By ‘that which is least’ we should understand the wealth and the treasures of this world which are passing away. The world can be viewed as a testing ground to see how we treat the riches that attach to it. All those who have not come to Jesus Christ for salvation, and repented, and turned away from the love of this world; they all fail the test, for they try to use this world’s good to enrich themselves. They fail to see that they too are passing away, and their bodies are passing away, because they have the stamp of this world on them. Nothing that they acquire in this world can be taken with them into the next, and that truth alone should cause a total re-evaluation of the worth of earthly goods. Only death and resurrection will purify their bodies and give them a new body fit for heaven.
But the righteous understand that the riches of this world are ‘that which is least’. They do not set their hearts on earthly riches. Rather, they wait for the true riches to come, and for their reward in heaven, and concentrate on being faithful to God with what they have now. That is the lesson of the parable, and it is marvellous. There is something that we can do with transient riches which are worthless in themselves, but which can be transformed into heavenly riches that last forever. But this can only be done by faithfulness, and by living according to the rule of Christ: that we love our neighbour as ourselves. Our eyes must be open to the needs of others, and we must spend what we have to relieve earthly suffering, especially in them that believe. It is these friends that the parable picks out as those who will welcome us into heaven and metaphorically receive us into their everlasting habitations.
Faithfulness is an attribute of the heart that makes itself known everywhere it is found. It is faithfulness to God ultimately, but it expresses itself in faithfulness to all those to whom it is due. We are faithful in handling what has only been lent to us in this world – our lives, our gifts, our possessions, our opportunities. All of life is spent in serving the Lord, and his will is that we should serve our neighbour, and look out for their lack and their need. It is easy, if we understand what has real value, to yield up the token riches we have in this world and exchange them for true riches which last forever.
It is impossible for the covetous man to enter heaven. He is more attached to this world and its goods, than he could ever be to heaven. He is unjust in dealing with mammon, ‘in the least’, and therefore it is certain that he would be unjust in dealing with the true riches, and therefore he will never be given the opportunity; they will never be given to him. The experiment will not be attempted, because it has already been conducted on earth. There is a wonderful treasure awaiting the righteous, which is pure, incorruptible, harmless, able to be enjoyed without restraint, the enjoyment of which is entirely good, but the unjust will never see it.