Luke 19:11-27 *
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
“Put your money where your mouth is” was not adopted by
either party as a slogan during the 2004 political campaign. “Put your money where your mouth is” was
never seriously considered as a theme for our congregation’s new capital fund
campaign either.
“Put your money where your mouth is” is an English idiom
that when paraphrased means something like this: “If you are going to make a
promise, if you intend to make a commitment, then you better be willing to
follow through on it.”
Even though these words were never attributed to Jesus or
anyone else in the Bible for that matter, there is definitely a spiritual
application for Christians. And this is
the perfect time to make it. Today is
the second Sunday in the season of End Time, the Sunday that has been
designated as Last Judgment. Today is
also the first of three consecutive stewardship Sundays at
Even though judgment and stewardship are very different
subjects, they have this in common. The
reality of a final judgment reminds us that one day we will all be called to
give an account before a just and holy God.
The imminence of a final judgment compels us to make the most of our
time on earth before that day comes.
Jesus brings both of these points home in the text
today. He had just stayed at the home of
Zacchaeus the tax collector in
Luke reports that Jesus shared this parable with people who “thought that the kingdom of God was going
to come at once” (11), in other words, to people who believed that Jesus
was an earthly king who had come to establish a earthly kingdom. We know better. We know that Jesus came to earth to establish
a spiritual kingdom. We know that when Jesus
made his way to
Even though we have a clear understanding of Jesus’ mission,
this parable is still of value to us.
Even though Jesus told this parable two thousand years ago, its message
is timeless. This is the challenge our
Savior sets before us today…
PUT YOUR MINA WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS
I. An encouragement to work faithfully
II. A warning against living selfishly
The parable begins: “A
man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and
then return. So he called ten of his
servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put
this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back’” (12,13).
The key to understanding this parable is to understand what
the mina represents. In Jesus’ day a
mina was a unit of currency. There were
one hundred drachmas in a mina, and sixty minas in a talent. To convert it into today’s money, a mina
would be the equivalent of about three month’s wages.
Since a mina is money, some have concluded that the parable
is about the proper use of our possessions.
Jesus does want us to be good stewards of our physical blessings, but
that doesn’t appear to be what he is talking about here. Notice that the master gave each servant one
mina. Everyone began with the same
amount. And that is simply not the case
when it comes to our earthly possessions.
So if the mina doesn’t represent physical wealth, it must
signify something else, something of great value, something that God has given
each of us in equal measure, something that God wants us to put to good use
until he returns.
One thing, only one thing, fits all of these criteria. The gospel. The parable of the minas is about
stewardship, faithful stewardship of God’s saving Word. And when the king returned, he gave his
faithful servants their reward:
“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’” (15-19).
Before we look at what the servants did with their minas, we
need to remember where the minas came from.
They were gifts from the master.
The servants hadn’t earned them.
We are given to reason to believe that they deserved them. Even when the first servant reported his
results, he told his master: “Your
mina has earned ten more” (15).
And so it is with the gospel. The good news of salvation through faith in
Jesus is a gift that God has entrusted to each of us. Not because we are superior. Not because we are special. Certainly not because we
are sinless. We are the
recipients of God’s grace because we have a gracious God.
And our King has made it clear that he doesn’t want us to
lock this treasure away in a safety deposit box. He wants us to invest it. He wants us to study it. He wants us to proclaim it. When the Lord returns in judgment we will be
able to see the return on our investment.
We will stand among the saints in heaven. We will sing with the angelic choirs. But even now, even before that day comes, God
allows us to see the gospel at work. Let
me give you just a couple examples.
This morning we begin a new round of adult Bible
classes. In addition to these studies
our church offers opportunities for spiritual growth almost every day of the
week. And that doesn’t even include the
daily devotions and religion classes in our elementary school and
pre-school.
Why do we invest so much time and energy in Christian
education? What is the purpose? As we study God’s Word we grow in faith. And as we grow in our own faith, we also grow
in our desire to share the gospel with others.
Right now our Mission Partners in
Why do we support missionaries in other parts of world? Why are we expanding our ministry in other
part of the world? What is the
purpose? To share the
saving gospel with more and more people.
In less than two weeks our Chinese Fellowship will celebrate
its five year anniversary. I have
witnessed Chinese baptisms and confirmations.
Less than one year ago I listened to the first (and probably the only)
sermon ever preached from this pulpit in Chinese.
Why do we open our doors to people of a different culture? Why do we host Bible classes for Chinese children and adults every Saturday? What is the purpose? To share the saving gospel with more and more people.
Because the day of judgment is
coming, the Lord wants us to work faithfully, to be students of his Word, to be
sharers of his Word, to be good stewards of this priceless gift. And where the Lord finds faithful service he
promises great reward.
We probably won’t be put in charge of any cities, but that’s
okay because God promises us something even better. As we grow in God’s Word and go with God’s
Word, the Lord strengthens our faith.
Faith makes us God’s children.
Faith takes away the fear of judgment.
Faith gives us the absolute certainty that we will live forever in heaven.
That’s the good news.
That’s good news for all of God’s faithful servants. But the news is not all good in the parable
of the minas. Jesus also issues a stern
warning against living selfishly.
Luke tells us that some of the citizens of the country
didn’t want this nobleman to be made king.
They even sent a delegation to plead their case against him. But it didn’t do any good. And when the king returned, he ordered that
they be executed in his presence.
These rebellious citizens represent unbelievers. That much is clear. The faithful servants represent
believers. That is fairly obvious. But what about the other
servant in the parable? Where
does he fit in? Let’s take a look.
The servant came to his master 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’” (20,21).
This servant was not like the others. This servant didn’t put his mina to work like
the others. The only thing he did was
offer excuses. And the king saw right
through them.
“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’” (22,23)?
If the master was really that harsh, why didn’t the servant
put his mina to work? If the servant was
really afraid, why didn’t he do absolutely everything in his power to avoid the
king’s wrath?
The master knew why.
The servant didn’t make use of his gift because he didn’t appreciate
it. And so the king took his mina
away.
If a group of people decided to act out this parable, I am
guessing that the role of this servant wouldn’t be the most popular. No one wants to be called lazy. No one wants to be labeled as
unfaithful. But are there times in our
lives when we unwittingly assume this role?
“I don’t have time for Bible class. Isn’t that what church is for? I can’t make time for personal Bible study
every day. I have too much to do
already.”
“Let me get this straight.
You want me to increase my regular giving AND participate in another capital
fund campaign. I have enough trouble
making ends meet the way it is.”
“I’m not very comfortable talking about my faith. What if I don’t know what to say? What if I say the wrong thing?”
I understand that we all have many different responsibilities. I understand that money doesn’t grow on
trees. I understand that standing up for
your faith is not always easy. And so
does God. Jesus didn’t tell this parable
to burden you with unnecessary guilt, but maybe some of the guilt is
deserved.
You are Christians.
You trust in God. After this
sermon you will confess our faith in the triune God. But do you always put your mina where your
mouth is? Do you put God’s Word to work
in your life or do you make excuses?
Let me answer for you.
No, you don’t always give the gospel the honor and respect it deserves. And I don’t either. We let dust settle on our Bibles. We allow other things to crowd God out of our
lives. We live selfishly, and because we
live to serve ourselves, God has every right to take his precious gift away.
But God hasn’t. There
are still Bibles in your pews. That
hasn’t changed. There are still promises
in those Bibles. And God’s promises
haven’t changed. A few days after Jesus
told this parable, he went to