Payback time!

More explanation to the parable of the dishonest steward.

9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?

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.”

14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.-Luke16:9-15

In the last Gospel reading about the parable of the dishonest steward, the master commended the servant for being shrewd and prudent. It is a little disheartening to hear evil triumph over good, or a dishonest servant who got away with his crime, or a dishonest servant who got the last laugh. Well, Jesus explained in this Gospel reading that if a person is dishonest with small things, s/he will be dishonest in greater things. If a person is dishonest with someone else's property, s/he will not receive what is his/her own property. In other words, if a person is not trustworthy, no one will ever entrust anything to such a person. However, there is such a thing as repentance.

I was watching news on TV the other night. There was news update about the corruption committed by a powerful man. As a national leader, he was supposed to be receiving just an average salary per month. However, upon closer look in his assets and liabilities, there were information regarding properties that would have cost quite a fortune - which cannot be acquired by the said leader in his entire lifetime with his average earnings. So the question is, where did he get all the money to buy such a grand property? Now, the said leader is at his wit's end evading questions and investigations regarding his and his family's illegal acquisitions. Yes, if wealth is acquired illegally, there will always be a payback time one way or another.

Jesus is inviting us to be honest in everything - small, average and great things in life. As what He said in Mark8:36, "What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" Wealth - considered good and essential if used and acquired in the right way - will never give us true happiness especially if it was gained through dishonesty and lies. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew6:33) When we seek Jesus always, He will bless us with overflowing graces including good wealth and fortune.

Image courtesy: artists, Sunstar PH