SERMON

PROPER 20

Text: Luke 16:8 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.
Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

This is quite a remarkable parable. One theologian has called it "the most puzzling of all." (Hunter page 99). How can Jesus praise the actions of a common thief? What can Jesus expect us to learn from an embezzler? Sure I know that some will tell you that this fellow is acting righteously because he's just refusing to include the interest that God law prohibited; but an interest rate that is both inconsistent and up to 100% seems unlikely. I know some try to make his actions look more acceptable by suggesting he's simply excluding his commission; but there's absolutely no evidence for this. The unavoidable fact is that, like most of Jesus' parables, this one has a surprising twist when Jesus praises this dishonest manager.

My suggestion is that we do our own bit of cheating by starting with the final verse. It seems to me that if we can first appreciate where Jesus wants us to end up then perhaps we'll be able to understand this parable a little better. Jesus tells us that money is potentially our Master. "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Money is an alternative to God himself. This stuff isn't just paper, plastic or metal, but a viable alternative god.

And isn't this exactly how our world treats it. What's wrong with Australia? Most would say immediately, and without a second thought - the economy! We speak about it, worry about it, try to win barrow loads of it, argue about it, vote governments out of power because of it, and watch T.V. shows called "Money Matters". We protect it by fighting its worst enemy - inflation.

Money is powerful. It’s the answer to many of our dreams. If you want security, stash money in a superannuation fund. If you want your employees to feel appreciated then simply increase the size of their wage packets. If you want your family to feel your love then, work more overtime so that you can put more money aside for their future, or buy expensive gifts.

Why we even judge people's character, by observing how they handle money. It can tell you so much about the people. One fellow has put it this way;
If a man runs after money, he's money mad; if he keeps it, he's a capitalist; if he spends it, he's a playboy; if he doesn't get it he's a bludger; if he doesn't try to get it, he lacks ambition. If he gets it without working, he's a parasite; and, if he accumulates it after a lifetime of hard work, people call him a fool who never got anything out of life.

Want to get someone upset, then waste money. I mean, any child watching T.V. will tell you that if you don't go to shop X or Y then you're “paying too much”,... and that's about the worst crime there is. But if you really want to get into trouble, waste someone else's money. That's what the servant did in the parable, and we understand why his master got upset. We identify with his actions so quickly we don't question his action: "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer." Have you ever noticed he gives the guy the sack before he explains himself? "Give an account of your management because you can’t be manager any more." But we understand. Any manager who doesn't treat this critically important resource with respect, adoration, and veneration, has just got to go.

But now things really begin to get out of hand. The servant goes on to show he really hasn't learnt a thing about this god called money. He blatantly acts as if there's more important things in life - good caring friends for instance. Friends that will take care of him when things get tough. This terrible heretic uses money as if it were nothing more than a tool to obtain more important things. He acts as if friends were more important than money. How much do you owe, 100 barrels, write 50; a 1,000 bags, write 800. It would make more sense to us if he’d simply stolen the money.

But what really shocks us is that there’s no rebuke for such illegal action. There's actually a word of praise for this fellow who refuses to act as if money is god. "You clever fellow! You know a tool when you see it. You used money in a shrewd way, you remained in control.” Can you hear Jesus saying, “If only my people understood what's obviously so clear to you." So often they act and live as if the wonderful things God gives are themselves the real goals and gods in life.

How do you treat money? Like a powerful god that's able to give you anything you want?. Do you tend to fear it as if it has some super human power of it's own that’s able to take control of your life? Or do you use it and see it simply the tool that it is? Unlike a real God, the only thing that gives this money power in our lives, is what’s in us.

But I don't see Jesus here talking mainly about money either. He goes on to draw parallels with other important treasures that lie in our grasp. Things like your own life, or your loved ones for instance. A few weeks ago Jesus reminded us that they too can replace God in our lives: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple."( Luke 14:26) How do you treat these things? They aren’t gods.

And how about those real treasures, the true wealth Jesus often speaks about. The really valuable things that God takes a risk in giving us - not just lending us, but giving them to us so that we can say, they are mine. How do you handle the Gospel message, for instance; what about the amazing treasure of God's free forgiveness; the assurance of salvation; God's undeserved love. What about God's Word; prayer; the sacraments; your Christian family, the church.

Isn't Jesus challenging us to look at our attitude to these things when he says, "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?" (11,12)

For people like us who so easily treat money and earthly treasures, as gods instead of gifts, isn't there a real possibility we could end treating these things as if they too are God’s equivalent instead of simply his gifts for our use.

What do you do with your gift of the knowledge of the way of salvation? I've seen some who proudly strut around, putting others down because they don't know as much as they do. Ask them about their faith, and they begin use all the wonderful divine sounding words because they are the only ones capable of carrying such divine knowledge. And I know others who see the Christian faith as something just as divine, but because they believe that because they can't use the right sounding words it doesn’t apply to them.

I've see some treat prayer as if it's so powerful, and so divine, that it itself is the answer to every problem that confronts the world. For others praying is something so special they believe it would be better restricted to Pastors and other holy Christians.

Some people would still really prefer the King James Version of the Bible because the language sounds much more fitting for such a holy book. Its sound and the feeling all the "thees" and "thys" give, is more important than the meaning. I'll never forget the trouble I got into as a pre-schooler when I dared to lob the Bible across the table to my Grandmother. She made it quite clear that how you physically treated God’s Word was more important than reading it.

I've seen people confident of their faith because of the wonderful feeling God's love in their hearts brought and others who were bitterly disappointed that they couldn't seem to obtain such a wonderful feeling of peace and contentment. In either case the inner feeling is itself seen as godlike.

We do indeed need to rejoice when God gives us his very special gifts. They are all much more precious than money. But at the same time, we dare not forget they are nothing more than gifts. They are not special holy gods in themselves. They’ve been given for a purpose. Prayer is nothing more than the wonderful gift of being able to talk to God, and we are all meant to use it regularly not worship it. The message of salvation is indeed the best news we could ever hear, but God has brought it into our hearts so that we can live everyday lives as God's confident people and share it with others, not just settle back adoring the wonderful feeling if gives. The Bible is indeed special, but it's been given so that God might speak words of love and acceptance into our lives, it’s not a black and white answer book.

May God continue to shower his wonderful blessings on us, but may he also remain the only one we worship and adore. As his faithful stewards let's boldly put his gifts to work in our lives each day.

© Copyright Rev. K.W. Stiller.