Saturday, July 27, 2024

Welcoming Mammon


Sermon for the ninth Sunday after Trinity 

Our Lord sometimes says
things that sound
startling.

Are we really 
to make friends
of worldly people
in order to cover
our own backs?

Are the people of the world
really wiser in their generation 
than the children of light?

After all, 
the children of light
know the way to Heaven.

Many of the people
of the world 
reject the way to Heaven
which
to our ears
just doesn't seem wise.

And yet,
the Lord 
the wisest of all 
says that it will be
the people of this world 
who will welcome us
into everlasting habitations.

It sounds like 
the people of the world 
get to Heaven. 
before Christians do

It sounds
as if being a Christian 
doesn't make much difference.

[PAUSE]

The Lord says that
prostitutes and tax collectors
will get into Heaven
before the Scribes 
and Pharisees.

We should, therefore,
neither be surprised 
nor upset 
that people who
we don't expect to be entering Heaven
get there before we do.

But notice
they don't just get to Heaven 
before us
they welcome us
into everlasting habitations.

They want us to be there.
They are please to see us.

So it's really worth
looking at the words of Jesus
carefully 
to see how this unjust steward
is an example to us.

[PAUSE]

What do we see?

It's clear that 
the Lord is comparing us
to the unjust steward.

As fallen human beings
our lives must fail
and we face the prospect of dying.

We will no longer be allowed
to be steward.

What can we do then?

Where will we go when we die?

Can we work our way into Heaven?

No. We know we cannot earn salvation 
because there is nothing that we
can do of ourselves 
to reach Heaven.

It's like trying to 
walk to the Moon.

Do we beg others to let us into Heaven?

No, our sins will be laid bare
and we will be ashamed.

But what we do have 
is the means
of helping others
to have their sins forgiven.

We have Christ the Word.

The people come to us
presenting their debts to God
and, as the Church,
we seek to absolve them of their sins.

The Christian
is called to forgive,
absolve,
mitigate,
cover the sins of others 
by works of charity.

We know that we are saved
by grace through faith in Christ
not through adhering to rules
which are often called works of the law.

We are saved through faith in Christ
and by actively feeding that faith
allowing it to grow in us
by encouraging that faith in others.

Our Lord's parable 
Is telling us
that the route to Heaven
is through love and charity
for other people.

God is love 
and so our acts of charity
are always performed
alongside our faith in God
and in hope of the resurrection 
that He promises us.

The more we love others
and seek to relieve 
their burden of living,
the misery of their sin,
the wounds of the Devil's hatred 
the more we shall receive 
a welcome in Heaven
as more people get there 
to rejoice in the presence
of the same Christ
Whom we have carried with us
in our lives and actions.

[PAUSE]

Mammon holds up 
a mirror to our faces.

It shows us how 
we will be received in Heaven
by how we show Christ
to those
for whom Mammon
is their master.

If they see Christ in us
then they have an opportunity 
to turn and accept Him
as the Master.

[PAUSE]

Our Lord's words
about the unjust steward 
show us our part
in the drama of
Salvation 
for everyone,
that we can all participate 
in the salvation of others
and thus in our own.

It shows
that Salvation 
is not an individual affair,
it's about all of us together
the Body of Christ
His Church.

That's why Our Lord's words
about the unjust steward
are such a welcoming message.

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