Proper 20 + Year C Fr. Robert R.M. Bagwell+
18, September 2016
Parish of
All Saints’ Hampton
The Collect pleads with God to admonish us:
Agrant us Lord not
to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; ...@ Have you ever even considered for a moment,
how much we trust in earthly things? We
put on our dollars, Ain God we trust@, but do we
really? The events of the last two weeks
have shown us a glaring short-sightedness in our national life: we are fragile.
People have asked: Awhere was God when
all of these things happened?@ My answer?
The same place he was before. If
he was a part of one=s life before that
time, he was assuredly there at the time of the disaster. When bad things happen to good people (as we
say) we question and seemingly forget that God died on a cross for us. God in
Christ did not come into the world to Areform@ it, he came into the
world to save it from itself!
He came to make a new creation that begins in us, who claim to be his
followers. We are the first nation in
world history to assert that Aall men are created equal and endowed by
their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness.@ You
notice that even in our constituting documents, God is included. Is he included now?
Today
we are confronted by a parable that not only is difficult, easily misunderstood
and in some fashion for this wealthiest nation in the world rather shocking. We have a gospel reading where Jesus tells a
story hard to understand. It might seem
that Jesus was suggesting that being a corrupt businessman is somehow
commendable! But that is not the point
of the parable. Jesus says there are two classes of people on planet
earth. There are the worldly, and
there are the other-worldly. The children of this age are bound in sin
and darkness. Scripture says they are "condemned already."
Then there are the other-worldly, the children of the light. They know the truth about sin and judgment and
grace and redemption. They know the blessing of peace with God and the promise
of heaven. How do these two groups live
together on this planet?
Jesus
says there is frequently if not usually, a huge contradiction in
the outward life of the children of God in this world. Jesus says the children of God don't live consistently with their beliefs. The world does. But the
children of God don’t.
The children of this world live consistently with
their goals and priorities. They live to work their system. It's the children
of the other-world who don't.
They say one thing and live something else.
This
steward is somewhat like a stock broker or a financial planner only these guys
could make real money by exploitation, by being loan sharks charging an
exorbitant rate of interest and were shrewd in their dealings.
Eventually,
the owner gets wind of what the steward is doing and he is caught with his hand
in the cookie jar, badly using what was entrusted to him and he is fired. Now
his time is limited so he is in a dilemma to put him in good stead after his
firing is complete. He comes up with a
stroke of genius. He goes to the ones who owe his master money and cuts their
debts. This way the Master (for our
purposes we may say God), looks like a good guy and the creditors are in the
debt of the steward who now will be unemployed.
He cuts his own earnings in interest and it appears to the debtors that
the Master is really a good and generous guy.
Now
the Master looks great and the steward looks great, even if he has taken a hit
financially. He will look good for his shrewd way of dealing with his dilemma
and the master will look good to those who owe him. The Master finds out what
has happened and commends the wasteful steward=s resourceful-ness. The Master commends the steward’s shrewdness that
is wisdom, insight and understanding. He
sees the steward as wise looking to provide for the steward’s own future.
God
created His people in Christ to love people and use things. The world has it backwards. The world loves things and uses people. Worldly resources promise much but so often
can vanish in a moment. Make friends means to care for neighbors
in their needs and be willing to give up everything if need be for the kingdom.
There is a principle here: we cannot show we love God unless we love and
provide for others. What may be a shock
is that Jesus says that it impossible to serve God and money. Jesus tells them to use worldly wealth to
make friends and establish good will. Money itself is a spiritual power that
moves to direct, control and possess human life. How is the steward a model for
we Christians? One commentator suggested
it is this: he was adept at assessing a dire situation and acting accordingly
to fix it. The Greek word is the same Jesus uses for the wise man who built his
house upon the rock rather than our sand. The steward was thinking of the
future not simply the here and now, as our credit card companies would like us
to live. Jesus is telling us to live
with an eternal perspective. It is not
telling us not to be so heavenly minded that we are no earthly good. It a practical Christian teaching. Earthly
wealth is how we practice being faithful.
Even crooks know how to use it for benefit, how much more should the
righteous be able to do
Let
me return to the collect for a moment. We prayed: Grant
us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly;
and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold
fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Anxiety! How our present times are rife with it! But it is not only a characteristic of our
time, but in most of the history of human existence. What makes you anxious? I know for me it has been more often than not
money! But my sisters and brothers, There
is nothing in this world that we can say is truly our own. Wealth is an illusion. Possessions are an illusion. No my friend you really cannot have your cake
and eat it too.
We practice with small things. Jesus says being faithful in small things
will teach us faithfulness in much. Yet
we live in a culture that is brainwashed to accumulate more and more and more. How much is enough? Just a little bit more they say. Worldly
wealth has no eternal value, so let us use it for the good of others. We have a
saying: “what goes around comes around.” When we read the collect a moment ago, we know
the truths of what we prayed. Wealth is
passing away No you can’t take it with you. But what we do for neighbor, will endure.
A new church opened a couple of years ago
in Portland Oregon name Christ Church.
They have welcomed many of the outcasts that the Episcopal Church
welcomes. The final straw that the Evant3lical Covenant denomination broke the
camel’s back was the pastor’s support of same gender marriage. I have always liked their operating mission
statement: “For God’s Glory and Neighbor’s Good.
Is that not what Jesus is teaching in this parable? Is it not how we are called to live our
lives? Let’s think about it. Let’s pray
on it. Let’s do it.
