Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn lived at the time when Soviet communism sought to harness human engineering to create a new society. The goal was to develop a new kind of human being. Greedy, competitive and alienated individualists were to be transformed into co-operative and generous altruists. Capitalist men and women were to be changed into a socialist society.

Even before the fall of the USSR, Solzhenitsyn concluded the experiment had failed. It suggests that dreams of a better world and a better life based on human invention and force will founder. But let me suggest that we don’t have to despair. A ray of light shines in the darkness of our world.

Come with me to an unexpected encounter that changed a wealthy money-grabber into a benevolent philanthropist. The man’s life was changed more rapidly and more radically than even Karl Marx would have believed possible. We read about it in Luke chapter 19, verses 1 through 10.

Zacchaeus was very rich, yet his wealth didn’t earn him respect. In fact, the reverse was his experience: he was a social outcast. He was a chief tax collector.

Jewish tax collectors were regarded as traitors because the money they collected went to the treasury in Rome. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, it was reckoned that 99% were crooked.

But there seems to have been something appealing about Zacchaeus. Short in stature, there was a touch of humorous eccentricity about him. And this was evident when Jesus of Nazareth came to town.

As do celebrities today, Jesus drew huge crowds wherever he went. Zacchaeus wanted to see him but, pushed back by the crowd, he discovered he couldn’t. Thinking outside the box, he climbed a tree.

We easily miss the incongruity of the scene. Here was Zacchaeus, an eminent, affluent public servant, shinning up a tree to get a look at the man who, himself, was considered an outsider by the elite. Zacchaeus risked being ridiculed by the crowd.

What prompted Zacchaeus? Curiosity?  He certainly wanted to see the celebrated miracle-working teacher from the north. People have always been attracted to celebrities and heroes, and encounters with Jesus often begin like that — curiosity about a celebrity.

But consider what happened: When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down; for I must stay at your house today’ (Luke 19:5).

We can only imagine how startled Zacchaeus must have felt. It was a critical moment. He didn’t expect this. How would he react? He hurried and came down and received him joyfully (19:6).

Perhaps it was more than curiosity that prompted Zacchaeus to climb the tree that day. He may have felt growing regret over his lifestyle.

Over the years in ministry, I’ve encountered people like this. They find life doesn’t turn out as expected — a broken marriage; difficult children; money ill-spent; a lost reputation. They feel trapped. But they know they can’t turn the clock back.

Zacchaeus may have felt this sense of despair. But maybe he’d heard how Jesus had changed other people’s lives – Matthew, another tax-collector, for example. Whatever prompted him, Zacchaeus jumped out of the tree and without a moment’s hesitation took Jesus in for lunch.

It was a life-changing moment, for clearly Jesus impressed Zacchaeus. So much so that during the meal Zacchaeus stood up and said, ‘Behold Lord, the half of my goods, I give to the poor;  and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold’ (Luke 19:8).

Zacchaeus’ promises are specific and immediate. There’s no fabrication. We can almost hear him turning the key in the lock of his safe. Meeting Jesus led this self-centered wealthy, but probably lonely man to a radical change within. He turned away from greed and revealed compassion for the poor and powerless. He also demonstrated a sense of justice.

What caused the change? Zacchaeus suddenly understood who Jesus really was: he called him ‘Lord’. This was more than a courtesy title. He knew he was in the presence of greatness.

In his work Zacchaeus would have experienced the deceitfulness of human nature in paying their taxes, and the dishonesty of tax-collectors in collecting taxes. He now knew he was in the presence of someone who could see right through deception and fraud. Jesus was the one man with whom you had to be completely honest.

There’s a transparency and humility about Zacchaeus’ reaction. His awakened conscience had led to his heartfelt repentance.

‘Today salvation has come to this house…’ Jesus said (Luke 19:9). It wasn’t good works or making amends for past wrongs; it wasn’t his generosity to the poor, that saved Zacchaeus. Rather it was his personal encounter with Jesus and his genuine repentance.

