us4

Sutphin
Parable: Unmerciful Servant
Hurricane Katrina

lkj

Class Notes

Assignments

Links

Character Overview:

King: this is a client-king, not a patron-king, which implies that he is a regional power with possibly 50 high level servants or beaucrats that work for him. during this period a would exert control over his servants through the use of fear, manipulation, arbitrariness, vioilence, etc. For the people hearing this story, they would have understood that the King did not rule with compassion, kindness, cooperation, and the pursuit of the common good. The king is capable of brutality, as evidenced by his willingness to submit one of his closest servants to torture. He's also capable of changing his mind quickly and arbitrarily.

Servant: We know this is the King's closest advisor because he was charged with managing 10,000 talents, which is the equivalent of roughly one billion (possibly more) dollars. We also know he's pretty shady because the king granted him forgiveness of a massive debt but he is incapable of following his lead and forgiving a small debt to one of his servants. It's also possible to read him as someone who tries to take too much from his master, which may be what precipitated the master asking for an accounting of his money.

Key Quesitons:
1) Why did the King ask for the money? One possible answser is that the servant has transgressed agianst his master by either skimming too much or not investing it wisely, but it seems the King suspects something is wrong when he demands the talents to be produced. Because the servant is incapable od doing this, the king's suspicions are confirmed. His shady dealings with the King's money is further confirmed by the fact that the servant falls on his knees and begs for mercy, acknowledging that he is guilty of whatever infraction he is accused of.
2) Why does the King forgive the debt? Surely it is not in the King's interest to forgive the debt, simply because the amount involved is so astronomically large. He could have said, "take some time, get it together, and come see me in six months, or else!" Furthermore, if the other servants see that the king is soft of one of the servants then the others might see that he's getting soft and might try to start taking advantage and exploiting his good will and generosity. The forgiveness of the debt must be seen not as a random act of gratuity, but rather as some reordering of the moral system that the King and his servants occupy. Since the King is law (rex lex in latin) whatever the king does must be folllowed by his kingdom. In other words, a value system based on forgiveness and generosity is being institutionalized.
3. If Jesus is talking to poor Jewish peasants, why is he using stories about elite powerful rulers? For the peasant farmer to hear this story he or she must have thought that Jesus was raising the possibility of their life improving with a kinder, gentler leader. If only the leader embodied the ideals of the kingdom of god then their lot in life would certainly improve. The reality is that even if forgiveness is institutionalized, those below and around him will certainly still act with selfishness and greed and the preservation of their own positions of power and privilege. Salvation and hope for the peasant cannot be found in any system, whether it's polilitical, religious, or economic. Salvation will come not from without, but within, which is to say that the kingdom of god is within each of us and we have the reponsibility to save ourselves and each other. To look for any hope or salvation within ourselves shifts the responsibility back on ourselves.
4. Why is it so difficult for systems of power to provide salvation for the powerless and poor and oppressed and marginalized? Let's see if we can figure this one out together.

Summary of Unit Matirial:
Threeways to say the same thing, each one getting more simple and reductionistic::
1) Systems fo not save us because they do not contain a set of values that enable all people to flourish. If systems don't save us, then we must be responsible for ourselves and each other. Therefore, to save ourselves, we must emody a set of values that are different than the values of the system. These values are what Jesus taught and they are the values of the Kingdom of God, which is in our hearts. The values of the system are ignorance, passivity, and selfishness. The values of the Kingdom of God are knoweldge, responsibility, and compassion. Another way of looking at the values of the Kingdom of God is to look at the values we've stressed in the parables we've looked at: Samaritan--See all humans with the eyes of compassion; Mustard Seed--Hope and power to cange ourselves and the power; Tenants--underclass must be treated with justice and fairness by those in power; Unforgiving Servant--individuals take responsibility for saving themselves and other.
2) Systems spread for the good of those that create and maintain the systesm. Values of the Kingdom of God are for all people. Therefore the Kingdom of God is a systemless system wehre all are invited.
3) Start with yourself and take some resonsibility.

Test