Money and the Children of Light

The subjects of wealth (what to do with it) and poverty (what to do about it) appear over and over in the Bible. If I were to mention possessions as often as the Bible does, you might start wearing you I-pods to church, ready to crank up the volume just as soon as the sermon starts. Even though, in our weekday lives, we think about money several times a day, we tend to resent it when the preacher raises the subject on Sunday morning.

I remember the time several years ago, when the reader was reading the creation story in Genesis 2. He got to the last verse of that famous story: "And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed." A little boy sitting right there in the balcony piped up, in full voice, "He said NEKKED."

(I remember that little boy’s name, but I won’t say it. He’s now a United States Marine.)

"The preacher said "MONEY." Doesn’t he know he’s in church?

Be grateful that the Gospel writer Luke is not your pastor. Luke uses almost every literary device at his disposal to raise the topic of wealth and poverty.

Luke tells the good news of Jesus Christ rather well, but he does tend to meddle when it comes to money.

What’s more, the messages Luke conveys not always the same. In parables, the rich are warned, but they are also saved. Missionaries are told to take no possessions along on their travels, but the wealthy are expected to give them food and lodging.

Luke seems to understand that wealth can be used for good as well as evil. It can be a means of showing grace and generosity; it can also make us stingy, hardhearted, and shortsighted. Wealth can reflect the light of the gospel. It can also blind us to the good news that sets us free from bondage to our own possessions.

The main character in today’s parable is hardly a paradigm of Christian virtue. Plainly put, he’s a crook. But at least he’s a clever crook.

Caught with his master’s books drowning in red ink, this dishonest manager quickly goes to his master’s creditors and reduces their bills. He knows he’s about to be fired and thrown into the street, but he figures that the people who used to owe his master those huge sums will be so grateful to him for reducing their debt that they will give him free room and board in his forced retirement.

This fellow is no follower of Jesus. To use Luke’s terminology, he’s a "child of this age," not a "child of the light," but you’ve got to hand it to the "children of this age." They know about money and how to make it work for them. "They are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light."

Jesus doesn’t commend this dishonest steward, but he does hint that his own disciples could learn a thing or two from him and his ilk. This crook uses money (not his own) to feather his nest for the future. Christians should be equally shrewd regarding the kingdom of God. We should use the possessions God has entrusted to us to point toward the reign of God, which has already begun in Jesus Christ.

Let’s face it. Christians -- especially mainline Christians -- can be downright silly about money. We act as though the stuff is radioactive, and get all huffy and defensive when the church asks us to consider how to be faithful to Jesus Christ with the wealth entrusted to us.

The "children of this generation" are not so squeamish as the "children of light." The children of this generation are perfectly open about the miracles that credit cards might work, if only we would use them more often. They unabashedly hawk the services of stock brokers and financial managers. Hardly a week goes by when I do not receive a letter inviting me to attend an investment seminar or sign up for a new piece of plastic to carry in my wallet.

The children of light should be so bold.

What would happen, do you suppose, if Christians were to take a page from the cultures’ playbook? Suppose we were as comfortable talking about money as we are singing hymns and saying prayers? Suppose we said to folks when they become church members, "Right, what Council would you like to serve on and what changes would you like to make in the way you spend your money?"

Do you think new members would bolt for the nearest exit?

Although they have no particular bearing on the parable of the unrighteous steward, Luke attaches some other sayings of Jesus to the end of this strange little story. I read them as "wisdom sayings" about money. Perhaps I am going out on a limb, but I think these sayings have a bearing on the decisions we all must make regarding the money we give to the church.

"Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much; and who whoever dishonest in very little is dishonest in very much."

Perhaps the Spirit is saying to us that we should be honest about how much we really can afford to give. It’s not the amount of the gift that matters so much. A Christian can be faithful even on a modest income. What matters is what the gift says about our true circumstances. Does what we give represent the faith we profess and the joy we feel in having been claimed by God’s grace?

Faithful financial stewardship must pass the honesty test: Are you giving as you have received? Does your gift reflect the wealth of the gospel as well as the wealth in your bank account? No one can answer those questions for you, and no one but you and God knows whether your answer is honest.

Remember Ananias and Sapphira in the chapter five of the Book of Acts? This couple sold a piece of land and told everybody that the gift they were making to the church represented the entire proceeds of the sale. In fact, they were holding back. When their deception was revealed, both of them dropped dead on the spot.

How’s that for an uplifting story? The point of the story is not that we must give everything to the church. The point is, giving requires honesty before God. "Whoever is faithful in very little is faithful also in much; and who whoever dishonest in very little is dishonest in very much."

The other saying of Jesus that Luke attaches to this story is a simple observation: "You cannot serve God and wealth." You can use wealth to serve God, but you can only serve one master at a time. Money is a means, not and end. Like everything else in a Christian’s life, money is to be put to work for the glory of God, but never worshiped in the place of God.

There is a sense in which all the thorny questions that cluster around the topic of wealth boil down to those fundamental questions that run throughout the Bible: Whom will you serve? Who is your God? Were does your allegiance lie? The issue is idolatry: "You cannot serve God and wealth."

I would have to be out of my mind to tell any of you how much to give. I would also be out of my jurisdiction. That discussion must take place between you and the Holy Spirit.

This much I can say within my proper role, for the words are not mine, but the Apostle Paul’s, through the Spirit: "Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (II Corinthians 9:7).

All I ask is that you give as much thought and prayer to your decision as befits a clever, but honest, child of light.