Prepare a full account of your stewardship…
What does justice look like?
In the 8th century BCE, the prophet Amos took the wealthy businessmen of his era to task for their abuses and violations of covenant: Hear this, you who trample on the needy and destroy the poor of the land! The economy the merchants have established is designed to make the rich richer and the poor poorer by dishonest means: we will diminish the ephah, add to the shekel, and fix our scales for cheating, they say. Such men little value their neighbor except as a means to self-gain. But Amos promises that the Lord has sworn, Never will I forget a thing that they have done! To use one’s neighbors for personal gain is contrary to covenant, in contrast with the Lord himself who, as Psalm 113 reminds us, lifts up the poor. In a truly just world, all are treated equally: from the dunghill, God lifts up the poor to set them with princes. In a truly shared existence, everyone has value in God’s eyes.
In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus uses the parable of the dishonest steward not to suggest that the man is praiseworthy – far from it – but to demonstrate the steward’s ability to be just where before he has been dishonest. When called before his master to prepare a full account of his stewardship, the man realizes that he can return his ill-acquired gain to those whom he overcharged in the first place, thereby benefitting them and himself. The steward invests in the good will of his clients, and builds a better world in the process.
We may not have the means to invest monetarily in our world, but, if nothing else, we can invest by praying for it. Paul writes to Timothy to remind him that prayer on behalf of everyone is important – even kings – because true prayer connects us. Myopic prayer, prayer that is self-centered, will leave us isolated, but inclusive prayer draws us into the lives of others, giving us a deeper awareness of all that we have in common. Prayer is also good and pleasing to God, who wills everyone to be saved. Salvation for all? That is true justice, God’s justice. Pray, therefore, not for what you can gain, but with an eye to how you can build a better world… a just world, where all can enjoy a level playing field as children of the light and everyone has value, in God’s eyes and in our own.
This post is based on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordclouds.com
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