INVOCATION
P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
Let Your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Your humble servants; and that they may obtain their petitions, make them to ask such things as shall please You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.
P Glory be to God on high:
C and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.
We praise Thee, we bless Thee, we worship Thee,
we glorify Thee, we give thanks to Thee, for Thy great glory.
O Lord God, heav’nly King, God the Father Almighty.
O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ;
O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,
that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.
Thou that takest away the sin of the world, receive our prayer.
Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy upon us.
For Thou only art holy; Thou only art the Lord.
Thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost,
art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
OLD TESTAMENT READING 2 Samuel 22:26–34
26“With the merciful you
show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show
yourself blameless;
27with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself
seem tortuous.
28You save a humble people,
but your eyes are on the haughty to
bring them down.
29For you are my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31This God—his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord
proves true;
he is a shield for all those who take
refuge in him.
32“For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
33This God is my strong refuge
and has made my way blameless.
34He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure on the heights.”
A This is the Word of the Lord.
EPISTLE 1 Corinthians 10:6–13
6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. 11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
A This is the Word of the Lord.
HOLY GOSPEL
P The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke, the sixteenth chapter.
1[Jesus] also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
10“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
This is a first commandment thing. “You shall have no other gods before me”, says your God. The ancient believers were taught to repeat regularly, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The gods of the surrounding nations, idols, were not fit to be on the same level as the true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In fact, they were not real, only imagined or in some cases, demons disguising themselves as gods.
Nowadays, those of us who pride ourselves on being modern, intellectual and sophisticated, would have no regard for the idols of old. But idolatry is still the temptation. Other things rise up in our hearts and minds, up to the level that the Lord our God has, with regard to our fear, love and trust. Such things then become idols to us. Jesus says, you cannot have two masters. Let’s not congratulate ourselves yet. We may have torn down altars to Baal and Thor. But our obsession with money and the things it can buy is for us an even more fervent worship than the old pagans could muster.
Some will listen to me preach this and their self-defenses will rise up. “Money is no idol for me,” one might say, “because I don’t even have any.” Another might say, “How can you suggest I worship money? I hate money. I wish there were no such thing. All it causes is problems. It makes me sick to even think about it. It keeps me awake at night.” You know, in fact, many false gods are hated and feared. That’s how they are worshiped. Ancient mythologies tell of gods who were petty and vindictive. The superstitions of the pagan religions don’t always serve to seek help and favor from gods based on love. More often than not, false religion is practiced as ways to manipulate the powers that be so they don’t destroy the people. Such false worship is all about fear and resentment of the idols. So many people have a fearful and troubled heart about money, to such extent that it’s religious the way they think and feel and act with such fervor.
You cannot love both God and
money. You cannot fear both God and money. Both are included in what Jesus
said, “You cannot serve God and money.” He had to say it, cuz it’s so. He had
to say it because it is the 1st Commandment. “You shall have no
other gods.” This and all the commandments are given us by God so that we can
examine ourselves, not just on the basis of our actions and appearances, (Those
are what we present to others so they can see that we are good, respectable
people). But we are to use the ten commandments to examine our hearts, which no
one else can see. What’s in our hearts? What is our first and unrivaled love?
What is our trust and unshakable confidence? When we count up our fears and
hang-ups, our selfish obsessions, and greedy passions, we ought to conclude
that already in the first commandment, God is showing us the mess we are in.
In the parable that Jesus told, this manager of a rich man’s business and property was in a big mess. He had been negligent or dishonest and the business was suffering for it so the owner gives him notice. He’s about to lose his position and livelihood and he recognizes the mess that he’s gotten himself into. ‘What shall I do”, he says, “since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.”
Be sure to notice the mercy of the boss, the rich man in this parable. When this lousy employee finds himself stuck in a mess, the only hope he has is to count on the mercy of the boss. Even without his boss’s express permission, he starts writing off debts owed. This was costing the owner a great sum. 100 measure’s of olive oil, that’s a big load of a prized commodity. Many bushels of wheat, marked 20% off, again to the owner’s loss.
Then when the owner finds out about it, his merciful response is fascinating. He could hardly go back to those who had bills outstanding and said, no, wait a minute, I’ve gotta take back that credit and undo the loan forgiveness. To do so would make him be the bad guy. He could have been angry and spiteful toward the deceitful manager, but that would not have returned the financial loss either. Instead he chooses to be the honorable, charitable, merciful character. That’s what the manager was counting on all along. That the owner would be merciful. The manager was not disappointed, but surprisingly, commended.
Jesus doesn’t tell us, “now go and cheat likewise.” But our Lord does invite us to seek our salvation in this way. We are in a mess. We don’t have what it takes to get out of this mess. We have no good choices. We can only seek to find our salvation at the master’s, the Lord’s, expense and cost.
