Serving Two Masters

Serving Two Masters
Pentecost 15; Luke 16:1-13
In practice, I have found that serving God
makes serving wealth a choice beyond my means.
The most I hope for is to have enough,
but surely some would see “enough” as “wealth”.

And I am grateful that it was to me:
the work I loved brought in enough to live
with all the basic comforts of our day –
to many in the world unheard of wealth.

I scratch my head to guess how Jesus’ tale
of manager and rich man might apply
to money woes in parishes today:
self-serving shrewdness seems in short supply.

Preoccupation with the deficit
can master us as much as riches might,
distracting us from following the Lord
who served without a place to lay his head.

Our buildings and their trappings are a wealth
that take attention from our humble God
who shared our human poverty and risk
and died at hands of those with wealth and power.

Now our enough must last our family
through ageing’s unpredictable expense.
How can we give enough to help the poor,
serve God and others and retirement’s needs?

Dilemmas for parishioners and me,
and this week’s gospel leaves me anxious still:
though Jesus satisfies my deepest need,
possessions are the standard here for wealth.
	Barbara Messner 18/09/2025