Sunday, September 22, 2019

25^th Sunday in Ordinary Time/Proper 20/15^th Sunday after Pentecost

First Reading: Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Psalm 79:1-9
Second Reading: I Timothy 2:1-7
Gospel Reading: Luke 16:1-13

The liturgical color for the day is: Green

The cheater manager is a smart, savvy guy.  It is not his dishonesty that is the takeaway.  It is his smartness and what he does.  The insight that Jesus gives us is that we are to see that moment when the man stops, considers, and thinks.  It is that moment that is a holy moment and the point of the story.

That stopping, thinking, and considering is the smart, shrewd thing the man does.  It is the call of God.  It is the point of the story.  It is the takeaway.

Stop.  Think.  Consider.  Look forward.  Ask the question—“Where are we going and where will we end up?”

It is a question of vision.  What is the vision that God gives?  What is the vision to which God is pointing?  It continues to be about clarity of identity.  We get so caught up in the flow of life that one day turns into the next and then into months and years.  We get so caught up in what we are doing that we let go of focus.  We lose our sharp edge.  We let go of where God is pointing us.  We let go of the call and the pull of God on our lives.

We let go of that vision of where God wants us to be and what God wants us to do.  And as we let go of that long-sightedness, we lapse into this feeling that there is just something missing and that something is not right in our lives.  We lapse into that feeling that “the harvest is passed, the summer has ended, and we are not saved,” FROM ANY OF THIS.

So, stop church.  Stop people.  Stop and consider it.  Add it all up.  And when you do—behold the vision that God has for you.  Look at the vision that God has for us together. 

Baptized.  Called.  Set apart.  Fed at his table.  Children of the living God.

Add it all up—that is the medicine.  There is balm in your life…and he is named Jesus.  There is balm in your life.

Use your smart savvy spirit and add it all up—there is that balm in your life—and he is Jesus. 

Rev. Dr. Daris Bultena
General Presbyter and Stated Clerk