Of Dallas, Soap Operas and the Kingdom of Heaven

November 6, 1:52 AMReno Catholic ExaminerCharles Gill

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Hebrew word is Paar, for fruitful, cattle

Luke 16: 1-13: Jesus told his disciples, "A rich man had a steward who was reported to him for squandering his property. He summoned him saying, 'What is this I hear about you? Prepare a full account of your stewardship; you can no longer be my steward.' The steward said, 'What shall I do, now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me? I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do so that, when I am removed from the stewardship, they welcome me into their homes.'

He called in his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, 'How much do you owe my master?' He replied, 'A hundred measures of oil.' He told him, 'Here’s your note. Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.' To another he said, ‘you, how much do you owe?' He replied, 'One hundred kors of wheat.' He told him, 'Here is your promissory note; write one for eighty.'

The Hebrew word for horse us Sus,

The master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently. "The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, children of light, make friends with uncharitable mammon, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If you are not trustworthy with uncharitable mammon, who will trust you with true wealth?

If you are not trustworthy with what belongs to another, who will give you what is yours? No servant can serve 2 masters. He will gnash his teeth at the one and love the other, or he will hold one as weighty and tread upon the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Ever watch the TV show Dallas, or for that matter most other soap operas? All too many of us delight watching these people as they con each other and play every dirty trick in the book to get ahead. Inside of this we can see the games being played. To the first debtor the servant simply says, 'How much do you owe my master?' He gets a 50% discount. To the second he adds, "You," The second does not get a welcome, but, "You." He only gets a 20% discount. We can surmise that most of the other people in Dallas found out about what the servant was doing and got in line for their share.

Behold the Lamb, Tala

We would not want to be any of the folks in this soap opera, and we would not want to do business with any of these folks, but we admire the cunning that is used to get what they want. This sense of being entertained is what Jesus is talking about in this passage. "The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light." Even when catastrophe strikes, the games do not stop. The first man must be JR Ewing. He is a player and he can get the steward a new job. The second debtor is less of a player.

I tell you, children of light, make friends with uncharitable mammon, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. The person trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones; the person who is dishonest in very small matters is also dishonest in great ones. If you are not trustworthy with uncharitable mammon, who will trust you with true wealth?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Mark 12: 29 is the Shema, the Jewish Creed. In includes, "Hear Israel, God is Almighty, God is One." It then follows with "Love God with all you hearts, all your anima, and with everything you use to measure yourself with. The word for hearts, in Hebrew, is plural. The word for "Your" is singular. There are to possible reasons for this. The first is simply that it is addressed to the community. The second is that we each have a multiple of hearts. We have inclinations to do what is good, and we have inclinations to do what is rotten. The inclinations by themselves are neither good nor rotten. It is how we use them. Likewise, in this passage with the mammon.

"Make friends with uncharitable mammon, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." Realize that it will fail. Realize this from the start. Realize this all through the process of using it. It is transient. It is here today and gone tomorrow. The boss can come and take it away for any reason, or no reason. "The person trustworthy in very small matters is also trustworthy in great ones." Mammon is the small stuff. Be trustworthy with the small stuff. Make friends with it; know that it is transient.

Nobody really wants to be friends with JR Ewing. He can turn on you tomorrow for any reason or no reason. Be ready when he turns. That is just the politics of the modern corporation, or any corporation or corpus of people doing business today, or in year 0 Anno Domino. Remember, JR knows why the steward lost his job. He knows he is not trustworthy. He does not care. He is just playing the game. He may even give the man a job, in hopes he will con for him too. That is just business, but he will be watching. At the first slip, the steward will be gone again. Better get it right this time and be friends with mammon, being trustworthy. Do not give JR the rope to hang you with, Mr. Steward. Bad things have been known to happen to people who upset JR.

"If you are not trustworthy with uncharitable mammon, who will trust you with true wealth?" God is looking for people to inhabit heaven. Who do you think he wants in there? Does he want the players of this world, the successful backstabbers who plowed their way through people to get to the top? God already has that position. God wants people who will respect his property. He wants people who will take care of true wealth, his image which is in each of us. We might as well practice now, because we never know when he is coming.