Brief synopsis of the readings: In the Old Testament Book of Wisdom (yes, yet again a book Catholics accept but Protestants and Jews don’t. Can’t we get together on this?) the writer speaks of the joy of God saving them while destroying their enemies. This goes to the glory of those who follow God. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus reminds his followers that God is pleased to give them his kingdom. He then talks about vigilance as they (we) await the Son of Man. He describes a master who leaves on a trip and puts the head steward in charge. The master will return unannounced and if he finds the steward has done a good job he will be rewarded. But if he abuses the other servants and breaks into the liquor cabinet the master will punish him. “When a man has had a great deal given him, a great deal will be demanded of him; when a man has had a great deal given to him on trust, even more will be expected of him.”

This is terrible but whenever I hear this Gospel I can’t help but think of my coworker Debbie. We worked together in high school at the public library, hardly a haven for party animals. She told me one day that her parents were going away for the weekend and she was going to have some friends over. Despite my concerns of an “Animal House” type party she insisted people were coming over only by invitation and the number would be limited. She came to work on Monday after looking positively ashen. Sure enough the party got out of control because friends invited friends who invited friends who…well you get the point. These “friends” drained her parents’ liquor cabinet, trashed the furniture and (best of all) ground lit cigarettes into the carpet. By the end of the evening she prayed for the cat in Dr. Seuss’ The Cat In the Hat to show up. Debbie told me that her father was too angry to speak and it would take a long time for her ever to be trusted again.

This makes for a great story and wherever she is I hope she’s able to laugh about it now. But our readings call us to something much, much deeper than this. God is not simply a father who errs by trusting us. God wants so much more from us. The question at the basis of the readings is this: What does God dream of for us, and how do we respond?

When we were children morality was fairly simple (in the understanding if not the execution). We had no shortage of adults who explained the rules to us: our parents, our teachers, our adult neighbors, our pastors, etc. There were times when were given contradictory instructions (finish your plate v. don’t eat more than you need) but for the most part we lived by the creed that we were supposed to follow the rules. If we did we were rewarded, and if we didn’t we were punished. The steward in today’s Gospel recognizes that if he follows the rules the master will see that he is worthy of trust, and if he doesn’t he will be beaten.

But as we mature we are called to move beyond this. But to where? The ancient Greeks believed that the knowledge of the difference between good and evil rested in our very souls. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his book Nicomachean Ethics that the human soul is connected with the cosmos and if we pay attention to our soul we will know what to do. They didn’t have the concept of a personal God who called the shots but they believed the individual soul was part of something greater.

Next in our history came the morality in the Bible. This is best captured in the 10 Commandments from Exodus but also in the books of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus. The advantage of looking here is plain: who better to listen to than the God who created the Universe? This is something that has been taken seriously by many. We see Jews spending hours discussing passages, we see Christians involved in Bible Study, and many believers speak of the Bible as life’s instruction book.

Had enough? Well, several hundred years ago we experienced something called the Enlightenment. It was a time where we really discovered science and recognized that we had some mastery over how the world worked (e.g electricity). Philosophers like Immanuel Kant believed that morality could best be found in our own intellect and is based on rationality. Breaking a rule or doing something you’re not supposed to do is simply irrational (a wink to all the Spock fans out there).

Finally, this may be my own thinking but I’d like to tip my cap back to Aristotle. The Jewish author and Rabbi Harold Kushner (most famous for writing When Bad Things Happen To Good People) has written a number of excellent books on what is expected of us in the 21st Century. He believes that our makeup always points to doing the right thing. He argues that if we do the wrong thing it may or may not lead to us being caught and punished but it will lead us to recognize we are not living as we should. He talks about toxic behavior and even toxic behavior that doesn’t hurt others hurts us. He’s worth a read.

So which one is right? Should we read Aristotle, the Bible, Kant, or Kushner? Well, as one of my seminary professors used to say, it’s not “either/or” but “both/and.” We should see these as tools, not competitors.

If the steward in the Gospel had gotten away with his abuse of his fellow servants and the master’s liquor cabinet, he wouldn’t have really been happy. It may have given him some temporary euphoria but he would have known he wasn’t living his best life. He may not have known that Aristotle would have said he broke the bond between his soul and the cosmos. He may not have known he violated Biblical commandments against excessive consumption or treatment of his neighbors. He may not have known that Kant would have taken him to task for his irrational behavior. He may not have seen his behavior as toxic and self destructive. But he would have known that something wasn’t working.

And as for my former coworker Debbie? After this she pulled her stuff together and worked on repairing trust with her father I’ve long lost touch with her but I hope she acquired enough wisdom to deal with one of her children when they do the same thing.