Amos 8:4-7 / 1 Tim 2:1-8 / Luke 16:1-13
To be deceived and to be cheated is certainly an unpleasant feeling, to say the least.
In deceiving and cheating, something wrong is done, and we resent and detest that wrong that is done to us.
Also, in deceiving and cheating, something is lost.
The loss can be in several forms. It can be a financial or a monetary loss, or a loss of property and belongings.
Or it can be a loss of a relationship. When one party deceives or cheats the other party, the trust is broken, and the relationship is fractured and even shattered.
And that is why we are not only wary of scammers, we are afraid of them, because they are brutal and ruthless.
We may or may not hear their voices, or see their faces, but one thing is certain.
They don't need to have our trust, nor would they even want to know us.
They just want to bleed us, literally and figuratively, until we are as dry as the desert sands.
In Singapore, the total scam losses for the first half of 2025 were approximately $450 million.
In the gospel, Jesus told a parable about a dishonest steward who was found out by his master, and dismissed that dishonest steward.
Then that dishonest steward did an audacious thing by rewriting the accounts of his master's debtors.
He did that so as to gain favour with his master's debtors, and also to have some security for the future.
What is puzzling is when Jesus said this: The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness.
In other words, even the master who was cheated by that dishonest steward, was impressed by that dishonest steward’s keen insight and clever manipulation.
But Jesus did not end there. He also said this: For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.
We may wonder what did Jesus mean when He said that.
Jesus acknowledged that the children of the world are more astute, in that they are clever in reading people and quick to manipulate others to their advantage.
But Jesus is also asking us, are we children of the world, or are we children of light?
If we say, if we declare, that we are children of light, then we are children of God, then we follow the ways of God.
We will not be impressed or influenced by the children of the world, to the so-called intelligent manipulating and scheming of the dishonest stewards of this world.
Because we believe in the God of truth and justice, and the Lord says this in the 1st reading: Never will I forget a single thing you have done.
Jesus also reminded us that the one who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great, and the one who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great.
As children of God, and as children of light, we carry the little lights of truth and love in our hearts, and we become living images of honesty and responsibility.
In the Bible, there is a book called the Book of Numbers, and there is this story of a pagan prophet Balaam, who was enticed by the enemies of Israel with wealth, so as to put a curse on Israel.
God forbid him to lay a curse on Israel, but he defied God and rode on his donkey to discuss with the enemies of Israel, the curse that he would lay on Israel.
On the journey, Balaam's donkey sees the angel of God with a sword in the hand blocking the path, but Balaam cannot see the angel.
Three times the donkey saw the angel with a sword and tried to veer off the path to avoid the angel, but Balaam beats the donkey for doing so.
Then, God opens the donkey's mouth, and it speaks to Balaam, rebuking him for his cruelty.
Then, God opens Balaam's eyes, revealing the angel with the sword, and the angel said that it was the donkey who saved Balaam's life.
The angel then instructed Balaam to say only what God wants him to say, and that is to bless Israel.
In this world, there are true prophets and false prophets, there are honest and dishonest stewards, there are children of the world and children of light.
To be truthful and to be honest, the world may think that we are like donkeys who can be deceived and cheated.
But may we be trusted with truthful and honest lives, and when we speak, may the children of the world begin to look at the light.