“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves out of the unrighteous mammon, so that when it is used up, they may receive you into eternal homes” (St. Luke 16:9)
In the name of Jesus. Amen. Mammon is stuff. That’s all it is. It’s the property, money, wealth, and toys that the Lord gives us as gift.
This week’s Gospel tells us what to do with our stuff – give it away! Obviously the master in the parable doesn’t think of mammon the way I do. If the steward of my wealth started giving it all away, he’d be on the street in a New York minute! What’s mine is mine!
The shrewd steward uses his master’s mammon to make friends. Why not give it away? You can’t take it with you, and it is here today and gone tomorrow. It’s not like that the Lord won’t just give more!
That’s where the sons of light aren’t as shrewd as the sons of the world. The sons of the world know how to make friends with unrighteous mammon, but we don’t.
We should! We have a heavenly Father who loves us in the sending of His Son. He loves us that much, that He would sacrifice His Son for us to save us. How much more will He open heaven to give us every good thing?
Repent! You cannot have two masters, either you 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 mammon.
Jesus served God and not mammon. He died for our idolatry and faithless trust in the mammon our Father has given to us. He is our hope and our salvation.
Learn from the dishonest steward. Use what you must of the mammon that the Lord God has given and you give the rest away. Make friends with it. He’ll make and give you more.
How do you know? The Cross. He has already given you heaven and earth in the person of His Son slain for you on the Cross and delivered to you in the Sacrament of the Altar. He never stops giving in Christ to us, which is why we never stop giving those around us what He has given to us. His eternal unending gifts has freed us to give to others. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
“I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true" (Small Catechism, Explanation of the 1st Article of the Creed).
Other readings this week: St. Luke 16:1-9 (10-13), 1 Cor. 10:6-13, 2 Sam 22:26-34
Higher Things Reflections are written by Rev. George F. Borghardt III, Assistant Pastor at St. Mark Lutheran Church, Conroe, TX.