It was a significant moment: a man’s life was transformed. It’s the kind of transformation that politicians try to achieve through economic and other strategies. Revolutionaries use a gun. Jesus did it by inviting himself to lunch.

You may be thinking this kind of change can’t really take place in our world today. But consider Jesus’ further words: ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham’ (19:9b). Because of his repentance and the evidence of that repentance, Zacchaeus, formerly an ‘outsider’ was now an ‘insider’ in his relationship with God and his people – he could now be called a true son of Abraham.

Significantly Jesus goes to the heart of the reason for his coming: ‘For the Son of man came to seek out and to save the lost’ (19:10).

Let’s think about this. From God’s perspective every one of us is lost. Created to know and love God and enjoy him forever, we have all succumbed to self-worship: we fail to love him first. However, God didn’t reduce us to the particles and dust from which he had formed us. Rather, he spoke to one man, Abraham, and made three promises: ‘I will give you a land’; ‘I will make your name great’; and ‘I will bless all the nations through you’ (Genesis 12:2-3).

The history of Abraham’s family and their dealing with God is not a pretty one, but God persisted. He had a plan, and at the right time came amongst us in person. It was this God/man whom Zacchaeus encountered. Jesus came into the world to awaken us and rescue us, by laying down his own life so that we might enjoy life in all its fullness now and forever.

When we know Jesus, we will want to fall on our knees in repentance and love. In turn we will surely also want to find ways to arouse the curiosity of others – perhaps inviting them to coffee – so that we can introduce them to him too.

A prayer. Almighty and eternal God, grant that we may grow in faith, hope, and love; especially make us love what you command so that we may obtain what you have promised; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

You may like to listen to Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – One-time gift here.

In Mere Christianity CS Lewis comments, ‘According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride…. It was through Pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind’.

Consider Jesus’ parable recorded in Luke chapter 18, from verse 9: He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector”.

In Jesus’ day the Jewish people considered tax-collectors traitors and thieves – traitors, because they were employed by the Romans; thieves, because they took a percentage of all taxes they collected. Yet the Pharisees at that time were regarded as exemplary, morally upright people.

The context of the parable suggests that the two men had gone to the temple for either the morning or the afternoon ritual sacrifice. Yes, both offer their own prayers during the service, but it seems this was customary at the time the priest was offering the sacrificial lamb.

Religion. It seems that the Pharisee stood at the front of the temple, apart from the main body of the congregation. This is consistent with the content and tone of his prayer. Reckoning he was righteous before God he considered himself superior to everyone else.

Indeed, in his self-conceit he didn’t pray for the tax-collector but rather prayed so that the tax-collector might hear him: “God, I thank you that I’m not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers or even like that tax collector” (18:11). He moved from what he no doubt considered to be the general sins of his fellow-worshippers to a ruthless denigration of the tax-collector.

And he did not stop there, but outlined his own credentials: he fasted twice a week – whereas the Law required fasting only once a year (on the Day of Atonement); he gave ten percent of all he earned – this too was beyond the Law’s requirements.

Despite all of this the Pharisee, Jesus tells us, had a very real problem: he had the outward form of religion but no personal relationship with God.

Relationship. Jesus’ story does not stop here: “But the tax collector, standing far off would not even look up to heaven” (18:13). Standing, as was the Jewish custom, the tax collector was at the back of the temple. He was under no illusion about his moral and spiritual condition. There’s no self-congratulation: rather, he beat his breast.

There are only two places in the New Testament where people ‘beat their breast’ – here and in Luke 23:48, where men and women went away from the scene of Jesus’ crucifixion. Only in times of deep emotional stress and grief would people, men especially, beat their breast. Clearly the tax collector was aware that his broken relationship with God was real and that it arose from deep within his heart. Elsewhere Jesus identifies the heart as the seat of all human sin (Mark 7: 21-23).

