Pentecost 17

Pentecost 17 Whoever is faithful in little will be faithful in much.

Does God really help those who help themselves?

This could be the lesson of the story Jesus told about the embezzling estate manager. He had cheated his employer to maintain his own inflated standard of living. When his employer caught him and asked for an audit of the books, he compounded his crime by even grater levels of deceit to protect his own self interest.

The shocking conclusion to the story comes in the employer’s response to the embezzler. The employer finds out everything that he has done and commends him for his shrewdness. The story ends there because the point of the story is in Jesus’ statement that the unrighteous are more dedicated in pursing their own self interest than the righteous are in pursing God’s interests.

Of course, there is the rest of the story. The employer commends the embezzler for his shrewdness but he still fires him. He still has legal recourse in the courts. Jesus does not tell the story to endorse clever thieves who ignore their legal and moral obligations. Jesus tells the story to express a sharp contrast .
The sharp contrast is in fidelity.

The embezzler is totally dedicated to his own self interest. And, he uses all of his talents and knowledge to pursue those interests. Jesus never commends the man for his crimes. He commends him as an example of someone who single mindedly pursues his goals.

Jesus uses this most extreme example to contrast the half hearted, casual and even unfocused way in which God’s people seek to accomplish God’s plan and God’s purpose.
The contrast is that the thief is dedicated in his life of crime but the people of God are not dedicated in the life of grace.

The thief served one master- his own greed. The people of God attempt to serve two masters: God and greed.

The prophet Elijah once challenged the people of Israel: choose whom you will serve. If the Lord is God then follow him. If the Lord is God then give up the idols of false deities and serve only the living God. The people of Israel wanted it both ways. They were hedging their bets. They would worship God from time to time to see what he had to offer. They would also worship the pagan deities to see what they had to offer.

In the book of Revelation Jesus instructs the beloved apostle John to write to the church- be either hot or cold, but not lukewarm. Make a choice. Live by that choice. Be faithful in that choice.

The unrighteous servant had made his choice. Jesus did not commend him for his crime but for his dedication. By contrast, the disciples, those who claimed to follow Jesus, were still hedging their bets. Jesus challenged them with this story to clarify what they valued most.

Jesus did not come into the world to offer an opinion about God. Jesus did not come into the world to settle disputes as to which religion is the one true religion that God endorses. Jesus spoke of God as the bridegroom who is seeking his bride.
Jesus is seeking to pour himself out to people. His is seeking people who recognize their brokenness and yearn for healing. He is seeking people who recognize they are lost and need to be found. He is seeking people who understand they are empty and long to be filled.

Jesus does not give us the option of leaving him in a religious institution, a set of rituals, customs and laws. Jesus is a new way of living grounded in the eternal truth of eternal love. That love touches every aspect of our lives. That love transforms every choice we make.

That love requires a choice. If we choose to make God second in our lives we choose to make God last. We can easily assign a lower priority to religion and religious practices. Jesus is not just about religion. Jesus is the way our Heavenly Father finds us, heals us, fills us with the truth of eternal love. That truth sets us free from fear, self will and pride. That truth forms the basis for a new life and a new way of living.

The reality of that new life and that new way of living is in the small almost insignificant choices we make every day of our lives.

The new life begins with a choice to receive the gift of God in Jesus Christ by grace through faith in the sacramental waters of baptism. The new life is nourished by the study of God’s written word in the Bible and by the total immersion of the soul in the sacrament of Holy Communion.

The new life is formed by the prayer of Divine Presence. It is the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Heavenly Father, not my will but you will be done.
The new life is guided by a series of questions. How do we do this? What does the new life look like as I set my priorities? How does the new way of living feel as I make the innumerable choices in my day?

Jesus sets the framework for the answers to these questions when he says: love God with all of your heart, soul and mind; love your neighbor as you love yourself. God first. God preeminent. God the highest priority. Service to others second. Self responsible growth in grace next.

What are the obstacles?

Jesus identifies a very common obstacle to the new life and the new way of living God offers us in Jesus Christ. That very common obstacle is the love of money.
Note: the obstacle is not the money itself. It is the love of money. The proper subject of love is God, other people, our own souls. The distortion of sin leads us to view God as an object of religious observance and money as the subject of love.
Despite the poverty of our English language to make a proper distinction in the word “love”, Jesus is very clear that human beings lost in separation from God have chosen to distort love. Human beings use God through religion. Human beings use other people through politics and economics. Human beings love the things of this world.

God never designed the things of this world for love. He designed things to be used for our benefit and even for our pleasure. He never designed things to be loved. He designed people to give love and to receive love.

The choice to use God and love things enmeshes the soul in an impossible vicious circle of desire, distortion and slavery. As we use God, and other people, in order to satisfy our love for things we lose our sense of who we are and why God created us.
The problem is expressed in the rich fool who is possessed by his possessions. He no longer derives legitimate pleasure from his possessions but he cannot let them go. Love of things, love of money, leads to the dissolution of the soul. It leads to slavery even as the soul deceives itself into believing it can use things to bring security, meaning and purpose.

Jesus very sharply draws the contrast that brings clarity and choice. As you are faithful to God in the small choices of your life you evidence the primary choice, the fundamental choice, to love God and to use things in accord with God’s principles and God’s purpose.

Jesus makes it very cleat that we can’t have it both ways. We cannot serve God and money. We cannot love God and love wealth. That position is inherently unstable and corrupting.

God created all people by love, through love and for love. We are more of who God created us to be as we immerse our minds and hearts and wills in that love.
As we hear the words of Jesus Christ today the Holy Spirit is asking us these question: whom do you serve? Where do you place your love? How is you mind, your heart and your will divided and in conflict?

Jesus commended the embezzler not for his crime but for his shrewdness in analyzing the situation and making a clear choice to solve the problem. It was indeed the wrong solution but it was a very shrewd decision.

How much more, then, does God expect us to exercise wisdom in how we choose to live our lives? How much more then does our Heavenly Father invite us to choose the love of his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, as the priority and principle that underlies all of our choices?
Jesus warns us we can’t have it both ways. We can’t serve God and money. We can’t use God and love things. They are mutually exclusive categories. The test of who we serve and who we love is in the little choices we make in our daily lives.

There is an urgency in Jesus’ statement. It is the urgency of the one who loves us and wants to fill us with his love. It is the urgency of the universal savior who longs to set us free from the slavery of things into the freedom of Divine grace. It is the urgency of the Bridegroom who is preparing the wedding feast for all but who will never require any of us to attend.

The truth of Jesus Christ is the truth of eternal love. The reality of that love for human beings is choice. Who ever is faithful in little will be faithful in much. Choose shrewdly. Choose wisely. Choose Jesus.