Year C Proper 20 19 September 2010
Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1 Psalm 79: 1-9 1 Timothy 2: 1-7 or 1 Timothy 3:14-4:6 Luke 16: 1-13
I have a shameful confession. Although I hate the idea of reality shows and especially Big Brother, I’ve been suckered into watching recently. Last night a man was voted out, who grabbed my attention. Matt, was a soldier and had served overseas at least twice. He was not very reactionary and wasn’t bothered by the lack of niceties that bothered some of the other house mates. His experiences obviously shaped his attitude, and this is interestingly related to the readings for this week.
Just to give you the overall picture of the readings; the first reading is a lament over the state of affairs in which Israel is in captivity, but more than that, it is a cry from someone who has long been in captivity and expecting the saving hand of God, but the time for rescue seems to have come and gone with no hope in sight.
The Psalm continues the lament and shares the reality that rescue is long overdue. The 2nd reading which is a letter from St. Paul to Timothy gives instructions about praying for the nation and about conduct that will be found in the last days when people have given up on God because he seems so long in responding.
All these readings portray hope deferred and the broken-heartedness that comes as a result, but our Gospel reading is a little different and somewhat puzzling. It is the story of a manager of a rich man’s house, who is accused of mishandling things and about to lose his job. He decided that he needed to ensure his place in the hearts of people just in case he was cast out, so he goes about reducing the bills owing to his master, thus endearing him to his master debtors, but also bringing payment to his master. He is commended and Jesus even seems to commend the shrew manager.
Luke 16:8- 13 ““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. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
“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. 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?
“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.”
It is a most puzzling Gospel reading, but in light of the other readings perhaps we can start to understand what message there is for us.
I suspect this was as radical a statement in Jesus time as it seems to us today. After all, aren’t we taught that to be God’s people we must be completely honest and aren’t we also taught that we are not to chase after wealth…. ??? The last part of the reading where it says that no one can serve two masters and, you cannot serve both God and money, is the only part that we feel comfortable with. So what is going on here?
The audience of Jesus contained the Pharisees who were concerned about money and wealth. This parable had them deriding Jesus, so it is clear that they were not impressed, which also tells me that they understood the meaning of the parable without explanation, but we need a little help.
Our lives revolve around money. Our status and self-identity are often tied up in our finances. The religious of Jesus day were people of status and, it would seem, people of wealth. God ensured wealth for the priests by making provisions for them in his law, but instead of this being a means to contentment, it became something that they coveted and something that they used to lord over the people.
There have been people who’ve taken vows of poverty because they assume that is the requirement of God. There have also been people who have preached prosperity because they believe that is what God does for us. Each group have their pet verses on their leash to display to any who question their way of living. Both are right and both are wrong.
In the Big Brother house this year there were two sections. One section was called the half-way house. Everything was smaller, meals were reduced, and every luxury was halved. Matt, from Big Brother, showed and told the viewers that he was content just to have a roof over his head. It didn’t bother him. He knew he wasn’t starving and he knew that he was safe. When he was sent on overseas service as a member of the defence force he didn’t know if he would come back alive. His experience shaped his priorities and his need for luxury was put into perspective. When he had luxuries he enjoyed them, when he didn’t he was still content because really, all was well.
This is what we need to learn about the kingdom of God.
God does delight in providing for us and I believe that just like a parent, he delights in giving very, very good gifts. But it is important for us to understand that there is a plan for God’s kingdom on earth and as part of that we may live our lives in discomfort of all kinds. You need only to read the book of Job to know that this is true, and to know that God loves to give lavishly you need only to read about the life of King David and King Solomon.
The shrewd manager used wealth to achieve a purpose. Here is the point of the parable. Wealth is like the Sabbath. It has a purpose and that purpose is for Good, but if we do not understand God and his Grace we will continue to get it out of order and the created thing, instead of being a tool, becomes a God.
1 Timothy 3:4 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.”
From the letter to Timothy we see the potential for the same mistake. We humans strive to get it right, but get it wrong if we aim to live by a black and white law of God. The Pharisees were experts at trying to get it so right that they got it wrong. Under the Old Covenant there were foods that were off limits and there were rules about who could marry who. But the New Covenant is a better covenant only if we live it by the same way that we received it – which is by faith and by the spirit of God alive in us.
Just as Matt from Big Brother had his attitude shaped from his experience, the shrewd manager had his attitude shaped from his experiences, and the threat of a life on the streets begging motivated his actions. We find that our reading from Jeremiah shows us a people who are also shaped from their experiences, that of being in captivity and long overdue for rescue.
This maybe where we are at now; way overdue for rescue….. “Where are you Lord?”. The tendency at these times is to oscillate between the extremes of being just like the world and trusting in our wealth to save us, or legalistically follow the law of God in the hope that this will ensure his blessing. Both of these are wrong.
We need to understand that we live in a materialistic world yet not be mastered by it. Our priority in our life must be that to which God has called us. That life to which God has called us is sure to involve some element of working with money, but it must always be the tool and not the object.
Another often misquoted text from the letter to Timothy is that of women not dressing with elaborate hairstyles etc… but instead being dressed with good deeds. People have often taken this to mean that woman shouldn’t dress in a particular way, yet we read in the Old Testament about the lavishness of those in the court of King David and King Solomon. Clearly lavishness is not the problem, but attitude is. Whether God has blessed us with the lavish – which living in Australia is often the case, or whether our lives are modest, we need to live with eternity in mind.
Our priorities need to be in keeping with the reality that this is not our only reality, but that there is a bigger reality of our spiritual life which will endure beyond this life. We, like the manager, will be called before God to give an account of how we have managed that which he has entrusted to us. In what ways have we been faithful stewards of that which he has given us, and what he has called us to do?
How will we fare?
