learn from the most infallible teacher – experience.
You have property – whether it be received from your ancestors or acquired by some transaction. Ponder in your memory and count, if you can, all those who have owned it before you. Turn your attention also to the future and think how many more will own it after you. Tell me then: to whom does the property really belong? If someone could gather all the owners from the beginning to the present, they would be more numerous than the very clods of earth.
If you really want to understand exactly what our life is like, remember whether you ever, when traveling in the summer, saw a large and spreading tree, stretching far and wide, enough to serve with its shade as shelter for a whole house. Being delighted with this, you stopped under it and stayed there as long as possible.
But when you had to set out again and you yourself decided to go, another traveler came along. You took your luggage and went on, and he in turn unloaded his and immediately accepted everything that was yours – bedding, fire, the shade of the tree, the gushing water. While he was enjoying the comfort, you were already on your way. He also enjoyed it, and then he also left it. So, a tree in one day became a temporary shelter for ten travelers, but in reality it belonged to only one – its true owner.
So it is with the riches of this world – they delight and support many, but the true dominion over them belongs only to God, who has imperishable and inexhaustible life.
You also saw an inn where you undoubtedly stayed during your journey. You stayed there, but you took nothing with you – neither bed, nor table, nor cups, nor trays, nor other various utensils. And even before you had used them enough, another tired traveler comes, covered with dust, who presses you to leave the inn and demands what belongs to someone else as if it were exclusively his own.
Such is our life, brothers, and even more transient than what has been said. I marvel at those who say, “My land” or “My house,” for they vainly appropriate what does not belong to them, and with three deceitful words embrace what is not theirs. For just as the faces of theatrical masks belong to no one individually, but all the actors put them on during the performance, so the land and its riches pass from one to another, like clothes that are changed. Tell me, is there anything more powerful than a kingdom? Yet examine the kingdoms: seek the royal robes – you will find many that have clothed the bodies of many kings. In the same way, crowns, brooches, and girdles—all these are unstable inheritances, passing from those who travel to those who stay, never belonging to anyone forever.
And what about the symbols of power—the tents of rulers, the silver chariots, the golden scepters? They never remain with the same ruler, and they never belong to anyone forever, except for a short time. Just as a funeral bed receives different bodies at different times, so the symbols of power change those who use them.
Therefore, the apostle repeatedly announces to us through various instructive words: “For the fashion of this world is passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31); and again: “As having nothing, and yet possessing everything” (2 Cor. 6:10); and also: “Let those who use this world not be attached to it” (1 Cor. 7:31). All these words point to one fundamental truth – that we must live as temporary travelers, awaiting the signal for the exit from this world.
And in order to understand exactly that you are subject to divine laws and regulations, according to which you must live strictly, first realize that both your body and your soul are subject to the commands of virtue, and that you are not even master over yourself. You are only a governor, to whom it is entrusted to direct the thoughts, deeds and every movement of your life.
You received your body from the Creator, composed of many parts and equipped with five senses for the needs of life. But these senses are not free and self-governing, but each of them is a servant of certain laws.
And first, listen to what the eye tells you: “Look according to nature and contemplate what is worthy of sight” – the sun, which illuminates the entire universe; the moon, which with its soft light drives away the darkness of the night; the other stars, which, although they do not give much and sufficient light for us, still shine with the beauty that is given to them.
Contemplate the earth, overgrown with a variety of plants and herbs; look at the sea, spread out like a flat plain when it is in complete calm. Use your sight to see these and similar things. And all other sights that harm the soul through sight, avoid, pass by, even put a curtain before your eyes, so that you do not see. For it is better to close your sense if it becomes the cause of the deeds of darkness for you.
Therefore, yesterday the Lord spoke to us through Matthew: “Everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). And it would be better for the eye to be plucked out if it looks disorderly and harmfully.
Likewise, the ear has commandments that protect against bad listening. When it hears about virtuous things, it must be open and convey to the soul the feeling of beneficial words. But if someone who is a companion of evil, infection and destruction approaches and begins to pour the mud of sin into it, from such one must be avoided as from a poisonous animal.
Let the tongue also be wise together with the mouth: let it speak justice, and from what is forbidden it must abstain – from insults, slander, unjust accusations, backbiting against the brothers, blasphemy against God. Let it utter only decent words, those that are pious and advise to good deeds. Let every man repeat the words of the psalmist:
“I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue” (Ps. 38:2), and again: “They have used deceit with their tongues” (Ps. 5:10), and also: “Why do you boast of evil, you mighty one who works iniquity? All day long your tongue devises iniquity; like a sharp razor you have tried deceit” (Ps. 51:3-4).