The dishonest manager in Jesus’ parable was helped out, but it cost the Master quite a bit. Our help comes from the Lord and it costs Him dearly. Not commodities. Not gold or silver. But the precious blood and the innocent death of our Savior Jesus.
Our Lord would have us recognize that we have no other choice. We can’t be so unrealistic and so arrogant as to say, “Oh, no, I don’t want to take something I don’t deserve from the Master. I don’t want to make Him go out of His way for me. It’s not necessary for Him to suffer for me, to die for me.”
No, instead, our Spirit-given faith will motivate us to look to the cross with awe and overwhelming thankfulness. We will lift up the cup of salvation filled as it is, at the cost of Jesus’ blood, shed at the orders of unjust Pontius Pilate. It’s not the dishonesty of the manager that we are to mimic, but his boldness. With such boldness we should say to Jesus I needed you to save me, to suffer for me, to die for me. It was my only way, my only hope. I’ve got nothing. I need you to pay the price for me.
Admitting this, believing this, is true worship of the true God. That puts the true God in His true place in your heart leaving no room for other idols, real or imagined.
All these other things, like money and possessions, can then have their proper place. In fact our money and possessions provide opportunities to practice our religion and faith every day.
Whether it’s taking the simplest morsel of food or indulging in a high feast on a special occasion or holiday, we practice our faith with these things by beginning with a prayer of acknowledgement to the Lord and thanks.
With our possessions we can be realistic, remembering that they are only for a time and for a limited purpose. We define them and give them meaning. Our things don’t define us or give meaning to our lives.
We can have money. Money is not evil. We ought not love it. We ought not hate it. We ought not fear it. It is simply a tool that converts our labor and skill into the things and services we need in the commerce of this present world.
Money can be a tool for the practice of our faith as we care for our family members with it and are merciful to those in need. We practice our faith when we sacrificially say “no” to some unnecessary expenses so we can better use our money to serve the Lord, His church and the needy.
“You cannot serve God and money.” So it is. Let’s all have their money serve them, as they use it to show their values and their love for others. Let’s serve God because He first served us with the life of His Son Jesus showing the value and love He has for us. Amen.
C Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from Thy presence, and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation, and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Amen.
(Based on Martin Luther’s Paraphrase of the Our Father in
the German Mass.)
P Father in heaven, look with mercy on us, Your needy children on earth, and grant us grace, that Your holy name may be hallowed by us and all the world through the pure and true teaching of Your Word and through the fervent love of our lives. Turn away from us all false teaching and all evil living. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear
our prayer.
C hear
our prayer.
P Grant that we may be strengthened by Your Spirit to do and suffer Your will, both in life and in death, in good and in evil things. We ask this grace especially for those who are going through difficult times. Especially Pat Ross who is in Rochester recovering from surgery. Have mercy on our friends Tiffany, Duncan and Beau and all others who are suffering and grieving from the sudden loss of husband and father Sean Slick in a car accident last week. Help Duncan and Beau heal from their injuries from that accident. Give to all Your people the faith and strength to pray “not my will, but Thine be done.” Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear
our prayer.
C hear
our prayer.
C hear
our prayer.
P Protect us, Father, in every time of trial and temptation. Help us by Your Spirit to subdue our sinful nature, to despise the sinful world and its ways, and to overcome the devil with all his wiles. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear
our prayer.
P Deliver us, Holy Father, from every evil of body and soul, both now and forevermore, that we may at last leave this valley of sorrow with joy and enter into the company of Your saints in light, joining in their song of praise that never ends. Lord, in Your mercy,
C hear
our prayer. Amen.
A Bless we the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
BENEDICTION LSB 202
P The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and T give you peace.
C Amen.
1 What is the world to me
With all its vaunted pleasure
When You, and You alone,
Lord Jesus, are my treasure!
You only, dearest Lord,
My soul’s delight shall be;
You are my peace, my rest.
What is the world to me!
2 The world seeks to be praised
And honored by the mighty
Yet never once reflects
That they are frail and flighty.
But what I truly prize
Above all things is He,
My Jesus, He alone.
What is the world to me!
3 The world seeks after wealth
And all that mammon offers
Yet never is content
Though gold should fill its coffers.
I have a higher good,
Content with it I’ll be:
My Jesus is my wealth.
What is the world to me!
4 What is the world to me!
My Jesus is my treasure,
My life, my health, my wealth,
My friend, my love, my pleasure,
My joy, my crown, my all,
My bliss eternally.
Once more, then, I declare:
What is the world to me!
Text: Public domain
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.
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