If you’re intending to focus on the Gospel this week, you’re in for a tough one. The Parable of the Shrewd Manager is a difficult one to make sense of, and a rough one to apply. But, at the heart of all of the readings this week is the idea of inappropriate grace, and releasing our inappropriate devotion to money – which opens the doors to moments of both amusement and seriousness.

May this week’s worship teach us to be people of scandalous grace and generosity.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1: Jeremiah grieves the destruction of his people, who insisted on worshiping idols, but for whom there is now no salvation.
OR Amos 8:4-7: A prophecy against the corruption and greed of the wealthy among God’s people who exploit the poor, and whose wickedness God will not forget.

Psalm 79:1-9: A lament for the land of Israel which has been destroyed by foreign nations, and for the temple which has been desecrated, and a plea for God’s forgiveness, compassion and restoration.
OR Psalm 113: A song of praise to the God who is over all nations, and who lifts up the poor and needy and includes them among influential people, and who removes the shame of the barren woman making her a mother of children.

1 Timothy 2:1-7: Paul calls for believers to pray for all people, including leaders, reminding them of Christ’s pleading for us with God – for which Paul has been called as an apostle to the Gentiles.

Luke 16:1-13: Jesus parable of the shrewd manager who wins social capital and his master’s commendation through the act of radical, inappropriate, forgiveness.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
This is a week for lots of prayer and reflection – the Gospel reading is one of the toughest parables to preach, by all accounts! But, there are two clear themes that emerge when all the readings are placed together. The first is the obvious one – the subtle power of money to lead us into corrupt and exploitative practices. Jeremiah bemoans the people’s devotion to idols (of which money is a significant one according to Jesus in Luke); Amos speaks out against the corrupt business practices of wealthy merchants; Psalm 113 praises the God who uplifts the poor and needy. Clearly, how we use our money is a spiritual concern.
The second theme this week is that of forgiveness and undeserved honour. Jeremiah pleads with God for grace for God’s people, as does Psalm 79; Psalm 113 praises God’s grace toward those who are most vulnerable, giving them undeserved honour; Paul reflects on God’s grace in Christ, extended to all people, and embodied in the prayers of God’s people; And Jesus tells a story of a master who, about to be dishonoured because of his dishonest (incompetent?) manager, decides to fire him, but has to reconsider when, through radical, inappropriate, forgiveness, the manager wins honour both for the master and himself, and a connected and secure future for himself.
Put these two themes together and what emerges is the power of gracious, generous forgiveness to lift us to places of honour and connectedness.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The immediate thought that comes to mind when thinking about this week’s theme is the issue of foreign debt and the corrupt system of international finance and trade regulations that has left so many third world countries irreversibly impoverished. The call of God’s generous, inappropriate grace can not be mistaken – there needs to be a rising up of God’s Jubilee people calling for these debts to be written off, and for effective aid to be offered where needed. But, it also goes further than this. For those of us in wealthy countries there is a tremendous responsibility to watch how we use our wealth and opportunity. We need to avoid anything that is exploitative, using our buying power to ensure that fair trade practices are employed and fair wages are paid to those who produce what we use, and that the impact on our planet is likewise just and sustainable. When we use our opportunity to accumulate wealth for ourselves, we are essentially “dishonourable”, but when we use it to uplift others, we bring honour and dignity both to them and to ourselves. As Rev. Dr. Mvume Dandala once said: “The opposite of poverty is not wealth. It is dignity.”

LOCAL APPLICATION: In many communities, the Church is among the wealthiest organisations. But, unfortunately that wealth is often taken for granted and two important aspects of its coming to us are easily forgotten – that whatever wealth we have is attained through the generosity of our people, and that our wealth is not a sign of God’s blessing for us to aggrandise ourselves, but is a resource to share and use to uplift the least. This means that we need to ensure that we have not fallen into the temptation to accumulate money for its own sake. It means we must ensure that we do not engage in exploitative practices (think of how some prosperity preachers receive the offering!), and that we are quick to use our money for grace – forgiving, helping and uplifting the needy in our communities and neighbourhoods. If we take this call of the Gospel seriously, we may well find ourselves using our money in ways that “the world” would consider inappropriate, and we may find ourselves seeking connection with and offering grace to those who are considered to be undeserving. This may be a good week to do an ‘audit’ of your community’s use of money – and the priorities it reveals – and to make some gracious, inappropriate, and dignity giving choices.

