Luke 16:9-31, Jesus' Poem about God and Mammon

Word:

Sunday's word focused on v9-13 and Jesus' teaching on mammon(which Kenneth E.Bailey argues is in the form of a poem): I would suggest you stick with a focus on this poem as Lazarus and the Rich man could well raise a whole other stack of questions!!! - suffice to say is that that story is about storing up treasures in heaven!

Luke 16:9-13 (Bailey's take on it - try not to think of Yoda when reading aloud!)

I say to you:    A     for yourselves make                (YOU)
            B     friends                            (THEY)
            C     from mammon the unrighteous        (MAMMON)
            C’     so that when it fails                    (MAMMON)
            B’     they may receive                    (THEY)
            A’     you into the eternal tents                (YOU)

2nd Stanza (v10-12) - Mammon and the Truth

        D    The one faithful in little                    (faithful)
            also in much is faithful

            E    and the one in little unfaithful            (unfaithful)
                also in much is unfaithful

If therefore        F     in the unrighteous mammon        (unfaithful)
                    faithful you are not

                F’    the TRUTH                    (faithful +?)
                    who to you will entrust?

And if        E’    in what is another’s                    (unfaithful)
                faithful you are not

        D’    the what-is-yours                        (faithful???)
            who will give to you?

3rd Stanza - Mammon and God (v13)

        G    No servant can serve two masters,            (two masters)
        H    Either the one he hates                    (hate)
        I    and the other he loves                    (love)
        I’    or the one he is devoted to                 (love)
        H’    and the other he despises                    (hate)
        G’    You cannot serve God and Mammon        (two masters)

2 Q.s
1. What did you take away from this passage and/or Sunday's talk?
2. Did you have any questions regarding Jesus' teaching in these verses?

On Sunday, we considered three values that we might have as Christians and how these might relate to how we use our money:

3 Values: Mammon (or money/property) and...

Friendship with God
Eternal Wellbeing
us as Trustworthy Servants of God

Discuss together how you are doing with money at the moment. Discuss whether these values do or do not impact the decisions you make regarding your money. Pray for one another.
Witness:
Has anyone considered creating a personal budget for giving? [i.e. planning to set aside money in advance to give to those in need]
Who might you give to and how might this serve Jesus and His Kingdom?

Robin Plummer, 15/04/2008