Luke 19:11-27
Please remain standing and turn
in your copy of the New Testament to Luke chapter 19. Our reading
will be verses 11 through 27. Luke chapter 19 verses 11 through
27. Remember, Jesus is nearly to
Jerusalem. He’s had supper at Zacchaeus’
house. Some would say he’s still at
the table and this is a dinner discussion. And so we pick up
where we left off last week in verse 11 of chapter 19 of Luke’s
gospel. Hear the word of the living God. As they heard these things, Jesus
proceeded to tell them a parable because he was near to Jerusalem
and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear
immediately. He said, therefore, a nobleman
went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then
return. Calling 10 of his servants, he
gave them 10 minas. And he said to them, engage in
business until I come. But his citizens hated him. And
they sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this
man to reign over us. When he returned, having received
the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given
the money to be called to him that he might know what they
had gained by doing business. The first came before him saying,
Lord, your mina has made 10 minas more. And he said to him, well
done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a very
little, you have authority over 10 cities. And the second came
saying, Lord, your Mina has made five Minas. And he said to him,
and you are to be over five cities. Then another came saying, Lord,
here is your Mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief,
for I was afraid of you, for you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit,
you reap what you did not sow. And he said to him, I will condemn
you with your own words, you wicked servant. You knew that
I was a severe man taking what I did not deposit and reaping
what I did not sow. Why then did you not put my money
in the bank? And at my coming, I might have
collected it with interest. And he said to those who stood
by, take the Mina from him and give it to the one who has 10.
And they said to him, Lord, He has 10. I tell you that everyone
who has more, more will be given, but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away. But as for these enemies
of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here
and slaughter them before me. Pray with me. Lord, we pray that
in the busyness of our lives, we would be able to, in these
moments, to stop and to hear what you have to say to us, not
only about your kingdom, but about your king and about the
subjects, ourselves, of your kingdom and the work which we
have to do. Give us your help and your grace and your blessing,
we pray in Christ’s name, amen. You may be seated. You can imagine that the dinner
discussion at Zacchaeus house was rather lively after Zacchaeus
had come down from the tree and received Jesus and likely his
entourage or some of his disciples into the house. You can imagine
the dinner table discussion of salvation. of joy, of repentance,
of restitution, of the hope of Israel and Jesus. You can imagine
all kinds of wonderful subjects being discussed. But as you all
know, when the food and the drink hits, we always have to talk
about politics. It’s the no-no at the dinner
table. But you can imagine at Zacchaeus’ house that the conversation
turned to politics. For it seems in a passage that
there was a little too much kingdom talk for Jesus. And so he changes
the subject by speaking of this parable of the ten minas, the
people of God expected in the coming of the Messiah, maybe
What some expected on January 6th of this year in Washington,
D.C., they expected an overthrow of another party. They expected a coronation of
their king. They expected Jesus to go into
Jerusalem and to kick out the Romans and to take over as king
of the Jews, sitting on the Davidic throne of David. And so we have
for us in our contemporary culture, a very fine example of very much
what the hopes of the Israelites may have been in Jesus day. And
he knows this. He knows that the people of God
expected him to pull a coup, an insurrection or to take his
throne by force. And Jesus knows that they misunderstand
the realities of the kingdom. They misunderstand the realities
of Jesus’ kingdom. What kind of king is he and what
kind of kingdom has he come to establish? And so as they sit
at the table of Zacchaeus, they sit in Jericho, some 15 miles
the next day’s journey to Jerusalem, Passover will be observed. The
city will be teeming with over a million people. And you can
imagine that it’s a tinderbox at Jerusalem, ripe for revolution,
ripe for all kinds of activity centering around the coming of
the Messiah. And surely this is an opportunity
for Jewish glory. We can kick the Romans out. We
can put Jesus back on the throne of David and the Davidic kingdom,
the height of its glory under David and Solomon may begin to
be reestablished at Jerusalem. Well, that’s not going to happen. Jesus knows their hearts though.
