Bernie Madoff had it made. He was a multi-millionaire. He had developed a method of performing electronic trading and this notoriety led to him heading the NASDAQ stock exchange in the early 90s. It is said that he was making 100 million dollars per year through his legitimate investing business. But he apparently wanted more. Some say beginning in the 1970s, Madoff, along with others, developed the largest Ponzi scheme in history. From what little I can understand, a Ponzi scheme is where someone takes large amounts of investment money from a large pool of investors then pockets most of the money paying off prior investors with new investments. It all came crashing down with the stock market decline of 2008. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison and died there earlier this year. But not before Bernie “Made-Off” with an estimated 170 billion dollars in assets. (OK, so I told this whole story so I could use the “Made-Off” pun).
But seriously, folks. Do you really think that Madoff accomplished this fraud alone? Of course not (or “by no means” as St. Paul would say). He had help. There were investment firms that steered clients to Madoff. Banks that reaped huge profits from the funds he deposited with them. And he had account managers who knew what was happening but made out well for themselves. It was actually his sons that eventually turned him in when they found out what he had been up to. A very successful, and evil, man surrounded by people that worked very hard doing unethical things for their “Master”.
And so that brings us to today’s Gospel reading. The first line from Luke goes like this:
“I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
Sounds on the surface that Jesus is telling His disciples to do what they can to make money in whatever way they can so as to make friends that will support them later. Not so fast. This is the reason why it is always good to read the whole chapter to get context. Just prior to this line, Jesus tells the parable of the Master who is getting ready to fire his servant for stealing from him. Before this happens, the servant reduces the debt of the master’s clients so that these people will treat the servant well after he gets fired. The master is impressed by the servant’s resourcefulness and praises him.
The key to understanding this parable is to note that the master in most of Jesus’ stories is a stand-in for God. But not so here. The master is just as evil as the servant. It is one unethical person praising the shrewdness of another. Jesus’ point is that the righteous should be just as resourceful in using money/mammon to aid the needy in this world as the unrighteous uses their resourcefulness for accomplishing the unethical. In the quoted line above, many translations substitute “earthly wealth” in place of “dishonest wealth”. So Jesus is saying that we should use earthly wealth, temporary gain, in this life, to aid those in need. We should be generous with what we have and we will be welcomed into heaven.
And when Jesus says
“If, therefore, you are not trustworthy with dishonest wealth, who will trust you with true wealth?”
you should again substitute “earthly” for “dishonest”. If a person cannot be trusted in managing earthly, or temporary, wealth in this life, how can they be trusted to managing wealth that really matters. The true riches of God’s graces. Peace, wisdom, mercy, compassion, love, charity. Similar to the line from Matthew: Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces” (Matthew 7:6). Have we demonstrated worthiness in small matters of faith in our dealings with others that God will grace us with larger opportunities to care for others.
And when Jesus says that you cannot serve two masters…God and Mammon…does He mean that wealth is evil. By no means!! (I am starting to feel even more Pauline). Wealth is not evil in of itself. Its good nature or its evil nature is dependent on how we view wealth. Does the acquisition of money occupy most of our thoughts? Do we hoard what we have or do we share it generously with those in need? The popular phrase that “money is the root of all evil” is often claimed to have come from the bible. In reality, the text is from 1 Timothy 6:10 and it actually reads:
“For the LOVE of money is the root of all of evil”
And is Jesus ONLY speaking about money when He discusses not serving two masters. By no means!! Mammon can certainly be money. But it can also be hobbies, addictions, sports, or anything that draws us away from reading about, focusing on or loving God. And is Jesus saying beware of having only TWO masters? By no means! Most of us juggle multiple diversions from God in our lives. Is God merely only one of the balls we juggle each day or is He the rhythm, the conductor, that helps us keep all these diversions in proper perspective?
It is said that in order to find out where your heart lies, look at where you spend most of your time (or where you spend your money). And Jesus closes today’s Gospel with this admonition for the Pharisees:
“You justify yourselves in the sight of others,
but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”
So if God has graced you with the talents that have led to financial success, do not be ashamed of the accomplishments and work that got you there.
But the esteem in the eyes of others should be for what is good in the eyes of God.
