August 16thGod the Economist
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Theme – first thoughts: Luke 16:1-9 is just so hard to dissect and to get inside Jesus’ head! Jesus certainly isn’t all about goodness and being nice! The dishonest manager is commended. It’s not a “go thou and do likewise” though, is it? Augustine saw in the manager “foresight for the future,” and Wesley appreciated the craft of the man and his stellar use of money. But what kind of sermon can you cobble together from that? Wesley’s views on money would annoy most Christians. Jesus, wonderfully, turns our cozy expectations on their back ends. I’m reminded of Bonhoeffer’s provocative thought, that we often prefer our own goodness to doing God’s will. We want to keep our hands clean, when doing what God asks is about getting our hands dirty.
My sermon will contrast two economies: the economy of mammon (accumulation), and the economy of manna (God’s provision of enough).