Gospel

Luke 16:1-8

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward

who was reported to him for squandering his property.

He summoned him and said,

‘What is this I hear about you?

Prepare a full account of your stewardship,

because you can no longer be my steward.’

The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,

now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?

I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.

I know what I shall do so that,

when I am removed from the stewardship,

they may welcome me into their homes.’

He called in his master’s debtors one by one.

To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’

He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’

He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.

Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’

Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’

He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’ 

He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;

write one for eighty.’

And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.

For the children of this world

are more prudent in dealing with their own generation

than the children of light.”

Reflection

The confusing thing in this passage is it seems that those who are prudent, taking care of themselves are being, in a sense, commended. But the issue is more complicated than that when it comes to how we live in the Kingdom of God. The wisdom of the kingdom of God is that when we surrender to him, we will be cared for.

We do not need to be cunning and and figure out a way to use people in order to get to what we need. That would be against the kingdom of God. So the challenge is to recognize how simple the message is, and that is simply to allow God to care for us and to surrender to him in everything.

Closing Prayer

Father, wisdom is something we seek. We long to know how the world works and how we are gauged in a world that you call the kingdom of God. Bless us with prudence and wisdom as we struggle to understand how to receive your kingdom. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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