"The World Doesn't Need a Polite Church"

Sermon by The Rev. Kelley Hudlow

September 21, 2025

My grandmother told me never to talk about religion, politics, or money, but Jesus of Nazareth did not grow up in Mobile, Alabama. The gospels don’t give us a polite Jesus, and today’s parable talks about all three at once. In the story of the shrewd manager, Jesus makes us wrestle with money, power, and allegiance—whether to God or to the world. This parable leaves no place to hide, because all of us know what it is to have resources, debt, fear, dishonesty, or reputation to protect. The dishonest manager used resources to create community built on forgiveness and care; how much more can we, followers of Jesus, do if we do it on purpose? The world doesn’t need a polite church—it needs a bold church, shrewd in choosing God, sharing resources, forgiving, and building the kingdom of God.