Luke 16:1-13
1 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. 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 so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
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, 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.”
…for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.
Followers of Jesus live in the world, but we’re not of the world. We know that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are already citizens of the Reign of God. We also know that, while we live in this world, we are also citizens here. And so, we spend our lives trying to be good citizens of the world without compromising our allegiance to Jesus.
In today’s parable, Jesus tells us that the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. Because we’re all living in this world together, it’s important for us to learn from our more shrewd sisters and brothers. While we’re doing that, we’re also building relationships and gaining knowledge about how to use some of their shrewdness in our work for the Kingdom of God.
The world isn’t going to reward any of us for our gracious, forgiving love for our neighbors. There are no prizes out there for choosing not to hate or retaliate. But the world is hungry for Jesus’ Gospel of Peace, and we have been called by God to feed them.
Prayer: Lord Jesus: They hated you. Why wouldn’t they hate us too. AMEN