Sunday, September 22, 2013

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2:1-15
Luke 16:1-15

And the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things; and they scoffed at him.

Ok, I’ll say it. I really like money. I am very happy that I have enough money to take care of my needs and to provide many things that are not needed. I am glad I can buy books or clothes whenever I want or that I can stop at the fast food place for a milkshake once in awhile. I like that I can afford to eat what I like and travel and have pretty things. I like having money in the bank so that I don’t have to worry when there is an emergency.

I like being able to afford to live comfortably. I am thankful that my husband has a good enough job so that we can send our kids to college, own a lovely house and share our blessings with others. I like donating money to the causes my friends support and filling bags full of food for food banks. I like that I can buy paint and canvas to make pictures to donate to help an organization serve people in need. I like that I can give away my crafts to make people happy and that I don’t have to work so I can spend my time writing to help people grow in their faith. It is sad to say, but the world revolves around money; we can’t live without it. And, well, I admit that I like to have the financial resources to be comfortable and generous.

I like money and we need money, but there is a line that has to be drawn when it comes to our relationship with money. See, the problem is that when we love money and make pursuit of it our life’s goal and the focus of our work, then we have put aside things that are much more important. We live in a time when we are encouraged to put money away for a rainy day, to take risks so that we will have a comfortable retirement and to enjoy what we have in leisure pursuits. We are encouraged to work long hours for the paycheck to pay for the life we think we deserve. We covet what we don’t have and we are tempted to take advantage of our neighbors to get ahead.

The stories about money in the bible often talk about the wage of a worker being enough to survive for one day. Laborers were paid at the end of each day, so they didn’t need enough in the bank account to make a trip to grocery store to buy food for a month. They bought the food they needed each day from the market and a little extra for the Sabbath. They didn’t need money in a bank account to pay off credit card bills. They didn’t need to save for retirement because families and communities took care of one another. All they needed was enough.

The Jews were a people of faith, called to trust in God for all they needed to survive. They lived in community and held an attitude of mutual caring. Those who had much were expected to share with those who did not have enough. Any money beyond that which was necessary to meet the current day’s needs was considered “unrighteous mammon.”

Most people lived this way by necessity. It was the only way to survive. They could not save their coins because at the end of the day there were no coins to save. But there were those who had a different life, like the Pharisees. They were able to afford fine clothes and marble columns on their homes. They could feast on good food and enjoy the company of their friends. They considered their wealth a blessing from God, but forgot that the blessing was meant to be shared. They looked down on those who were poor and blamed their circumstances on their own sinfulness. They had more than enough, and so their extra wealth was unrighteous mammon. They were misusing the blessings that God had given to them.

The problem when we seek wealth is that we begin to think that we gain it by our own power and strength. We give ourselves credit for being good at our jobs, or, as in the case of the Pharisees, that we have earned God’s gracious gifts by our own goodness. We forget that everything belongs to God and that He entrusts us with His whole creation to use it for the good of the whole world. If we are wealthy, it is not so that we will look good or have nice cars, it is so that we can take care of the needs of our neighbor when they are in trouble. We need enough, but God gives us more than enough and then calls us to be a blessing to others.

We don’t really know what’s going on in the story of the wealthy landowner and his manager. Was the manager incompetent? Was he lazy? Was he greedy? We don’t really even know how bad the situation is. All we know is that the landowner has heard rumors that the manager was wasting his possessions and he has called the manager to make an accounting. The bottom line is this: did the manager accomplish the work of his master? The landowner didn’t care about the manager’s wealth, as long as the work was done to expectation.

How different it was in that world! In this story the landowner fired manager and demanded an audit. Can you imagine if a businessman in today’s world tried to fire someone without proof of the accusations? True or not, even the accusations were enough for the landowner to let the manager go.

So, what was the manager to do? He had no skills and he was unwilling to beg. He had to do something. His solution to the problem was to make things right with his neighbors. He was dealing with unrighteous mammon, the “more than enough” that should have been shared but wasn’t. He was using the wealth at his disposal in a way that did not serve the needs of his neighbors. He may have even been taking advantage of them. At the very least, he was not taking care of them.