We can imagine his words bursting out in gasps expressing his inner torture: “‘God be merciful to me, a sinner!’”  He felt as if he were the only sinner in the universe.

There is something else significant: merciful here is not the usual Greek word. Have mercy on me is normally, eleeson me (as in Luke 18:38). Here the wording is literally, God, make an atonement for me…! It is a reference to the sacrifice of atonement.

The tax collector very specifically asks that God will turn away his just anger through a sacrifice of atonement (or propitiation) so that he might be forgiven. Unlike the Pharisee, this man knows that his only hope is to throw himself totally upon God and God’s heart of mercy. Mercy is the only thing he knew he could ask for.

Jesus’ concluding comment is breath-taking and would have shocked his first hearers: “I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted” (18:14). The tax collector’s prayer is the kind of prayer God hears.

Significantly there is a change in the order as the two men walk away from the temple. The tax-collector now leads the way. He is the one who is justified.

Justify is the language of the law courts and is central to the Apostle Paul’s teaching about salvation. Significantly it is found first on the lips of Jesus. The tax collector is reckoned righteous in the same way that a judge declares or acquits an accused person of charges against them.

Kenneth Bailey comments: ‘For centuries the Church debated whether the sacraments have an automatic effect on the believer irrespective of their spiritual state. Here in this simple parable we already have an answer, and the answer is no!’ (Bailey, Peasant Eyes, p.155)

The parable goes to the heart of our relationship with God. And this includes our attitude when we attend church. It is only when we come into God’s presence honestly and with a repentant heart, that God in his mercy declares us pardoned and absolved of our sins. Yet, how often when we go to church do we leave with the same mindset with which we came? Our pride and self-worship have not been challenged by the Scriptures stirring us to confess our true state before God.

The tax collector had gone to the temple that day because he knew he needed a relationship with God. He knew he was unworthy of any good thing from God. The encouraging news is that God always hears and answers the honest and humble prayers that come from our heart.

It is so easy to be proud of our good works, thinking they give us credit with God when compared with the seemingly godless lives of others. We forget it is not religion that God wants of us but relationship.

A prayer. Almighty and everlasting God, look with mercy on our infirmities; and in all our dangers and necessities stretch out your right hand to help us and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

You may like to listen to In Christ Alone from Keith and Kristyn Getty

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – One-time gift here.

Prayer is a very special privilege for the people of God. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we do?

Come with me to the parable in Luke chapter 18, verses 1 through 9. It is about a powerful judge and a powerless widow. Because women at the time often married much older men, many were widowed and ill-provided for; they were vulnerable to exploitation.

The widow here seems to have been unjustly treated over a property or financial matter. A relative may not have passed on her rightful inheritance.

But her problem didn’t stop there. Her case was being heard by a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man (18:2). Every society knows powerful people like this. The Jewish historian, Josephus, observed that King Jehoiakim was ‘Neither reverent towards God nor fair towards human beings’ (Antiquities 10.5,20).

The judge in the parable is either unjust or dishonest, or both. He seems more interested in money than morality. What hope did this poor, powerless woman have? We can imagine the stillness amongst Jesus hearers as the drama unfolded, asking themselves, ‘What would I have done?’

The scene is dramatic and unexpected: The widow kept coming to him’ (18:3). She used the only weapon she had – persistence. ‘Grant me justice against my opponent’ (18:3) she insists.

For a while the judge acts true to form: he does nothing. But in time he relents, not because he is a changed man but because of her perseverance: ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone,…’ he says (18:4).

The words no respect are significant. Kenneth Bailey comments that ‘Middle Eastern traditional culture is a shame/pride culture. That is, a particular pattern of social behavior is encouraged by appeals to shame’ (Bailey, Peasant Eyes, p.132).

Whereas the judge should have felt shame about the way he treated the widow, he didn’t. No appeal of goodness or mercy could be made to him on behalf of the destitute woman. Money may be one thing that persuades him… or is it? His soliloquy continues, “Yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming” (18:5).

