"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."(Luke 16:13 NIV)
How many of us have ever tried to work two jobs in order to make the ends meet? If you have, have you ever had a conflict in the schedule between the two? It can be a real problem, can’t it?
I remember one time when I was working for a bottling company in the summer of 2000. It was my summer job until school would be starting up and soon I would be back to teaching school. However, I knew it would take a few weeks before the subbing would pick up so I thought I would stay on for another month or so.
Well my supervisor did not quite understand what I was doing. I worked 3rd shift which meant I worked until 7 AM then I would go home get changed and go back to the school to work. I did this for about 3 weeks, and quickly I found that it was taking its toll on my body. I thought it would be no problem going from one job to another.
However each night it got harder and harder, especially when the subbing picked up. On one particular morning, I was driving home down US Highway 34; I had just passed through a town into where it became a very busy two lane highway. Suddenly I realized I was dreaming, while I was driving. I awoke to find myself heading straight for a semi truck. I swerved and got back into my lane just in time. It was then that I decided to tell my supervisor I was quitting for the year.
In our Gospel reading for today we see a similar situation, we see a man who is really divided between two masters. We are never told how or what this man actually did as far as wasting the master possessions. However we can make a couple of assumptions. For one Jesus, makes the statement at the end of the reading; “You cannot serve both God and Money."(Luke 16:13b NIV).
The first assumption is that it had to do something with the master’s wealth. Maybe the servant made some bad investments or trades on behalf of the master. The other idea we could imagine is maybe he had embezzled the money to cover a gambling debt. That idea I would have to doubt since, he is never accused of stealing. He is accused of wasting away the possessions.
Well what ever happened, the man was chastised for his doings. This man put his own needs and actions above the work he was doing for his master. He had even let it his work become lax, causing his master’s business to falter.
This is not something that happened only in the past is it? It still happens each and every day, even in today’s world. It happens with work, marriage, family, as well as our relationship with God. Many people find themselves stretched and serving more than one master.
That seems to be the norm in our nation rather than the exception. We often find ourselves juggling much more than we can handle at one time. It is not only us as adults who do this, our children end up doing the same thing. How many of kids do you know spend the most part of their summer vacations running from ball game to ball game?
And if it is not just a ball game, its some club or dance, or some other activity. This not only has an effect on their school work, more over it has an effect on their home and spiritual lives as well.
For me as a pastor, the whole concept of the AAU games on Sundays is a travesty. For example, some of you may be aware that the AAU girls have a regional tournament on Palm Sunday, while the boys have a basketball tournament on Easter weekend. This pulls a family in all sorts of directions
While I feel the church should not legislate, Sunday as an official day of worship. I do feel it is the parents of these children’s responsibility to stand up and try to change the way things are done. In fact some of the student’s have done this;
A young man from Ida Grove, Iowa was playing AAU basketball. He was one the teams star players. Well the National AAU Basketball Tournament was being held in Oklahoma City, OK on the Easter weekend. This young man decided he would rather go to church on Easter morning rather than attend the tournament. His coach and others told him he would be making a big mistake. There would be scouts from all over the country there. It would be a very important step in his career.
The young man stuck by his decision for he felt God was much more important in his life. He knew God would be there for him long after the AAU had been. He knew that honoring God, the one who gave him the ability to play, was far more important that any tournament.
Another aspect I noticed about the manager in this parable came in the Jesus’ words about being trustworthy in small things as well as big. This makes me wonder if this manager was not a very good with paperwork and basic day to day management of things. Moreover he seemed to concern himself with the “big” things more than the little.
The reason I believe this is, look at what he does after the Master demotes him. What is the first thing he does, after he realizes manual labor and begging are out? He calls on all those that owe his master a debt, right? He goes right to work on behalf of his master and works out ways for the debtors to pay back part of what they owe the master.
You see when this man realized his livelihood was in danger. When he realized that he wasn’t doing all he could for his master, he went into crisis mode and did the work he had let go so that he could be back in the good graces of the master.
I see many people who behave the same way, especially during tragedy or a family crisis. For most of their lives they do their own thing. Maybe they go to church, when there isn’t something else to do. For the most part they live their lives completely separate from the congregation, and most importantly from God. They most likely do not pray, rarely if ever open the Bible, and lastly they may or may not even believe that God exists, as more than just some benevolent ball of love, who really has nothing to do with our daily lives. Lastly they feel that if they live their life, and do some good deeds they’ll go to Heaven.
Then bang, something tragic happens in life, a tragic death in the family, a serious illness, or even a national disaster. It is then that some people suddenly feel a need to reach out and find God. Just like the manager who felt a need regain his stature with his master. These people suddenly seek out God to give them the reassurance they need in a world gone mad with the unknown.
For example the George Barna Group reported in August of 2006 that
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, half of all Americans said their faith helped them cope with the shock and uncertainty. The change most widely reported was a significant spike in church attendance, with some churches experiencing more than double their normal crowd on the Sunday after the shocking event. However, by the time January 2002 rolled around, churchgoing was back to pre-attack levels, and has remained consistent in the five years since.
Other religious behaviors, if they were affected at all, found equilibrium even more quickly. As of October 2001, Americans’ engagement in Bible reading and prayer was no different than pre-attack levels and has been essentially consistent from that point on. (The Barna Update:August 28th, 2006).
You see that immediately following this disaster people felt they were in imminent danger. They needed to get “right with God” but once the danger had passed they went back to their regular lives.
Once the crisis as over with the manager did he return to his ways? That we do not know. What we do know is the Master forgave him and showed him praise for bringing honor back to the Master.
This is the same with God, we from time to time forget who our real Master is. Sometimes we need a reminder, of whom we are subject too.
You see there is much more to this parable, than a warning about trying to do too much at one time. There is redemption for the manager. He has been given another chance to serve the master. He has found his purpose, his ministry again.
That’s how it is with us, just when we find ourselves trying to do too much at one time. When we are trying to cover all the bases and allowing ourselves to be spread to thin, whether it is by school, work, hobbies, or activities. Remember when the Lord becomes the focus of our lives, when we put our faith and trust in the direction he leads us, all those other issues seem meaningless.
In the end it comes down to what you think is most important to whom do you owe your loyalty - to God or yourself and your desires. As Jesus said;
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other,...
Luann and I have a banner hanging on the wall in our living room, which is embroidered with a picture of a house on it. At the bottom of the banner is a verse, which is a wonderful verse to live our lives by. It is from Joshua 24:15, which basically states, “Choose you this day whom you will serve……but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.
That is my prayer for everyone in our communities, that they will choose to put aside all other masters, and focus on serving the only master that matters, Our Lord God. Amen.
