Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Gospel, Luke 16:1-15                    

Luke 16:1-15

There’s a lot of the “world” in our gospel text this week. Just lately I have spoken to several in my daily circles about how I see the world’s opposition to Christ as becoming increasingly clear. And this before the slayings of the Ukrainian woman in Charlotte, NC or the Charlie Kirk assassination. Jesus, in Luke 16 deals with elements of that system: debt, repayment, laziness, shrewdness, compromise and the like. Jesus comes succinctly to a conclusion here that he lands on in other places and that is this: “No servant can serve two masters (see also Matthew 6), for 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 God and money” (Luke 16:13).

The psalmist writes, “ ….unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11b). This is what our Lord is after. In all of us. This is what he values. Singleness of heart. Commitment. True devotion. Now, we need to remember that none of that comes from ourselves. He supplies it all. But his desire is that what he values takes root and takes first place. Because singleness of heart toward him is our greatest blessing. And that is always what our Savior desires.