Pentecost 17c - Conclusion

David Allan Coe cover of Bob Dylan's  "Serve Sombody"

Amos 8:4-7; Psalm 113; 2 Timothy 2:1-7; Luke 16:1-13

I may be grasping at straws but I’m going to say the thread that runs through the texts for Pentecost 17c is about making a choice. Those consumed by greed, devaluing the Sabbath by a lust for commerce, have the choice of listening to Amos’s, “hear this!” or not, but God swears by the pride of Jacob not to forget if they choose to close their ears. The psalmist sings the forever song of the Lord above all nations who chooses for the poor and needy making room for them at the tables of princes. Paul instructs Timothy to practice the politics of prayer, even for those who persecute you, and choose a quiet and peaceable life that the God who desires all to be saved will be revealed. And in the Gospel the parable that defies an easy explanation concludes with the observation that you cannot serve two masters. Or as Bob Dylan sings it, “You gonna have to serve somebody” so make a choice.