Remember James and John and their previous requests? Not too many
weeks or maybe a short time ago before this event, one of them
said, I want to sit on your right. The other, I want to sit on your
left when you come in your glory. John chapter six tells us that
when Jesus fed the 5,000, he had to hide. He had to disappear
from the crowd for they, they, he feared were going to take
him by force. and make him king. And so our
passage today is a picture of Jesus correcting the thought
of his disciples, correcting their view of the timing of the
kingdom and the responsibility of those of us who remain until
the King returns. And so we want to think about
this teaching of Jesus in three ways today. We want to look at
the opportunity that we all have as we wait for Jesus. We want
to look at the stewardship that Jesus has given us. And then
we want to look at the reckoning that God will require of each
of his subjects. First, let’s think about the
opportunity that we have as subjects of the kingdom. Soon, Jesus will
enter Jerusalem. He’ll enter for Passion Week.
He’ll enter He’ll enter Jerusalem to observe Passover and to do
some of the rituals of the Jewish festivals. But what he’s really
doing is entering Jerusalem to usher in the realities of the
new covenant. We’re going to see Jesus these
next days as we walk through Luke’s gospel. We’re going to
see his ministry of helping and serving and healing and all the
rest. We’ll see him go to the cross, but we’re going to see
him shut down the temple, so to speak. We’re going to see
him in the Passover. We’re going to see the coming
of the Lord’s supper. We’re going to see the betrayal
and the arrest and the trial of the Lord Jesus, his suffering,
his crucifixion, his death, his burial. even his resurrection. We’ll see his 40 days of ministry
and then his ascension to the right hand of God, where he is
seated, even to this day, the dust of the earth on the throne
of the glory, making his intercession for us day by day, moment by
moment, cheering us on in the Christian life. But before Jesus
leaves this earth, before his ascension into heaven, he’s gonna
say to his disciples, I’ve been given all authority heaven and
on earth. And therefore I send you go into
all the world, make disciples and baptize and teach all that
I command you.” And that’s the broad command that he gives to
his disciples and that carries forward into the life and ministry
of the church today. And then we see another example
of Jesus giving a commission. We zero in on the person of Peter. Remember Peter denied Jesus three
times the night in which Jesus was betrayed, arrested, taken
into custody. He said, you’ll deny me three
times before the rooster crows. Peter did so. And you remember
that tender moment before Jesus ascension. He says to Peter three
times, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?
Feed my lambs, feed my sheep, tend my flock. And so the opportunity
that we have as God’s people as God’s church, but also as
individuals. I believe each of us has a responsibility
as well, but we shouldn’t see it outside our connection to
the church. We have the obligation, the opportunity
to labor in the gospel while Jesus tarries in heaven. Our opportunity is in the labor
of the gospel, taking the message of new creation into our families,
into our neighborhoods, into the marketplace and into all
our spheres of influence. And Jesus is correcting their
view. They think that the kingdom is
going to usher in. Jesus is going to overthrow the Romans. He’s
going to sit on the throne of David and Jerusalem is going
to be one big happy place of rule and worship. And Israel
wants to begin, be a great and grand theocracy as in the time
of David and Solomon. But Jesus is saying, nope, I’m
going away. I am the nobleman going into
a far country. And because of my life and ministry
and obedience, my death, my burial, my resurrection, and now my ascension
to the throne, I am going to a faraway country to receive
my inheritance, to receive my kingdom, and then I will return. But meanwhile, you have this
great and grand and wonderful gospel opportunity. And so our task as a church,
and even our task as individuals, as parents with children, our
task as evangelist is to labor in the gospel. That’s our opportunity. Let’s think for a moment about
our stewardship. Sometimes we like to ask questions
that aren’t maybe answered all the time for us. One question
we might have is what is Jesus doing in heaven? What is he doing
up there for all eternity? Does he get bored? What’s he
up to while he’s in heaven? Well, Jesus has gone as the nobleman
to the far country to receive his kingdom. We remember that
in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were put in the garden to
work and to keep, to protect, to nurture, and to make the garden
prosper. And the hope was that Adam and
Eve, through their labor, through their faithfulness to God, the
garden would spread to the ends of the earth until the glory
of God filled the entire earth. But we know the sad story that
Adam and Eve failed to do what God had called them to do. The
serpent came into the garden. He came and tempted them and
told them God didn’t really want them to be happy and holy and
helpful and obedient and kind and serving him and making his
glory known to the ends of the earth. No, you should be happy. God’s withholding from you. He’s
keeping the goods for himself. And so they fell into that trap.
