The Gospel of Luke is a gospel of great reversal because God turns upside down our own way of thinking and doing. He wants us to be persons of integrity, to make Him shine in our lives and to be undivided in our love. Integrity is a gift from the Holy Spirit. It means wholeness, completeness, undivided, singlemindedness and wholeheartedness in loving God and our neighbor. The question is: Does our worship truly shape our way of living? Or we continue to follow Christ on our own terms. We go to Church and still harbor hatred, resentment, indifference, condemnation toward others who do not think the way we think. We don’t even know them. Only God sees everything. We fall into the danger of keeping our worship only on the surface while our hearts chase after something else. Religion can become a mask where dishonesty hides behind appearances. In the parable of the dishonest steward (Luke 16;1-13), Jesus highlights the values of the kingdom and they include foresight, resourcefulness, creativity, sense of urgency, to be on fire, wise, smart, bold and decisive in getting things done. The values do not include laziness, complacency and mediocrity. He wants us to focus on the things above where neither moths nor vermin could not destroy. To store up treasures in heaven is a call and a challenge to see things through the lens of the risen Christ, to have the same mind and heart of Jesus and to focus on treasures that are eternal. The parable also teaches us that we are called to be responsible and faithful stewards of creation. We are the stewards and never the owners of what we possess. We don’t have the absolute right to anything we have because everything we leave behind. Everything comes from God and He is the great lender. We owe to Him everything and we return to Him everything with fruits. We brought nothing into the world and we shall take nothing out of it. We are called to embrace the spirit of detachment. Jesus said: “We cannot serve both God and mammon.” We cannot walk east and west at the same time. Two masters cannot share one heart. Our heart belongs to God alone. Either God shapes our conscience or money does. Either we use resources with honesty and compassion or they consume us. God demands first place in our lives because He is the foundation of all love. When we are centered and grounded in His love, all our actions and relationships fall into the right place. We begin to see with God’s eyes with mercy, truth and courage. When we do this we truly are men and women of integrity.
Store up treasures in heaven
