One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?…You cannot serve God and money.
Jesus of Nazareth
I continue the theme from last weekend, reflecting on the day Jesus confronted the Pharisees over their love of money that’s recorded in Luke 14:1-17:10. After criticising the Pharisees' elitism, Jesus explained that his own disciples needed to put his mission ahead of their own families and to take up their own crosses. We know from what he said on other occasions, and from the apostles’ letters preserved for us in the New Testament, that Jesus wasn’t suggesting that Christians neglect their families. He was only setting priorities. As he put it in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness’
Jesus illustrated his own commitment with parables about a man planning to build a tower and a king contemplating war. ‘So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.’ He then repeated an illustration from the Sermon on the Mount, likening his followers to salt.
The level of commitment Jesus described requires his followers to renounce their own preferred lifestyles, setting aside their own agendas and adopting his. Only by doing that, could they truly be Jesus’ disciples and expect to fulfil the function of salt in the world: preserving and seasoning. Central to it all was a right attitude about money, the thing that most people rely on to meet their needs and fulfil their ambition.
Jesus’ behaviour and teaching attracted the particular attention of the ‘tax collectors and sinners’, the very people that the Pharisees looked down on. This annoyed the Pharisees. In fact, their criticism that he ate with them suggests that he left the Pharisee's banquet without eating anything and accepted more ordinary hospitality somewhere else!
In response, Jesus used three parables to explain how he was seeking to redeem all people: a shepherd seeking a lost sheep, a woman looking for a lost coin and a father yearning for his son who had left home. Crucially, Jesus was reaching out not just to the acknowledged sinners, like the prodigal son, but to the Pharisees also, symbolised in the third parable by the elder brother who stayed at home serving his father.
Jesus then told the Parable of the Dishonest Manager to explain that his followers should be wise when dealing with people but not wise in the ways of society, not worldly wise. Rather, we should be shrewd (or wise) in the ways of the Kingdom of God – Kingdom shrewd. And the way his followers used money was decisive. We’ve reflected on the parable before but now we consider the Jesus explanation of its relevance, which is the passage at the start of today’s Reflection, Luke 16:10-13.
The idea that someone who is ‘dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much’ is alien to many people today. For a man or woman to be unfaithful and dishonest in their private lives no longer disqualifies them from responsible positions working in public service or business. In fact, getting away with minor acts of dishonesty often distinguish them as ‘streetwise’, like the dishonest manager in Jesus’ parable who was commended by his master. People who refuse to exaggerate credit applications, make bogus insurance claims, avoid responsibility for debt or evade taxes are often seen as too naive to be of use.
Integrity matters to Jesus. The ‘little’ in the passage is ‘unrighteous wealth’. As we seen previously in this series, the accurate translation for ‘wealth’ is mammon. Not all wealth is unrighteous but what makes any wealth unrighteous is a love that spurs people to accumulate it. The ‘much’ that Jesus referred to is true riches, the ‘treasure in heaven’ that is responsibility in the Kingdom of God. It doesn’t take much to see that alongside such responsibility, all the material wealth in creation is ‘little’!
If Christians are not faithful in the ‘little’ material wealth they have been entrusted with, they cannot expect to be given responsibility in the Kingdom. The Pharisees ridiculed Jesus for saying this. Jesus responded, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’ How vulnerable are we to having our own priorities compromised by contemporary social values?
It's a mistake to think that treasure in heaven, or responsibility in the Kingdom of God, is an inheritance that awaits us in a future beyond the grave. It's available to us here and now, in this life. It works like this. The heir to a great fortune who will inherit when he or she reaches a certain age nevertheless lives off the wealth until then. Enough money is released from the estate to pay bills and give the heir a allowance. It’s a like that for Christians. Our treasure in heaven is accumulated for our future but we can receive enough now to live on in this life, in the here and now. It's like the pounds and talents Jesus mentioned in other parables, entrusted to servants to trade with while their masters were away.
In my experience, more Christians trust God to take care of them beyond the grave, assuring them of forgiveness, escaping hell and eternity in heaven, than trust him to provide all they need for the life they live until then. Routine things like food, clothes, housing, essential travel and some fellowship with others. While many seem to trust God to provide the money they need (or think they need) for these things, few seem to simply trust him! Rather than have the 'much' to trade with, they disqualify themselves by occupying themselves with the 'little'! I believe this is why it is so easy for people to dismiss the Gospel. Isn't it time for Christians to be Kingdom shrewd, not worldly wise, not shrewd in the ways of society?
© All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2014.
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