And so we have here in the life and ministry of Jesus, the second
Adam coming to do what the first Adam failed to do. Christ will
have dominion over the earth. Christ will rule the earth. Christ
will make all things new. He’s earned a kingdom. He’s earned
a people and through his incarnation, his life and his ministry as
the high priest. He is beginning to make all things
new. And so you see Jesus, what’s
he doing is sitting in heaven. He’s interceding for us. He’s
awaiting the word from God to return and to take us home. But
he has given us these down payments, these down payments. He’s made
us new creations. He’s promised a new heavens and
a new earth, and he’s preparing to come and make all things new
and do what that first Adam failed to do. But he’s left us on earth.
He’s left us on earth with a stewardship. He’s given us the Holy Spirit.
He’s given us these gospel labors. He’s given us these minas, right? He’s given us the 10 coins. He’s
passed them out among his servants. And so our stewardship, each
according to his ability, through your personality, through your
upbringing, through your education, through your skills and your
circumstances and through your gifts and graces. He’s called
you to a stewardship of gospel laborers. And he’s wanting us
to be faithful. He’s wanting us to be found faithful
upon his return. He wants us to be economical. He wants us to make the gospel,
make the world go round. He wants us to, as we sing at
Christmas, make his blessings flow as far as the curse is found
by proclaiming the gospel. being the church. And so in our
spheres of influence, our absentee Lord has called us, given us
a stewardship to labor in the gospel. As a church, we’re to
be an outpost of heaven. We’re to be a light and we’re
to be a witness to all that God is doing in Christ Jesus. That
is our stewardship. We see so many people, so many
churches have gotten off the beaten path these days. Churches
are all fun and games, no worship and no word. And so we’re thankful
to God for this simple stewardship that he’s entrusted us with here,
our gospel labors, but our call, our command to rule the earth,
to let the word of Christ be known and to be witnesses to
the goodness of almighty God. Well, There’s this opportunity
that’s before us. There’s a stewardship that is
ours. And there’s a reckoning that we must consider from this
passage. The king will return. The nobleman
will come back from his far away journey. And he says, I’ll call
my servants in that I might know what they have done. And we catch
a little snapshot of the accountability. Three of the 10 are called forward
to Jesus. One, what have you done with
your Mina? Well, I’ve made 10. That’s great. Good job. Calls
a second one. I’ve made five. That’s great.
Good job. Then there’s the one who just
kept it in his handkerchief, wrapped up in his pocket. And
so our stewardship, our opportunity will be judged by God. Have we
been faithful? Have we been prosperous? Now,
we’ve got to stop there for a moment and say we can’t be like the
American church has been for so many years. What is the saying? We count nickels and noses or
noses and nickels. You know, how many baptisms,
how many got saved? And we try to get our statistics
up. Our calling is to be faithful.
Our stewardship is the gospel. The opportunity before us is
the kingdom of God made known to the ends of the earth. And
so God calls us to be faithful. He calls us to account. He gives
a reckoning. And this is where you know Jesus
is a Democrat. Verse 26. Y’all didn’t know that,
did you? Did you notice verse 26? This is it right here. It
says, I tell you that everyone who has more, more will be given. But from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away. You got my little joke
there. But this is really the reckoning
that’s coming. You aren’t laughing too much. This is the reckoning
that’s coming. Jesus will come. And if you’ve been responsible
in the new heavens, new earth, you’ll be given more responsibility.
