Introduction

What happens when our motives are mixed and situations are conflicted? ‘What shall I do?’ is a frequent question in the Gospel of Luke, prompting us to examine our hearts. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that we need to read situations, motives and people correctly if we are to respond wisely to them.

 

Context

Bake off moves to Channel 4 as it outbids BBC for the rights to the show. Does loyalty always come second to cash? Mel and Sue, the hosts of Bake Off, said ‘we’re not going with the dough.’ What would you have done?

MPs criticise David Cameron’s actions in Libya and his failure to plan for the future of the country.

Oxfam have told Teresa May that the richest 1% are 20 times more wealthy than the poorest 13 million people (approx. 20% of the population). If we were in her shoes, what would we do?

The film I, Daniel Blake offers an uncompromising perspective on navigating the benefits system and poverty as a political choice – how much austerity is really needed?

Teresa May puts forward new legislation aimed at curbing boardroom excess, and making employers liable for fraud committed by their employees.

 

Reflection

This is a deeply puzzling passage. Why is the dishonest manager shrewd and someone from whom the disciples can learn lessons?

Perhaps because what he does transform his bad situation into one where some good becomes possible, for himself and others. He reduces the debt owed to the master not because there is a famine or an economic downturn (where such actions would be likely), but simply because he has messed up and will need these people in the future, if he has no job. Reducing the debt of money creates a debt of gratitude and a sense of obligation. In a culture where honour was the basis of interactions between people, they would feel compelled to take him into their homes. The steward squanders his employer’s wealth but then instead of acting as a victim, he recalculates the options and does the best he can in the circumstances. By acting in this way, he also changes the relationship between lenders and debtors from one based on straight monetary exchange to one where reciprocity is possible.

Perhaps this is a lesson in acting and responding to circumstances – taking steps towards putting something right rather than doing nothing. In this sense, it is s story with echoes of the parable of the talents. The story features among other parables that emphasise the power of the small. We could perhaps consider that God sees even our feeble attempts to do the right thing as movements towards the promptings of the kingdom and if we are moving, then perhaps we are more open than if we stand still thinking about it.

In a world where systems and individuals are out to secure the best future they can for themselves, and may seek to buy this using whatever means they have at their disposal, Jesus points us to the lessons to be learned from this puzzling parable. We need to be as wise in securing our eternal futures as people are about their earthly futures. We need to be wise in understanding our culture and its values, and wise to our heavenly future. How ready are we to do what is needed to be ready for this new future that God promises?

Can loyalty be bought? The steward’s solution to his dilemma springs from his understanding that in the future he will need other people. How do we build ‘relationship credit’ – attending to our relationships, and storing up the good will that creates the fabric of support that we may all need at some point?

Can educational opportunity also be bought? What would their impact be on the poorest? Critics of the new grammar school proposals also argue that access to these new schools could still be bought by parents who can afford expensive tuition to help their children to pass the entrance exam. What kind of future do we want to create for our children and young people?

 

Prayer

God of love,
you call us by name.
Diverse and different,
you call us into relationship.
From unlikely materials you build your kingdom of love,
where the smallest and least significant are of infinite value
in your upside down economy.
Give us eyes to see the true value of people and things.
Give us hearts that long for a different future.
Give us minds that prompt us to be wise
in the matters that affect our daily lives,
and in the things that prepare the way for the kingdom to come.
Amen.

 

Questions

• Does money create opportunity or buy it?
• What is it like to be on the receiving end of generosity that is not measured out bit by bit?
• What does justice look like when it is not just a narrow interpretation of the letter of the law?

 

• Politicians are often criticised for a failure to plan or to have a real strategy for the future. How can we be better equipped to read the signs of the times and to plan accordingly?

 

• Can churches be led into questionable activity because of their need for money?
• How can we invest in the future and what measures should we use?
• Is there a risk when money is tight that we go for instant results rather than genuine investment that takes to come to fruition?
• Do we measure success by quantity?

 

Action

Now is the time to plant for the future – literally! Get together and buy a large sack of daffodil (or similar) bulbs. Find some random places in which to plant them for someone’s future enjoyment.

 

Young people

• When she became Prime Minster, Teresa May promised a society that works for all.
• What do you think that means for you?
• What things do you think need to be changed in society if this promise is going to be fulfilled?

 

 

Diane Craven is a freelance Education Consultant and lecturer, and a Licensed Lay Minister in York Minster.

 

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