From the very beginning of his ministry Jesus set aside time to pray, and on a number of occasions, he invited his disciples to pray with him. Why? Because disciples learn to pray by sitting in on Jesus' prayers. Surely there is no better way to learn than to attend to Jesus as he prays. And so that's our plan for this week'� to learn to pray with Jesus by listening in on his prayers.

This is a parable in two parts. The first part of the parable establishes Jesus' point that there is going to be a delay before the arrival of the Kingdom of God. But it is the second part of the parable to which his disciples need to pay attention in the meantime'� while they wait for the return of their Master.

This parable focusses the spotlight directly on the problem of wealth for Jesus' disciples. The crowd are flabbergasted. If the man with everything going for him does NOT qualify for eternal life, then who can be saved? If a person is rich, do they really have to give it all away in order to become a disciple of Jesus?

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is well known and it is immediately followed by the account of Jesus welcoming the children. There is a connection between the little children and the parable of the Justified Tax Collector. But what is it? That is our question today.

Initially, this is a confusing parable. It turns out that Jesus is calling his disciples to be clear sighted, wise, and purposeful in using whatever wealth they have now in a way that will be to the future benefit of the kingdom. The key that opens up this parable is its time frame: the manager knows his time is short and so he acts quickly for the sake of his future.

We can be very rich, and yet desperately poor in relation to God. This parable causes us to ponder the characteristics of the person who is rich towards God. What will it take for us to become rich in relation to God?