Worship Helps for Pentecost 18
Artwork: Poverty and Wealth
Artist: William Powell Frith
Date: 1888
Worship Theme: Money rules in our materialistic society.
We also must admit that God has richly blessed each of us with many physical
blessings—far more than we deserve. How we handle those blessings, whether they
be dollars or possessions, reflects our relationship with our God. May God move
us to use all of his blessings in a way that pleases him, serves his purposes
and helps others eternally.
Old Testament: Genesis 14:8 Then the king of
Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim and the
king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the
Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of
Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar-- four kings against
five. 10 Now the Valley of
Siddim was full of tar pits, and
when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah
fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11
The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom
and Gomorrah and all their food;
then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram's nephew Lot
and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom .
13 One who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now
Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol
and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. 14 When Abram heard
that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men
born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During
the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing
them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus .
16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot
and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. 17
After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him,
the king of Sodom came out to meet
him in the Valley of Shaveh
(that is, the King's Valley). 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem
brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and
he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of
heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered
your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to
Abram, "Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself." 22
But Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have raised my hand to the LORD,
God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23
that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of
a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.' 24
I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to
the men who went with me-- to Aner, Eshcol and Mamre. Let them have their share."
1. Instead of sitting tight, to make sure he stayed safe
and prosperous, what did Abram do?
2. What did Abram give to Melchizedek?
3. Why would Abram not take anything that belonged to the
king of Sodom ?
Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness
with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the
world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and
clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get
rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires
that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money
is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered
from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 11 But you,
man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the
faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made
your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who
gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before
Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep
this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time-- God, the
blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who
alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen
or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
4. Why is
godliness with contentment great gain? (See 6:7.)
5. Is money itself evil? (See 6:10 .)
Gospel: Luke 16:1 Jesus told his
disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his
possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear
about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager
any longer.' 3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do
now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm
ashamed to beg-- 4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job
here, people will welcome me into their houses.' 5 "So he
called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do
you owe my master?' 6 "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he
replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and
make it four hundred.' 7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how
much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He
told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' 8 "The
master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the
people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are
the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain
friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into
eternal dwellings. 10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little
can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will
also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy
in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12
And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will
give you property of your own? 13 "No servant can serve two
masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
6. What is the main point of this parable of Jesus? (See
16:9‒12.)
7. How does
Jesus further his point by saying “You cannot serve both God and money”?
Answers:
1. Abram went on a long, difficult journey to overtake and
fight the kings who had defeated and plundered the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah . He saved his nephew Lot ,
Lot 's family, and Lot 's
possessions in the process.
2. Abram gave God's priest, Melchizedek, a tenth of
everything. (Giving a tenth of our income to God today is not a requirement,
nor do we know that it was in Abram's day. But what a stellar sign of gratitude
to God, trust in God and generosity!)
3. Abram would not take anything because he did not want
the king of Sodom to be able to
claim that he had made Abram rich. (God had made Abram rich. Today too: All
wealth comes from God.)
4. Godliness with contentment is great gain, Paul says,
because we brought nothing into this world and we can take nothing out.
5. Money is not evil. The love of money is a root of all
kinds of evil. In Paul’s picture, running after money will lead now and forever
to similar results as running headlong into a drawn sword.
6. Jesus tells this parable to encourage us to make good
use of our money. How we use the money and possessions that God has given is a
fruit of faith and will reflect our relationship with him. By keeping an
eternal perspective on the blessings God has given, we will use them to serve
his purposes and to support his kingdom here on earth, knowing God will reward
us forever.
7. Worldly wealth and possessions are given by God to be
used in his service. The God who gives the money must always be more important
than the money that he gives.
I beg you all for God’s sake,
my dear sirs and brethren, who are pastors or preachers, to devote yourselves
heartily to your office. Have pity on
the people who are entrusted to you and help us teach the catechism to the
people, and especially to the young. And
let those of you who cannot do better take these tables and forms and impress
them, word for word, on the people…
Although we cannot and should
not force anyone to believe, we should insist and encourage the people. That
way they will know what is right and wrong for those among whom they dwell and
wish to make their living. For whoever
desires to live in a town must know and observe the town laws, because he
wishes to enjoy the protection offered by the laws…
After they have learned the
text well, teach them the meaning also, so that they know what it means. In particular, urge the commandment or part
that most suffers the greatest neglect among your people. For example, the Seventh Commandment, about
stealing, must be strongly urged among mechanics and merchants, and even
farmers and servants. For among these
people many kinds of dishonesty and stealing prevail. You must always offer
many examples from the Scriptures to show how God has punished or blessed such
persons. – The Small Catechism, Preface by Dr. Martin Luther (paragraphs 6, 13,
17-18)
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