Hello Friends,
Welcome back to Prepared Hearts, the online lectionary-based
Bible study of Wacousta Community United
Methodist Church. This week’s lectionary texts include: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1,
Psalm 79:1-9, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, and Luke 16:1-13. I’ll be preaching from Luke.
The text is below, followed by starter thoughts.
Luke 16:1-13
Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There
was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man
was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this
that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you
cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will
I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong
enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when
I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.”
So, summoning his master’s debtors one by
one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A
hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly,
and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He
replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make
it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted
shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their
own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for
yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may
welcome you into the eternal homes.
‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is
faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest
also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who
will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with
what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve
two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be
devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’
STARTER THOUGHTS
The Parable of the Dishonest Steward isn’t a favorite of
mine, but it has a lot to tell us about how we handle resources. In this story,
a deceitful manager gets caught ripping off his boss. In order to save his own
neck, he continues to squander his master’s wealth and then gets commended for
it! Personally, I like a story where the bad guy gets his comeuppance, not one
in which he gets praised for being “shrewd.” Does this trouble or confuse you?
One thing to keep in
mind as we look at this scripture is that stories of tricksters and wise rogues
were common in Jewish folklore. The steward in this story not only ensures his own
future, but he extends benevolence on behalf of the master, something that will
make the debtors even more obliged to pay their remaining debt. He is
definitely very cunning. How does this apply to our own lives? What are some
examples of times when you’ve needed to be shrewd? How was your behavior
interpreted by others?
I really like Jesus’ statement, “Whoever is faithful in a
very little is faithful also in much.” Stewardship is such a fundamental Christian
principle that I think we lose sight of the fact that it is a journey of faith
and a practice that takes time to develop. This particular parable deals with
large sums of property and goods. Often when we think of “stewardship” our minds
jump to big things: houses, cars, bank accounts, etc. Yet, how we care for the
simple things (our clothing, our gardens, our tools or dishes, for example)
train us for how to care for the big things. What are some ways you can build
your stewardship muscles by taking better care of little things?
There is a type of theology that is very popular in some
churches that preaches that God wants Christians to be wealthy. “Prosperity
Gospel,” as it is called, holds that wealth is not only okay, but that it is
God’s will that we become rich. Needless to say, this teaching is very
appealing to folks, especially Christians who are or wish to be wealthy. To be
fair, an admonition is paired with this prosperity teaching that holds that the
more wealth you have, the more money you can share (then folks are encouraged
to give generously to the church as the pastor drives away in a shiny new
Benz).
As you can tell from the tone I use in writing about this way of
interpreting the gospel, it makes my stomach turn. I just find it hard to
believe that Jesus, who said, “Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to
the poor,” wants us to spend our short time on earth accumulating large sums of
money. I think it’s hard enough for any of us, regardless of our financial
status, to not serve wealth in one way or another. What do you think? Can one
have great wealth and not end up being a slave to it? Where do we draw the line between being good
stewards of our finances and allowing our concern about money or resources to
trump our love of God?
As always, I look forward to your thoughts and reflections.
You can email me or post here.
Peace,
Amee
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