Inspection Day

Luke 19:11-27

The Parable of the Ten Minas

Transcript

Luke 19, 1, 11 to 27, the parable of the 10 minas. As they heard these things,
he proceeded to tell 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 the far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then
return. Calling 10 of his servants, he gave them 10 minas and said to them,
engage in business until I come. But his citizens hated him and 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 miner has made 10
minas more. And he said to him, well done, good servant, because you have been
faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over 10 cities. And the
second came saying, Lord, your miner has made five minas. And he said to him,
and you were to be over five cities. Then another came saying, Lord, here is
your miner, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief. For I was afraid of you
because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what
you did not sow. 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 would you have 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 miner from him and give it to the one who has 10
minas. And they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minas. I tell you that to everyone
who has, 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. These are the words of
our God. Thanks, John. Let's take a moment and we'll pray. Father, as we look at
this parable, we just ask together for your Holy Spirit to meet us in this time,
to engage our hearts and minds, to help us grow as faithful stewards of what's
been given to us. And we pray that you will be with us in this time. Grow as
faithful stewards of what's been given to us. Lord, we pray for understanding,
for clarity in this time. In Jesus' name, Amen. OK, what will you do with the
one life that's been given to you? Or what will you do with the talents that
you've been born with or the opportunities that you've received? Or what will
you do with the potential that's been placed in you? What will you do with what
you've been given? I'm sure you've thought about that before. You actually don't
need to go to church to think about those questions. It's a very popular theme
of countless movies and graduation speeches when people are urged to do great
things, to unlock their inner potential. Usually in those stories, the answer is
some variation of go skydiving or talk to the person that you're secretly in
love with or audition for the voice. But the basic question, however, cheesy or
corny, the way that we may have experienced it or heard it before. What will you
do with the life that's been given to you is a good one, even if it has been
approached in a lot of very self-centered ways. So it's Palm Sunday this
morning, and we just read from the parable of the 10 minas, which in Luke's
gospel is located exactly before the triumphal entry, which Micah read at the
beginning of the service. In the passage immediately prior, Luke 19, one through
10, Jesus encounters Zacchaeus, the tax collector. So this was a wealthy Jewish
man. Who is working for the Roman government, he's collecting taxes from the
oppressed Israelites working as a Jewish person for the Romans and the crowds
who follow Jesus were angry and upset when Jesus associated with him because
Zacchaeus had been getting rich working for the enemy. But Jesus joyfully
proclaims salvation to his house. And then he says why he came to earth. This is
Luke 19. Verse 10. He says, for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the
lost. That is the way that Jesus describes his mission of coming to earth. He
came to seek and to save the lost. In other words, he came seeking and saving
those who were separated from God that he might reunite them to God. That was
not a mission that most people understood. Many people were enthusiastic about
Jesus, but they had no understanding of who he would be and what he was about.
When we read the Gospels, we see that the Jewish people were anticipating a
military or political leader who would overthrow the Roman government. He would
free them from Roman occupation. That's why on Palm Sunday we read about Jesus's
triumphal entry and there's this irony because Jesus is riding on a donkey and
he's being hailed as a conquering hero. But the irony is the crowds don't
understand that Jesus is not coming to conquer. He's coming to die. So there's a
lot of excitement, but there's a lot of misunderstanding. This morning on Palm
Sunday, we're looking at the passage right before the triumphal entry, the
parable of the 10 minas. Which Jesus gave to the audience because of their
misaligned expectations. You see these two connected reasons for the parable
that Jesus teaches both in verse 11. As they heard these things he proceeded to
tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem and because they supposed that the
kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So the city of Jerusalem, which Jesus
is approaching, is like the hotbed of patriotic messianic fervor. Especially as
Passover approaches. And the popular expectation was that the kingdom of God,
which Jesus talked about, would be fully consummated in this earthly political
reign and that it was right on the cusp of beginning. It was about to appear.
Everyone's excited. But to correct their understanding, Jesus gives them a
parable. The parable has elements of symbolism sometimes, but it's a story with
a purpose. It's a story with a single meaning. There is symbolism in this, but
there's one clear meaning that's being expressed. And Jesus tells this parable
about the 10 minas. Tells us the kingdom is not yet here. It's still to come.
And here's what we need to see. We need to see from this parable. Inspection day
is coming. And you and I will give an account of our lives to Jesus when he
returns. We'll give an account when he returns. So there's a noble man in this
passage who represents Jesus. You can divide the passage into three parts.