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Inappropriate Grace
Using Our Wealth

Hymn Suggestions:
We Shall Go Out With Hope Of Resurrection
Take My Life And Let It Be
Jesus Calls Us O’er The Tumult
Just As I Am
Song For The Nations: Lyrics
God Of Justice (Link to YouTube video)
Jubilee: Mp3 Preview, Chord Chart
Your Grace Is Enough (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Eucharist

Video Suggestions:
Consuming Culture
My Joy Is Gone

The concept of repentance is a tad unfashionable these days, but justice cannot be achieved without it, and worship becomes shallow for lack of it. It’s easy to denounce the “godless” as “foolish” and to point fingers at those who bring injustice and suffering into the world, but if we’re honest, we are them – the same darkness in them dwells in us. This means we have at least two responses to make: 1) We must face our own “lostness” and repent, opening ourselves to God’s transforming grace and 2) We must offer grace and transformation to those with whom we disagree and even those we find shocking, wrong or evil. This work of justice and worship is not for the faint-hearted!

May our worship lead us into true repentance – the starting place of justice in our own hearts – this week.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28: God proclaims judgement on God’s foolish people, who are skilled at evil, but have no knowledge of doing good, and the land is destroyed in the wake of God’s anger.
OR Exodus 32:7-14 (): As the people worship the golden calf, God threatens to destroy them, but Moses pleads on their behalf, reminding God of God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and God relents.

Psalm 14: Foolish people say there is no God and live in destructive ways, but God’s people hope in God’s salvation and the joy it will bring.
OR Psalm 51:1-10: David’s prayer of repentance, asking for God’s forgiveness, cleansing and restoration after his adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Timothy 1:12-17: Paul celebrates God’s mercy in that God forgave him and empowered him for ministry, in spite of his sinfulness and ignorance.

Luke 15:1-10: Jesus explains his friendship with ‘sinners’ using the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin – where celebration is inspired by the lost thing being found again.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
Much of the destruction and evil in our world is the result of ignorance and the failure to recognise God’s presence and purpose – so say the Lectionary readings this week. The suffering and injustice that this causes is an offense to God that arouses God’s anger (Jeremiah, Exodus and Psalm 1) but, God is gracious, seeking out what is lost – as in Jesus’ parables in Luke’s Gospel – and healing, restoring and forgiving those who have done wrong (as in David’s Psalm and Paul’s letter to Timothy). More than this, God so changes those on whom God pours God’s grace that they become agents of God’s grace and healing to others – as Paul testified about himself.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: The suffering that is depicted in this week’s readings is still so prevalent in our world today. The ignorance and destructiveness of human folly touches millions of lives every day, and God is still angered by this. As followers of Christ we cannot stand by and watch silently. As the old saying goes, “evil prospers when good people do nothing.” Our hearts must be broken by what breaks God’s heart (to quote another profound, if over-used, saying), and we must become God’s voice for justice and righteousness in our communities and nations. Essentially this means that we need to participate in our society and its systems and structures in order to be agents of change. It is an act of faith and love to sign petitions and join in peaceful protest. It is an act of following Christ to vote for those who best represent the justice we seek and to hold them accountable. It is an act of discipleship to write letters to editors and to leaders, and to challenge the practices of the powerful in politics and in business. We are called to engage and challenge. But at the same time, we are called to be people of grace, forgiveness and restoration. Ours is the tough task of hope – in God’s work and in the possibility for people to change. Ours is the gracious calling to seek justice that restores, not justice that dehumanises through punishment, vengeance and excessive restitution. How can you embrace this two-sided work today?

