Thursday 26 April 2007

Today we bring this parable to an end - for now.

Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. (Luke 16:1-3) I have decided what to do when so that, people may welcome me into their homes.' So summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' then he asked another, ''And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' (Luke 16:4-7) And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. (Luke 16:8)

The manager took the day...and lived to the fullest. He entered the time left as though it was a gift and he literally gifted others. Grace is something that goes around - it must - it cannot be contained. Most often, we simply forget about the time that is ours today - blessed and broken and ready to become life anew. The master can see the brimmed full vision of this guy and the way he took a vision and a gift and turned it into life. We are people of grace and we are invited to take the time at hand and deal with it as though our character will become known by a graciousness that transforms all things. We must get by the note of this being a dishonest manager and begin to see through him to the the story that allows for new life in the middle of the great messes of our lives. I think it is a humorous story that does shake us up and make us wonder about this God of ours.

Connection: Well...the day is at hand. How will the gracious Reign of our God become the very breath of life that make us a gracious people? Prayerfully consider this movement of the power of grace to create life.

Come, O Spirit of Life, it is by your wind that we begin to be moved to see the day in a fresh way and then to step within it as though we have a great opportunity to be a gift to the world. Grant us vision to move now...in your name. Amen.