The Lectionary continues to challenge us about money, wealth and poverty. It’s not a particularly new theme to explore, but it is a significant focus of the Gospel, and an integral part of our mission as Church.

May we be challenged to continue to seek creative ways to bring good news to the poor as we worship this week.


READINGS:
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15: In spite of his prophecies of the destruction of Judah, Jeremiah buys his cousin’s field and proclaims God’s word that people will again buy property in the land of Judah.
OR Amos 6:1a, 4-7: Amos proclaims that those who live in comfort and wealth, without grief over the destruction of God’s people, will be the first to go into exile.

Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16: God promises refuge, protection and long life to those who trust in God.
OR Psalm 146: A call to trust in God rather than influential people, for God protects and saves those who are marginalised, excluded, poor and suffering.

1 Timothy 6:6-19: Followers of Christ are encouraged to be content with what they have, not to strive after wealth, and to share generously with others.

Luke 16:19-31: Jesus tells a parable about a wealthy man who failed to share with the poor beggar outside of his gates, and who finds himself in torment after death, while Lazarus, the beggar, finds himself in comfort.

(more…)

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