First, he gives out responsibilities. Second, he returns. And third, there is a
day of reckoning. So let me begin with point one, responsibilities. This is
verses 12 through 14. He said, therefore, a noble man went into a far country to
receive for himself a kingdom and then return. Calling ten of his servants, he
gave them ten minas and said to them, engage in business until I come. But his
citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, we do not want this
man to reign over us. So the noble man in this parable represents Jesus. And the
parable is telling us that as we approach Holy Week, everyone is hoping for the
establishment of this earthly kingdom. And Jesus says you have it all wrong.
He's not setting up in their earthly kingdom. In fact, he's not going to be with
them much longer. He will go away and at an unknown time, he will return. So he
calls each one of his servants and he gives each one of them a mina, about three
months wages. Each of them is entrusted with that mina and given the same
charge, engage in business until I come. When's that going to be? They're not
told. So each servant's given a mina. It's a very substantial amount of money on
one hand. Like imagine if you were given three months wages for your work. You
can do the math in your head of what that might be for you. But let's just say
suddenly you had 15, 20, $25,000. It's up to you to decide what to do with that.
Well, on one hand you could do a lot with that. You could buy a used car maybe.
You could take an extravagant trip. You could make a down payment. You could pay
off debt. You could use that money to enroll in school. You could use it as seed
money to start a new business. You could just slowly spend it down. But the
interesting thing about that level of money is you would have to decide. You
could do all of those things potentially, but you'd have to pick one of them.
It's a substantial amount of money, but it's not like it's ten million dollars.
There's a lot of potential, but it's not unlimited. You'd have to decide what
you were going to do with what you were entrusted with. And what the nobleman
said was engage in business until I come. In other words, put this money to work
until I come back or invest this for me until I come back. And for everyone who
follows Jesus and who awaits his return, this is our present position. Engage in
business until I come. Then the nobleman goes away. In the parable, he does not
micromanage the lives of his servants. He gives each one of them a mina and he
goes away with this command, engage in business until I come. So naturally we
ask, well, what sort of business is that? What is that really supposed to mean?
What sort of business is it that we are supposed to be occupied in? Well, this
is where we start to realize that following Jesus is much more than how people
might interpret this kind of thing. It has a lot more to do than just living
like you were dying or realizing your full potential or following your dreams.
When he was on earth, Jesus said, I must be about my father's business. You
think, okay, what is that? Well, Jesus was sent to earth by the father and he
actually just told us his mission in the preceding story with Zacchaeus. He came
to seek and to save the lost. After Jesus is risen, he entrusts his followers
with a mission and they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to baptize and to make
disciples under the authority of Christ, the risen Lord. And that becomes the
mission of the church. If you read Luke's Gospel all the way to the end, we see
that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all
nations beginning from Jerusalem. And Jesus says, you're witnesses of these
things and behold I'm sending the promise of my father upon you, the promise of
the Holy Spirit. The mission of Jesus's disciples becomes the making of
disciples under the authority of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. That's
the mission of the New Testament Church. And that's the business that we must be
engaged in until he returns. Okay, but here's where you could also pause and
say, okay, I think I understand that on some level if you are an evangelist or a
missionary or you're engaged in some sort of vocational work, some sort of
ministry vocational work, if you've been set apart for that in some way, but
that's not me, you could say like I have a job and a family and a million other
responsibilities to take care of. How would I really meaningfully contribute to
that mission? You could wonder what is that if I'm supposed to be occupied in
that or engaged in that, what does that even look like? Is that even possible?
Well, whatever your station in life is, whatever your gifts are, if you follow
Jesus, then your life is a stewardship and you are called to be occupied with
his business until he comes. That means you are to serve his purposes, to
advance his will, to invest in his work. Now there's another group mentioned in
verse 14. These are not the servants. These are the citizens at large. So these
are not the ones that receive the minas. These are the citizens at large and
they they hate the noblemen and they protest saying we do not want this man to
reign over us. They do not want any part of his mission or his authority that he
has asserted over their lives. When the Jewish people were upset with their
local leaders, they would sometimes send a delegation to Rome. If they were
enraged by the leaders that had been appointed over them, they would sometimes
send a delegation to Rome to express their disgust. So Jesus's audience would
have known exactly what he's referring to when he talks about these citizens
that hated him and sent a delegation. In the parable, these people are meant to
represent the Jewish people who hated Jesus and his teaching and his authority.
