I has been a while since I have listened to my audio Bible in the car, so this morning I picked up a CD and popped it in. I listened to several chapters from Luke's Gospel, and as frequently happens when reading (or hearing) scripture, God starts to connect some of the dots.
I was somewhat chastened by Jesus' words in this passage:
those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. (Luke 14:33-35)
Salt changes the flavour of the food to which it is added. Does the Church change society today, or is it indistinguishable from it? Does our behaviour and lifestyle make us stand out or do we blend in? Is the reality that the Church today has lost its saltiness? I believe in large part that it has.
While mulling this over, my attention turned to the first part of the passage - the part about giving up everything. Everything? Really? Just give it all away? Well, that is certainly an option, and one that Jesus recommends to a certain "rich young ruler", but perhaps not the only way. As I continued to listen to Luke's Gospel, Jesus offers another way to "give up everything": use it shrewdly for Kingdom purposes. Use it to gain influence and credibility with those around us who are lost, in order to point them to Christ:
Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 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.’
"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— I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“‘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.’
“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
“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.” (Luke 16:1-13)
Wealth is a tool and a test for us. A tool to expand the Kingdom, and a test of where our hearts really are. And like the shrewd manager, one day we will be called to account.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance!
Bruce
Father, a lot of life comes down to money.
Whether it controls us or whether we make You our Master instead.
Lord, we deliberately ask you to resume your rightful place OVER our money right now.
Forgive us for the fear of want that drives us, for the self-centered love of luxury that corrupts us, and for the lust for power and acceptance that motivates our lifestyles.
Teach us, we pray, how to live with you as fully Lord, fully God.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
(http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/16_1-15.htm)
God! Please open our eyes to your eternal kingdom.
Teach us to invest in the life forever with you.
Help us to realize that everything we think we own here is temporary so we'll begin to consider what's permanent and strive for that.
Give us eternal eyes.
(http://www.web-church.com/jesus_christ/parable_of_the_shrewd_manager-2.htm)
Whether it controls us or whether we make You our Master instead.
Lord, we deliberately ask you to resume your rightful place OVER our money right now.
Forgive us for the fear of want that drives us, for the self-centered love of luxury that corrupts us, and for the lust for power and acceptance that motivates our lifestyles.
Teach us, we pray, how to live with you as fully Lord, fully God.
In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
(http://www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/16_1-15.htm)
God! Please open our eyes to your eternal kingdom.
Teach us to invest in the life forever with you.
Help us to realize that everything we think we own here is temporary so we'll begin to consider what's permanent and strive for that.
Give us eternal eyes.
(http://www.web-church.com/jesus_christ/parable_of_the_shrewd_manager-2.htm)
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