Well Done, My Good Servant?
Luke 19:1–27
The story is told of President
Franklin Roosevelt, that he often wearied
during the often-long receiving lines at White House
events. He complained that no really paid any attention to what was said.
they just wanted to be there, they weren’t interested in him, just his
position. Well, one day during a
reception, he decided to try an experiment. To each person who passed down the
line & shook hands he muttered, “I murdered my grandmother this
morning.” The guests responded with phrases like; “Marvelous, Keep up the
good work,” or “We’re proud of you, keep up the good work.” No one
seemed to be listening. It was not until the end of the line while greeting the
ambassador of Bolivia, that his words were actually heard. With only a slightly
surprised look, the ambassador leaned over & whispered, “I’m sure she
had it coming.”
Don’t be like so many
and say, “I’ve heard this before, and know what’s going to be said, so I
don’t have to bother to listen, or be there....
Isaiah 55:11(HCSB)
so My word that comes from My mouth will not return to Me
empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and will prosper in what I send it to do."
I believe this verse
means, God always has something to say to you. He loves you so much He wants to
fellowship with you daily, just like daily He walked in the Garden with Adam
& Eve, & He wants us to fellowship daily, Heb.
10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope
without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful. 24 And let us consider one
another in order to stir up love and good works, 25
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the
manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
You
might think, I don’t need Him, (not many do), You might think I’m not able,
and some might think I’m not worthy….
Luke
19 begins with Jesus’
encounter with Zacchaeus at Jericho. (he might?)
Crowds were coming to
Jesus wherever He traveled. Some were even saying that this man could possibly
be the Messiah. Zacchaeus was one of those! When he followed the crowd to see Jesus, changing his
life/career/financial status, was all probably no where in his mind. (Isn’t it wonderful to know that even when we think
nothing of Jesus, He can’t get us off His mind)?
The
Parable of the Ten Minas — Luke
19:11 - 27
Minas =
approximately 3
months wages
Note: This teaching is during the last week of Jesus’ life prior to His
crucifixion, so it must be important—and we should treat it as such.
I.
Jesus speaks, of 3 distinctive life-styles, and life goals
1.
The Citizens
a. Their attitude was …. “I
want everything to be my way.”
they don’t want this man to be their king.
They have some plans of their own, that don’t include a king over them
b. This
is very much a timely parable that Jesus shares.
King Herod Antipas had
just died and his son had traveled to Rome
to make a claim for the
kingdom. At the same time, Herod’s subjects had sent a delegation to Caesar to
say, “This man is not acceptable as king. We don’t want him and we will not
accept him as our king.”
So this was something that
was very familiar to those Jesus spoke to.
2.
The Nobleman
a. This man was king by birth, and regardless of the
desires of the
people he was the rightful king.
b. The
king presents his servants with control over portions
of his wealth & gives them the
responsibility to oversee it until he returned.
1) The amount given to each
of the servants is not important,
What
is important is he trusted them to be responsible stewards.
2) He gives no specific
instructions, simply they should put it to work until he returns.
c. The Nobleman’s attitude was to Trust
His servants.
and
give them a chance to live out that trust and be rewarded.
3.
The Servants
a. There are ten servants
that were included in this distribution,
the parable focus’s on the activity of 3 of them.
Jesus was trying to teach
us something of us and the kingdom.
b. Each
choose a different method to invest the master’s resource.
1) One was very aggressive, and saw an aggressive return.
2) One was moderately active, and saw a moderate return.
3) One was extremely conservative to the point of
not
risking anything—fearful of losing—Never giving thought to what
he could gain for his master
c.
IMPORTANT—each servant knew they
would be required to give
an account of their
handling of this responsibility.
The same is true for ALL
of us. THE LIFE WE LIVE IN THE FLESH is a gift from God, we have a stewardship
of what that life will be spent doing?
II.
Jesus speaks and we respond.
In one
fashion or another.
Some say “Yes Jesus”, some say
“No, Some ignore Him and hope He goes away. Isn’t it wonderful to know that even when we think
nothing of Jesus, He can’t get us off His mind)?
A.
We like to DEBATE.
Both
Christian & Non regularly debate and deny the Lordship of Jesus.
He
doesn’t own us, that’s not freedom.
1. If there is a debt your
not free either. Jesus paid the
debt, to give us
freedom of choice, then He
invites us to choose Him to find LIFE.
A LIFE WORTH LIVING.
2. Some are simply not willing to live life on His terms.
We want our way and
that’s the only thing that will satisfy US.
3. We can debate that all
we want, but the bottom line is
Jesus is Lord of ALL, and
All knee’s will bow, End of debate.
B.
Some Just DISOBEY
NOT willing to obey His
commands. No one is gonna tell me what to do, & especially NOT some
messenger.
I have freedom, I’m going to live free. However, every step
of disobedience, Every
step of choosing your will over surrendering to
GOD, EVERY time you go
away from God instead to toward GOD,
You reject HIS fellowship,
you reject HIS will, you reject HIM!
C.
The lesson of the servants. Here is one lesson You can
take from Jesus there are two
(2) types of servants: fruitful and unfruitful.
We are to leave more behind than when
we started.
Not to
do so is poor stewardship.
1. Stewards
We are stewards of all
that we have. Let’s get past the $$ 1Co 4:1-2 Let a man so
consider us, as servants of Christ &
stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.
a) The secret things of
God are perhaps our greatest treasure.
b) The mysteries of God
are His motivation to love & forgive us. What
could be of greater value/worth than that?
What could be more
mysterious to us than that?
What would be harder for us to do than love & forgive as He did.
2. We are
stewards of us, and our living witness.
We may look frail &
imperfect on the outside, but there is a treasure in
this earthen vessel. We are the dwelling place of Holy Spirit.
We are the pinnacle of
God’s creation &, I think all of creation is waiting
to see if we will live up to our privilege as children of God
3. We are
stewards of the church—the
Body of Christ.
2. We are stewards of the church—the
Body of Christ.
a) We call ourselves a
family, & ea. member of the family is
responsible for and to each other. We are to invest in each other
through love, care, support, & involvement with ea. other.
b) Provoking one another
to good works. Heb. 10:24
..let us consider one another in order to
stir up love & good works
3. We are
stewards of the world.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…”
It wasn’t for the church
alone Jesus died—it was for the world.
Because we are good
stewards the world should be different.
Ask Yourself, “Is there more justice,
compassion, peace, more love, More of Jesus seen in the world because you have
lived?”
If we are
really fruitful & faithful, we will be more like Jesus
tomorrow
than we are today.