Let the mouth taste what is beneficial. Let the nose also be restrained, so that it does not crave pleasures incessantly and does not inhale the fragrance of expensive perfumes. Against these things the prophet Isaiah is a strict accuser.
Let the hand also remember the commandments, so that it does not reach for everything indiscriminately. Let it stretch out for alms, and not for robbery; let it guard its own, and not gather what is another’s. Let him lovingly touch the bodies of the sick and the weary, and give them good care, and not of those who are full of strength and given to fornication.
Thus the word has shown us that we are not masters even of ourselves, but only stewards. For everything that is subject to laws and commandments is a servant and subject to the Lawgiver. If the very parts of our body are not free and independent, but are directed according to the will of the Master, what can one say about those who think they can irresponsibly possess gold, silver, land and other goods?
Nothing is yours, man! You are a servant, and even what you think is yours belongs to the Lord. For a servant has no personal property.
You were brought into this world naked; everything you possess you received according to the law of your Master – or as an inheritance from your father, because God has so commanded, “Parents leave an inheritance to their children” (Proverbs 13:22); or through your marriage you have acquired wealth, for marriage and all that comes with it are established by God; or through trade, agriculture, or other means of livelihood – but in these too God is the one who assists and helps.
So it is seen that you have received what is not yours. Let us now see what you are commanded and how you should manage what you have been given.
“Give to the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, do not neglect the poor, the one who is cast out at the crossroads.” Do not worry about yourself and do not worry about how you will spend the next day. “If you do this,” says the Lawgiver, “you will be honored; but if you neglect the commandment, you will be severely punished.”
In this I do not see arbitrariness, nor a life governed independently, but on the contrary – the many and constant commandments show me a man that is strongly guided and subject to the supreme laws, responsible to them and obliged to lead an orderly and correct life as a duty.
And we, as if living recklessly, watch how the unfortunate and the poor perish from their calamities, while we ourselves wastefully spend our wealth in vain pleasures.
We feed a multitude of wasteful flatterers, gather around us brotherhoods of unfortunate parasites, squander our wealth on beast-fighters and animals, without any thrift in horse breeding, and again – squander our means on magicians, mimes and other pernicious amusements!
We fall into an empty and insane state. Where spending brings incalculable profit and immortal salvation, we hold our silver tightly, so that not even a little money falls from our hand. But where spending is for sinners, causes innumerable punishments and even fiery torment itself, we voluntarily throw ourselves into it.
Then ambition precedes the request; we open all the doors and let the wealth flow out to outsiders. This behavior is not befitting servants who are waiting for their master, but of dissolute youths, drunkards and intemperate people.
But if you wish, my listener, to see the fear of a prudent and prudent steward, who manages the wealth entrusted to him with reverence, open the Book of David. Find those words where the man, who is very concerned about his end, turns to God and says:
“Lord, let me know my end and the number of my days, what they are, that I may know how short my life is.” (Ps. 38:5)
Do you see how in these words, as in a picture, the inner state of the supplicant is revealed? He is filled with fear, foresees the future, awaits judgment, and is concerned about the time that remains for him, so that he may not be surprised unprepared by the signal for the exit.
He seeks with reflection to realize what he lacks in this temporary life, so that, by making haste, he may fill it up before he comes who will take him away.
Indeed, the end of each of us is like the image of the steward when he is removed from his office. If we compare the two situations – what the dying person feels and what the one who is deprived of his government experiences – we will find their similarity.
Just as the manager hands over the keys and the government to another, so the dying person leaves his domain to others. The one is driven from his fields, gardens and homes, and the other leaves the whole world, as if he were only a temporary inhabitant of a small estate. The manager leaves his labors – his vineyards, gardens, houses – with sorrow. What do you think the dying person feels then?
Does he not grieve for his riches? Does he not look with pity at his property, from which he has been torn away against his will after so much effort? How far away are his treasures and storehouses! And when he arrives at the place assigned to him, he will hear the voice:
“Give an account of your administration, show how you have fulfilled the commandments, how you have treated your fellow servants – was it with kindness and mercy, or, on the contrary, with a heavy hand and tyranny, striking, insulting, depriving the poor of their daily bread?”