They reject his authority to tell him what to do. They don't want him ruling
over them and they're not really part of the parable again until it concludes in
verse 27. So the nobleman issues responsibilities that an unknown period of time
passes, then he returns. Verse 15, when he returned having received the kingdom,
he ordered these servants whom he had given the money to be called to him that
he might know what they had gained by doing business. So Jesus does return. The
parable compares him to a nobleman who went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and then he returns. Jesus lived on earth in real space and
time history in the first century and he died and rose again about, you could
argue about the dating, but right around 33 AD. After that, he ascended into
heaven. So that happened about 1993 years ago. So you could say, what is Jesus
doing now? Romans 8 says he is sitting at the right hand of God holding all
authority and making intercession for all who believe. But here on earth, we do
not see the complete consummated authority of Christ. His kingdom has been
inaugurated in his resurrection, but it's not yet been consummated in his
resurrection. It has been consummated. In that sense, the kingdom of God is
already and not yet. Hebrews 2 8 says at present we do not yet see everything in
subjection to him. At present, we do not yet see that. When the nobleman returns
in this parable, it's having received the kingdom. So he comes in all authority
and he rightly orders an evaluation. He rightly orders an accounting. And for
us, as we read this, we are reminded that day is coming. We know, we know if we
are Bible believing Christians, we know that Jesus came to earth and he lived in
perfect obedience to God the Father. We know that he died on the cross, a
substitutionary death, taking mankind's sin upon himself. We know that he was
raised to life by the power of God and defeated death and hell. We know that he
ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father and makes
intercession for us. But as time passes, it becomes easy for us to lose sight
that he will return. He will leave his throne and return to earth and at that
time the kingdom of God will be consummated fully. When the book of Revelation
refers to this in Revelation 18, or sorry 11, Revelation 11 verse 15 says,
Forever and ever. And at that time we will give an account. Now I want to be
super clear that that accounting is not about what we would call justification
by works. The accounting is not how we try to earn or merit or deserve God's
favor. Our standing before God is completely based on his grace. It's based on
the righteousness of Christ that's imputed to all who believe in him by faith.
At the same time, having redeemed us, our Lord Jesus has every right to expect
that we would serve him faithfully and fruitfully. We'll give an account for
what we've been given. That's what's very easy to lose track of. Why we need the
warning of this parable, the sobering reminder, and also the encouraging
challenge that that inspection day is coming. During my senior year at college,
I decided that I wanted to rent an apartment off campus. This was not pre-
internet. I'm not that old, but it was pre-functional internet. And so I placed
a phone call and someone had told me about a place near campus that was
available. I called the number and the landlord agreed to rent to me for the
semester. He and I never met in person. I never saw the place until the day that
I showed up before class, the day before school started. There was a key under
the doormat. I let myself in and for the next four months he and I did not
communicate a single time. September, October, November passed. I paid nothing.
I started to think maybe I would never have to pay anything for this place. Then
one day, right around finals week, he showed up in my driveway. He didn't tell
me his name. He didn't ask for my name. He didn't ask how I liked the place or
how I felt about the giant family of mice that infested that apartment. He just
said, where's my money? He returned, he asked for an account, and he had every
right to do that. And the Lord gives responsibilities, he does return, and when
he returns there will be a reckoning. And we get a picture of these three
different servants who come before the Lord on this day of reckoning. Verse 15
says, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money 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've been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority
over 10 cities. And the second came saying, Lord, your mina has made 5 more. And
the second came saying, Lord, your mina has made 5 minas. And he said to him,
you are to be over 5 cities. Then another came saying, Lord, here's your mina,
which I kept laid away in a handkerchief. For I was afraid of you because you
are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not
sow. 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 the 10 minas. They said to him,
Lord, he has 10 minas. Reckoning speaks of giving an account. The question is,
do we live with an awareness that that day of reckoning is coming? The
expectation of the servants is that they would take what had been entrusted to
them and be profitable with it. The expectation is that they would work
diligently and be productive in the service of the nobleman. Everything that we
have our natural talents, our opportunities, our relationships, our material
blessings, it's been given to us by God. We did not earn it. We did not come up
with it. In that sense, it's on loan to us. It's a stewardship that's been given
to us. In this first servant, he's been unusually, uncommonly productive. He's
seen a tenfold increase. He's obviously taken what's been given to us by God.
He's obviously taken what's been given to him and he's utilized a lot of wisdom
and a lot of faithfulness. He receives this commendation. Well done, good
servant. Because you've been faithful in very little, you shall have authority
over ten cities. What commendation would be greater than hearing that well done
from Jesus? The servant gets rewarded in the life to come. It's very interesting
that Jesus refers to that one mina that the servant received as very little. It
shows us that the test of our faithfulness is going to be in the small and
hidden things. It's the things that might seem unimportant to us. When I think
about the test of my own faithfulness, you all just saw that video, I had a
chance to speak in front of whatever number, 70 plus ministry leaders. Well, you
can assume when I'm speaking in front of all these people that I know are
evaluating me very critically, I'm going to do my best at that. Right? It's the
smaller and more hidden and more obscure things that test our faithfulness.
