25th Sunday Year C - Homily 1

Homily 1 - 2007

To make sense of today’s story requires a familiarity with the attitudes and customs of the Middle Eastern world at the time of Jesus. It would take too much time to explain adequately.

Anyhow, the outcome of the story was that the dishonest manager took a punt on his employer’s patience, set up a situation where he had him over the barrel, and managed to set himself up for a reasonably comfortable future. Under pressure, he was smart – he was a quick thinker, and his employer couldn’t but admit, no doubt begrudgingly, that he was astute.

Jesus used the story somewhat wistfully – if only his disciples would be as resourceful, single-minded and focussed about working for God’s Kingdom as the dishonest manager was in looking after his own future. As Jesus said: The children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind, than are the children of light.

Luke then adds no less than four different comments of Jesus, all connected with the theme of how we use our money. I find that the first one haunts me somewhat. Use money to win you friends to make sure they welcome you into the tents of eternity. I think that Jesus is saying that our use of our income, and our treatment of the poor will determine our fate in eternity.

There are real disadvantaged in our own nation, particularly in some Aboriginal communities, and 850,000,000 in our world, our global village.  Despite the humorous stories about St Peter, Jesus seems to indicate that the heavenly border controls are determined by the poor. I am not sure of the value of an Australian Passport when we come seeking asylum after our deaths. Our treatment of refugees, and of asylum seekers generally, might make sense in a world governed by self-interest and national interest. It doesn’t wash in a world governed by the values of God’s Kingdom. Our treatment of the poor will determine our status in eternity. As Jesus said:Use money to win you friends to make sure they welcome you into the tents of eternity.

If we can’t use our incomes in ways that reflect a faith-enlightened sense of human dignity – of everyone’s dignity – what chance have we of growing in the ways that really matter: as people who love, who are free, whose hearts can genuinely care? As Jesus said: If you can’t be trusted with money [to share our wealth justly and generously], who will trust us with genuine riches [with love, joy, peace and freedom, for example]?

The world and its resources are there to be shared by all. No one owns the world – it belongs to all. We have to work out practical ways so that all can share fairly. If self-interest, or national interest, interferes with God’s provision for all, then self-interest and national interest must be changed. As Jesus said: If you can’t be trusted with what is not yours [not ours to withhold from others in need], who will give us what is our very own [what flows from our dignity as human persons loved by God, namely, once again, love, joy, peace and freedom]?

The problem is, as Jesus sees it, that we let ourselves be mesmerised by money, by consumer goods, by our exaggerated desire for security. We become addicted to them and compulsive about them. We find ourselves serving them.

There is only one alternative – to be clearly focussed on God and the values of God’s Kingdom. Once more, Jesus was quite clear: You cannot be the slave both of God and of money. Either we voluntarily give our all to God, and sit lightly with the things of this world, or we finish up addicted to them, and effectively their slaves.