Are You Investing in Heavenly Treasure?

 

Deacon Dave · Are You Investing in Heavenly Treasure?

Homily for the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Sept. 18, 2022. Gospel of Luke 16:1-13. Theme: Are You Investing in Heavenly Treasure? 

The parable in today’s Gospel was not told in order to give a lesson in business management or financial investments. So, no need to get caught up in the shrewdness of the steward cutting his commission or in wondering what the curious phrase “dishonest wealth” might mean. These are simply attention-getting tidbits in the story Jesus told to convey his teachings on wealth, trustworthiness and keeping a proper perspective on material things. The parable is also meant to be a reminder and a warning to us. 

Jesus is telling us to be wise in what we do with our money, in how we use it for the sake of the bigger picture of our lives. He wants us to plan ahead and make a long-term investment that will yield for us the dividends of eternal life. I think we can say that, like the clever steward of the parable, Jesus wants us to be purpose-driven, but in the right direction! And that direction is towards Heaven. He knows that attachment to wealth and riches too easily become for us an obstacle, a distraction and a deception. It misleads us away from the ultimate purpose of human life, which is to know, love and serve God in this world so as to be happy with him forever in the next. 

Jesus taught this lesson on the proper place that wealth and material things should have in our lives both by both his words and by his example. I think we often seem to forget that, as God-come-in-the-flesh, he could have pre-arranged for himself a life in a luxurious palace with royal parents, but instead he freely chose to be born in a stable and grow up in the simple home of a poor working class family. He grew up to become a laborer in Nazareth and then a traveling teacher without any home of his own. For the last three years of his life he lived in utter simplicity, devoting his time and energies to preaching about the true riches that last, which means the treasure that we make for ourselves in Heaven by our acts of love for God and neighbor while we are here on planet Earth. 

You see, Jesus knows that the danger of wealth is not at all in the money itself.  As with most any objects in life it can be good or bad depending on what we do with it. But it seems that wealth so easily enslaves those who possess it, or better yet, who become possessed by it. Both rich and poor can become consumed with an unhealthy desire for more and more – which we call greed - allowing it to become a driving force, a central motivation in their lives. The Scriptures and human experience teach us that greed is such an ugly thing that can fool even the best of us. It lures us to see people as potential profits or debits instead of as persons. It tempts us to dismiss the poor and needy as a drain on society or write them off as lazy. It motivates us to use our talents primarily for ourselves and our personal advancement instead of for God’s glory and the good of the human family. It works against us in the eternal long-run, accumulating for the greedy a deposit awaiting them in Hell. 

Ultimately, what Jesus is telling us in today’s gospel is that from God’s point of view the amount of money we have is irrelevant to him. It’s what we do with it that makes all the difference in this life and in the next. With this in mind, I want to close with a few questions for personal reflection that can help us each see where we stand in the light of this social teaching of Jesus Christ: 

 · If I am wealthy, am I attached to the money I have? Would my life become less meaningful if it was all suddenly taken away? 

 · If I am not wealthy, am I struggling with an unhealthy obsession for money ? Do greed and envy dwell in my heart? 

 · Do I truly understand deep within me that while money can take care of my material needs, it can never satisfy my emotional and spiritual needs and bring me peace? 

 · Do I keep in mind that one day I will have to stand before God and give an accounting of how I used my money and possessions? 

 · Do I realize that there is a direct relationship between how I use wealth in this world and where I will spend my eternity in the next?