Dethroning the god of money (Luke 16:1-13)
This Jesus story like other stories Jesus tells has a way of shocking us into thoughtful reflection. I love the story of the pastor who called a special meeting to call attention to the run down condition of the church facilities. He began by asking for pledges and he turned first to one of his more prosperous deacons. Brother, ‘so and so,’ would you like to start the pledging.” This deacon responded, “I’ll pledge five dollars.” About that time a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and thumped this deacon right on the head knocking him to the floor. After he picked himself up and dusted himself off he said, “What I meant to say was that I pledge fifty dollars.” At that moment the pastor looked up toward heaven and shouted, “Hit him again, Lord!” This is a story (as so many of the sayings and stories of Jesus) that has the potential to “hit” us, to give us pause to reflect and to be changed by it. One of the beautiful and yet difficult things about Jesus’ parables is the multiple ...