Money is a hard thing to discuss as a Christian. On the one hand, it is something that is very hard to live without. I don't want to say that it is absolutely necessary, but without it, it would be very difficult to provide food, shelter, medicine, clothing, or other real necessities for ourselves and our families. Money is also good for doing things for fun and relaxation: like a family vacation or doing a favorite pastime on a weekend. People also want enough money to save up for retirement. On the other hand money and the pursuit of wealth can quickly turn into an idol for people. Our desire for money becomes more important than our desire for a deeper faith or our desire for Heaven. Besides that, we are all going to die some day, and as the old saying goes, you can't take it with you. So for Christians, the issue is finding a balance when it comes to money and what to do with it. We need money to get by on this Earth, but we don't want it to rule us either.
It is that balance that Jesus is talking about with the parable and other explanatory pieces in the Gospel today. Jesus wants us to find a proper balance when it comes to wealth and to use our finances and other resources for a higher good. He starts out his teaching with the parable that we just heard. I don't know if others think this same way as I do, but whenever I read this parable, it always seems to me to be a little troubling. When we get to the end of the parable and we hear about how this dishonest steward is commended by his master for having acted so prudently, it almost sounds like Jesus is telling us to act dishonestly just as the steward did. Can you imagine if we all started going down to the local banks and started changing people's promissory notes? “Oh, I see you owe $10,000. Well let's make that $5,000. No no! It's okay, Jesus told me to do this. It's alright!” Obviously, it doesn't make any sense that Jesus would have us do something like that.
The point that Jesus is making is that we are to be prudent like the steward, even though his actions may be considered morally wrong. The steward realized that he was about to loose his job, and so he comes up with the idea of lowering the amounts that his master's debtors owed. By doing this, he was taking away the interest that would have been tacked on to what was originally borrowed. So the one who owed 100 measures of olive oil originally only got 50 measures from the rich master, but with interest he owed 100. By lowering this man's debt, he is trying to make friends so he would have somewhere to go when he lost his job. Now, the problem is that this dishonest steward is basically giving away his masters money. That interest was supposed to go to the master. But what Jesus is trying to point out is that even though the steward's actions were dishonest, he was taking prudent action when faced with a crisis, namely losing his job. What we are to learn from this parable is not the stealing and dishonest financial management, but the steward's prudent and decisive action to prepare for his future.
Jesus sums up the so-called moral of the story in this way, “For the children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Jesus is saying that the people who are of the world (that is, not the people who focus on Christ) know how to use their resources to their advantage. They know how to get ahead in this world. Those who Christians need to learn how to use their resources to their advantage as well, but instead of getting ahead in the present world, we want to be able to enter into the life to come: Heaven. Jesus then continues, “I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” All wealth can cause distractions from what is holy and good; it is of this world and not of Heaven. I'm sure that is why Jesus refers to it as “dishonest wealth”. But if we use that wealth to make friends, if we use it to help those in need, like the poor or the sick or those experiencing difficulties; if we use it for something good and holy, then we are using it for a much higher purpose.
So why is this helping of the poor any advantage to us? I mean, why does it help us to get into Heaven? For one thing, it's kind of common sense. The poor and others who are badly off are, not surprisingly, at a great disadvantage; not only because the have no money and can't do the things they want to do. The rich literally control everything. They set the price on everything and really decide who gets the money. The prophet Amos warns in the first reading about those who are rich and take advantage of the poor. Not only do they charge high prices on things, but they even cheat the poor by decreasing the amount of grain that they claim they are selling. They also rig their scales to their advantage and sell the refuse along with the grain. Amos is warning them that God is not going to forget that they did this to the poor and that He is going to punish them for it. God clearly doesn't want us cheating those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
We are called then to use our wealth, our money, our resources, and our talents for the good of those around us, not just to make our lives comfortable. If we go back to the day's Gospel, we hear further how this will get us to eternal life. “The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones.” So if you show that you can use your gifts here on Earth wisely, you will be given more in the life to come. You will be rewarded.
So the point is very simple: use the gifts and resources that you have been given for the good. That might mean, giving money to charities and giving to the Church. It means giving of our time and talent as well. We might as well use it for something. Jesus points out that you can't “serve both God and mammon”. That means if we hold on to our money as well as our talents and abilities, we will be distracted from doing God's will. This doesn't mean we can enjoy these things for ourselves, but it does mean we need to find the balance and help those truly in need.
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