Approximately 800 years before Jesus lived a man named Amos. He was an illiterate farmer from the kingdom of Judah in the south of the Holy Land. He went into the halls of power of the kingdom of Israel to proclaim the message of challenge to those in leadership positions as well as the wealthy. Rampant was injustice and exploitation. The marginal were being treated with disdain. Greed was a value rampant in the land. It was in this environment that Amos spoke this challenge and message.
Two main ideas come out of this section of the letter to Timothy. First the community of believers is to pray for the political leaders especially that they will govern with justice and fairness. The second message has to do with how the members of the community are to deal with one another. They are to join their hands and hearts in prayers for one another and not raise their hands or fists in anger towards one another.
The parable of the enterprising manager points out the resourcefulness of one who wants to provide for his future. The ingenuity of those driven by power and money serves them well in time of uncertainty. We as followers of the Lord are also to use our ingenuity when it comes to living lives of faithfulness to God. How thorough and resourceful are we in living our beliefs?
Forbes magazine this past week listed the 400 wealthiest people in the world. Everyone who made the list was a billionaire. There were some billionaires who did not make it. They just did not have enough millions. Remember the days when to be a millionaire was considered the ultimate in wealth? Now we talk about billionaires. Most of would think billionaires are people who would be consider to have power. We read about politicians or heads of corporations and we think that many of them have power. We know those who pilot airplanes or are part of law enforcement or the justice system have power or those skilled in medicine. They can exercise influence in areas where the rest of us are powerless. When we were growing up we thought that parent, teachers, coaches even pastors had power that most of us lacked.
When we hear about the wiles of the manager in this gospel we are hard pressed to acknowledge the area any of us have power and influence to make a difference. Yet I wonder if we don’t think about the power and control we have because that could let us off the hook when situations present themselves for us to be enterprising when it comes to the issues of Faith.
Allow me to offer some area where we are in deed masters of the situation. We could exercise power if indeed we were enterprising in the ways of the Lord. Think of time. We will live the rest of our lives in time. What we do with that time is entirely in our control. We can waste it. We can use it for nonsense. We can horde it all for ourselves. We also can live our time on behalf of other. We can spend time listening to the heartaches and worries of family, or friends or even of someone we do not particularly fancy. If we see ourselves as the manager of all the hours and days and weeks and years that we have how will we mange it or spend it? Where do others come in when we spend our time? Are we enterprising with our time?
The ability to tell someone that we forgive them is an indication of the control we have over others when they have failed us or betrayed us. Within our control is the ability to forgive. How stingy and reluctant are we to forgive others? How willing are we to let go of our anger and let the past go so that we can set another free from our anger. One of the perks of forgiving another is that we do not just set them free from our anger we also set ourselves free from our own prison of bitterness. We in fact are stewards of mercy towards another. Are we lavish in our forgiveness or are we miserly? Dare we be enterprising on behalf of our relationship with God and one another?
I have often heard individual identify the three most important gifts in their life are Faith in God, family and friends. All of us cherish the blessing of having good friends and being a good friend. Friends have a way of putting up with us when others object or take offense. Friends allow us the space to be ourselves even when we are not perfect or especially enjoyable. They know our faults and not withstanding those faults they love us anyway. Friends can be very understanding.
As much as we love having friend and the company of friends how eager are we to be friends to others to strangers to enemies? How often do we seek out the company of another who we may not know or particularly admire? Yet we see and know about their loneliness and isolation. Do we only share the gifts of friendship and understanding with those who will understand us and be our friends. The ingenuity of those who the gospel identifies as other worldly is referring to those of us who live a vision of the Gospel. Yet how resourceful are we in giving friendship, time, patience and forgiveness to others.
Those who pursue wealth, fame and power make many sacrifices to safeguard what they have. They squirrel favors away for another time. They serve their master well. We have been called to serve another master, the Lord. Sometimes sadly how they serve their master puts us to shame as to how we serve the Lord.
Homily preached at the 8:00
Liturgy Sunday, September 23, 2007
Reverend William D. Mannion
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