Daily Dose of the Word of God - Luke 16: 1-9

Rachel Klooster & Billy Heschl

Transcript

Rachel Klooster  0:09 

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God. It’s Tuesday, July 16 and it’s the season of green and growing things, our spiritual lives included! This Summer we are sitting at Jesus feet and listening to his parables: stories that shed meaning on our lives.  Today's reading is Luke 16, 1-9.

Rachel Klooster 0:36 

Jesus said to his disciples, “There was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So he called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? You’re fired. And I want a complete audit of your books.’ “The manager said to himself, ‘What am I going to do? I’ve lost my job as manager. I’m not strong enough for a laboring job, and I’m too proud to beg. . . . Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’ “Then he went at it. One after another, he called in the people who were in debt to his master. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “He replied, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ “The manager said, ‘Here, take your bill, sit down here—quick now—write fifty.’ “To the next he said, ‘And you, what do you owe?’ “He answered, ‘A hundred sacks of wheat.’ “He said, ‘Take your bill, write in eighty.’ “Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”

Rachel Klooster  2:18 

To me this parable has an echo of the Ten Talents parable in which the master applauds those who earned money from the money given to them. In each story, the master congratulates those who did something. They took the unusual situation they were in and figured out a way to have some success. It would seem that procrastination or in-action is a worse offense than being tricky or dishonest. Of course, the end of this story says, “be smart for what is RIGHT”, so our best bet is to be action-oriented and clever for good - for things that matter and help people. I think sometimes I get stuck in the rut of doing things the same way, or the “right” way and then when a challenge comes or the routine gets set off-kilter, my response is to freeze (and be annoyed). Next time that happens, I will think of this story and try to find a creative solution or an out-of-the-box way to accomplish my plans.

Rachel Klooster 3:18

Listen to the last verses again (from the Message): They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way—but for what is right—using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavi

Rachel Klooster 3:44  

Let’s Pray. God our Father, thank you for giving us smart minds and creativity. Give us wisdom next time we are in a tricky situation, to think beyond our usual tendencies and patterns and to come up with creative solutions to work things together for good. In Jesus name, amen.