15th Sunday after Pentecost – Byron Tindall
I usually like at least 2 weeks to prepare a sermon. Unfortunately, Father Mark’s untimely accident didn’t give me the time I like to spend on preparation. I’m grateful to the email “Sermons that Work” from The Episcopal Church for assistance this week.
Remember, Jesus used parables, or stories he made up, to make a point he wanted his listeners to understand. On occasion, a parable could have several meanings on different levels. I’m going to look at this example and first take it at its face value.
The Merriam-Webster website defines squandering as, “to spend extravagantly or foolishly: dissipate, waste.”
How was the manager squandering his master’s property? Rioterous living? Under the table payments to his cronies? Bad investments? We don’t have the slightest idea of how the steward was misusing and wasting his master’s property. It’s really not that important.
One of the things we have to keep in mind that in this parable, Jesus or God is not portrayed as the master.
I’m pretty sure that the manager would not have been looking forward to the meeting with his master.
Even after the confrontation, the dishonest manager continued to “cook the books” as the expression goes in order to gain acceptance with those with whom he dealt in the past. The manager was still looking out for number one.
The dishonest steward realized that he was only qualified to be a steward. The problem was that who would hire him to manage property when he’d been caught cheating?
It was this attitude and action that won the praise of the master. “And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly….”
As was often the case, Jesus was comparing the actions and beliefs of different groups of the citizens of Palestine.
“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters, for a slave will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”
This is worth repeating over and over and over and over and over.
No, Jesus is not railing against wealth per say. In my way of thinking, Jesus is talking about who or what is the most important thing in one’s life. How one uses what’s been given to her or him is what’s important. Is it used selfishly or is it used to help those less fortunate?
Now, let’s take another look at this parable on a little deeper level.
I honestly don’t believe that any one of us who call Holy Family home has a serious financial worry. There are probably some among us that live paycheck to paycheck or retirement check to retirement check, but we all manage somehow to get by. And by the looks of things, we’re pretty good stewards of our money. At this point, I’m not going to try to steal the thunder from the Finance Committee and the Every Member Canvass group.
But as the old TV advertisement goes, “But wait, there’s more.”
God has bestowed more gifts on each one of us than just money.
Think about the gift of this nation with all its shortcomings and freedoms we enjoy. Reflect on your vocation. What are you called to do? Do you follow that calling to the fullest? Think about the gift of life itself. Do you consider your family and those you love and who love you a gift from God? Or do you even consider these relationships a God-given gift?
The question is this: “How do the ways you use the gifts you have received give honor to God?”
The answer to the question, “How do we honor God?” is relatively easy to find.
For example, from the Hebrew scripture, Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?”
And from page 324 in our Book of Common Prayer:
“Hear what our Lord Jesus Christ saith: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Again, from our Prayer Book in the the Baptismal Covenant,
The Celebrant asks: “Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?”
The People answer: “I will, with God’s help.”
The Celebrant asks: “Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?”
The People answer: “I will, with God’s help.”
A portion of this, as you well know, is permanently posted on the wall in the gallery.
The easy part is finding the answers to the question “How do we honor God?.”
The hard part CAN BE IN FULLFILLING the answers. Amen.