Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (G)

Luke 16:1-18

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ² And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management 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 removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. ⁹ And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

¹⁰ “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? ¹³ No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

¹⁴ The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

¹⁶ “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it. ¹⁷ But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

¹⁸ “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

So is divorce adultery or just re-marriage? That may be for another time. But here Jesus is telling us to be dishonest, isn't he? He tells us to use our unrighteous wealth. How do you get unrighteous wealth? Or is unrighteous wealth just simply wealth of this world, or generation.

Another question maybe is wheat worth more that oil? The unrighteous servant docks the first guy 50% and the next only 20%. Some have argued that this was his extra he was cheating them, but it is still the masters bill. The master still finds out, and point is said to be to make friends with this wicked generation. The sons of light need to learn to be shrewd as well. We need to be able to turn the other cheek, yet have others welcome them.

Here we can see Jesus encouraging Christians to live a life in the world. This may mean teaching our children how to argue against false truths, it may also mean teaching our children how not to be cheated by the world. But most assured is that we need to learn how to work with Gentile sinners, or non-Christians.

As we do this the temptation for evil will be greater, the heresies will be harder to ignore, and we will fall into sinful desires and actions. Christ is still there for us. He is offering us strength in his word. He is offering us encouragement in the Church. He is even forgiving all our sins. He is with you, and therefore, he will shine through you.