Wealth and the Kingdom
The strongest and the core of the teachings of prophet Amos was justice especially economic justice. He lived in a time where the rich were not only oppressing and exploiting the poor but also using them as objects to become richer and richer. Amos was told by God that the Israelites are going to face divine intervention as oppression was running rampant in Israel and were practicing religiosity without righteousness, that is, by oppressing the poor and failing to practice justice the Israelites were behaving unrighteous.
That is why in today's first reading Amos is warning those rich who trample upon the needy and destroy the poor of the land and in turn think that since they are following the law, it is enough. Their wealth had become a block to their religiosity and serving God, they were serving their wealth instead. Good use of our wealth should be of helping the needy and the poor not to oppress them and use them as means. Are we not seeing these things today? Well God says, "Never will I forget a thing they have done!" and Jesus also clearly tells us today that we cannot serve God and mammon. Whom do you choose to serve? God or Mammon? “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Josh. 24:15)
Jesus emphasizing the teaching on how to use our wealth well, he uses the parable of the shrewd servant. After a dishonest servant had mishandled his master's property, he was told that he would be removed from his job. With a deep and shrewd reflection, he thinks how his future would be with his job, and then decides to act wisely. He reduced the debts of the other servants so that they will welcome him after he had been stripped off his job. The master praised him for acting shrewdly for he used wealth to win friends for himself who would help him in the furure. However, Jesus' last words are quite emotional, that the children of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light. What is the message of this parable?
Jesus did not praise the dishonest servant because of mishandling his master's property but because of acting shrewdly for his future after he has lost his job. The first message of this Gospel is therefore about how to spend money to the best advantage of others! The danger and encumbrance of wealth is such that inventiveness and energy is needed in using it to win friends in heaven, otherwise, wealth can make us lose heaven. Jesus is always challenging the rich but then in this parable, he teaches us that we can use our wealth well to make friends for heaven, for if we use our money to do good works, help the poor, do charity and do the will of God, we are not only making friends here in early but also determining our eternal life in heaven.
Secondly, we notice a tinge of sadness in our Lord’s comment, “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than the children of light.’’ In other words, people strive more intensely for the things of this world than his followers do in pursuit of the kingdom of God. The children of the world engage their intellect, will, and imagination to gain wealth, popularity, power, and comfort. They know what they want, and they pursue it. While the object they pursue is ephemeral, the intensity with which they pursue it is admirable. Our Lord wants to see his followers live with that same intensity. In the Book of Revelation he says, “I wish you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16). Jesus wants us to be shrewd in acting and living for the kingdom of God. Just as the dishonest servant acted in a shrewd way to secure his future after the job, we should also act in such a way that we gain eternal life after our departure from this earth. The original meaning of "shrewdness" is "foresight". A shrewd person grasps a critical future with resolution, foresight, and the determination to avoid serious loss or disaster. How are you being shrewd in working for your future and the kingdom of God?
For us Christians, faith and prudent foresight can save us from moral and spiritual disaster. If all Christians would only expend as much foresight and energy to spiritual matters, which have eternal consequences, as they do to earthly matters which have temporal consequences, then they would be truly better off, both in this life and in the age to come.
Reflect today on your shrewdness in acting so that you may gain eternal life in heaven. Do you use your wealth and money to make friends for yourself, or it is used for your selfish desire. Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you that wisdom and shrewdness so that you shall pass in this world successively.
Let us Pray
Lord Jesus, all that I have is a gift from you. May I love you freely and generously with all that I possess. Help me to be a wise and faithful steward of the resources you put at my disposal, including the use of my time, money, and possessions. Amen
Be blessed.
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