Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity
“ 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”
Overview
Last week Jesus was praising a shepherd who abandoned his 99 sheep to go looking for a lost one. This week he’s applauding a manager who gives away his master’s goods, (Luke 16:1-13).
At the start of the story the manager is in solidarity with the master, the one with wealth and power. By the end of the story, he is in solidarity with the debtors, those with little wealth and power (echoing the call of the prophet in our first reading, Amos 8:4-7). Irrespective of his motives, his actions ease the burden of the poor. Once he acknowledges his own insecurity, his own vulnerability, he acts to lessen the insecurity and vulnerability of others. We might (reasonably) complain that he does so by giving away what is not his in the first place. But in God’s radical economy, nothing is truly ours. All that we have - our life, our breath, our relationships, our talents - are a gift from God. If we share them, there will be enough for all God’s children.
FIRST READING
Amos 8:4-7
Hear this, you that trample on the needy,
and bring to ruin the poor of the land,
saying, ‘When will the new moon be over
so that we may sell grain;
and the sabbath,
so that we may offer wheat for sale?
We will make the ephah small and the shekel great,
and practise deceit with false balances,
buying the poor for silver
and the needy for a pair of sandals,
and selling the sweepings of the wheat.’
The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob:
Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
GOSPEL READING
Luke 16:1-13
Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he 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.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
‘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.’