LOCAL APPLICATION: The word ‘lost’ has come to mean those who are not part of the church, or who don’t believe in Christ as we do, but in the biblical sense, there are still many lost people in the Church. If we’re honest, we all have parts of us that are lost, and we all need to be found more and more. In the light of this, our calling in Christ is to confront the foolishness, ignorance and evil within ourselves, and allow Christ to find, save and transform us. It’s a tough and challenging thing to acknowledge the places where we are unjust or destructive, and to do the work of repentance in order to be changed, but if this is not an integral part of our calling to be people of justice, then what is? Then, we are able to become agents of God’s grace and justice, working alongside the weak, the poor, the marginalised, the excluded and the oppressed, while confronting, challenging and even inspiring the strong, the wealthy, the inclusive and the oppressor. The tough questions, then, this week are these: Where do we still need to confront injustice and “lostness” in ourselves? and In what ways can we offer ourselves to be agents of healing, grace and change in our communities?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Skeletons
Your Grace
God
You Are God

Hymn Suggestions:
And Can It Be
Amazing Grace
O Zion, Haste
Crown Him With Many Crowns
Show Us The Ancient Paths (Link to YouTube video)
Grace Like Rain (Link to YouTube video)
May The Words Of My Mouth (Link to YouTube video)
How Long? Mp3 (Amazon.com), Chord Chart

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Agape

Video Suggestions:
Repent
Psalm 51
The Lost Bear

This is not going to be a fun week to preach – but it is going to be life-giving!

The essential message of this week’s readings boils down to two things for me: 1) We are constantly faced with the choice to do the right thing or not; 2) Doing the right thing (or following Jesus, if you will) is very costly. Unfortunately, in our world, expediency, short-term thinking and prosperity preaching have all made the Gospel of counting the cost very unpopular. But, in truth, life is not found in quick fixes, or in pandering to our appetites – we know this. Life is found in following Christ’s sacrificial, life-giving ways – which is what it means, really, to do the right thing.

May our worship lead us to count the cost, and choose to be people who always seek to do the right thing.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 18:1-11: Jeremiah is instructed to observe the potter at work, and God explains how God works – how good that is promised may not happen if a nation turns to evil, and bad that is prophesied may not happen if the nation repents and turns back to God. Then God’s people are called to turn back to God.
OR Deuteronomy 30:15-20: The people are offered the choice of life or death. Life is to love God and live according to God’s principles. Death is to turn away from God and to worship other gods.

Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18: A song of celebration for how intimately and completely God knows us – God formed us before we were born, and knows the path God wanted us to follow.
OR Psalm 1: Those who devote themselves to God’s law and God’s ways are blessed, secure and prosperous, while those who are wicked will fade away like husks blown away by the wind.

Philemon 1-21: Paul writes to Philemon asking him to “do the right thing” and accept Onesimus, his run away slave, back as a brother in Christ, without judgement or punishment.

Luke 14:25-33: The cost of following Christ is everything, and Jesus encourages us to count the cost before committing ourselves to him.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
The Lectionary seems to bring us back to this one question over and over – Will we choose life and good and God, or death and evil and “not-God”? – for us to think about it from a different perspective and explore it at a deeper level. A basic reality of life and faith is this question, and the way we answer it will determine how we live, and the consequences we must face (Jeremiah, Deuteronomy and Psalm 1). Choosing life does not guarantee health, wealth and happiness – no matter what the prosperity preachers tell us. Faith is not a protection from life’s struggles and suffering. Rather, the gift of choosing God’s life is the wisdom, the resources and the capacity to give of self that leads us into fullness of life, and into knowing the reality of God’s reign in our daily lives – no matter what we may have to deal with. The big challenge in this week’s readings is the recognition that following God’s way is difficult and costly (Luke). Doing the right thing, while it leads us into God’s abundant life, is often counter-intuitive, and goes against our natural inclinations and reactions (Philemon). But we have the assurance that God knows us, loves and seeks the best for us (Psalm 139). If we are to find the courage to pay the price of following Christ, we need to learn to lean into God’s love and grace.

