Stop Whining and Do Something (Luke 19:11-27)
Harvard and Yale Universities were created as Christian Institutions. One of Yale’s presidents was the great pastor and theologian, Jonathan Edwards. Both of these institutions were originally Puritan institutions. Princeton’s Crest still reads, “Dei sub numine viget”, which is Latin for “under God she flourishes.” That’s hard to imagine in 2022.
Public Education itself was begun to further the knowledge of God. The Massachusetts Education Laws of 1642 and 1647 mandated universal education. They wanted to create a godly society and they thought that the best way to do that would be to educate their citizens. They wanted to further the knowledge of the Bible, so literacy was a large part of their education. This is why the literacy rate in Puritan New England was higher than the literacy rate of today. They emphasized literacy, while our society downplays it and in some quarters is pushing to remove its emphasis. So, every town of 50 homes or more had to have an elementary school teacher and every town of 100 homes or more had to have grammar school that taught Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. In these schools, people were prepared for college, ministry, law, and medicine. And the Bible and classical authors were read in their original languages. It was considered rigorous preparation to do rigorous things in life.
Christians went to work and created incredible things. The intention was that these things would further God’s Kingdom in the world. And, for a while they did. As R.C. Sproul notes in his book, “In the Beginning was the Word”,
“Sometimes we hear about the black eyes that the church has suffered in history because of the Crusades, religious persecution, and bigotry. People look at these events and say, “The track record of the Christian church is abysmal.” Actually, if we look at the history of Western civilization, we see that the primary impetus for the abolition of slavery in the Western world came largely through the impact of the Christian church. Countless institutions of higher learning, universities and colleges, were founded by the ministry of Christians. It was the Christian community that moved across the globe building orphanages for children who were without hope. The hospital movement in Western history was driven largely by the Christian church. By the Spirit’s endowment, the church extends the work of Jesus, the benefits of Jesus, indeed, the ministry of Jesus to the very ends of the earth.”-R.C. Sproul
There was once a time when Christians built things. They understood the necessity of building and creating with what they had. They understood that they must expend great efforts to use what God had given them for His glory, honor, and the furtherance of His Kingdom.
Today that doesn’t seem to be the case with many believers.
Today Christians watch and complain about the great lengths liberals have gone to corrupt the institutions that our forebearers created. That CRT spouting Queer Theory professor teaching at a University understands something that Christians in America once understood. And that is that it takes time and effort to build something. Disney gets it. That’s what all the controversy is about. Liberal teachers and professors get it. That is what all the fighting at school board meetings is about. And somewhere along the line Christians forgot it.
This parable has been on my mind for a few weeks. I read through this text in preparation for the Palm Sunday sermon. I like to get the context of a passage well understood before preaching a text. And this was the immediate context of that sermon. This means that I was thinking through this text while I was reading news stories about a Disney executive vowing to add more LGBTQIA characters to their productions and the legislation in Florida that has caused such an uproar because it forbids teaching these topics to children under 4th Grade.
It occurred to me, and should have occurred to everyone by now, that these people have gone to great lengths and worked very hard to have the power that they have in society today. As disgusting as their agenda is, we understand that they have put in a lot of effort to get to where they are. And Christians sat on their backside and watched it take place.
And what have Christians been doing in the meantime. They’ve been lamenting how the world has gone to Hell in a handbasket and thought that Jesus would be coming soon for the last 100 years or so.
With that being said, let’s read Luke 19:11 which is the context of this parable.
The purpose of the Parable was to respond to the thought that the “kingdom of God was to appear immediately” (Luke 19:11 ESV).
So, what would Jesus have to say to Christians today, who have for the most part, sat back and whined about the conditions of the culture and not done anything about it because they believe Christ was coming back immediately?
I believe this text has much to say to us today.
Historical Introduction
This was a familiar story for one like it was well known in Jesus’s day. And there is no doubt that Jesus was using this familiar story to drive home His point.
Herod, who had attempted to have Jesus killed in the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, died and left the kingdom to Archelaus, his son. He was a brutal tyrant, and the people of Israel did not want him to be king. It had to be confirmed by the emperor of Rome, so he travelled there to have it confirmed. Because the Jews did not want him to be king, they sent a delegation to contest it. An assembly was called to hear both sides of this case by Caesar. And Caesar split up the Kingdom but promised Archelaus that he would be made king eventually if he behaved, because he really had been a monster (Josephus, “The Wars of the Jews”, ii, 6; “Antiquities of the Jews”, xvii, 8, 11). This story served as a model for the story Jesus would tell, a story that was loaded with meaning.
