Weekly Bible Study Notes and Worship Resources for Ordinary 25
Year C, Colour = Green
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Introduction
Opening Verse of Scripture Psalm 113:4
The Lord is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens
Collect Prayer for the Day — Before we read we pray
Merciful God, you have prepared for those who love you, such good things as pass our understanding. Pour into our hearts such love towards you that we, loving you above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Methodist Worship
O God, surer that the breaking of the day, in the morning, fill us with your love, and in the evening, as the dew falls, refresh us with your mercy, that we may live according to your promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Methodist Worship
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. Common Worship
Lord of creation, whose glory is around and within us:
open our eyes to your wonders, that we may serve you with reverence and know
your peace at our lives' end, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Common Worship Shorter Collect.
First Bible Reading Amos 8:4-7
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, saying, "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?"- skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The LORD has sworn by the Pride of Jacob: 'I will never forget anything they have done.
Second Reading 1 Timothy 2: 1-7
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and
thanksgiving be made for everyone-- for kings and all those in authority,
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and
to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for
all men--the testimony given in its proper time. And for this purpose I was
appointed a herald and an apostle--I am telling the truth, I am not
lying--and a teacher of the true faith to the Gentiles.
Gospel Reading Luke 16: 1-13
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of
wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I
hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be
manager any longer.' "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My
master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed
to beg-- know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will
welcome me into their houses.' "So he called in each one of his master's
debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' " 'Eight
hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your
bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' "Then he asked the
second, 'And how much do you owe?' " 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he
replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' "The
master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For
the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than
are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends
for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with
much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with
much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who
will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with
someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? "No servant
can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God
and Money."
Post Communion Prayer
Almighty God, you have taught us through your Son that love is the fulfilling of the law: grant that we may love you with our whole heart and our neighbours as ourselves; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Commentary
Almost everybody says what a difficult parable this one from Luke is. Jesus
appears to be commending the behaviour of a dishonest manager, would Jesus
really extol the virtues of corrupt business practice? We need to remember
that the parables of Jesus do have some fairly horrible people used as
examples. It is not that we should copy these people, rather there are
lessons to be observed from what they do. In the parable of the wise and
foolish virgins for example, the wise virgins tell the foolish ones to go
and get their own oil instead of trying to borrow some of theirs. This is
quite selfish behaviour, but the point Jesus is making is that we should be
prepared, he is not saying we should be selfish and refuse to share with
others. Think again about the man who knew that treasure was buried in a
field. He said nothing to the owner but went and bought the field. That is
not particularly pleasant behaviour, but it does make the point that if
something is valuable, then it is worth sacrificing everything to get hold
of it.
In the story from Luke this week, we are told about a manger who has been
incompetent. Faced with the prospect of the sack, he prepares for himself an
exit strategy which will be like a golden parachute. From being an
incompetent manager he instead is able to act in a very resourceful manner,
boosted by an instinct for personal survival. He decides upon a plan which
will allow him to ingratiate himself to lots of rich people, before his
dismissal becomes public knowledge. As a result the rich people will welcome
him into their homes and offer him hospitality, and provide favours when he
is ‘in between’ employment.
Perhaps if he ingratiates himself with enough people, someone might even
help him to find a better job –– or might hire him.
The first thing to note about the story is that the rich master appears to
have been acting in a way which broke the Jewish law. In Deuteronomy 23:19
is says
‘Do not charge your brother interest, whether on money or food or anything
else that may earn interest. You may charge a foreigner interest, but not a
brother Israelite, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything you
put your hand to in the land you are entering to possess.’
Jewish belief was that righteous lenders should not profit from their
neighbours by charging interest. The King James Version of the Bible always
used the word ‘usury.’ It is hard for us in today’s society to understand
interest as a bad thing, but this is only because we all owe so much! Great
philosophers and theologians from Plato and Aristotle to Luther and Zwingli
all condemned charging interest.
Jews were forbidden to practice usury (interest charged), but many schemes
were devised to get around it, and these are still used by strict Jews. As
an example, lending was often done in kind, with oil and wheat being
suitable commodities. The rich man had most probably been involved in this
practice and so the manager makes changes to the payment accounts,
effectively lowering the rate of interest!
The amounts involved were large. A hundred bathous of olive oil, a bath is
about nine gallons, so the debtor owes 900 gallons of olive oil. A hundred
korous of wheat, a cor is approximately 10-15 bushels, so the debtor owes
1000-1500 bushels of wheat. This is a big banking business and the discounts
which the manager offers are fifty percent for one and twenty percent for
the other. With such huge savings it is reasonable to assume that the word
of the rich man's generosity will soon spread, enhancing his reputation. He
will then be faced with two options, either enjoying his newly enhanced
reputation and accepting his losses or retracting the discounts at the
expense of his reputation and at the risk of permanently damaging the
relationship with his debtors. The manager has left the debtors with the
impression that he is equally responsible for the reductions thus leaving
the rich man's debtors in debt to himself as well. The rich man cannot
rescind the discounts without suffering loss of honour and creating bad will
among his debtors. The rich man has to concede that the manager has pulled a
brilliant stroke!
