The Rev. Susan Dennen-Rodriguez
Sep 15, 2022
September 18, 2022
Luke 16 1-13
The Rev. Susan Dennen-Rodriguez
This week’s passage is one that has frustrated Christians ever since it was written. When is it ever good to cheat, and worse with someone else’s stuff? As a seminarian, I asked Bishop Carlos about this; he shrugged and told me that the only answer he had was to “do the best with what you have.” I still don’t have a good answer to this, and I doubt I ever will. The second part of the passage speaks to all of us: ‘Whoever is faithful in little….” It is a truth that we have seen again and again in our own lives as we consider the secretary, the maid, the painter, the mozo, etc.: people who earn little are often scrupulously honest in all their dealings.
Those are the people we trust, the workers who get the promotion, not because they have the fancy degree but because we know we can trust them. In fact, all of us have been that dishonest steward no matter how we deny it.
God himself has trusted us with His creation and we have shortchanged him in every way we can. Today it is popular to talk about ‘carbon footprints’ and we should all be aware of the many ways we do contribute to pollution and the many ways we can contribute to its reduction.
We like to tell ourselves that we are conscientious without really trying. Like everything that is worth doing, it takes effort. Caring for God’s creation is more than working on helping to stop global warming, which we all need to do. It is working to care for and about the most precious part of creation, those who surround us. Be they human, four footed, two footed or scaly, every creature has a place in this world. We are stewards of creation. We are honor bound to care for it and give it to our grandchildren in better shape than we found it. “Be honest in the small things and the large” is always Jesus’ message. He has trusted us in the small so that the great, the Kingdom of God, will grow in our hearts and in our lives.