Do a good job now, you’ll get a bigger job later. But what
about the one who does nothing? The one who sticks what God gives
him in his pocket or hides the light of the gospel under a bowl
so that all may not see the light. Well, Hebrews, other places in
the scripture give us this warning. We taste the graces of almighty
God and we do nothing with it. And so it’s a warning, isn’t
it? To the complacent. It’s a warning to the comfortable.
It’s a warning to those who are lazy or indifferent to the gospel. God gives us an opportunity.
He gives us a stewardship and he will come and give an account.
Yes, we’re justified. Yes, we’re saved by grace through
faith. Our sins are forgiven and all the rest, but God, As
Paul says in Corinthians, it is required of stewards to be
found faithful. And so as a church, as individuals,
as families, as parents, we’ve been entrusted with this glorious
gospel. What are we doing with it? And
then there are those who hinder or reject or frustrate or hate
the son, the nobleman, and Jesus calls them into his presence
and we see the wrath of the king. This ought to give us hope in
this world we’re living in. Day by day, this world is darkening. Day by day, this culture seems
to be rotting away. And we need to remember that
we have an opportunity. We have a stewardship and God
is going to come and there will be a reckoning for what we have
done in our lives. But there will be a reckoning
for this evil world around us. If you still are watching the
news, I hope you’re not because it’s rather depressing. But if
you are still watching the news and you are depressed day by
day with what you see, the crime, the politics, the on and on it
goes and it wearies your heart and makes you heavy. Remember
this, Jesus is coming back. His return from the far country
is soon. It is nigh, it is near. We are
to look for it every day. and to see if the clouds are
opening and he is appearing. But meanwhile, we need to put
his minas to work. We need to be making more minas,
using the gospel to proclaim the goodness of God in Christ.
Between Jesus’ first coming, between his second coming, we
know that we ought to be found faithful. So what are you doing
with your minas? What is our church doing with
what’s been entrusted to us? We often think of stewardship
in the life of the church and in the life of the Christian
as our time and our talent and our money. And that’s true, isn’t
it? We ought to spend our time well.
We ought to use our gifts and graces, our talents well. We
ought to spend our money well, giving to the Lord his tithes,
but also being responsible as the church, spending those monies
well. But have you ever thought of
a fourth stewardship? We’ve been entrusted with the gospel. How
will the world know if they do not hear? How will the world
know if we begin to say all the gimmicks and all the fun and
tricks is what people need to have faith in Jesus? How will
the world know if we’re not sharing the light of the gospel in our
spheres of influence week by week? How will the world know
if we don’t tell our children? who Jesus is and what he’s done,
how will the world know if we’re not being faithful with the gospel
which has been entrusted to us? But even a more serious question,
we can get our acts together with stewardship, but do you
reject the nobleman? Do you have a hatred for Jesus? Do you say like the countryman
in this story, I will have him stay out of my life. He is not
the boss of me. He will not rule. He will not
reign. His word and his spirit will not enter my life, my world.
I have nothing to do with him. Are you living in rebellion?
Are you living in rejection? The nobleman will return, and
he will demand a reckoning. And we even remember and hear
the echo of Jesus’ words in the gospel to us before, fear not
the one who can kill the body, but fear the one who can kill
both body and soul and cast it into everlasting destruction. Pray with me. Lord, we rejoice in the coming
of the King, We await with great joy for that great day when all
things, all wrongs will be made right. All sickness and sin and
sorrow, all tears will be wiped away and we will be brought into
the glorious presence and feast with our savior. We will sing
songs of the lamb and rejoice in the wonderful redemption that
is ours. We also remember there will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. There will be judgment, everlasting
judgment for those who have rejected you. Lord, as we call these things
to mind, and we remember our Savior’s command to be found
faithful, taking the most of the opportunity and the stewardship
given to us, to preach and proclaim the gospel. Lord, make us fit
and faithful servants, so when you come, you find things that
bring you great joy, the gospel going to the ends of the earth.
We pray for your help, we pray for your blessing, and we ask
it in Christ’s name, amen.