Sunday 25 C

Just yesterday, I received a letter asking for my proxy vote; something to do with my retirement account. What with all the financial imagery in today's Gospel, I'm surprised Jesus didn't have something to say about IRA's. Still- I'm sure you realize that Jesus isn't in the business of giving financial advice. The question then becomes, "What is Jesus getting at?

First, we have the parable of the Unjust Steward. A few days ago, one of my Evangelical Protestant friends admitted to me that she finds this story hard to understand, and so do many other people. It seems to me the key to this parable is not that the steward is devious, but that he is "enterprising". Jesus says: <I wish that the children of the kingdom took as much initiative in affairs of the spirit as the children of this world take in business matters.> In other words, God wants us to realize the tremendous investment he has made in our salvation. We are to invest this spiritual capital; and, as he tells us in the parable of the talents, he wants it back with interest.

This parable is then followed by several sayings. They all are based on the imagery of money wealth and goods, but as usual with such things, they really have much more to do with our attitudes than with our material goods. First he says, be generous with your material goods because when they fail you, your spiritual wealth will be much more valuable to you (and can never be taken away from you). The next saying flows from the one before; if you aren't trustworthy in everyday affairs, why should God trust you with immense spiritual wealth? The way we behave in minor matters is usually a good indication of the way we would behave with truly important affairs.

The final saying is the keystone of this whole discourse: "You cannot give yourself both to God and to money." The Greek original says, "You do not have the power to serve God and mammon." Normally, mammon means wealth or possessions, but here it seems to be personified, as though it were an idol, which if it isn't put away, will take God's rightful claim to first place in our hearts. Jesus calls on us to take a stand, <Choose today whom you will serve, God or mammon, you can't do both.> It sounds exactly like the challenge issued to the Hebrews when they had finally taken possession of the promised land.

The Book of Joshua tells us that after many hard fought battles, the people were ready to settle on the land in peace and he told them: "Put away the gods that your ancestors served ... in Egypt, and serve the LORD, and if you are unwilling to serve the LORD, then choose this day whom you will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."

God has literally invested everything in us and in our salvation, He became a man, suffered and died for us. Today's Gospel makes it plain that He wants us to return this very personal commitment with our own very personal response. He wants our love and our sincere dedication to live by His plan for us so that we may finally come to the glory for which He made us.