The woman is persistent, and the judge realizes she will not give up. Indeed, her perseverance provokes this powerful, corrupt man to bring about justice: he not only hears her case, he settles it in her favor.

Jesus comments: “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God vindicate his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will vindicate them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (18:6-8)

The word delay literally means patience. It’s a word in the New Testament especially linked to God’s act of salvation, such as we find in 1 Timothy 1:16 and 1 Peter 3:20. In each instance the stress is on the long-suffering nature of God’s patience in dealing with us.

Two commentators, Bailey and Horst, observe that the sentence, Will he delay long over them is not a question but rather a statement, better translated, He is also slow to anger over them. All of us are sinners. None of us either through our efforts or because of who we are, can claim God’s kindness, let alone his vindication of us. We are totally dependent on his mercy.

This is key to understanding the parable. To paraphrase Kenneth Bailey (Through Peasant Eyes, p.139), God’s people ‘are sinners, not sinless saints. If God is not willing put aside his anger towards us, we can’t approach him in prayer. We dare not call out for vindication lest, as the prophet Amos warns, the Day of the Lord is a day of darkness, not light (Amos 5:18-20). To seek vindication does not make us righteous’

It is only because God is long-suffering and patient that he will be slow to anger towards those who persist in calling on him and throwing themselves and their needs upon his mercy.

Through this parable Jesus brings our attention to profound and encouraging themes about prayer. In the face of life’s uncertainties, he wants us to know that we can and should pray. Persistence in our prayer invites God’s long-suffering patience and mercy towards us.

God is not capricious but is a loving, compassionate Father who will vindicate our cause. He will do this, not because we deserve it, but because he is merciful. While we will delight in seeing the perfect manifestation of this on the final day, we can also be assured that there will be times when God will vindicate us in our present life’s experience.

We can be confident that God is at work in the drama of human history and in our lives, bringing his good purposes to pass, including the final vindication of his people.

So, Jesus asks you and me about our prayer and our trust: When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The real issue is not with God’s willingness to answer our prayers but with our refusal to ask.

So why don’t we pray? Is it because God doesn’t seem to answer our prayer? Is it because we have been swayed by our culture and think of prayer as a psychologically therapeutic exercise, making the pray-er feel better, but having little other effect?

Or is it because we think that God will do what he wants anyway, whether or not we pray? If that’s what we think, we misunderstand Jesus and what the New Testament says elsewhere. Prayer is a powerful gift God has given to us – not because of the prayer itself, but because we are praying to the great King of the universe. God has given us the privilege of being caught up with his purposes in the world. Why don’t we pray more consistently than we do?

A prayer. Almighty God, creator of all things and giver of every good and perfect gift, hear with favor the prayers of your people, so that we who are justly punished for our offences may mercifully be delivered by your goodness, for the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

You may like to listen to the hymn, Holy Spirit Fall Living Breath of God from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – One-time gift here.

One of the many things that impressed Judith and me on moving to the United States was the Thanksgiving holiday. In November 2001, we were invited to a Thanksgiving meal by a family in the city. Towards the end of the meal our hosts invited everyone around the table to name one thing that had happened during the year for which they were thankful. Everyone had a story to tell, especially as we had all experienced 9/11 in New York City. What special encouragement it was to look back together and thank the Lord for the good things he does in our lives.

Every year just before Thanksgiving, the local news includes a segment with a reporter asking children what they are thankful for.

In Luke chapter 17, verse 11 we red that Jesus was in the border area between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered an unnamed village ten lepers began shouting out.

Outcasts. We can imagine the scene. Outcasts of society because of their infectious disease, they were compelled by law to live beyond the fringes of the town. Coming as near as they dared, they tried to attract Jesus’ attention, calling out, not specifically for healing, but for mercy – charis (17:12-13).

