You’re Getting Fired In The Morning

Luke 16:5-8a

‘So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.’

I got fired from my first job. I was fourteen and I worked in a school kitchen. I hated it. I was a lazy teenager and I had to wake up at 6am on a Saturday morning to serve breakfast and clean up after 600 boarding school kids who thought it was funny to make disgusting concoctions out of Weetabix, sausages, juice and ketchup. It was gross. I used every excuse in the book to get out of working. Eventually the catering manager understandably got fed up with me.

What would you do if you found out you were getting fired tomorrow? Well, that’s exactly what happens to the guy in our story. He’s been doing a lousy job managing his master’s affairs and when his master finds out, he decides to fire him. He sends out the meeting invite for the next day. But the manager gets wind of what’s about to happen and, realising that he’s only got 24 hours left, he starts to plot. He thinks about life after tomorrow and hatches a plan to make sure he’ll be okay. He still has control of his master’s accounts so he calls all the people who owe his master money and reduces their debt. In exchange, they’ll look after him once he gets fired.

Jesus lets us into a secret. We’re all getting fired in the morning. We’re all going to die one day. This story is about what we do with the time we have left. Because this life is just the beginning, there is eternity to come. The manager switches his focus from getting the most out of the here and now. He looks to the future and decides to use the time he has left to prepare for it. We should do likewise.

Prayer – Thank you Jesus that you have conquered death and I have hope beyond the grave. Please help me to make the most of my time today.