A Poem a Sunday
September 18, 2016
Pentecost 18 - C
Pentecost 18 - C
St. Luke 16:1-13 - New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
Commentary: St. Luke records another parable of reversal
and the upside down nature of God’s Kingdom.
Shrewdness and imagination are lacking in the Church today. Might we be schooled by the Children of this
Age?
The Parable of the
Dishonest Manager
16 Then
Jesus[a] 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. 2 So he summoned him and
said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your
management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ 3 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.
4 I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager,
people may welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So, summoning his master’s
debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ 7 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.’ 8 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. 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest
wealth[b] so that when it
is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.[c]
10 “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. 11 If then you have not been
faithful with the dishonest wealth,[d] who will entrust
to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what
belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 13 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.”[e]
Footnotes:
- Luke
16:1
Gk he
- Luke
16:9
Gk mammon
- Luke
16:9
Gk tents
- Luke
16:11
Gk mammon
- Luke
16:13
Gk mammon
Children of This Age
Children
of this world or
Children
of light?
Who
has the inside track?
Who
has the insight?
Children
of this world
street
wise and savvy
live
in the moment
nothing
more to lose.
Choose
a new road
and
take many chances,
dancing
in the dark
with
reckless abandon.
Letting
go only to discover
you
can really fly
and
God is a Lover.
Children
of light
fear
the darkness,
play
it safe.
Controlling
their future
is
only an illusion
leading
to more
fear
and confusion.
Without
imagination
they
circle the wagons
preparing
for an invasion
of
fire-breathing dragons.
Children
of light learn from the Children of this age!
Let
go! Surrender! Joyfully engage!
Shrewdness
and wisdom are signs of God’s Kingdom.
Dare
now to live in grace and freedom.
Copyright @ ‘A Poem
a Sunday’
May be used with
permission
I like this imagery especially the dragons and how the children of light need to learn from this age.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Peter, glad you checked out my blog.
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