The words, when he saw them, suggest that there was a time delay before Jesus noticed them. This is another detail indicating the authenticity of Luke’s report. The simplicity of Jesus’ response is remarkable: he didn’t lay his hands on them, he didn’t pray a loud, lengthy prayer, or tell them they were healed. Rather, he simply told them to do what was required of anyone who had been cured of leprosy – namely, go and show themselves to the priests who were charged with the task of health inspection (so, Leviticus 14:2ff).

Jesus put their faith to the test by telling them to act as though they had been cured. So it was, as they went, they were made clean (17:14). Their act in going was a response of faith and obedience. If they had not believed in the power of Jesus’ words, they would not have gone.

Healing. But the narrative doesn’t end there. Verse 15 tells us that one of the nine, seeing that he had been healed, turned back to Jesus, praising God with a loud voice. He would not keep quiet. Having seen God at work that day he wanted to let everyone else know about it. And 17:16 tells us he understood Jesus’ extraordinary power and compassion. In an act of humility and gratitude he prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

Almost as an afterthought Luke adds: And he was a Samaritan. It is a telling comment. In the parable of the Good Samaritan there is an underlying theme: the Jewish disdain, even hatred for the Samaritans. But such were the horrors of leprosy that in this instance Jewish people and Samaritans had been brought together. It says a great deal that Jesus did not isolate the nine Jewish sufferers for special blessing; both the Jewish and the Samaritan were equal beneficiaries of his compassionate word of power.

Only one. Further, it says a great deal that the Samaritan was the first and only one who turned back to thank Jesus, even though Jesus was a Jewish rabbi. It almost seems as though the Jewish lepers expected God’s compassion and action as a matter of right: they had no need to thank him.

With three deft questions Jesus exposes the failure of the nine to express their gratitude to God for their healing. Apparently caught up with their new found happiness they forgot the source (God) and instrument (Jesus) of their cure. It was clearly too much bother for them to make the effort to return to Jesus and thank him.

Understandably Jesus was saddened by this: “Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” he asked (17:18). How easily we forget to thank God for all the good things he does for us.

For the man who turned back to Jesus there seems to have been an added blessing: “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well,” Jesus said (17:19).

While the nine were certainly healed of their leprosy, the words translated here, has made you well are literally, has saved you. For this man there was a healing of his soul as well as his body.

Is thanksgiving a regular part of your prayer? Paul the Apostle writes in Philippians chapter 4, verse 4: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice. …  Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

A Prayer. Almighty God, creator of all things and giver of every good and perfect gift, hear with favor the prayers of your people, so that we who are justly punished for our offences may mercifully be delivered by your goodness, for the glory of your name; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

You may like to listen to the hymn, May the Peoples Praise You from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – One-time gift here.

If you want to be known and celebrated these days you need to ensure that the cameras are focused on you and that you are looking directly into them.

This focus on self stands in stark contrast to the best traditions of British royalty. In theory Royalty exists, not to promote themselves but the interests of others. The Royals don’t look into the camera: the cameras follow them.

Humility is the theme in an often-overlooked parable recorded in Luke chapter 17, verses 7 – 10. Having just spoken about genuine faith amongst would-be followers, Jesus contrasts the role of a master and servant, warning against pride.

Building on a common theme in the first-century Middle East, he uses the typical pattern of a master-servant relationship to illustrate the relationship between God and his people. It is a scene that will seem unfair to anyone who lives in a society that prizes egalitarianism and freedom, for the parable portrays acceptance of authority and respectful obedience to that authority.

However, the late Kenneth Bailey who spent many years in the Middle-East, comments that we need to be aware of ‘the security that this classical relationship provides for the servant, and the sense of worth and meaning that is deeply felt on the part of a servant who serves a great man. These qualities of meaning, worth, security, and relationship are often tragically missing from the life of the… worker today… The servant offers loyalty, obedience, and a great deal of hard work, but with an authentic Middle Eastern nobleman the benefits mentioned above are enormous’ (Through Peasant Eyes: p.119f).

Jesus asks, “Who among you who has a servant ploughing or keeping sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table?” (17:7) He expects the answer, ‘No one’.

