September 24, 2022
Daily Devotion:
“No Servant Can Serve Two Masters”
Luke 16:13
New International Version
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
This familiar passage could certainly stand on its own, if necessary, for who can miss its compelling message? Yet there is much to be gained from the larger context of Luke's account. From the beginning to the end of today's reading are two intertwining themes. The first theme is about the need for timely repentance. There is a point of no return, Jesus insists, when the opportunity to be kingdom people passes away forever. It is that heart-stopping moment when the owner of the house has closed the door and it is too late to gain entry. And it is that great banquet so many will miss out on because they have offered one feeble excuse after another. More famously still, it is that proverbial rich man in Hades an anguish being told that it's too late to send a warning to his brothers. At some point in each instance, it's simply too late! The more obvious theme is the danger of being mastered by the love of money. There's the parable of the dishonest manager, prompting Jesus' warning that friends are more important eternally than financial shrewdness. There's that line about being trustworthy in handling worldly wealth so that we can be entrusted with true (spiritual) riches. And finally there's the story of that rich man ignoring Lazarus, the poor beggar he practically trips over at his gate every morning. Perhaps surprisingly, the target audience of Jesus' teaching about God and money were those proudly pious Pharisees, "who love text. At that point the two themes merge into a single message aimed even at us. Before it is too late, we've got to decide by whom or by what will we be mastered?
The urgent question is: How much time do I have left to get my convoluted priorities straight?