If he can present himself as a good and faithful servant who has pleased his Master, it will be well with him. But if he has done the opposite, there will be no beating with rods, no prison, no iron chains, but unquenchable fire and eternal darkness, never illuminated by light (see Matt. 25:30).
And there will be “gnashing of teeth,” as is clearly foretold to us in the Gospel.
If it were never certain that we would be driven out of this world as from a foreign land, then we could enjoy the world to the full and indulge the pleasures of all the senses without any restrictions.
But if this is bound to happen, and we cannot even enjoy these blessings for long, then, brothers, let us fear leaving this world and live in this temporary residence as the Lord has commanded us. Let us not be dragged away like prisoners, burdened with debts, but let us travel freely, carrying with us a clear conscience and presenting an irreproachable account of our lives.
A poor steward of this life was that rich man whose ground yielded abundantly (Luke 12:16-21). He did not plan anything good when the rich harvest came, but opened his insatiable desire and the wide, unfulfilled bosom of greed, allocating everything to his own pleasure, saying: “I will pull down my barns and build greater ones, and I will say to my soul, ‘You have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry!’”
But while he was yet speaking, he came who would take him away. The terrible servant appeared who would snatch him from his estate. And what was the use of his pleasure-seeking plan?
But what about the experience of life itself? Does it not cry out every day through its works, showing us the one who was healthy at midday and dead before sunset? And another strong at dusk who did not live to see the morning dawn? Or a third who died in the midst of his meal before he had even finished a single meal? Who is so foolish as not to see how every day someone is removed from the management of his earthly life?
But the good and faithful servant, who is confident in his good management, accepts this as Paul did. Although the Lord did not press him, he himself hurried to Him, desired his departure, and voluntarily gave up his role as a steward, saying: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this mortal life?” (Rom. 7:24) “It is better for me to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23).
And the man who is attached to the earthly and is related to the dust begins to grieve and fall into helplessness upon leaving this world, like this man in the parable: “What shall I do, since my master takes away the stewardship from me? I cannot dig, and I am ashamed to beg.” (Luke 16:3)
This grief is inherent in the lazy and pleasure-loving. Grief upon leaving this world is evidence of attachment to earthly things and, alas, to carnal pleasures. And the statement “I cannot work” is an indictment of a lazy life given over to inactivity. For if this man had been accustomed to industriousness, he would not have been afraid of digging.
If we interpret the parable in a spiritual sense, after leaving this world there is no longer any time for work, nor any opportunity for begging. Therefore, let no one say: “I cannot dig.” Even if he could, no one would allow him. Now is the time to cultivate this life with God’s commandments, and the future is destined to receive the fruits of this labor.
If you have not worked anything here, the vineyards remain uncultivated and in vain you think of digging. Nor will begging help you with anything.
A clear example of this is given to us through the parable of the foolish virgins (Matt. 25:1-13). They, having fallen into a shortage of oil, without being ashamed asked for it from the wise virgins, but they received nothing, and went away empty-handed. This parable shows us that at the hour of the Bridegroom’s coming no one can use someone else’s oil – that is, someone else’s virtues – in order to receive their reward.
Each person is dressed in his own way of life, as in a garment – whether it be bright and honorable or worn out and similar to the rags of the poor. But he cannot take it away, nor exchange it for another, nor adorn it by loan or borrowed righteousness on the day of Judgment. Everyone will remain as he was in truth – whether poor in virtue or rich.
But what shall we say about the forgiveness of debts, which the unjust steward invented to secure comfort for himself in his troubles by negotiating with the other servants?
It is not easy to reduce this parable to a consistent allegory, in accordance with what is written. But what has become clear to me after much reflection is this: All of us who seek future relief when we give or forgive what belongs to others, are in fact securing our own gain.
I call what belongs to the Lord as alien. For nothing is ours – everything is the possession of His Lordship.
And so, when someone, realizing his end and his imminent departure from this world, lightens the burden of his sins by good deeds—whether by forgiving the debts of his debtors, or by helping the poor with the wealth that really belongs to the Master—he gains many friends. These friends will testify to his goodness before the Judge and, by their testimony, will prepare a place for him for relief and comfort.
Those who have received benefits are called witnesses before the Judge—not because they teach Him with words, as if He did not know, but because their good deed becomes the cause of sinners being delivered from deserved punishment.
As the blood of Abel “cried out to God” (Gen. 4:10), so will the good deed testify in favor of the one who did it in Christ Jesus our Lord.
To him be glory forever and ever! Amen.