“Will he not rather say to him,” Jesus continues, “‘Prepare supper for me, … and afterward you will eat and drink?’” (17:8) Commentators have noted that the meal envisaged here is not late at night. More likely it would have been at three or four o’clock in the afternoon. The master isn’t a bully, demanding harsh and unfair hours of his servant.

The parable is asking the question, ‘Does the master provide special privileges to a servant who does his/her duties?’ To which the answer is ‘No’.

Jesus uses the parable to draw our attention to the nature of the relationship between himself and his followers – which we also find in other places. In John 15:15 for example, Jesus calls his disciples friends but then qualifies this by noting that the servant is not greater than his master (John 15:20).

Nowhere in the Bible do we find a casual egalitarianism between God and his people that is envisaged in some Christian circles today. God alone is God. And Christ is our Lord.

Verse 9 presses the application. Using a form of question similar to that in verse 7, Jesus asks, “Does he thank the servant…?” – again expecting the answer ‘No’.

Jesus doesn’t use the usual Greek word for thank (eucharisteo). Rather he uses the word charis – meaning grace/favor. Literally he is asking: ‘Does he (the master) have any grace/favor for the servant?’ This is significant, for the theme of grace or favor is dominant throughout the Bible, and not least in the New Testament.

For example, in Luke chapter 1, verse 30 we learn that Mary was told by the angel that she had found favor with God. This doesn’t mean that Mary had won favor with God because of some special action that deserved merit. Rather, the context reveals she was given a gift that was far too great to have been earned. God, of his own initiative had granted her a favor, purely as a gift.

More than just thanks. Here in Luke chapter 17, verse 9 the question is even deeper, for it is asking if the servant now deserves more than just ‘thanks’ for a day’s work well done. Is the master now indebted to his servant? Is his work now worthy of merit – grace/favor? This is the central question the parable addresses. To which the answer is ‘No’: the servant has simply done what he was required to do. He has no grounds for claiming special favor.

The point is wrapped up in the final comment: “So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless servants; we have done only what we ought to have done!’” (17:10)

The original word translated worthless is difficult to express in English. Indeed, in his book Through Peasant Eyes (p.123f), Kenneth Bailey suggests that we need to review how the word has been translated in Middle Eastern contexts. Following the 11th century Syriac and Arabic versions we can better translate verse 10: “We are servants to whom nothing is owing, we have only done our duty.”

This is truly significant. It underlines yet again a theme Jesus develops: salvation is a gift. It is not merited in any way, shape or form. It anticipates his words about the purpose of his coming – to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).

The parable challenges everyone of us who has turned to Jesus and become his follower. We are not employees who can expect payment or honor. Rather we are servants of a master, in a very positive sense, who has committed himself to be completely responsible for us.

We enjoy the benefits of his security as we work in his service from a sense of loyalty and obligation. We don’t work expecting great rewards: we are simply doing our duty.

A prayer. Lord God, you declare your mighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: grant us such a measure of your grace so that, running in the way of your commandments, we may obtain your promises and share in your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

You may like to listen to the hymn, For the Cause from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

Support the Word on Wednesday ministry – Mid-year gift here.

Money and what money can buy dominate our lives. The title of one book says it all: Born to Shop.

To follow up last Wednesday’s consideration of the Parable of the Dishonest Manager, we noted that the parable brings together several key biblical themes. The property owner in Luke chapter 16 is an honorable man. Confronted by a manager who is corrupt the owner justly dismisses him, but in his mercy does not have him immediately imprisoned. By his silence the manager admits his guilt.

A dark parable. However, perceiving the owner also to be merciful, the manager pursues a bold strategy that will rescue his future. But it is a strategy that is entirely dependent upon the mercy of the owner. It’s a dark parable about life and death issues – our corrupted character and the extraordinary goodness and beauty of God.

