GOSPEL OF LUKE: Chapter 16

Luke 16:1-18  
The Story of the Crooked Manager
If you’re honest in small things,
    you’ll be honest in big things;
If you’re a crook in small things,
    you’ll be a crook in big things.
If you’re not honest in small jobs,    who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses:
    He’ll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second.    You can’t serve both God and the Bank. (MSG 10-13)


Luke 16:27-31  The Rich Man and Lazarus

27-28 “The rich man said, ‘Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won’t end up here in this place of torment.’

29 “Abraham answered, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.’

30 “‘I know, Father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but they’re not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.’

31 “Abraham replied, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets, they’re not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.’”

     Chapter 16 parables are stories of resources.  How do we use our money, what does it represent, how do we manage the blessings of God?  Good money management should provide the means with which to reach out and perform acts of caring; to witness through our gifts.  The parable of the manager is difficult to understand in that Jesus uses a negative example to make a positive point.  It is easy to lose the point in the story.  But the summary given in verses 10-13 clarifies the main issue.  
     Lazarus is named in the second story.  The rich man is not.  A reminder that God calls us individually by name, even the poor and outcast?  A reminder that the weathy are bundled together anonymously in the name of those who abuse power?  

Commentary from The Voice:
The theme of money and wealth has come up again and again. It’s what really motivates the Pharisees, it turns out. Money might be God’s top competitor. In the previous parable, Jesus turns the tables. The rich man, who represents what most people wish they could become, turns out to be the one who is hopeless in God’s judgment; he is rich in possessions but poor in compassion, and compassion is what God measures, not wealth. The kingdom of God, Jesus is making clear, calls rich people to stop working to increase their personal wealth portfolio; instead, it challenges them to join God by using their wealth and power on behalf of the poor.