Who are you serving?

WORD OF FAITH: A breakdown of each week's upcoming Sunday readings to better understand the Word of God at Mass.

The person who is trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; and the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. — Luke 16:10

Amos was blunt and straightforward. He wasn’t an “official” prophet, but one that God chose from a rather lowly station to lay out the sin of the people, especially the sin of the rich and powerful. In Sunday’s First Reading, we get a slice of his harsh judgment on those who cheat and oppress the poor of the land. Amos calls out the greed of those who can barely wait for the Sabbath and holy days to be over so they can make sales. Amos decries their thieving practices — fixing the measures and the scales used for weighing the grain. He denounces their attitudes toward the poor who have become a commodity; they are bought and sold and are of no more consequence than a pair of sandals. He condemns those who trample on the needy by withholding what should be theirs — “the refuse of the wheat” which was always left for the poor to harvest for their own needs. Amos is clear that God will remember these actions that undermine the covenant and the community!

Jesus uses relatable stories — parables — to deliver the same powerful message: God hears the cries of the poor and stands with them in the face of injustice and need. Think of the parable of the Rich Fool, or the one of Lazarus and the Rich Man, or the Judgment of the Nations. Sunday’s parable of the Dishonest Manager might seem like a different message, but it echoes these other parables.

Scripture scholars and our own experience tell us that this is the most difficult parable of all to understand. It seems that Jesus is praising cheaters. The steward, who was supposed to be carefully managing the master’s assets, has mismanaged things and has been sacked! But before word got out of his termination, he made deals with his master’s creditors and gave them handsome savings on the rent they owed the master. He is generous with the master’s assets and this ensures that the creditors will owe him their allegiance, since they are complicit in the thievery. The peasants have saved a bundle. The master seems to be oblivious to the pilfering since he praises the servant — but actually, he saves face with the tenants and endears himself to them. Truly a seedy bunch, who all benefit from the dishonesty!

The “morals” attached to the parable can be confusing. Generally, Jesus does not explain parables — many of them are told to engage the listener in a dilemma or a twist that needs reflection. Jesus teases the listener into seeing something in a whole different way — the way of the Kingdom of God. Explanations might have come from the early church community, which was grappling with the challenges of Christians being wealthy. There are layers of meaning here. However, Jesus’ “punch line” is clear: “No servant can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

How do you engage with the readings from Amos and Jesus’ parable? In our consumer society, it is often difficult to see ourselves as rich. Compared with much of the world, Americans are indeed wealthy because most of us have our basic human necessities met. Yes, we work hard, but we do have an abundance of things. This is not to say that we don’t share with those who live in poverty. But where is our heart? Who are we serving? How much is enough? These are not easy questions, but they are questions that we need to reflect on frequently. Jesus’ way is the way of simple living — so that others may simply live.