Blessor or Blessee?

Series on Luke

V The Imminence of the Kingdom

C Talents

Text: 19:11-27

Introduction

If you are listening to all the campaign rhetoric flying around in the weeks before the national elections you probably get as confused as I do. one thing in particular bothers me. i suspect that we need to make a significant sacrifice to deal with the problem of the national debt. but proposed solutions are to tax the wealthy, create more wealth, treat everyone fairly and drastically limit spending. In these discussions sacrifice does not have a high priority. I am happy to tell you that this confusion does not extend to the kingdom of God. Jesus never waffled or wavered in presenting the claims of his kingdom. In fact in our text for today, shortly before his death he again confronts his disciples with the kingdom’s demand for service and sacrifice. There is no doubt that the theme here is the kingdom of God. We are informed that the reason Jesus told this parable was that he was going to Jerusalem and the Jewish people thought that the kingdom of God would appear at once, verse 11, While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. Jesus was correcting this false expectation primarily because it came from a selfish view of life. In spite of their centuries of unfaithfulness, manifold disobedience, and corruption of every kind, they still expected the kingdom to drop out of heaven, fulfill their every desire, and make them the pride of the earth. In this parable Jesus tells them and us three things about the kingdom of God which would sober them up: the kingdom of God brings defiance, the kingdom of God brings division, the kingdom of God brings destruction.

I Defiance

In this parable Jesus compares himself to a person of noble birth who went away to a higher authority to ask to be made king over a specific section of the empire. We read in verses 12-15, He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. In the parable the people in that section of the empire did not want him to be king and they petitioned the Emperor to refuse. The people in Jericho would recognize the story as having a basis in fact. When Herod the Great’s kingdom was divided Archelaus, one of his sons, was the principal successor. He ruled over the southern area of Palestine. He actually went to Caesar to ask to be made king, but because of the unrest he was made Tetrarch, and the Jews did actually send a delegation to Caesar to try to prevent Archelaus appointment as king. The irony in this part of the parable is that Jesus was their true king, but as the apostle John says, He came unto his own and his own received him not. The reason is that they thought of themselves as blessed instead of blessers. In other words they thought the only purpose of God’s kingdom was to make their elect nation happy. They thought the kingdom should be a stamp of approval, a well deserved trophy, the fulfillment of their wishes. Instead Jesus announced that the kingdom was decisive and demanding. He insisted on absolute obedience and total allegiance and they said, “We don’t want this man to be our king.” A lot of people today are like this. Their focus is not what they can do for the kingdom of God but what it can do for them. They want to become rich and powerful and wise but Jesus says that the kingdom of God is here to make you poor and weak and foolish in the eyes of the world. They want to win the lottery and get money and Jesus says, i came to teach you how to lose it. He that loses his life shall find it. The kingdom of God brings not only defiance, it brings division.

II Division

As Jesus speaks to them he says the man who would be king appointed servants to manage his affairs in his absence, and in this parable unlike the similar one in Matthew everyone receives the same trust according to verse 13. This is indicative of the responsibilities of the kingdom of God in which we all share, worship, holiness, education, missions, evangelism, and charity. Hear the parable in verses 15-26, “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it. “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ ”‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ ”‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.’” We are the servants He has left behind as he ascended to the Father to receive his royal throne and prerogative. Unfortunately we are not all equally faithful. Though we all fall short, some are shorter than others. There is no factor of ability in view here. All the weight falls on responsibility. Three of the servants are singled out of the ten. They represent three different groups. The first is commended and receives the greatest responsibility. The second is not commended but he receives a great responsibility too. The third however loses everything. These people are all servants, all believers. in fact the worst of them is not included in the fate of God’s enemies, in verse 27. However i know that too little attention is paid to this division, this distinction, Jesus makes. I believe in grace. The Bible is an odyssey of grace. Grace is the reason we have a Bible, by grace we are saved and by grace alone. Grace is irresistible, grace is indelible. Now what does grace have to do with this parable that seems to be all about works. The distinctions here are based on service, but dear friends we must look deeper. It is our enthusiasm for the grace of God that empowers and enables us. The comment of the man who got nothing is that he was afraid of the master and knew he was a hard man so he did nothing. He knows nothing of the grace of God. The Christian who lacks the experience of grace ought to be the most anxious of workers. The other two are not afraid to invest their lives in the king and the kingdom because they understand grace. They are forgiven and justified and ready to risk much for God. The one who risks the most receives the greatest commendation, but he is also the one who best understands the true nature of the master, as we should know God and be ready to risk all for Him. Jesus does imply here that there are distinctions based on service, and the apostle Paul carries this idea forward in i Corinthians 3:10-15, By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. However, you will notice that Paul is talking about grace. He is the one who said that it was by the grace of God that he was what he had become. We do not serve to earn the King’s approval. We serve because we know we have the King’s approval. Just remember that, although the parable is about fruit, some fruit is not as visible as other fruit. We do not know how others are doing because fruit includes worship, and prayer, and holiness and obedience. We do, however, know where we stand, and whether we are truly trusting the Master because He is gracious.

III Destruction

The final verse tells of the fate of those who rejected his kingship. here we have no Archelaus but the true king of the universe. In the end we must submit or be destroyed. In the case of the Jews this meant the destruction of their temple, their city, their sacrificial system and their nation in 70 a.d. It is important to understand that this happened because they refused their king. This is, as i have pointed out a different fate than for the man who fearfully failed to exercise his stewardship. He is not destroyed, but everything except the man is. I don’t want to belabor the point, but this is an element sadly lacking from modern day evangelical Christianity. We tend to say the man is saved so what’s the difference. i don’t have all the answers but i know there is a difference in understanding grace.

Conclusion

Most of us tend to think that competition is confined to the free enterprise system. Competition is part of life. Listen to the way the Bible describes the Christian life. I Corinthians 9:24 says, In a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize, run in such a way as to get the prize. I Corinthians 12:31 reminds us to Eagerly desire the greatest gifts. Paul says in Philippians 3:14, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Finally Paul writes to Timothy in II Timothy 2:15, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman that does not need to be ashamed.