Parables usually have one main meaning. They are an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. And this story is about the Lordship of Christ and our service to the King. Serve the King and receive His reward, be whiney and receive nothing, reject the King and you’ll receive His wrath. The king has left us with a task, and we are to be about the business of doing the Lord’s work.
Serve the King and receive His reward, reject Him and you’ll receive His wrath.
Jesus Is King (Luke 19:12, 15)
We begin at the beginning and primary part of this discussion and that is the Lordship of Christ. That is the overarching teaching that exists within this parable. Jesus is King. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. And everyone is to serve Him.
This parable is about the Lordship of Christ and how He rewards and punishes those who serve or don’t serve Him. It is a parable that helps us to see how we are to live in the world today. It’s about productivity under the Lordship of Christ.
We Are To Be At Work For The King (Luke 19:13)
Jesus here uses money as a means to teach us about something that encompasses all of our lives. All of our lives are to be spent working for the King. We have been given resources to serve the King with.
So, this is not just about your finances, though it certainly encompasses that. It is about all of your life.
You have been given time. We all have the same number of hours in a day. Yet, we do not all have the same number of days. Use the time you have in a God honoring and productive way. Love your family. Teach your children. Work hard both at your job and at home.
You have been given finances. If you have a job then you have the ability to make money. While money is not the end of all things, it is good and right to get out there and make money.
One of the things that I am repeatedly frustrated by is lazy people who think they are honoring the Lord by being poor. There is nothing wrong with being poor. There is something very wrong about being lazy. These people often treat having money as if it is a sin against God, but this is simply not the case. You can earn money in a sinful way. You can also prioritize money in a sinful way. You can also use money in a sinful way. So, work hard, build business, earn money. But do not neglect the Lord and His ways to get it. And honor God with all that you have.
You have been given skills. Don’t waste the skills that you have. You have skills that can be used at home, in the workforce, and in the local church. Use your skills well wherever you are. And use them for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom.
You have been given a family. Don’t waste the little years complaining about how hard things are. Begin raising your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. Raise up children who will be a force to be reckoned with in the years to come. All of society is crumbling right now. I believe that well raised Christian children will be rebuilding the Christian foundations of the West in years to come. Raise up children that can handle that task.
And you have been given spiritual gifts. These gifts are for the purpose of building up the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:7, 14:12). If you have been gifted to preach and teach then do that to the best of your ability. If it is service to others then serve with all your heart. If it is encouragement then encourage for the good of the body of Christ.
“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:6-8 ESV)
Don’t sit around and waste time. Use your gifts. You have been given gifts to do work. All giftings are not equal, but we are called to be faithful and profitable for the Lord.
We are to engage in business until the Lord comes again. “We’ll Work ‘Till Jesus Comes” was once a popular hymn. And if understood correctly it coincides nicely with our message today. This is an all of life affair. Our whole life is to be lived out in service to the Lord. That means we are to work until Jesus comes at home, at work, at church, and everywhere else we may be.
All of our life is to be lived out before the Lord. And we are to be about the business of Kingdom expansion throughout all of it. Go forth and disciple the nations.
The application of this text is so broad that it is somewhat difficult to say specific things. But here is my best stab at the application of this point.
God has given you abilities, experiences, and resources so that you will go forth and be productive. That productivity is not limited to what you do with and for the Church. It moves outward as well.
As believers we are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the Earth. And that is a whole life endeavor. If you are building things at work, then you are building things that will be used and enjoyed by others. If you are caring for people at your job, then you are making people’s lives better. If you are a teacher, then you are teaching children who will one day be adults out in society. If you are a homemaker, then make that home as glorious and pleasant as you possibly can for the good of all those who enter your home. If you are a parent, then you are to raise children in the fear and admonition of the Lord so that they will do great things for God’s Kingdom and improve the world around them.
If you have the ability to run a business well then run a business well for the glory of God. Do your work well. Treat your employees well. Grow something you can pass down to your children. And use your money in a God-glorifying manner.
And use your gifts in church as well.
If you have organizational abilities, then use those abilities to further the reach of the Church for the conversion of sinners and expansion of God’s Kingdom.
If you have the ability to teach, then use that ability to teach God’s Word to God’s people.
And you have all been given opportunities to make disciples whether that be friends at work, neighbors, or family members.
The King Rewards Our Labor (Luke 19:16-19)
When Jesus returns, He will reward those who worked faithfully.
