9-19-19 - Two Ways

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Yesterday, I made a distinction between relying on God and relying on our own wits and resources. Is that valid? Didn’t God give us our wits and our resources? Yes – and perhaps this parable highlights the difference between using all that giftedness in God’s game, and taking what God has given us to fuel our own games.

Jesus certainly contrasted the “children of light” with the “children of this age.”
“And 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.”

Jesus’ commentary on his parable is profoundly perplexing. The dishonest manager is not condemned by the boss, but praised (we don’t know whether or not he kept his job…). Is Jesus also commending his loose ethics? And what on earth does he mean by: “And 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.”

I frankly believe that Jesus was being sarcastic – it’s the only interpretation that holds up. Jesus was telling his followers, “Look, if you’re worried about what’s going to become of you, cozy up to people who can help you… but if you want to follow me to the eternal home I can prepare for you, it’s a different strategy.”

The ways of God and the ways of this world are different and sometimes incompatible. We hear God speak it in Isaiah: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, says the Lord…” (55:8) and in Paul’s writing to the church in Corinth: “What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God....”(I Cor 2:12) We see it in the way Jesus instructs his followers to behave in ways that are not “natural” – to turn the other cheek on attackers, to give up one’s possessions if asked, to risk one’s life in service to others. These are not the ways of the world, nor of those who would succeed on the world’s terms.

Those who follow Christ are called to be in the world, to love this life and all its gifts – and to hold it lightly, not to confuse it with the realm of God. We have dual citizenship in both realms; we need to be clear about which “reality” is the most real. In what areas of your life are you living in God’s realm, and where are you in your own territory? Often we know by whether we’re anxious or at peace.

Who are the “children of light” in your life, for whom you can give thanks today?
Who are the “children of this age” around you? Do they influence you? 
How might you gracefully influence them?

Jesus didn’t withdraw from the world or from “worldly” people. He fully engaged them, building relationships in which many found themselves transformed. This is the world for which he lived and died and rose again. This is the world for which we are called to give ourselves, in love. We do that best when we are filled with the Holy Spirit, allowing God to love the world through us.

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