And so, he repented and began to help the neighbors with their bills in a way that would both satisfy the master and ingratiate him with his neighbors. Then, when he was in need, they could pay it forward to him and he would at least receive help to get him through the tough time. He made friends by using that unrighteous mammon, and established for himself the promise of a community that would take him in.

It is interesting to note that the manager did not reduce the bills equally. This may have had to do with the type of product they were supposed to give to the master, but I think that it shows the manager taking into account the needs of the neighbors. The oil producer could only really afford to give the master fifty measures, but the wheat farmer could still afford eighty. In the end the master’s books were right and the master commended the manager for being shrewd.

Many translations call the manager “dishonest” but the word means “unrighteous.” Unrighteousness is about broken relationships, about being in ‘un-right’ in one’s associations. The manager was not right in this relationship with the rich man, and not right in his relationship with the people. Unrighteousness means that we are not right in our relationship with God, but we also have other relationships in which things are “not right.” When we are lazy, we are “not right” with our boss. When we are incompetent, we are “not right” with our customers. When we are greedy, we are “not right” with the world.

The Pharisees were “not right” with God or with the people around them. They were using the unrighteous mammon with which they’d been blessed, justifying it as gifts from God, to make their lives better while ignoring the needs of their neighbors. They had more than enough and they forgot that everything they had belonged to God and was given to them as stewards, or managers, to do the Lord’s business. They sought fine robes and marble columns while their neighbors suffered until the oppression of few resources and high taxes. They wanted to be exalted, and they created an image for themselves that set them above others, but in the end God knew their hearts. They loved something more than Him: they loved money.

I’ll say it again: I like money. I hope and I pray that I don’t love it. I hope and I pray that I do not take advantage of my neighbors for the sake of money and that I use the “more than enough” to do God’s work in the world. I know I fail. I know that I haven’t always given as generously as I can. I know I like to save some money in the bank “just in case,” so that it will be available for an emergency. I know that means that I am not trusting entirely in God. But I also know that He’s called all of us to be good stewards, and I pray that I will respond to God’s voice when He calls me to share my resources in someone’s time of need.

As we look at the text from the Old Testament book of Amos, we see people who are lovers of money and seekers of unrighteous mammon. As a matter of fact, they can’t stand to wait through even the holy days to get out in the market to sell, sell, sell, and cheat, cheat, cheat. They make the measures small but the prices high; they use false scales and take advantage of the poor. They sell inferior products to make the biggest score. They might be faithful in their Sabbath rest, but they live unrighteously every other day of the week.

We aren’t any different. We think that it is enough to attend an hour of church and spend time in bible study, but we go about our daily lives as if God is trapped in the walls of the church and that He doesn’t care what we do the other 166 hours a week. And, like those merchants in Amos’s day, we can’t wait until the Sabbath is over so we can go about chasing after the world. But God calls us to a different life. He calls us to a life in which enough is truly enough and anything more than enough is meant to be shared. We don’t need to lie and cheat and steal to get ahead; we don’t need to pursue wealth for our own sake.

God will bless us with enough, and if we don’t have enough, He’ll bless us with a neighbor who has enough. And if we have more than enough, He’ll bless us with a neighbor who doesn’t. It is all about trusting in God. It’s all unrighteous mammon, that extra wealth. So, what are we going to do with it? Are we going to hoard the wealth we think we’ve earned ourselves or are we going to listen for God’s voice and be obedient to God’s call to use that unrighteous mammon in righteous ways?

Jesus says, “He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much.” We can see that, can’t we? Worldly wealth is a fact of our life in the flesh. We can’t live without money. But we can live faithfully by using our worldly wealth in ways that will glorify God. Are we like the dishonest manager? Is there anyone who can go to our Lord and charge us with squandering God’s gifts? Are the words of the prophet appropriate for us in today’s world as they were for Israel so long ago? If we can’t be good stewards of the worldly resources we have been given, why would God trust us with the true riches?

