You Cannot Serve God and Wealth
Reflections September 21, 2025
This Weekend’s Scripture readings place a powerful and uncomfortable choice before us. They confront us with one of the most persistent temptations in human history: the desire to serve two masters. In Amos, we hear the voice of a prophet who warns a prosperous but unjust people. In 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul reminds us of the universal grace of our one mediator, Jesus Christ. And in Luke, Jesus Himself delivers a sharp and unambiguous verdict on the division of our hearts. The central message, woven throughout these passages, is clear: You cannot serve God and wealth.
Amos 8:4-7: The prophet Amos stands against a society that is outwardly religious but inwardly corrupt. He calls out those who "trample on the needy and bring the poor of the land to an end." Their sins are not grand, dramatic acts of evil, but the subtle, everyday deceptions of the marketplace. They can't wait for the Sabbath to end so they can cheat their customers, manipulating scales to shortchange the poor and sell them worthless grain. God's response is a sober warning: He sees their deceit, and He will never forget a single one of their deeds. This is a timeless message. The temptation to exploit the vulnerable, to sacrifice honesty for profit, and to prioritize the accumulation of wealth over the well-being of our neighbors is as present today as it was in Amos's time.
1 Timothy 2:1-7: The letter to Timothy, head of the church in Ephesus, offers us a profound counterpoint. Amid a world full of greed and deception, Jesus calls us to a different way of life. He urges us to pray for all people and for our leaders so that we "may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." This is the purpose of our faith. It is a life not of anxious accumulation or frantic competition, but of peace and dignity rooted in a relationship with God. The reason this is possible, Paul explains, is because of our one mediator, the man Christ Jesus. Through His sacrifice, He has given Himself as a ransom for all, making us all equal in God's eyes and setting us free from the endless struggle of trying to save ourselves or secure our future through wealth. His grace is the only true wealth we can ever possess.
Luke 16:1-13: Jesus tells the strange and difficult parable of the dishonest manager. It's easy to get lost in the details, but Jesus's point is not to commend the manager's dishonesty. Instead, he uses the manager as an example of shrewdness. The manager uses the resources of this world to secure his future after his employment ends. Jesus then turns this worldly wisdom on its head, challenging His followers to "make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth." He’s telling us to use the fleeting and tainted wealth of this world not for selfish gain, but for the eternal good of others. We are to be shrewd with our money, not for our own fleeting comfort, but for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
And with that, Jesus delivers the punchline that gets to the very heart of the matter: "No servant can serve two masters... You cannot serve God and wealth." This is not a suggestion or a recommendation; it is a profound and immutable law of the spiritual universe. Serving is an act of exclusive devotion. It is about who or what holds our ultimate loyalty. God is a jealous God who demands our whole heart. Money, in its insatiable nature, demands the same. It promises security, power, and comfort, but ultimately delivers anxiety and spiritual emptiness. We cannot give our primary allegiance to both. One will always win out, and the other will always suffer.
As we enter this Weekend with Christ, let us ask ourselves: Which master are we serving? Is our pursuit of wealth a distraction from God, or is our stewardship of resources a means of serving Him? Let us use our wealth not to build up earthly treasures, but to build up the Kingdom of God, knowing that the only true, lasting riches are found in the service of our one true Master.
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