Things that Endure

The Collect for today, printed in your Scripture insert and prayed following the singing of the Gloria in Excelsis, tells us not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly. We are placed among things that are passing away, that is, among material things, but we are to be mindful of things that endure.  What endures is love, the love and compassion of God and the love of neighbor.  Everything else is temporary.

You and I often get caught up in, and are overburdened by all the terrible things that occur in our country and around the world.  Think about the wars in the Middle East, refugees from Syria and elsewhere, cyber attacks that breach supposedly secure records of governments and corporations, identity theft, the polluted water in places like Flint, Michigan, the political polarization in Congress and throughout our culture.  With these issues and others like them we can say along with the prophet Jeremiah that our joy is gone, grief is upon us, and our hearts are sick. 

Then, due to the ongoing recovery from the recession of 2008, we learned last week that the economy has improved and median income has risen to levels not seen since 2006.  Median income rose just over 5 percent; there was a decline in the poverty rate; and more people had health insurance coverage. That’s the good news, but the reality is that a vast number of our citizens continue living below the poverty line.  As Jeremiah asked, “Why then has the health of my poor people not been restored?” 

Within the context of Jeremiah’s sense of grief and our current reality of political uncertainty, polarization, race and economic disparity, we turn to Jesus’ parable of the dishonest manager and focus on what it means.  Many people in the crowd that gathered around Jesus were poor and oppressed by the rich ruling class.  Jesus spoke to them about “dishonest wealth” and the contracts negotiated and signed by a manager who acted on his master’s behalf. 

The parable makes the point that the way of the world is based on being shrewd or pragmatic.  In the story the rich man got rich by making sure that his actions would add to his wealth, and therefore his success.  He saw that his manager was squandering his property so he asked for an account.  In a sense he wanted an audit.  So the manager, knowing that he was being fired, wanted to incur success with those who were indebted to him.  He thereby forgave a large portion of their debt.  As the text says, “Summoning his master's debtors one by one, the manager 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.'  In other words, the debtors who owed the master were asked by the manager to record false payments. The manager’s actions were dishonest.

The rich man as master was also concerned about his own wealth.  So, when he found out what the manager had done, he said he would have done the same thing and he commended the manager.

At this point, with the implementation of the manager's strategy, the story becomes ambiguous.  What precisely does the manager do with the rich man's debtors?  Does he unscrupulously reduce the debtors' liability, thereby cheating the rich man while currying his own favor?  Or, does he judiciously deduct the interest payment from the principle owed?  There is no clear answer to these questions, and the text is inconclusive.

What is clear, however, is that Jesus wanted the crowd to understand that financial resources are God’s gift; they belong to God.  The material goods of life -- wealth, property, possessions, money -- are to be included in the discipleship of Christian living.  To squander possessions, as the dishonest manager did, is to place in jeopardy a person's access to anything truly valuable.  As the parable says, "If you have not been faithful with dishonest wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?  And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?"

The parable warns against being overly zealous in the management of property and other possessions.  We are to be faithful and diligent as an act of service to God.  If wealth begins to take on a life of its own, independent of God, and perhaps even replacing God, then all is lost.  God alone must be served.  "You cannot serve God and wealth."

What about us?  Will our efforts make the world a better place to live for the next generation?  Will more people have better nutrition, housing, education, and health care than they have now?  Do we spend time and energy in improving our community for those who are less advantaged?

           

After thinking about his plight, the manager announced a decision about his future.  He devised a strategy that would ensure that, as he said, "people may welcome me into their homes."  It was a strategy designed to prevent him from becoming a social and economic outcast. We don’t know whether it led to a sincere transformation and a renewed understanding of what he had to do to serve those in need.

What is clear for us, however, is that regardless of what we possess, what we have and how we use it, says a lot about our relationship to God and to our fellow citizens.   We are not to be anxious about earthly things, money and possession, but we are to love things that endure, things that are  heavenly.  What this really means is that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  This is the love that endures.  Amen.