“And so I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.”
What does Jesus mean by “unrighteous mammon”? We know that mammon means money, riches, goods, wealth, but why does He call it “unrighteous”? Is our Lord implying that wealth is an evil and wicked thing?
I don’t think so. Jesus calls it “unrighteous” not because money itself is evil, but because our use of money so often is contrary to God’s will. After all, "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." (1 Tim 6).
Now, I am not pretending to be in a position to examine your bankbook and your life, and then tell you whether or not your use of money lines up with God’s will. Rather, each of us must look at our own lives and answer the question for ourselves. And if it’s not easy
to figure out when spending on self pleases God, it is very easy to figure out when spending on others does so! “He who has pity on the poor lends to the LORD, And He will pay back what he has given.” (Prov 19:17)
The unjust steward is commended not because he cheated his master and got away with it; Jesus commends him because he used wealth in a way that was foresighted. He looked to the future, saw what was coming, and assured friendship for himself by how he used his position as steward. Jesus says that we can learn something important from that. Let’s look into the future and see what we know as Christians:
First of all, the future will reveal that we are all stewards. That means, since we belong to Christ, He is our Lord and Master. That Day will reveal that all of our financial resources and all the stuff in our lives belong to Another; they belong to our Lord Jesus and He
has entrusted us only with the use of them.
Second, our Lord will one day ask each of us for an accounting. He will want to know how we used the gifts entrusted to us; how we used possessions and wealth, time and talents.
Third, no one makes it into the eternal dwellings because they used their money well; no one buys their way to heaven. Life with God forever comes only as a gift of mercy. The Father in unimaginable love sent His Son into the flesh as the ransom that sets us free from
the accusations of the law, from the power of sin and from the grip of the grave, and He opens wide for us the gift of an eternal home. Our puny acts of giving or charity could never win us such a home as our just desserts. Never.
Fourth, on the day of accounting, we, the baptized, won’t be surrounded by cars, boats, houses, TVs, computers, combines, books or any such things, much less will we have our investment portfolios with us. We WILL, however, be surrounded by people; for our Lord
will raise all the dead and call all people to an accounting before his throne.
Fifth, on that day it will be revealed whether we had a living faith and trust in the Lord Jesus or whether our faith was a sham. And a living faith always betrays its presence by deeds of love and compassion. Real faith loves, can’t help itself. But head knowledge can be perfectly at home with greed and despising the poor and all other manner of evil.
And so sixth and finally, it only makes sanctified common sense to use wisely the wealth God has entrusted to us to “make friends” for ourselves for that day of accounting, so that they – the poor whom we have blessed with our gifts - with joy can welcome us to our
everlasting home.
How blest you will be on the day of judgment when someone stands up before the Lord and says: “Lord Jesus, I was hungry once and he gave me food!” or “I was lonely and afraid, and she stayed with me, prayed with me, and comforted me!” or “I was homeless, down and out, and they invited me in and welcomed me just like I was a member of their family!” All of which is for these friends to cry out to the Lord “That person’s faith was real. Look at what they did for me in my time of need!”
Conversely, how utterly sad it would be on that day to discover that one only had a sham faith, a faith that never broke out in deeds of love or kindness toward others in need, a faith that only lived in the head and never was allowed to touch the pocketbook, let alone the
heart.
So today’s Gospel speaks a simple message to the people of God: “Wise up! Let use the gifts God has given to us to bless others so that our faith may be proven genuine on the day of the Lord when many friends will throw their arms around us and welcome us into the eternal habitations that our Lord has prepared for us and for them.”
Have you been faithful in your use of mammon, of the Lord’s wealth? I don’t think there’s anyone of us here today who would be bold enough to make such a claim. But thanks be to God.
Again today the Lord Jesus comes to us with all His wealth in His body and blood. He does for us at this Table precisely what He calls upon us to do for others. He clothes the naked with His holiness. He feeds the hungry with His life. He opens up His Father’s home and
provides us a welcome and a place. He pours His forgiveness into us that we can pour ourselves out for others. So come, let us confess to Him our selfish use of money and beg Him to free us from the worship of Mammon which is greed. Let us taste His forgiveness and His love, so that in the strength of His embrace we may go forth in wisdom to use His wealth in ways that will please Him and be a blessing to those in need, the friends who will welcome us to the eternal habitations.
Amen.