Jesus notes how children of this age, people who are worldy wise, are
focused on the realm of this world. They understand how the world works and
they are capable of manipulating it to their benefit. So too children of the
kingdom need to be equally savvy in ways to prosper in the kingdom of God.
We need today to hear the parable first of all as if we were the original
listeners. The crisis management shown by the manger was excellent. The
first hearers of this parable were about to face their own crisis. Jesus
will continue to Jerusalem and there will follow turbulent times with the
persecutions and the fall of Rome. How will Jesus followers behave? When
things get really difficult, will they be prudent and think of their long
term future, or will they crumble in the face of adversity and perhaps
forsake their convictions? We can ask ourselves the same question when we
are faced with crisis. So Jesus is not using this shrewd manger as a role
model, but he is drawing attention to how a shrewd, worldy wise man can be
empowered by self interest to do some very inventive things to secure future
prospects. He does not commend the poor business ethics, but he is
encouraging his hearers to be imaginative and focused when it comes to
planning for their future and that of the Kingdom. This parable is an
encouragement to be single minded, focused and take spiritual provision for
the future seriously. It is about our fundamental choices and loyalties, God
and his Kingdom values should take centre stage in our lives.
Read through Luke and you will see a great deal of teaching about money,
poverty, kindness to the poor. Luke shows us a Jesus who is suspicious of
world wealth. Material wealth can become a preoccupation and divert our
attention away from the important eternal spiritual values. We have all seen
how money can break up personal friendships, families and marriages. So too
wars are fought over land and resources. The temptation can be to think that
we should just avoid the whole economic system. Jesus doesn’t say that,
rather he tells us that we should not try and be pure and uncontaminated by
worldly wealth, instead we should use it wisely. We will find it hard to
keep our hands clean, but that doesn’t mean we can keep them in our pockets.
Charles Royden
Meditation
It is now ten years since the death of Mother Teresa of
Calcutta. A publication of a book of her letters shows that for nearly the
last fifty years of her life she felt no experience of the presence of God.
Time Magazine printed an article analysing her experience. Christianity is
not about seeking spiritual experiences. Mother Teresa's is an example to us
all and an encouragement of all who struggle and doubt. In a culture which
is all too obsessed with feelings, the value of commitment is shown by this
saint .
Hymns
- Take my life and let it be (Tune Nottingham)
- Restore O Lord
- As the deer
- Love divine (Tune Blaenwern)
- Thou who wast rich (Tune Fragrance)
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead
"Prayer is a plant, the seed of which is sown in the heart of every Christian.
If it is well cultivated and nourished it will produce fruit, but if it is neglected, it will wither and die."
O Father of lights, with whom there is no variation nor shadow of turning, who abidest steadfast as the stars of heaven: give us grace to rest upon thy eternal changelessness, and in thy faithfulness find peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. George W. Briggs 1875—1959
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with
great love. Mother Teresa
O God, may I find and praise your goodness dwelling within every human
being. May I be a living sign of your generous love, and help everyone to
live more intimately with you. May we respect the evolving nature of all
creation, and grow to our fullness of life with you. Guide our search into
our entire human nature, and into all creation, to know what you want us to
do. Amen
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your
compassion wipe out my offence. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my
sin cleanse me. A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit
renew within me. Cast me not out from your presence, and your holy spirit
take not from me. Cleanse me of sin with hyssop, that I may be purified;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear the sounds of joy and
gladness; the bones you have crushed shall rejoice. Psalm 51
Blessed Lord Jesus, I believe that You are present in the most Holy
Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my
soul. Come into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and
unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.
Additional Resources
Opening Verse of Scripture, 1 Timothy Chapter 2
There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
Collect Prayer for the Day-Before we read we pray
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit upon your Church in the burning fire of your love: grant that your people may be fervent in the fellowship of the gospel that, always abiding in you, they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, ho is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
First Bible Reading, Jeremiah 8:18 - 9:1
O my Comforter in sorrow, my heart is faint within me. Listen to the cry of my people from a land far away: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King no longer there?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?" "The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved." Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people? Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.
Second Bible Reading, Luke 16:1
Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. So he called him in and asked him, `What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' "The manager said to himself, `What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' "`Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' Then he asked the second, `And how much do you owe?' "`A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, `Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with > riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own? "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
Post Communion Prayer
Keep, O Lord, your Church, with your perpetual mercy; and, because without you our human frailty cannot but fall, keep us ever by your help from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things profitable to our salvation; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Commentary
What an amazing parable this is, and no wonder that theologians centuries apart, such as Tomas de Vio Cajetan (1469-1534) and Rudolf Bultmann (1884-1976) both declared the problems raised by the parable to be insoluble! Whatever is going on in this strange parable of the dishonest manager? Whichever way you read it, it is confusing and many people have written long explanations to try and make sense of it. Inevitably these attempts involve speculation and introducing material which Jesus does not use. The simple facts are spoken in the story by the manager 'My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
The dishonest manager facing the sack quickly realises that he is too old for manual labour and he was probably over qualified for most jobs. He is a clever professional man and he knows that he must quickly make some alternative arrangements. So he takes the shrewdest way to a more comfortable future: he uses what is still in his control, to lay the ground for what was to come. This fellow alters the accounts of his boss's debtors so that they will be grateful and show him hospitality after he gets the sack.