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: How do we begin to speak about doing the right thing in our world today? When the cost of doing right is high, and often offers little short-term gain, how do we do what is right? When our leaders are faced with fickle voters, partisan misrepresentation and opportunism, and pressure from interest groups that threaten to jump ship if they don’t get their way, how are they supposed to choose what is right? When business is measured quarterly and the stock market punishes anything but short-term gain-making strategies, how are corporations supposed to do the right thing? When we need power now, how do we what is right by our planet? When we want the foods we love now, how do we grow and distribute food ethically? When we want to feel safe now, how do we negotiate and resist the temptation to go to war? When we need to grow the bottom line, how do we investigate labour practices of suppliers, or ensure raw materials are mined sustainably? In a world of instant gratification, media scrutiny and results-addiction, eternal reward and long-term results that benefit the least can be hard to sell. If we are to commit ourselves to being people who do the right thing, we will know the benefit – we will find life that is abundant and sustainable and good, and we will encounter God in our daily living. But, we will also know the cost – the sacrifice of some of our comforts, the misunderstandings and cynicism of those who stay committed to expediency, the anger of our leaders and peers as we challenge “the system”. But, if we will not pay the cost, what hope is there for us and our world?

LOCAL APPLICATION: Doing the right thing comes down to the small details of our lives as individual Christ-followers and as communities of faith. It is in the choices we make that God’s goodness is reflected to the world, and the true value of the Gospel is demonstrated. When we turn our faith into just another “quick-fix” or just another strategy for fast and easy personal gratification (which we all do all too often) then we deny ourselves the power and joy of God’s abundant life, and we fail to proclaim the power of the Gospel of Jesus. But, when we are prepared to pay the cost – to live a life of loving, serving and caring for the least, the outcast and the unlovely – the Gospel message shouts form our lives. When we work hard to make ethical choices about our food, our clothing, our energy needs, our mode of transport, these small sacrifices have a big impact on the lives of others and on the world at large – and the Gospel message shouts from our lives. When we are prepared to live in a way that is counter-cultural, denying the short-term approach of our society, and embracing the time frame of eternity, then we build a sustainable life for ourselves, and we contribute to the sustainability of the world – and the Gospel shouts from our lives. What “instant-gratification” choices are you making that need to change? What cost is God asking you to pay in order to live the Gospel in the daily details of your life? In what ways is the practical, life-giving, blessing of the Gospel being reflected in your life and your church?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
A Small Price, Really
Counting The Cost
A Goodness Worth Pursuing

Hymn Suggestions:
Take My Life And Let It Be
I Surrender All
O Jesus I Have Promised
My Jesus, I Love Thee
Have Thine Own Way, Lord
Lord, I Give You My Heart (Link to YouTube video)
I Will Offer Up My Life (Link to YouTube video)
Change My Heart, O God (Link to YouTube video)
Everything (Link to YouTube video)
Here I Am, Jesus: Chord Chart & Mp3 Sample (Scroll down for link)

Liturgy:
A Liturgy for the Celebration of Sacrifice

Video Suggestions:
Wonderfully Made
The Cost Of Following Jesus with Adrian Plass

One word, perhaps, sum up the Lectionary readings this week: humility. In the face of a culture in which we are all encouraged to ‘value ourselves’, to ‘reach for what we want’ and to ‘not let anyone stop us’, this can be a difficult, even ridiculous, word. To claim that true, vibrant, authentic life is found in simplicity, fidelity, contentment and humility sounds naive and out of touch. And yet, this is exactly what Jesus asks us to believe – and to embrace – this week.

May our worship re-align our priorities and bring us the richness that comes from humility.

READINGS:
Jeremiah 2:4-13: God speaks out against God’s people who have forgotten God’s salvation and turned to other God’s – God’s people have abandoned God who is the fountain of living water and have dug cracked cisterns for themselves.
OR Sirach 10:12-18: In pride people have departed from God, and God has brought them low and put the humble and lowly in their place.
OR Proverbs 25:6-7: Don’t push for a place of greatness. Rather wait for an invitation than be humiliated.

