1 Timothy 2:1-7
{1} First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, {2} for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. {3} This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, {4} who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. {5} For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, {6} who gave himself a ransom for all --this was attested at the right time. {7} For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

1-2: Paul urges the actions, intentions and needs of everyone and especially those in positions of authority be the subject of worshipful attention. Concern for civic responsibility is expressed also in Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1-2; 1 Peter 2:14 and throughout Acts. Accusations of subversion against Christians for "saying that there is another king named Jesus," are also known: Acts 17:6-7. "Such prayer is actually subversive of any claim to ultimate authority on the part of human rulers, for it turns to a still higher power with the request to bless the king…. The more forcefully Christians pressed the single and ultimate power of the one God, the more the strategy of prayer for [emperors as] would-be gods was exposed as a form of accommodation, as the frank declaration of Tertullian’s Apology 30 makes clear: "Go to it, my good magistrates, rack out the soul that prays to God for the emperor. Here lies the crime—where God’s truth is, where devotion to God is." [4]
so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life: The first of two reasons for such prayers "points to the ideal of a quiet life, removed from public turmoil." [5]
3-6: A second reason is also given, namely, that such support and respect is God’s will. God desires that everyone, including Gentiles, may come to understand the truth. Support for civic order by Christians will forestall opposition based on accusations of subversion.
5-6: "one of Paul’s typically compressed Christological-soteriological statements, as found also in Rom 3:21-26; 5:8-10; 1 Cor 8:6; 2 Cor 5:19-21; Gal 1:4; 2:20; Eph 5:2; Phil 2:5-11; Col 1:15-20; 1 Thess 5:9-10." [6]
there is one God: A statement of Israel’s fundamental understanding of God as confessed in the Shema’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). See also Romans 3:30; Galatians 3:20; 1 Corinthians 8:6.
one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human: Jesus is identified both as human and a mediator, an intermediary between God and his creatures. In Galatians 3:19-20 it is the law that is "ordained through angels by a mediator."
7. a herald and an apostle…a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth: Paul’s self-description stands in contrast to his adversaries who are identified as "teachers of the law, without understanding…" (1 Timothy 1:7). Paul is not only a teacher, but also a messenger and an announcer. Paul’s teaching is true and faithful to God’ purposes for the Gentiles.

Luke 16:1-13
{1} Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. {2} So he summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' {3} Then the manager said to himself, 'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. {4} I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' {5} So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' {6} He answered, 'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' {7} Then he asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' {8} And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. {9} And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. {10} "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. {11} If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? {12} And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? {13} No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

 1. There was a rich man who had a manager: Whether the story reflects a true-to-life situation, or whether the master (verse 8) is commending the steward’s dishonesty, or just his creativity, or even whether "the master" is the rich man or verse 1 or God, does not ultimately alter the burden of the parable. Wealth is the accumulation of surplus economic resource and, by definition, dishonest and wicked. All economic resources are to be used to provide the necessities of life for oneself, for one’s family and retainers, and the poor and the needy of the neighborhood.
4. I have decided what to do so that…people may welcome me into their homes: Ironically, the dishonest steward recognizes the importance of charity on the parts of other people, while, at the same time, continuing to use dishonest means to gain access to that charity.
5-7: The steward offers to allow the debtors to cheat the rich man. Whether they accepted the offer in not clear.
8. dishonest manager: Literally, "steward of unrighteousness." See Luke 18:6, "unjust judge," literally, "judge of unrighteousness."
9. his master commended the dishonest manager: One should not get hung up on this seeming inconsistency. Jesus’ and the parable’s attitude toward dishonesty is made quite clear in 10-13,
make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they many welcome you into the eternal homes: All wealth beyond one’s needs is considered to be tainted. Israelites were responsible for each other. The thought is not to encourage dishonesty, but to recognize and affirm that mutual responsibility. One who has wealth that is beyond one’s needs should share it with those for whom one is responsible. Like "the master," Jesus, "the Lord" commends the use of "the mammon of unrighteousness," earthly resources, to make friends of those who occupy "eternal dwellings."
10-13: "These verses are an appendix ‘made up of various sayings which above all want to avoid the possible misunderstanding that disloyalty is something commendable for a steward’ (Klostermann)." [7]
13. No slave can serve two masters: Serving God requires single-minded devotion and singular dedication. There is no room for rivals.

Reflection
     In the first lesson Yahweh condemns the pursuit of riches by dishonest means, at the expense of the poor and needy. The Psalm praises Yahweh who will act on behalf of the needy and poor and the barren woman. Paul urges us to intercede for earthly governors as Jesus intercedes for us.
     The Gospel declares the incompatibility of the search for wealth and the service of God. "…the parable seems to be about using the present as a time of decision, not in view of a coming catastrophe but in view of a crisis which is apparently impossible to overcome…. If one wishes, this is about a strategy for survival, the type of the immoral hero which Jesus himself was in part (7.34), which included many of his hearers like toll collectors and prostitutes, and which similarly appears in other parables (Thomas 98; Matthew 13.44; 24:43-44 and Luke 18:2-5)." [8]
     By placing the "two-masters" epigram in context with the second lesson, political authority with its ability to control wealth is identified as a rival to service, love, and devotion to God.

Hymns [9]
With One Voice (e.g. 762v), Hymnal Supplement 1991 (e.g. 725s) and LBW (e.g. 32).
E=Entrance; D=Hymn of the Day; I=First Lesson, P=Psalm; II=Second Lesson; G=Gospel