Which brings us to verses 9-13: ‘And I tell you’, said Jesus, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth, so that when it is gone they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

The And I say… indicates a new subject that is linked back to the parable. Unlike the manager in the parable, the people to whom Jesus now speaks have financial resources. Instead of simply serving their own needs, they are in a position to assist others.

The theme of an existential crisis about the future continues, but this time it is in the context of Jesus’ followers. Jesus wants us all to consider our own future and how we should live in the light of it. In particular he wants us to think about how we might use our resources – our money and possessions.

In Luke chapter 12, verse 33 Jesus urges his followers to lay up treasure in heaven. Here in verse 9 he is saying, ‘win friends now so that they may welcome you into the eternal homes.’

The they Jesus is speaking about, are people who have heard and responded to God’s good news because of the generosity of God’s people funding gospel ministries.

‘Life is short,’ Jesus is saying. ‘Ask yourself how you will use your material resources, for the time will come when you won’t need your money.’ It will happen when we die or when Jesus returns – whichever occurs first.

Costly Giving? Are you willing to use the resources you have at your disposal for the salvation of others – even those who in your view don’t deserve to be saved?

In the dark parable of the Dishonest Manager, God uses his resources to pay the price of the rescue of fallen humanity. Now Jesus is asking, ‘Are you willing to use your resources sacrificially so that the unlovely and the unjust can come to know him as their Lord and Savior? If you do, the day will come when there will be a welcome cheer for you in heaven.’

‘Don’t live for this world and its wealth. It is absurd to make money and possessions your life’s goal. Live for the world that is to come,’ Jesus is saying.

As now, so then.  In verses 10-11 he illustrates his point by setting down a principle regarding faithfulness. To be found trustworthy in the small matters of life is a measure of trustworthiness in matters that are great. How we use money and possessions now is a measure of our fitness for the greater wealth of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

“And if you have not been faithful in what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” Jesus asks in v.12.

Worldly wealth is a temporary trust and a test of faithfulness. Entry into the coming kingdom is permanent wealth. Jesus is not an ascetic who sees the material world as evil. He knows money is temporary, but nevertheless useful stuff when properly used.  He is also realistic for he knows how often the purse-strings control our heart-strings. He knows how easy it is to love money and the power it seems to give us.

So he warns in verse 13: “No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

The word hate was a common expression in Jesus’ day. It underlines the point that of two alternatives one is preferred over the other.  There is no place for compromise. Jesus wants us to put him first.

Jesus was speaking then to people living in the 1st century Roman society, but he might just as well be speaking to us today. The way we continue to consume goods is surely nothing short of idolatry. Our shopping malls look more and more like temples.

There are many practical ways we can apply this principle:

Adopt the Scriptural pattern of percentage giving: ten percent is the guide.

Support the ministry of the local church as a first commitment. We may not always agree with all the policies of the church – no church is perfect – but if the Bible is being taught and the gospel proclaimed we should have no hesitation in supporting it financially; local churches are fundamental to building people into God’s kingdom.

Invest in the training of ministers: the future of the church depends on this.

Support mission in the wider world and include Christian ministries that care for the poor.

You may also want to support the Anglican Connection – equipping and supporting church leaders in effective discipling and gospel ministry.

Many of God’s people understand the lessons of Jesus’ words here – making generous donations in support Christian ministry at home and mission work overseas, or in supporting foundations for the relief of the poor.

Jesus wants us to know that we are stewards, not owners of the resources we have. We should invest in the future laying up for ourselves, not treasures on earth, but in the home where we will live forever. Jesus is not saying we can buy our way there. Rather, in this instance, we are to enable others to hear the gospel by using our resources for ministry now.

The question he asks us is this: ‘Will you?’ It means trusting his promises about the future. It means trusting that the ministry of his Word will change lives forever.

A prayer for the gospel. Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

You may like to listen to the hymn, Across the Lands from Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© John G. Mason

Note: Today’s ‘Word’ is adapted from my book in the ‘Reading the Bible Today’ series, Luke: An Unexpected God, 2nd Edition, Aquila: 2018.

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