We aren’t right with God or with one another. We are also unrighteous people doing dishonest things with unrighteous mammon. We have never been very good stewards of the resources that God has given to us. We are wasteful, greedy and dishonest. We fail at using those resources in a way that will build up the kingdom and take care of the needs of those who do not have enough. We are so much like that unrighteous manager and God calls us to account. How will we make use of our resources so as to heal broken relationships? We are put in charge of earthly wealth for a time. Will we use that wealth in a way that makes us right with one another?

Putting all things of this world aside, we are equal in the eyes of God. By our own power we are all slaves to the world. We squander the creation over which we have been given charge. We deserve to suffer the fate of that dishonest manager. Yet, Jesus Christ has taken our unworthiness and made us worthy by His blood, so that we can take what we have been given and use it wisely, in a godly manner, to glorify God in all that we do.

So where do we start. We start with prayer. Paul writes to Timothy, “I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings, be made for all men; for kings and all that are in high place; that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.” Most of us have enough. We might have a little extra and we do with it what we can. But there are those in the world who not only have the resources, but also the power and position to do more. The Pharisees could have made things right for so many people, but they were more concerned about their robes and marble columns. Many of the leaders of our world have the resources and the power to make great things happen, but they have lost touch with God.

We can do amazing things on our own, but how much more can we do if we do so together with the support of those who are in power? They need to see that their power comes from God, and that He has given them their power in this time and place for the sake of His people. This means political leaders, religious leaders, and corporate leaders. Their blessings come from God for the sake of the world. God isn’t bothered by fancy robes and marble columns as long as His work is done and everyone has enough. He knows our hearts, and He exalts those who trust in Him.

We are commanded to pray. Prayer is our way of showing support, of bringing our hopes and concerns before someone who is greater than us. It is through prayer, communication with God, that we find some sense of peace.

We are to pray “that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity.” In Paul’s day the leaders were enemies of the Christians. The Jewish leaders were fighting the Way, trying to halt this strange new religion that was bringing conflict to families and communities. The Roman leaders were fighting this new religion because the conflicts were causing strife in the cities and empire. The Christians were tearing apart the peace that Rome had enjoyed for so long. Imagine how hard it must have been to pray for those leaders who were the enemies of this new and growing religion. However, when we pray for someone, truly and really pray for them without an agenda, we can’t help but identify with them and grow in love for them. God’s grace enters into our hearts and we see them through God’s eyes and from God’s heart.

As much as we think we are right, our point of view might not be what God intends. We don’t know the whole picture. We know only that God is faithful and that He will be with us. He wants all men to be saved. He hasn’t told us how He will accomplish it. He only asks that we live the tranquil and quiet life so that men will see the God of grace in our lives. Our prayers, and the actions brought about by our prayers, will stand as a witness to God’s love in this world. He will take care of the rest. He knows what He intends, He knows hearts and He is faithful. As we live in this truth we can pray for others, whether they are unbelievers or enemies, with thanksgiving, knowing that God has purpose for them, too.

If God can use unrighteous mammon in ways that makes life better for His children, then He can use those who appear to be His enemies for the sake of those He loves. And it is up to us to start by praying for them, for dealing kindly with them, for standing firmly in God’s grace so that they might see that God is real and faith is true. God has great plans for this world, and He can accomplish them. He calls us to join Him in making the world right, however we are able, whether it is in sharing our “more than enough” or praying for those who can really make a difference.

In Christ we can join in the praise of the psalmist, “Praise ye Jehovah. Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah, Praise the name of Jehovah. Blessed be the name of Jehovah From this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same Jehovah's name is to be praised. Jehovah is high above all nations, And his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto Jehovah our God, That hath his seat on high, That humbleth himself to behold The things that are in heaven and in the earth?”

It is by His grace that people are saved, but it is through our humble human flesh that He is revealed to the world. It is His Word that brings peace, but our tongues speak that Word to the world. It is by His blood that we are forgiven, but He has chosen to institute rituals using water, bread, wine and people to share that blood with His faithful. He has provided us with a great many blessings and the opportunities to share our “more than enough.” Worldly wealth is not meant to be loved, it is meant to be shared. Let us in every way share God’s grace with the world, whether with our worldly wealth or our spiritual disciplines, that God will be glorified.