Think about Jesus himself. Nine percent of his life was in public. The first 30
years were just in obscurity, learning from his father, providing for his
family. Faithfulness gets tested in those small and hidden things. For his
faithfulness, the first servant is richly rewarded. The Bible's clearly teaching
here and elsewhere that faithfulness in this life will be rewarded in the age to
come. Second servant comes, says, Lord, your minas made five minas. And he said
to him, then you shall be over five cities. The second servant's not been as
fruitful as the first, but he also is given a reward for his service. Both of
these servants, they bring to mind the words of the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian
church. He says in Ephesians five, look carefully how you walk, not as unwise,
but as wise, making the best use of the time because the days are evil.
Therefore, don't be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. I
think about Joseph in the Book of Genesis, who was a steward, first in
Potiphar's house. Then he became an assistant. He was falsely accused. He was
put in prison. He became an attendant to the prison guard. Finally, God exalted
him. He became second in command to the Pharaoh. But no matter where he was, no
matter how glorious or inglorious his position was, we see Joseph as an example
of someone who served with diligence and with integrity. Wherever we are,
whatever gifts we have, whatever opportunities we have, we've been entrusted
with them and we're called to serve Jesus faithfully. Now we get the most detail
about the third servant. The third servant is not prodigal, like in Luke 15.
He's not the one that takes everything that he's been given and just completely
wastes it. The third servant is afraid. The demands of the master seem to have
paralyzed him, and in the end he does nothing. He starts with one mina and he
ends with one mina, but he's not described as a neutral servant or an okay
servant or an average servant. He's described as a wicked servant because he
failed to do anything productive with what he'd been entrusted with. It helps us
see we're never neutral in our Christian lives. We're going forward and
advancing or we're slipping back in God's eyes. You might notice that the third
servant describes the noble man as severe. The idea is that he's austere. He's
demanding. You can think, is that correct? If the noble man represents Jesus, is
that correct? Well, his perspective is off-center. He does not seem to have
considered that the noble man is generous and gracious with the two earlier
servants. He doesn't seem to have recognized he's been given a great privilege
to have been entrusted with this mina at all. All he sees is that the noble man
has high standards, and he's not wrong about that. But because he failed to do
anything with his stewardship, because he was afraid, he's been given resources,
talents, opportunities, but time just passed. And in the end, it was wasted. He
never really put them to use. It ought to be sobering to us to consider our many
advantages. We ought to think, I don't want to be that guy. I don't want to be
the one making excuses when the inspection comes. The parable concludes with the
citizens, the ones who rejected the noble men entirely back in verse 14. They
said in verse 14, we do not want him to reign over us. Well, he returns as he
returns having received the kingdom. It wasn't up to them. He says then, as for
these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here
and slaughter them before me. It's referring to the final judgment to all who
reject Jesus. So we think, OK, what does this parable mean for us? What's the
takeaway for us? The takeaway is not necessarily that you need to run out of the
building and do some grandiose thing in the service of the Lord. But you do need
to remember that you will give an account to Jesus for your life. That
inspection is coming. If we're in Christ, we thank God on that day we will not
face his wrath. That's reserved for his enemies. That's reserved for those who
rejected his rule and authority. But we will give an account. We don't know when
that inspection day will be, but when it comes, we will give an account. And
it's a prompt for us to take stock of our lives and the way that we're investing
what has been given to us. Think about the ways that you're investing your time,
your priorities that you currently have. Think about whether you have a growing
knowledge of God in the word and through prayer. Think about whether you are
relationally involved in helping other people grow as Christians. Think about
whether you're using the gifts that God has given you in service to the church.
Think about the way that you're spending the money that God's given to you.
Think about the people in your life that don't know Christ, that he came to seek
and to save. Are you praying for them? Are you engaging them? Are you looking
for ways to share the gospel with them? If you're married or you have children,
think about your spouse or your kids and whether you're doing all that's in your
power to bless them. It's a prompt for us to take stock and to ask ourselves, if
the inspection came today, next week, next month, would I be ready? And then
consider, I have the privilege of serving the King of Kings and he will return
and the kingdoms of this earth will become the kingdoms of our God. When we
think about that, then we think, let me be occupied with serving him until he
comes. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you for the reminders of your word. We
thank you for the coming consummation of your kingdom and Lord, for what we know
that may be sooner, that may be far away. But Father, I pray that we, each one
of us would be fervent in spirit, serving you with the gifts and with the time
that you've given to us in the ways that are appropriate for the ways that
you've gifted us. Lord, help us to take stock, to confess where we need to, to
course correct where we need to. And Lord, we pray that you would fill us with
strength and with power and with energy to serve you. In Jesus name. Amen.