Every now and again I de-clutter my house. One of the ways I do this is by listing things on an auction service on the Internet, where potential buyers place their bids and the highest one obviously wins. Online bidders cannot have a close look at the listed items, as they would have the opportunity to do at local auctions. Good quality photos, accompanied by an extensive and comprehensive description, are the only means of finding out more. Since I started using those auction services many years ago, I have always been completely honest in describing the items I was selling. I’ve never tried to hide any flaws, faults or drawbacks in the listed items. Sometimes perhaps I’ve been overly honest, thus reducing the possible final price. But to do otherwise would be a very short-sighted policy. Over time I’ve built up my online reputation as a decent, honest and reliable seller. And that pays off well in the long term.
In today’s first reading the prophet Amos is verbally lashing people bent on making a profit at the expense of others and by any means, including cheating, lying and misrepresentation. He reproves them for their total lack of respect for anything and anybody as they hold nothing sacred. Their main fault is that money seems to be the sole thing they value. Anything and anybody else are merely the way to material gain. Sadly, not much has changed since the times of the prophet Amos. The means of exploitation have evolved and been adapted to new situations, but the same selfish and greedy attitude still drives some people in our society. We can easily find examples of that attitude among business people in our country; but applying the prophet’s reprimand to that one particular group would be unjust to the many decent people among them, and would do a disservice to the prophet’s efforts.
Undoubtedly there are countries where corruption seems to be rife, but where it does occur it always comes down from the top. ‘Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely’. However, dishonesty, exploitation, taking advantage of someone else’s misfortune or ignorance are not limited to any particular nation or profession. And those unethical gains don’t necessarily have to be financial. In the gospel Jesus is saying a strange thing: ‘the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches?’ For him, the way we deal with money is just a test as to whether we can deal with genuine riches. What are they?
The answer lies in the text immediately preceding the short version of today’s gospel: ‘Use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you.’ So the genuine riches are other people. But this is the tricky bit, as there are people who believe that money can buy them friends. Sometimes I wonder whether the swarms of people around the wealthy are their genuine friends or just the friends of their money and influence. Jesus is talking about winning friends, building strong and honest relationships that endure beyond prosperity and good fortune. The same rule of honesty and openness that I use for my online auctions, I’ve been trying to apply to every other aspect of my life. Admittedly, I don’t have a great number of people around me, just a handful of friends. But I wouldn’t swap them for anything; they are my genuine riches I can rely on. And I hope they think the same about me.