Our readings today call attention to several issues of false business practices. In short, we’re dealing with a bunch of greedy cheaters. In the first reading, the prophet Amos is criticizing those who are fudging the numbers on the fair value of trades. If you want to sell a bushel of something, well, they’re using a bushel basket that is just a bit bigger than it ought to be. If you’ve trying to weigh something, well, they’re weights are just a bit off. And then there’s the ole thumb on the scale trick. The fix is in. Maybe they seem like small things, but Amos knows that it’s the poor that are being defrauded and God is not happy.
In the gospel, the cheating is more subtle. The steward in question would have been responsible for managing the master’s goods. As a part of this, he might have made some loans. But here’s where the subtle cheating comes in. What he was likely doing was giving a loan of 50 measures of olive oil, but then requiring the person to pay back 100 measures. He’s charging double the price in interest and then taking the profit for himself. This is the same reason that tax collectors were hated. You charge twice the required tax and then keep the extra as a sort of “processing fee.” The prophet Amos assures us that God is not happy about this, especially because it hurts the poor. Just think of predatory “payday loans” in our own time.
But God gives a way out. In all these situations, there is a day of reckoning. The prophet Amos is sent. The unjust steward is called to task by his master. As we celebrate the feast of St. Matthew this weekend, we remember one of the greatest “day of reckoning” encounters ever. Matthew is caught as it were in the very act of tax collecting when Jesus says to him, “follow me.” And he does! How is God calling you today? Where are you cheating others or maybe even cheating God out of the full gift of your time, talent, and treasure? If you need to be more detached from mammon, i.e. worldly things, today is your day of reckoning. This is your call. God just wants you to be free and joyful. So if you say no, you’re really cheating yourself.