The first two people that come forward are rewarded for their labor. The first person doubled the investment. The King gave him 10 minas, he made 20 out of it. The second did half of that, but he still gained with his investment. And Jesus rewarded both of them. And, as one would expect, the reward was performance based. I would argue that this is because of diligence.
And here is the point. Christ will return one day and will judge our faithfulness in this life. He will examine our works and what we have done for Him. God has given to us opportunities, gifts, and abilities. And we will be examined for what we did with those. And we long to be found faithful when He does so.
The King Takes From The Whiney (Luke 19:20-26)
One of the rules to interpreting a parable is to taken notice of what gets the most space. What part of the story is given the most details? In this one, it is obviously the last person that was tested. He did nothing with what he was given. He laid it aside and left it out of fear.
Doing something involves a risk. He whined about the risk of doing something. So he just laid his gift on a napkin until the Master returned.
It is easy to not do anything. It is easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize what everyone else is doing or think that it is foolish that they would do something. It is easy to just decide to not risk anything for the advancement of God’s Kingdom. And, as is the case here, it is easy to be so afraid of failure that you never get started.
I am going to let everyone in on a little secret. I was terrified at the Easter Outreach event last year. It was a real risk, at least in my mind it was. It was a big thing for us to do coming out of Covid. We put our entire Outreach budget into one event last year. But, people came and we got to love on people and share the gospel with them. I was also nervous about Sunday School. We were doing it differently than it had been done in the past. I prayed and thought through the process and felt we had good curriculum and good teachers in place. Simply put, these were big changes. And I believe these risks were good ones for our church.
And here is my point in telling these stories. There is a certain amount of risk involved when you do anything of substance. It might fail. It might not work out like you hope and pray it does. But, it is better we try to be faithful and fall on our face than not do anything.
And this applies to our whole lives.
It is a risk to try to start something. There is risk involved when you start a business. There is risk involved when you write a book or music. You might waste your time, lose money, and everything might stink badly.
But here’s the point. God will judge our inactivity.
God gave us gifts and abilities. And we are to use those for the good of God’s Kingdom, the good of God’s people, and the good of the world. God is not pleased with our inactivity and unwillingness to use the gifts that He has given us.
This portion of the parable ends with the money that was given to the unfaithful servant, being taken away and given to someone who will do something with it. And the moral of this is easy to see. If you don’t use your gifts, talents, and opportunities then they will be taken from you.
I know that God has gifted me to preach and teach. And I dare not waste that. I dare not live in such a way that belittles the gift that I’ve been given. I have been given God’s Word and educated with the ability to read it. I was able to go back to school and take classes under great professors in Seminary. I was gifted with the ability to read some of the greatest theologians in history through books. And I dare not whine that the study of God’s Word is too great a burden. And I dare not sit back and lament the difficulty of the task or waste away the gift through laziness.
“…Christ only means, that there will be no excuse for the indolence of those who both conceal the gifts of God, and waste their time in idleness. Hence also we infer that no manner of life is more praiseworthy in the sight of God, than that which yields some advantage to human society.” (John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentary over Luke 19:24-26)
Don’t waste your opportunities, gifts, and talents. You won’t always have them. If you waste these things that God has given you, then you will lose them.
And, if you are currently thinking that you have no talents, abilities, or opportunities then you are the whiner in Jesus’s parable. Get to work. Be productive.
Those Who Reject The King Will Receive His Wrath (Luke 19:14, 27)
There is another group of people in this parable. There are those who reject the King outright. They protested Him and refused to bow the knee to Him. The King has come. He is the rightful King over the entire world and has made a way for us to be brought into His Kingdom.
God the Son took on human flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a perfect life and died to bring a people into God’s Kingdom. He lived and died so that we could be taken out of the Kingdom of this world and brought into the Kingdom of Christ. The proper response to this message is repentance and faith. That is, turning from ruling our own lives and trusting in the Savior.
Those who reject these terms will receive the wrath of the King.
Conclusion
We were created in God’s Image. We have been given talents, abilities, and opportunities to serve the king in a glorious manner. And we all have this. None of you are exempt. Labor for the glory of God, the good of His people, and the good of the world.
If you are listening to this and do not want to submit or labor for the King because you don’t want to submit to Him. Then there is coming a day when you will face His wrath. Turn from ruling your own life and trust in Him.
Serve the King and receive His reward, reject Him and you’ll receive His wrath.
R. Dwain Minor