Warsaw International Church Sunday News: 29 September, 2013 THE NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST Tel. 22 842 2351(evenings); Mobile: 502 685015, 601 331032 Worship every Sunday at ul. Miodowa 21(near Old Town) at 11:00AM Email: pastor@wic.org.pl; Website: http://www.wic.org.pl 31 But Abraham said, If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death.. Luke 16: 31. Image copyright www.sermon4kids.com ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICES MARATHON. The 35 th PZU Warsaw marathon is taking place this Sunday so there may be difficulties coming to church by car or by bus. If possible, please use the Metro (get off at Ratusz Arsenal station). Helping to make this Sunday a fine one for our worship: Worship Leader: Young Osawaru Music: Wojtek Wojtasiewicz Readers: TBA Readings for 29 September (The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost): Amos 6: 1a, 4 7; I Timothy 6: 6 19; Psalm 146 and Luke 16: 19 31. Jesus tells a parable in which the poor is lifted up and the rich one is sent away empty. Jesus makes it clear that this ethic of merciful reversal is not new but as old as Moses and the prophets. The Target Prayer group meets after worship on the last Sunday of every month. The next meeting is this Sunday September 29.
READERS AND COFFEE HOUR HOSTS FOR OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER Enrich our worship and fellowship by reading or hosting the Coffee Hour after worship. The sign-up sheet is at the entrance to the sanctuary. OUTREACH CORNER WIC reaches out to a number of Children s Homes in Poland aiding in English teaching, financially and in fellowship. We also collect clothes to donate to families in difficult financial situations and to different social services in the region for further distribution. If you would like donate clothes, household equipment or contribute your time in helping please contact Young Osawaru. The Gospel Reading from 22 September (GNB) Luke 16: 1 13 THE SHREWD MANAGER 1 Jesus said to his disciples, There was once a rich man who had a servant who managed his property. The rich man was told that the manager was wasting his master s money, 2 so he called him in and said, 'What is this I hear about you? Hand a complete account of your handling of my property, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 3 The servant said to himself, 'My master is going to dismiss me from my job. What shall I do? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.' 5 So he called in all the people who were in debt to his master. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 'One hundred barrels of olive oil,' he answered. 'Here s your account,' the manager told him; 'sit down and write fifty.' 7 Then he asked another one, 'And you how much do you owe?' 'A thousand sacks of wheat,' he answered. 'Here s your account,' the manager told him; 'write eight hundred.' 8 As a result the master of this dishonest manager praised him for doing such a shrewd thing; because the people of this world are much more shrewd in handling their affairs than the people who belong to the light. 9 And Jesus went on to say, And so I tell you: make friends for yourselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, you will be welcomed in the eternal home. 10 Whoever is faithful in small matters will be faithful in large ones; whoever is dishonest in small matters will be dishonest in large ones. 11 If, then, you have not been faithful in handling worldly wealth, how can you be trusted with true wealth? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what belongs to you? 13 No servant can be the slave of two masters; such a servant will hate one and love the other or will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. NOTES FROM LAST WEEK S SERMON MAKE FRIENDS BY YOUNG OSAWARU Please join me in prayer. May the words of my mouth and the fellowship of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight O Lord. Amen.
4 Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes. Jesus story today of the shrewd or dishonest manager is sometimes difficult to understand because it apparently presents the approval of a dishonest practice. A manager has been sacked of his job after apparently wasting his master s money. Living up till then as a manager, he couldn t do any manual labor nor stand in the streets to beg. In the first case he needed to stand with other unemployed people very early in the morning waiting for someone to hire him while in the second he would need a license and a cloak to beg. He didn t have the strength to dig and was also too proud to beg also. So he set up a plan in order to ensure a future for himself. He called in his master s debtors and reduced their debt one after the other. In this way he would buy their favor for future purposes. I shall have friends who will welcome me in their house. He reduces the debt of one by fifty percent and of the other by twenty percent. In the end the master praised him or doing such a shrewd thing. What is then shrewd about the servant s dishonest action? Because he managed to bring the best out of a bad situation. Firstly, his future will be secure. He had made friends of the debtors, at whose doorsteps he may one day stand. Secondly, he made the burden of the debtors lighter making it easier for them to repay the master and get another loan. Thirdly, he brought relief to the master who was rather forced to take action against him because of rumors and not facts. Though he had fired him initially, the master s later reaction showed that the future of the servant was more important to him than the loss. Though not said, the master had agreed that fifty barrels of olive oil and two hundred sacks of wheat to be used as an insurance for the servant's future. I think the firing from his job and the later approval of the master would have come to the manager as a surprise. The manager who had not explained himself, neither had he repented had used the only tool and opportunity left to him to secure a future, and our Lord had asked why the people who belong to the light are not as shrewd in handling their affairs. The people of this world plan for their life here, but the people of the light should plan till the second coming and eternity. So the people of the light have a longer period to consider and apart from the worldly tools they have they also have at their disposal tools such as God s Word, prayer and a community bound by the blood of Christ, so they should be able to handle their affairs better than the people of the world. Then our Lord told his disciples to make friends for themselves with worldly wealth, so that when it gives out, they will be welcomed in the eternal home. Jesus gives a clear and simple answer to anyone who is worrying about eternity. Make friends. The disciples Jesus had been talking to will be custodians of the provisions of the Father, which will not be at their disposal when they are used up or when the disciples can no longer use them. The world is abound with God's provisions in mineral wealth in nature and for his children. How much of
