From this Gospel reading (Luke 16:1-9), written by the Evangelist Luke, whose memory we commemorate today, we can and should learn much. It is about a certain steward who squanders his master’s property, and when the master decides that this man settle accounts and no longer be steward, he says to himself: “What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.” He thinks and then remembers, and calls the master’s debtors and tells them when they write down their debt to write less than they actually owe, so that when he is released from his stewardship duties, they can support him.
Things happen like this in the world, but the words that come later seem unclear to us at first: “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrightoues mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home” (v. 9). It seems as though our Lord is seeking from us, or advising us, that in these ways stealing from others we allow ourselves to survive. However, the meaning is different according to the words of the holy fathers. With these words our Lord wants to tell us that all of us who have our salary or property, inherited, received, or begotten any other way, that we are only stewards of other people’s property, that is, God’s property. We can spend for our needs only for those things which are truly necessary. No luxury, no squandering, no thinking: it is mine and I can do whatever I want. I can do whatever I want but I will have to give an account, for it is not mine, it belongs to the Lord, it is God’s property. And I should not spend more than is actually needed, and this is not only for food, clothing, books, but also for the essentials. You know yourselves what is luxury and what is a passion, what is fashion, what is of this world, on such things we needn’t waste away. It is about the fact that we are, let me repeat myself, stewards of God’s property, as cashiers in this institution and every other. If a cashier takes one dinar more than belongs to him from his salary, he has stolen. So are we. How many die, and not only in far away places like Africa and South America and so on, but here we also have poor, not because they don’t like to work, or because they refuse to work, but they cannot during these unfortunate war and post-war sanctions. And if we spend more on ourselves for the sake of luxury, to please the world, for the sake of vainglory so that we might appear to others how we are able to [how wealthy we are – Fr. M], we are taking from them, those poor, for it is all God’s property and we are told how to act.
The Lord calls this extra, that luxury, unrigtheous mammon. And let me say also, He also says that is is not ours. “Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteos mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches. And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?” (v. 11,12). For this reason does He say that we owe it to ourselves to prepare the eternal house through these unrighteous riches, with that which others spend on luxury, which others spend on fashion, senselessly, seeing how others live, our brothers and sisters who are not guilty, not because, as I said, they don’t want to work. In this way may we help as many as we can, how much ever is possible. There are a few of us here who can, but whatever is possible. In this do we prepare for ourselves the eternal riches which are in the Heavenly Kingdom.
May the Lord and His and our holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, help us to always discern that border, where things are really necessary, and where things are a luxury, which is unworthy of Christians: to take from those in need and give to ourselves not only for things that are not necessary, but, what’s more, things which are harmful.
Just recently I was reading in the paper how much is spend on drugs, in truth the mildest of drugs, nicotine, tobacco. I cannot remember the figures, how many thousands of Deutsch marks are spent daily in Belgrade only on tobacco and, understandably, how much harm they are doing to their own health and the health of their families and, of course, supporting themselves. Unfortunately, this has overtaken society in general. It is still said that our children in elementary school [and middle school – Fr. M], I think 45% of them smoke. 90% of girls and women in Novi Sad smoke. How harmful that is for ones health, not to mention the chances of cancer and other diseases.
When we stand before God, if we are faithful and even all those unfaithful, He will ask what did we spend His property on, which He gave us to take care of. May we always be aware of what we are doing, so that we might be worthy of the name which we carry, Orthodox Serbs, representing not only the Serbian people but also the Orthodox faith.
God bless you.