Jesus is encouraging us to do the same. To make use of whatever we have control of, while we have the chance, to ensure our security for the future. Of course Jesus is not concerned with our earthly future, but making preparations so that when we show up before God we will have guaranteed our future. There is much that we can learn from being worldly wise, most certainly we must not be earthly foolish. The main thrust of the parable is clear: Look ahead. Be far sighted. Where are you heading? Well get ready for it. Be as astute about the practice of your faith, as the manager was. And in particular, astutely use whatever worldly possessions you have in the service of and for the glory of God, in the same astute manner as the unscrupulous manager did. As with so much of the teaching of Jesus it is a challenge and we are asked to make up our minds and sort ourselves out whilst we still have time to do so. Charles Royden
Commentary
This is one of the most difficult parables to understand, yet Luke went to
the trouble of recording it, so it is clearly worthy of out attention. It is
in cases like this that we need the scholarship of archaeologists and
historians to help us properly understand our Bible. Otherwise the story
seems to suggest that embezzlement is a life choice commended by God.
T.W.Manson has pointed put that we either read the moral of the story as “I
applaud the dishonest steward because he acted cleverly” or “I applaud the
clever steward because he acted dishonestly”! With the help of Bible
scholars we see the story in the light of Jewish commercial practises of the
day. Jews were forbidden to take interest from other Jews when they lent
money (See Exodus 22:25) But humans being what we are, some argued that
while the law prohibited charging interest, this was only to protect the
very poor and that if considered in the context of business practise it was
just good sense to charge. Pious rich men knew that their stewards imposed
an illegal levy but pretended not to know. The story is aimed at the
disciples who would assume the role of stewards of the church after Jesus’
death. In the parable the steward has to tread a path between ruin and
security, he has to choose between serving his master and getting him the
most amount of money or cutting his losses and getting what he could out of
a situation. It isn’t as straightforward as the saying that follows in verse
13, “You cannot serve both God and money”. In this complex parable, the
steward had to rescue a dire situation by thinking quickly and coming up
with a creative and effective solution that was also in tune with the spirit
of the Mosaic law against money lending. This story speaks to us, as a
church, about using our resources wisely, while always asking what God
requires us to do. As people of God, we must tread a careful path between
care for the things of this world, which must be taken seriously, and
serving the Kingdom of Heaven, where different values apply. We must use our
minds to reconcile the contradictions between the laws of God and our
instincts as humans. Joan Crossley.
Meditation
Meditation I am reading a biography of Christopher Wren, chief architect
to Charles II, and the designer of St Paul’s cathedral, the Sheldonian
theatre, a score of churches, Chelsea Hospital etc. He was also a scientist,
inventor and scholar. He is the sort of person who makes you tired just
reading about him! His personal life was unfortunate, since both his wives
died very shortly after marriage, and several of his children predeceased
him. His real emotional life was found in his friendships with other
scholarly men and women. Through their love and encouragement his gifts were
able to find free expression and full development. Perhaps that is what this
strange sentence from Luke means “use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal
dwellings“ . We must be encouragers, feeders of other people, helping them
develop their gifts for the glory of God and for the betterment of
humankind. Who knows what wonderful things may grow if we provide help and
encouragement! Joan Crossley
Meditation
If you wake in the morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the millions who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear or harassment , arrest, torture or death, you are luckier than three billion people in the world. If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world. If you have money in the bank, in your purse and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
Prayer
Prayers for Sunday and the week ahead. In these extraordinary times our prayers, bible notes and meditations will try to provide helpful material to inform us in our prayers for the world.
Grant to me, O Lord, a humble, lowly and quiet heart. Give to my waking hours patience, kindness and tenderness of soul. Let all my words, my works and my thoughts be overshadowed by the gift of your most Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen. Thomas More, 1478-1535
Holy and loving God, in Jesus you walked the hills of Galilee and the busy streets of Capernaum; you addressed multitudes and had time for individuals. Renew in us each morning the light of your presence, that whatever the day brings we may be channels of your renewing Spirit, and share in your good purposes for the world, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Hymns (Hymns and Psalms)
- Through all the changing scenes of life.
- God is good
- Restore O Lord
- God of freedom, God of justice
- Lord thy church on earth is seeking
- All people that on earth do dwell
- I am a new creation
- Broken for me broken for you
- Now thank we all our God
Listen to a sermon by Rev Charles Royden 19 September 2010
Sermon and Intercessions for 23rd September 2001