On Shrewdness and Sobriety: A reflection on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-8 & Luke 16:1-9

The Lord tells a parable in Luke 16 of a steward facing dismissal for incompetence. Recognizing his predicament—too weak for manual labor, too proud to beg—he acts with audacity. He summons his master’s debtors and reduces their obligations, cooking the books on his way out. The master commends him, not for dishonesty, but for shrewdness. For recognizing his actual situation and responding decisively. Then the Lord delivers the parable’s sting: “The people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.” Those who believe only in money and power plan for their future with greater strategic wisdom than the faithful plan for eternity. They exercise more care over temporary matters than believers do over eternal ones.

Paul addresses the same tension in 1 Thessalonians. He reminds the church: “You are children of light. You are not in darkness. You know what is coming.” Yet he must warn them: “Let us not be like others, who are asleep.” If they are children of light, why the warning against sleep? Because knowing truth and living as though truth is true remain distinct realities. The Pharisees knew scripture exhaustively yet failed to recognize God incarnate before them. The dishonest steward possessed no theology but understood his situation with perfect clarity and acted accordingly.

The distinction is between intellectual assent and embodied reality. One may know that God’s kingdom is real, that this life prepares for theosis, that choices carry eternal weight. Living as though these truths govern reality is another matter entirely. Sleep and drunkenness here signify not literal conditions but states of denial, fog, distraction. They represent avoidance of one’s true situation, the performance of religious motions while the heart remains elsewhere. Wakefulness and sobriety mean facing reality with clarity—not performing religiosity while life drifts, not rehearsing correct formulations on Sunday while living Monday through Saturday as though none of it matters. The dishonest steward confronted his reality directly: “I am about to lose everything. What will I do?” That clarity, even deployed toward selfish ends, demonstrates more honesty than religious sleepwalking.

The “day of the Lord” in Paul’s letter is not an arbitrary deadline imposed to generate anxiety. It marks the moment when reality reveals itself fully, when processes working beneath the surface become visible, when the resurrection pattern transforming creation reaches completion. Participation in cosmic transformation occurs now—matter uniting with divine life, creation undergoing transfiguration. How one deploys resources, treats persons, stewards what has been given participates in that pattern. The shrewd steward grasped that present actions determine future outcomes. The Lord’s question follows: if the steward understands this principle regarding temporary security, should not believers grasp it more profoundly regarding eternal life?

The Lord does not condemn the steward’s cleverness. He commends it. God does not ask for naivety or passivity. He does not glorify stupidity in the name of piety. Divine wisdom includes shrewdness, discernment, strategic thinking. The master commends the steward because the man finally awakened to his situation and acted as though it were real. God grants freedom and expects its exercise. He provides resources and expects wise stewardship. He reveals truth and expects corresponding action. Faith is not passivity but active engagement with reality in light of what has been revealed. Paul’s imagery is military: breastplate of faith and love, helmet of hope. The faithful do not sleepwalk through peaceful gardens. They remain awake, armored, engaged. Children of light see clearly and act decisively.

The biblical wisdom tradition has always celebrated such shrewdness. Abraham negotiating with God over Sodom. Jacob securing his future. Joseph interpreting dreams and preserving nations. Esther approaching the king strategically. These are not narratives of passive piety but of persons who saw their situations clearly and acted with wisdom. Lady Wisdom in Proverbs is not naive. She is strategic, discerning, practical. She knows how reality operates and teaches skillful navigation. Divine wisdom encompasses worldly competence. The faithful are to be wise as serpents, not merely innocent as doves.

The call is to deploy actual resources—money, time, relationships, influence, whatever one possesses—in service of what ultimately matters. Not hoarding for security that cannot last. Not performing religiosity while ignoring genuine opportunities to love, serve, heal, create. “Use worldly wealth to gain friends, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” The Lord does not advocate purchasing salvation. He indicates that temporary resources exist now for building relationships, serving others, participating in God’s restorative work. Use them while they remain available.

Be sober and awake. Face the actual situation—not what one wishes it were, not what one pretends it is, but what it actually is. Where does sleepwalking occur? Where does hoarding replace generosity? Where does passivity supplant strategy? One is a child of light. This means seeing clearly. Knowing the kingdom is real, that theosis constitutes the human calling, that this life carries infinite weight. Act with at least the shrewdness that others apply to securing comfortable retirements. Wake up. See clearly. Act as though it matters. It does.