Dear Friends in Christ-
The Gospel lesson of Luke 16:1-13 contains a parable about using worldly wealth to make heavenly gains, and it is a strange parable with questionable morals. The NRSV translates this as “dishonest wealth,” but the Common English Bible translates it as “worldly wealth.” In this parable, a rich man calls forth his manager because he’s heard the manager is squandering his property, and he demands a report of his accounting. The manager doesn’t know what to do, and since he knows he will be sacked, he reduces the debts of everyone who owes the rich man money and settles all the accounts. The rich man had to commend him because even if he fired the manager, the manager now has friends to go to, favors that are owed to him. Jesus uses this parable to teach the disciples that even dishonest people know how to survive in this world, and that wealth is a tool of survival, not the purpose. If you serve God, you can’t serve wealth. Instead, all the possessions of this world must be used to work for the reign of God, not for serving ourselves. We need to be clever, eyes open to the shrewdness of dishonest people, but stay true to our values and our faithfulness to God. Luke 16:1-13, New International Version The Parable of the Shrewd Manager 16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’ 3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’ 5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied. “The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’ 7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’ “‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied. “He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’ 8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? 13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” One of my favorite sermons is one from the 18th century on “The Use of Money” by John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist church. His words are passionate, radical, simple, and practical. The core message is: 'Earn all you can, Save all you can, Give all you can.' I know that when I broach this subject, using the words and concepts of Jesus on wealth, it’s bound to ruffle feathers. Our founder helps us better understand, through his own thoughts and practices, what Jesus expects of us. "Wesley's own words are a fitting conclusion: "(Money) is an excellent gift of God, answering the noblest ends. In the hands of his children, it is food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked. It gives to the traveler and the stranger where to lay his head." Giving for Wesley was a means of expressing generosity rooted in gratitude for God's generosity and a means of fulfilling the great commandment to love God and neighbor. He was convinced that if the Methodists would give all they can, then all would have enough. Take a look at your priorities for giving, do they align with Wesley, with Jesus? What inspires you to give away your wealth? How do you gage the amount given? How does this effort inform your faith? What questions will you be bringing to Worship tomorrow? Be blessed, P Jim ♥️⚓️ ♡ Special thanks to Rev. Mindi, workingpreacher.com, resourceumc.org, Hope for the Broken Hearted and/or Star Bright Angels for their contribution to this effort of Daily Prayer and Study. All scripture is taken from the Revised Common Lectionary. The intent of this effort is to inform our faith while preparing for next Sunday's Worship. ~James 4:8 <x>< Comments are closed.
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September 2023
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