Psalm 81:1, 10-16: God brought Israel out of Egypt, and longs for Israel to listen to God and follow God’s ways, but they want nothing to do with God.
OR Psalm 112: Those who fear and obey God, who are generous and righteous will know a life of goodness, confidence and richness.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16: Words to live by: Love one another and be hospitable, share the pain of those who suffer, be faithful in marriage, be content with what you have and follow the example of faithful leaders.

Luke 14:1, 7-14: Jesus advises his followers not to take places of honour at feasts, in case they be asked to move and are humiliated. Rather, he invites them to take seats at the foot of the table, so that if they are invited to a better place, they will be honoured. Further, when hosting dinners, he encourages them to invite those who cannot repay – the marginalised and rejected.

REFLECTIONS ON THEME:
The theme this week is easy to spot – but tough to preach and implement in our world. Pride leads God’s people to turn to their own resources and reject God’s ways and God’s resources (Jeremiah & Psalm 81). The result of this is inevitable failure or harm (Sirach) or the humiliation of being turned away from sought-after places of honour that we do not ‘deserve’ (Proverbs & Luke). Rather, honour and fullness of life are found in a humble commitment to following God’s ways (Psalm 112), remaining faithful and trusting, and living with grace, generosity, compassion, fidelity, and inclusive hospitality (Hebrews and Luke).

CONNECTING WITH LIFE:
GLOBAL APPLICATION: In our celebrity-obsessed world, the quest for recognition, influence, wealth, fame and the praise of others drives all too many of us. Ultimately, this pride-filled drivenness leads us into conflict and destructiveness, as all of life becomes a game of winners and losers. The great narratives of different faiths are then placed in competition with each other for the ‘honour’ of being the ‘ultimate truth’. The priorities of nations are placed into conflict as politicians wrestle to find a place in the corridors of world power, while their people’s needs are used as bargaining chips or forgotten altogether. Values, integrity and fidelity all end up being expendable as success, victory or popularity become the ends which justify any means. And, as this driven, competitive way of being spreads through the world, we all pay the price in increasing rates of divorce, heart (and other) disease, conflict and inequality. But, of course, those who end up paying the most are those at the ‘bottom’ of the game – the innocent losers. Into all of this a simple word of justice speaks – humility can heal our world. As we learn, individually, nationally and globally, to live with simplicity, contentment, respect and integrity – and expect the same from our leaders and our corporations, the game of winners of losers begins to shift to a playful collaborative game of shared benefit – and our eyes are opened to the fullness of life that is found in the hidden, poor and forgotten places – places that the rich and wealthy never see.

LOCAL APPLICATION: The proud values of our world have too often and too easily been adopted by people and communities of faith. We give more importance and value to the big, the rich and the successful pastors, writers and churches, while ignoring the smaller ones who may be doing far more practical and important work within their communities of touching the poor, the rejected and the suffering. Worship leaders are the new rock stars, preachers the new motivational gurus, churches the new stages on which slick performances are produced each week, while church goers strive to become the next singing, speaking or writing sensation. More than this, we compete against ourselves, claiming that our version of the Gospel, our worship or our interpretation of the scriptures is better than others. And we strive to be the best recognised and most influential in our neighbourhoods or cities. Too often the voices that lead and influence us even in the Church are not those who are the most devoted, prayerful or compassionate, but those who have succeeded at society’s game. What would it mean for you, as an individual and as a church community, to take the lowliest seat at the table? To step out of the game of success and winning, and into the world of simplicity, humility and service? To give the most attention and energy not to the wealthy, recognised or influential, but to the forgotten, the marginalised and the excluded? What would your Church look like if it embraced humility and simplicity as its primary values? How would it need to change?

RESOURCES FOR WORSHIP:
Prayers:
Biographers of the Least
Weak And Poor God
In Praise Of Being Noticed

Hymn Suggestions:
Take Time To Be Holy
When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
Be Thou My Vision
O The Bitter Shame And Sorrow
What Can I Do (Link to YouTube video)
God Bless The Poor (Scroll down to track 14 for the preview or to purchase)
We Are An Offering (Link to YouTube video)
What I Have Vowed (Link to YouTube video)

Liturgy:
A Simple Communion Liturgy

Video Suggestions:
Jesus Etiquette
Invite List