God s gifts possessed here on earth are we ready to use or give up in order to make friends, live in harmony here and then later be welcomed at our Father s house? The debtors and the rich man will later meet after the manager is gone, but both sides will be in a better position because the debtors will have less to pay then and the rich man will know that somehow the manager had secured friends who would later help him. The same applies to the friends of the disciples they shall someday meet their God, but from a better position than they were before they met the disciple. Our Lord told them, and tells us also, to manage the wealth of the Father under our care in such a way to gain his approval and be welcomed into the eternal home. In order to be able to manage his gifts there has to be the awareness that whatever is possessed came by God s grace and is being used to secure a future. And God isn t unhappy, but praises the disciple when he manages his provisions well. The manager in the story made this kind gesture to people who were rich enough to be indebted to the sum of a hundred barrels of oil or a thousand sacks of wheat. And he had taken action so that the debtors of the rich man, not the rich man himself, will welcome him. And if we read the passage carefully our Lord does not talk of charity, but of management. He is talking of investment. Business and industry thrive after investment. The manager did that and our Lord calls us to do same in making friends with hat is at our disposal as an investment. So what are we disciples doing with the worldly wealth under our care? Or how can it be used to bring glory to the Father in the making of friends for ourselves? Our Christ says it should start with such small matters I mentioned earlier. From small matters to large matters and then to true wealth. And he or she who is faithful in the management of small matters will also be faithful in large ones. The issue is not on money, but as Jesus Christ puts it on using wealth to make friends. The important issue is that of human relationship. Our obligation towards God is realized when we manage his provisions for a better relationship here on earth. This is not done when we find ourselves attached to the gifts God has given us to manage in order to be welcomed in heaven. The value of the person is then lowered to the value of the items possessed. The future of the manager had more value to the rich man than the gigantic personal losses he would have due to his action. The eternal life of the God s children is so valuable that they can use what they have to make friends in a godly manner to achieve it. Jesus refers to attachment to possessions as serving them. The word used means mammon ( a place, possession or situation that puts someone on the advantage) which has a broader meaning than just money. And strong words are used for those who love or are loyal to mammon as those who hate of despise God. Jesus ends with the statement that we cannot serve God and money. The money should be used in serving God by serving man. God the provider created the world so that his managers at every
time of the age will reach out with his provisions to ensure life eternal. It requires interaction calling in in friendship those with whom we live or meet. Man has his own definition of wastage, but God s people call in those with whom they relate and leave it to God to decide whether the resources have been wasted or not. The rich man did not consider himself a loser. The parable of the shrewd manager indicates that the Lord may respond in a way to surprise the servant because our God also values our future in eternity more than anything we possess here on earth. So let us use what we possess from God in service to him and ensuring a friendly lifetime here and in the thereafter. Amen. Christian Calendar [Courtesy of Sundays and Seasons (Augsburg Fortress)] Sunday, September 29 Michael and All Angels On this festival day the church ponders the richness and variety of God s created order and the limits of human knowledge of it. The scriptures speak of angels (the word means messengers ) who worship God in heaven, and in both testaments angels speak for God on earth. They are remembered most vividly as they appear to the shepherds and announce the birth of the Savior. Michael is an angel whose name appears in Daniel as the heavenly being who leads the faithful dead to God s throne on the day of resurrection. In Revelation, Michael fights in a cosmic battle against Satan. Monday, September 30 Jerome, translator, teacher (c. 345 420) Jerome is remembered as a biblical scholar and translator. Rather than choosing classical Latin as basis of his work, he translated the scriptures into the Latin that was spoken and written by the majority of the persons in his day. His translation is known as the Vulgate, from the Latin word for common. While Jerome is remembered as a saint, he could anything but saintly. He was well known for his short temper and his arrogance, though he was quick to admit to his personal faults. Thanks to the work of Jerome, many people received the word in their own language and lived a life of faith and service to those in need. Friday, October 4 Francis of Assisi, renewer of the church (1182 1226) Francis was the son of a wealthy cloth merchant. In a public confrontation with his father, he renounced his wealth and future inheritance and devoted himself to serving the poor. Francis described this act as being wedded to Lady Poverty. Under his leadership the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) was formed, and they took literally Jesus words to his disciples that they should take nothing on their journey and receive no payment for their work. Their task in preaching was to use words if necessary. Francis had a spirit of gladness and gratitude for all of God s creation. This commemoration has been a traditional time to bless pets and animals, creatures Francis called his brothers and sisters. Friday, October 4 Theodor Fliedner,
Renewer of society (1800 1864) Fliedner s work was instrumental in the revival of the ministry of deaconesses among Lutherans. While a pastor in Kaiserswerth, Germany, he also ministered to prisoners in Düsseldorf. Through his ministry to prisoners, he came in contact with Moravian deaconesses, and it was through that Moravian influence that he was convinced that the ministry of deaconesses had a place among Lutherans. His work and writing encouraged women to care for those who were sick, poor, or imprisoned. Fliedner s deaconess motherhouse in Kaiserswerth inspired Lutherans all over the world to commission deaconesses to serve in parishes, schools, prisons, and hospitals.