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Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Do We Serve Two Masters?


Luke 16:1-31 NIV



The Parable of the Shrewd Manager


1Jesus told His disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’

3“The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’

5“So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

6“ ‘Nine hundred gallonsa of olive oil,’ he replied.

“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’

7“Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’

“ ‘A thousand bushelsb of wheat,’ he replied.

“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’

8“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.


Additional Teachings


16“The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the Kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it. 17It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.

18“Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.


The Rich Man and Lazarus


19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

25“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

27“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

29“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

30“ ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

31“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”



You Cannot Serve Both God and Money



“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”


Few passages in Scripture create more discomfort for American Christians than this one. It makes us squirm as we try to find a way to escape its implications. The reason for our uneasiness is pretty obvious. We want to serve God, but we also like money. We like what money does for us, how it makes our lives more convenient, more interesting, more comfortable, more controllable.

You don’t have to have a lot of money to be its servant. In fact, sometimes those without much money are in bondage to it when their lives are focused on acquiring more of it. Whether we are rich or poor, we can easily live in servitude to money.

Most Christians I know try, at least to an extent, to serve two masters, both God and money. I know I do this at times. And I know I’m not alone. If this is not something you struggle with, then thanks be to God! But, chances are you know how it feels to want to serve money and God at the same time.

For example, how much time do you spend worrying about money? How often do you buy something you don’t need because it will make you look or feel good? Do you ever turn down an opportunity to give money away, even though, deep inside, you know it’s something you should have done? Are you faithful in your financial support for your local church? Do you give away money freely and joyfully? Do the ways you make and spend money sometimes keep you from a deeper relationship with God?

Jesus came to set the captives free, including those of us who struggle with captivity to money and its corrupting power. If we recognize that we are trying to serve two masters, at least sometimes, we can begin to experience the freedom of Jesus by confessing to Him and asking for His help. The more we receive His grace, the more we will be free to serve God with all that we are.


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Do you ever find yourself trying to serve two masters? When? In what ways do you sense a tension between your commitment to God and your love for money and its benefits? How has Christ set you free from the power of money?


PRAYER 

Gracious Lord, you know how I struggle with serving you and money at the same time. It isn’t just that I want more money. My service to money often comes in the form of my personal priorities or in how much I can worry about money. I claim to trust you with all of my life. Yet I find myself fretting about money, as if this were something that evaded Your Lordship.
Help me, dear Lord, to serve you fully and freely. Let nothing else take first place in my devotion. Let no other master direct my life. May you be honored and glorified in every aspect of my life. 

Amen.



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