proper 20
Wisdom works: James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a; Mark 9:30-37
The crucified and resurrected Christ becomes the standard against which to measure all accounts of wisdom.
Shrewd investment: Luke 16:1-13
In these days of Enron, Martha Stewart and wars waged over phantom weapons, we know better than to defend dishonesty. Then why would Jesus offer a parable lauding it? Upon closer inspection, however, this parable is just one in a long line of stories that Jesus tells about how to handle wealth.
Seeing things: Mark 9:30-37
Jesus sees something the disciples do not even know they are missing.
Your God is too nice: Matthew 20:1-16
When I was a kid growing up in the Willamette Valley, local teenagers and migrant laborers would go out together into the strawberry fields to help with the harvest. This parable, with its setting in the vineyard, describes the emotions of us workers—we wanted a fair wage for a fair day’s work.