Readings: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, 1 Timothy 2:1-7 & Luke 16:1-13

How do we live faithfully in a world in which violence, injustice, hunger, disaster and poverty are everyday occurrences?  What place does compassion have in our lives?  How do we reconcile our comparative wealth with the poverty of much of the world?  How do we reconcile the wealth of the society in which we live, given the policies of our government?  How do we make moral and ethical decisions?  We know as Christians that our relationship with God belongs in every part of our lives.  Yet how difficult it is to live that out authentically.  It takes vision and courage to see how to bring our faith perspective into every part of our lives.  

It is not, by any means a new struggle.  Jeremiah struggled with those very issues.  He saw what was happening in his society, idolatry, violence, suffering.  He was desolate.  “Is there no balm in Gilead?” he cried out.  

We may have reasons in our personal lives to cry out in the same way, whether it be because of pain, illness or loss.  There are certainly reasons in society – war, terrorism, violence, destruction, natural disaster.  The life of Jeremiah speaks to us across the ages, “Take care of what is happening in society.”  It is the call to be good stewards of all that God has created. 

Jesus tells a story about a steward.  The master summons him.  “Give me an accounting of your management.  You can’t be my manager any longer.”  We are not privy to what has happened.  He may have been dishonest, bilking the owner.  At any rate, he finds himself in a bind.  He needs the patronage of his wealthy client.  He finds a crafty way of wriggling out of his difficulties.  Calling his master’s debtors one by one, he asks them, “How much do you owe?” He directs them to pay a portion of the amount.  He knows that his master will have to honour the changes.  Otherwise he faces the dilemma of either appearing incompetent for employing a crooked manger, or the possibility of being seen as untrustworthy.  Naturally the master commends him for his shrewdness.  

What is our Lord trying to teach us?  Is it really right to do something dishonest to get what you need?  The manager took responsibility for his actions.  He didn’t cast around for someone to blame.  His actions show foresight, resourcefulness, energy, initiative, all the qualities of a good manager.   

Shrewdness and decisiveness are qualities that Jesus wants us to have as disciples.   There is no room for disciples who cannot make a total commitment.  To be faithful to the gospel will mean boldness, it will mean leaving the way of the world and following Christ no matter what.   

Whatever message this passage is meant to convey, we need to recognize that we have a responsibility to care for God's creation.  We may consider that there is nothing that we can do to change the way things happen in our world.  What can one person do? So many outside factors influence our personal decisions – teachers, bosses, the government, even advertising.   How do we live faithfully with the great responsibility that God has given us?  

I can imagine the conversation that might take place between God and any one of us Canadians. "Give me an accounting of what you have been doing, of how you have been using the resources I gave into your care. You are squandering the beautiful country I provided for you.  Its sparkling rivers are polluted.  The blue skies are filled with smoke.  The air is unfit to breathe.  While much of the world starves, you leave a trail of garbage behind you wherever you go.  Every day an animal that I created becomes extinct. You can no longer be my manager."  

What truths need to be emphasized in our community of faith?  What new ways can our community find to act decisively on the truth we are experiencing?   How can we be clever in managing what God has given into our care?   

It begins with making changes in our spiritual life, becoming a praying community.  Timothy’s letter is a plea to pray for everyone, for people in high places, for government officials.  We somehow get the notion that in prayer we enter another realm.  Prayer is deeply connected to the issues and concerns of the world.  Otherwise there is no empowerment in it.  The world is constantly in need of prayer.  We often make assumptions about people in public life that they are not people in whom the spirit of Christ lives.  The spirit of Christ presents itself in surprising ways, in unexpected places and people.  Our prayers prepare us to be instruments of God’s grace in our needy world. 

I have the joy and privilege of being an Associate of the Sisters of St. John the Divine.  That is a powerful praying community.  They know what is going on in the world.   Prayer is at the heart of that community.  The Prayers of the People in their community is like praying with a newspaper in your hand.  And it is wonderful. 

At our Wednesday morning Eucharist we pray for the needs of our community.  We take Sunday’s prayer list and pray for all of the individuals on that list.  I know that I personally feel strengthened and energized by that service.  I trust that it is making a difference in our community.  What power would we unleash in Mississauga if we undertook as a parish to pray for one another every day?  What changes would take place if we were to pray for this church every day trusting in God to meet our needs, to help us to grow and reach out to our community? 

To be a good stewards requires living with vision and courage.  It requires remaining faithful to our calling and closely connected to God.  It means knowing God in the same way as the manager knew the master.  It means putting as much effort into our spiritual life as we willingly put into everything else.  It means willingly investing our time, talents and wealth in the affairs of God.    Do we use our wealth and our talents to further God's work?  Do we use our skills and God given intelligence to live as Christians in the real world?  It means supporting the work of the church. 

And finally it involves living in harmony with all that God has created.  How can we be clever in managing the world God has given into our care?  Do we even know what wonderful resources God has provided for our use?  We North Americans are so wasteful.  I was struck when I travelled in Africa by how carefully people manage water.  What we take for granted is for them a most precious resource.  Not a drop of water goes to waste.  The water that cleans the dishes is recycled to wash the floor.  They collect rainwater and dole it out to water the garden.  There is so much that we need to consider about whom we hurt by the lavish way in which we live. 

When it comes down to it, being shrewd about managing God’s world is what really matters.  We get so involved in divisive issues, in splitting theological hairs, in judging who is right and who is wrong, that we lose sight of our call.  Are we about to be dismissed as mere wasters of God’s gifts?  Or will we take stewardship in every sense of the word to heart?