320. Friday after Ninth Sunday after Trinity.
Lord Jesus, give us grace to receive
thy divine words into our heart. Amen.
Luke 16, 10-13. He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other: or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
❦
These words of our Lord put the use of the things of earth in a remarkable light, and show how very important it is to use these things properly. That which the Lord calls the “least” plainly is the same as that which he afterward calls the “unrighteous mammon,” and then speaks of as “that which is another man’s.” With these three designations he places the proper valuation on our earthly belongings, and tells us how we are to regard them. The earthly things are “that which is least,” and are so to be regarded by us. To the children of the world these things are much the most important, nay everything. To the healthy human heart worldly goods are “that which is another’s”; the heart is not made for mammon, but for something infinitely more high and noble. To us also mammon is, then, to be “that which is another’s”; it is to have no place in our heart. When the unrighteous mammon is to you “that which is least” and “that which is another man’s,” you have dominion over it, and do not serve it, but use it in your service. Then you can be “faithful” in these things; that is to say, wise as the unjust steward in last Sunday’s gospel lesson, and as righteous as he was unrighteous. If you do not regard and use mammon in this way, but cling to it with your heart, and serve it, and esteem it something glorious; if you do not use the earthly things in doing good, but abuse them in covetousness or sinful luxury; you are at the same time unfaithful in the use of the spiritual, imperishable things which the Lord began to give you; namely, wisdom, knowledge of God, love, joy, and the other gifts of the Spirit; and if you continue in this way, you will lose them entirely. You become a slave of mammon, and cannot be a servant of God. You have been unfaithful in that which is another’s; your heart has possessed itself of something which did not belong to it, and is thereby become the slave of corruptible things; how can you, then, be fit to have holy dominion over all things in love’s heavenly fellowship with the eternal God? — Dear brethren, take the words of precious wisdom in our text with you, and make them a part of your life and conduct. We are all the time dealing with these earthly things, and our faithfulness herein is a measure of our ownership of the things of heaven.
Lord Jesus, let me never become a slave of mammon; but give me grace to use that which is another man’s in such a way that thou canst give me that which is my own: Love and all the unperishable treasures which thou, my God, hast destined me to have. Amen.*
Breathe, O breathe thy loving spirit
Into every troubled breast;
Let us all in thee inherit,
Let us find thy promised rest.
Take away the love of sinning,
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its beginning,
Set our hearts at liberty.
Come, almighty to deliver,
Let us all thy life receive;
Come to us, dear Lord, and never,
Never more thy temples leave!
Thee we would be always blessing,
Serve thee as thy hosts above,
Pray, and praise thee without ceasing,
Glory in thy precious love.
[TLH 351 (listen here); alt., LSB 700 (listen here), or ELH 407]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.