Daily Devotional • November 16
A Reading from Luke 16:10-18
10 “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much, and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If, then, you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? 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.”
14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him. 15 So he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts, for what is prized by humans is an abomination in the sight of God.
16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John came; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is being proclaimed, and everyone tries to enter it by force. 17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to be dropped.
18 “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and whoever marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.
Meditation
Through many years of pastoral ministry, I have ministered to many people who were addicts to one thing or another. One parishioner, very active in the church, was a desperate alcoholic. Everyone knew it. One day I visited her in her home and said, “You are an alcoholic. You know it, we all know it. You are in need of deliverance. It is available, and I will help you through it. Do you want it?” She looked down and vehemently shook her head, saying “no.”
Today’s lesson is about anything that takes the place of God; specifically, Jesus mentions money. He tells the Pharisees that you cannot serve God and money. They love money, so they sneer at him. They choose money over — well, not God but over what Jesus taught about God. It’s the same thing, but they didn’t know that. Still, the law has a lot of teaching about the right use of wealth, but the Pharisees have worked it around so that they are fooling themselves in a way that everyone besides them can see.
Jesus talks about riches in a way that should be both enlightening and enthralling. He contrasts what is “very little” to “much;” “worldly wealth” to “ true riches;” “someone else’s property” to “property of your own.” It is the story of money-clutching Ebenezer Scrooge who is friendless and eats his boring dinner alone in a near-lightless room and then gives his money away and becomes opulent with friends and family and is loved by all.
Jesus’ words are words of invitation. He is urging people to realize that anything that someone craves over God — whether money or drugs or abuse of people or control of others — is a slave. Putting everything under the lordship of God makes those things a tool and anticipation of true riches.
David Baumann is a published writer of nonfiction, science fiction, and short stories. In his ministry as an Episcopal priest, he served congregations in Illinois and California.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kibungo – Eglise Anglicane du Rwanda
The Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida