Philippians 3:17-4:1; Psalm 121(122):1-5; Luke 16:1-8
Does God deal with us 'fairly' ? The parable today suggests not: some who owe more are forgiven a dis-proportionate amount of the debt. A similar parable, that of the labourers in the vineyard, sees those who have only worked for one hour in the cool evening, paid the same reward as those who worked all day long in the heat of the sun.
Does God deal with us equitably? The servant in the parable steals from his master and yet is praised (not for the stealing, but for doing it in a clever way).
Clearly, God has a different way of dealing with us. God is interested in our salvation - our place in the kingdom to come. What we need to do here on earth, is to use the structures and institutions men have made, to do good. We can be inventive and almost cheeky in how we achieve this - as long as this is done for the good of those involved. The rules and processes we humans have set out are not important compared with the basic rule that we encountered Jesus reminding us of last Sunday. The old rule - expressed in Deuteronomy - is the only rule we must never break.
| Deuteronomy 6:4-7 |
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