Serving Two Masters

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, 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 16:10-13

In my many travels the past few years, I have often found signs that amuse me and confuse me. I enjoy the play on words and the wonderful turns of phrase. But too often, folks have not really thought through what people might really think about their name or their signs. Voodoo Salon? Really? What kind of hairdo would I be getting, do you suppose? And who would I be cursing when there and when I came out?
We often think we are serving one purpose when we are really serving another. And we are too often serving ourselves and locked in our own sens of reality without a thought of others.

Jesus was wrapping up his parable about the wise yet unfaithful steward. We often are mislead and think that Jesus wants us to be shrewd and worldly from that parable. And yet, there is more to the story. He wants us to be honest and clear about who we serve, both in our words and in our actions. People understand when we are just blowing smoke and only really concerned for ourselves. Hoe much more so is God able to understand who we serve. We might try to hide from ourselves but we will be found out. We are invited to be genuine in all that we do. We are invited by God to be honest in all things. And we are reminded that we cannot use the cloak of invisibility and say we are serving God when we are really out for gain.

Today I ask God to help me be genuine ans transparent in all that I do and say. May we, with God's help, set aside our innate greed and offer all of ourselves to God. May we serve others with no expectation of gain or reward, so that we might clearly know God's love for us in every breath we take.