Reading 1, Philippians 3:17—4:1

17 Brothers, be united in imitating me. Keep your eyes fixed on those who act according to the example you have from me. 18 For there are so many people of whom I have often warned you, and now I warn you again with tears in my eyes, who behave like the enemies of Christ’s cross. 19 They are destined to be lost; their god is the stomach; they glory in what they should think shameful, since their minds are set on earthly things.

20 But our homeland is in heaven and it is from there that we are expecting a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transfigure the wretched body of ours into the mould of his glorious body, through the working of the power which he has, even to bring all things under his mastery.

1 So then, my brothers and dear friends whom I miss so much, my joy and my crown, hold firm in the Lord, dear friends.

The Holy City coming down to earth

Paul’s distinction between earth and heaven should not be misunderstood: we shall not be transported to a bodiless heaven but from heaven Christ will come to transform us and the earth. We do not pray to be lifted into the sky but “your kingdom come, your will be doe on earth as it is in heaven.”

The translation “homeland” in verse 20 is unfortunate. The Greek word is “politeuma” which means either “state, commonwealth” or “citizenship”. Heaven is not where we are returning, as to a homeland, but the rule of God, which establishes the rights and duties of God’s people. Although we cannot establish the rule of God on earth, nor should we try to do so, we can already live as citizens of God’s kingdom in our earthly lives.

Even the little details of Paul’s thinking are important.

Gospel, Luke 16:1-8

1 He also said to his disciples, ‘There was a rich man and he had a steward who was denounced to him for being wasteful with his property.

2 He called for the man and said, “What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer.”

3 Then the steward said to himself, “Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed.4 Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes.”

5 ‘Then he called his master’s debtors one by one. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?”

6 “One hundred measures of oil,” he said. The steward said, “Here, take your bond; sit down and quickly write fifty.”

7 To another he said, “And you, sir, how much do you owe?” “One hundred measures of wheat,” he said. The steward said, “Here, take your bond and write eighty.”

8 ‘The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.’

Take the side of the poor

I have dealt with this tricky parable in an earlier blog. In spite of its reputation I find it clear and humorous. A man faces being called to account and knows he’s made a mess. He therefore befriends his master’s debtors by cheating his master, so that he’ll have their support when he’s sacked. Jesus means that as we face an even stricter accounting process, we should make friends with the poor, so that we will have “friends at the heavenly court” who’ll plead our cause with God.

Does that sound too crude a message for Jesus to give? No. He’s asking people to be a least as shrewd as this manager who knew how to gain friends in a crisis. There’s a crisis (Greek krisis=judgement) coming up for us all. We should act decisively by taking the side of the poor.