Open The Gospel – 21 September: Trinity 14, Luke 16.1-13

Reading: Luke 16.1-13

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. ²So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” ³Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” ⁵So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” ⁶He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” ⁷Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” ⁸And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. ⁹And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

‘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. ¹¹If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹²And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? ¹³No 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.’

Things to think about with the child at the centre:

Activities

There is a free pack full or activities and resources to download here.

Response

The manager in this story is a strange fellow! To understand Jesus point, we need to understand a little more about his role in their society. Its likely that he wasn’t paid well, and made money from adding extra onto the bills he was presenting. So when he reduces the prices, he’s actually reducing his own income. This is a shrewd move – the boss still gets his money, the manager might keep his job, and his customers will think better of him, so if he does get the sack, he might find a new job or somewhere to live.

This story ties into one of Jesus favourite themes – being kind and generous is better than being selfish and greedy. That might seem obvious but its hard to remember to be like that!