SWEEPINGS OF
THE WHEAT
Amos 8:1-7; Luke 16:1-13
“…for the
children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation
than are the
children of light.”
In the words
of Amos, “Be Silent! Hear this” (Amos 8:3b, 4a): the Parable of the Unjust
Steward is probably the most mystifying parable that Jesus ever told. And
considering that a parable is a story told about earthly things to explain
heavenly things, this is one’s a puzzling pocket of prose, even to the biblical
scholars.
Perhaps you noticed these lines as I read the
scripture to you…
·
His master
commended the dishonest manager—v 8;
·
The children
of this age are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than are the
children of light—v 8;
·
And I tell
you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth—v 9.
There does not seem to be a whole lot of good
news there—unless you’re looking for permission to cheat others out of their
own money—
I don’t know
if you noticed, but there’s more cheatin’ goin’ in this here parable than there
is in a country-western song:
·
Getting
something you shouldn’t get;
·
Taking
something that’s not yours;
·
Fooling
someone who trusts you;
·
Covering
your own ___________ (fill in the blank).
Jesus’ parable has quite a twist-and-turn
twang of its own:
·
Getting
something for nothing;
·
Selling
something goods as great goods;
·
Take
advantage of the poor… and of the
rich;
·
Want—always—more
and more and more;
·
Seek—always—the
best for yourself;
·
Gain power
no matter the cost; all the while
·
Think we’re
fooling God by acting the part of a faithful steward, when all the time we’ve
been stealing him blind.
Talk about having a bad attitude!
Now, if we flip quickly over to Amos, who
prophesied about 700 years before Jesus was born, we find the exact same
attitude alive and well in the land of Israel. I’m looking particularly at
verses 5 and 6.—from “When will the new moon be over” to “selling the sweepings
of the wheat.”
We live in
the mix of a mega-machine society that grumbles the same gripes and devises the
same schemes as the one in ancient Israel:
·
“When will
worship be over, so that we can get back to work?”
·
“Let’s
charge higher interest rates and levy ‘membership’ fees on credit recovery
offers.”
·
“We can
charge double or triple if we call our product ‘new’ or ‘organic’ or ‘local.’”
·
“The poor
will never see it for what it really is.”
“Be silent!
Hear this:” God sees exactly what’s going on this world whether it’s the
seventh century, the first century or the twenty-first century, and God is not
confused, neither is God amused.
Let me
retell you the parable in parallel:
God created
humanity to be the managers of his creation and all that is in it. God sees
that generation after generation is squandering his riches. As each person dies
and stands before God, we are asked, “What is this that I hear about you? Give
me an accounting of your management, because your time to die is near. Then we
say to ourselves, What will I do, now that God is about to take my life away
from me?
My body is
weak and worn, my sins and failures are visible—I cannot hide how I have lived.
I know what to do! With the little time I have left before I die, I will do
what I can to prove my repentance so that I God in his mercy might welcome me
into heaven.
So, taking
an account of our lives and failures, one by one, we look at our debt and ask,
“How much do I owe God?” And we see that the answer is, “A great deal more than
we could ever pay.” Still we make what amends we can according to the teachings
of Jesus—that is, to lighten the burdens of the needy and poor.
We look at
the next sin—“how much do I owe?” and the answer is, “More than I can pay, so I
must lighten the burden of one sinned against. And God will commend us because
we realized our sin and did everything we could before our lives are over…
The same way
the cheaters and beaters of this world are shrewd and prudent with the ways
they wheel and deal in this world, so Christians must be as prudent—committed
and resourceful in obeying the laws of God. When we live our lives not for what
we can get in this world but for what awaits us in heaven, we are as prudent as
the dishonest manager: looking to the future and securing a loving welcoming
relationship when this part of the journey’s over.
We cannot
have the best of both worlds’ riches. Build up yourselves for the biggest
basket of summer fruit that never rots because heaven is heaven and earth is
not—the message is still, Rot not!
All of us at one time or another have been sold
a bill of goods—and we all know how it feels when we find out we’ve been
cheated or lied to or fooled. God feels the same way, except that God is not
fooled! God is well aware when we tell him he is first in our lives yet give
him only what little is left over after we’ve attended to everything else that
makes us busy—God knows the difference between the finest grain and the
sweepings of the wheat.
This parable asks the children of the
light—Christians—to sit down and take an accounting of our lives. How much do
you and I owe God? How much does this congregation owe God?
We are the benefactors of a tremendous amount
of money from the Bartlett Trust each year, and the money is being spent
wisely, prudently, that’s true. But are we taking the gift for granted, not
thinking about the fact that someone else has provided it, that we do not have
to earn the money, raise the money, provide the money out of our own pockets to
repair the many parts that come with an 180 year old building.
We are so very blessed to have such wonderful
gifts…yet, yet, YET, how has each of us shown our gratitude to God for the many
blessings we have received…are we giving God only sweepings of the wheat, that
is, the remnants of our lives, our gratitude and our attention, when we should
be doing, giving, showing so much more?
The old Jewish writers tell us of a certain
avaricious Rabbi who was very anxious to invest his wealth to the best
advantage. A friend undertook to do this for him. One day the Rabbi asked the
name of the investment from which he was assured he would receive the highest
interest. His friend answered, “I have given all your money to the poor.”[1]
God makes an investment in each of us every
single moment of every day, in every single note of every song we sing, in
every single cent of every dollar we have. How important, how eternally
important, it is for us, if we are truly children of the light, to live not for
today in this world, but for tomorrow in the next.
Today is a basket of ripe summer fruit; it
will not last. Tomorrow is the hope of heaven, and the owner of it all will ask
for an accounting of our management. We have Jesus to teach us about being good
stewards of his church and our hearts—both of which call for prudence.
“Prudence is in [man] what providence is in
Almighty God. Its great characteristic is that it keeps its eye on what is
coming; it looks forward to the future that really awaits us.
Be Silent; hear
this: If we live our lives for God, if we practice our faith truthfully before
God, God will not give us the sweepings of wheat that we rightfully deserve but
will gladly bestow the riches of his heaven. Thanks be to God for the sweet
wheat of salvation! Amen.
September 22, 2013
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
