Saturday of Trinity 9

Last updated on: August 27, 2011 at 6:55 am by Guest Contributor

Saturday of Trinity 9 2011-08-27T06:55:26-05:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Luke 19:11-28

Jesus is a persistent Master, isn’t He? Didn’t He just finish teaching us in Luke 16:1-13 that we should be faithful with our money and gifts and to give an account of our stewardship? And then in Luke 16:19-31 He told us about the rich man who had not been faithful with the riches he had been given and refused to share God’s gifts with Lazarus. And here He is again in Luke 19:11-28 reminding us that He has given us His gifts as stewards and that we should put them to good use.

Obviously, stewardship is a major concern of our Master’s, and therefore as His disciples it must be a major concern of ours. Once again, we are reminded that if we are faithful with the little that He gives us at first, He will entrust us with more later. I suppose He could remind us of the need to be faithful stewards once each day, and it would not be too much.

But there’s an interesting twist in the parable of the minas. Luke lets us know that the reason Jesus tells the parable of the minas is that the disciples thought the Kingdom of God would appear immediately. This is an important key to understanding the parables.

Now it’s clear from all else that Jesus says and does that the Kingdom of God is already present – at hand – as soon as Jesus begins His public ministry. So the issue isn’t whether or not the Kingdom had come, but whether or not it would appear immediately, that is, all at once. Judging from this parable, other Scripture, and from our own experience, the answer is “No.” The Kingdom will not appear all at once.

There is, therefore, a tension in the teachings of Jesus and in our lives as disciples, and the tension is this: that God’s Kingdom is already here, but yet not fully. Time, therefore, becomes a very important factor because there is a gap in time between when the servants have been entrusted with a down payment (the minas) on the kingdom and when the King returns in the fullness of His kingdom. What the servants do with the minas while the King is gone and before He returns is therefore all-important.

The commandment of the King is instructive for us, for the King says: “Do business till I come.” In other words, “I’ve given you a small part of my Kingdom to use while I’m gone, and I want to see how you do with it so that when I return I know who to entrust with more.” The servants were therefore to avoid 2 errors. The first error was in believing that the King would never return and therefore they could do what they wanted with the minas. The second error was in thinking that all they had to do was preserve what the King had given and that no labor or investment on their part was required.

Jesus is speaking, of course, to us. There are those in His Kingdom who do not invest themselves in His kingdom because they think they have got plenty of time. Though God may have reminded me today to be a more faithful steward, I’ll get around to it manana because I’m kind of busy today. As long as I do the things God wants me to do sometime over the course of my life, the present day doesn’t really matter. I don’t really know anyone who overtly reasons this way, but our hearts silently and invisibly argue this way all the time. The problem is that the day that God has given you, with all its resources and all its opportunities is the mina He has entrusted you with. In fact, today and all it contains, is all you are ever given. Therefore, what you do with this little thing today, has everything to do with your eternal reward in heaven.

The second error, related to the first, is in thinking that once we’ve given our life to God that all we have to do is preserve this life by locking it away. But the Kingdom of Heaven is one of dynamic power, it is of the Spirit, and it can never stand still. Our life in Christ is an organic life that must move and breathe and eat, or else it will die. As that great prophet Bob Dylan once sung: “He not busy being born is busy dying” (insert your own harmonica music here.)

I’ve noticed that these twin errors of time are very much related to our tendencies as both individual Christians and as churches. Some of us are so stuck in the past that it is difficult for people to see the relevance of God and His kingdom today. And some of us are in such a hurry to hop aboard the latest futuristic, entertaining, technological vehicle of our culture that we become too much like our culture. Hip, we may be (usually not as much as we’d like to believe), but faithful disciples, maybe not.

But the Master has given us His treasure today, and we are to be busy putting it to use. And the busy-ness of Christians is worship and discipleship, two things which should never be done from a static, inactive posture.

So, then, the Master has given you His treasure and asked you to put it to use. In fact, He asks His Church, as His Presence here on earth, to be about the Father’s business, just as He was while here on earth.

Let’s get busy!

Prayer: Master, teach me to listen to Your divine instruction. Teach me to be about Your business each and every day, not putting off until tomorrow what You have commanded me to do today. Help me not to hide the treasure You have given me but to use it and therefore multiply it so that Your kingdom will come.

Point for Meditation:

1. How well have you been investing in God’s Kingdom? Consider how much effort, time, and talents you put into earthly pursuits and compare them to how much you give to the pursuit of God and His kingdom.

Resolution: I resolve today to see today and its circumstances as God’s mina for me to invest. I resolve as well to find one thing that I invest myself in today but which I in the past have put off.

Give Us This Day

give us this day

Previous Post

August 27, 2011

I Can Name That Tune in 2 Notes

Next Post

August 27, 2011 A Year With God by Richard Foster

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Featured Give Us This Day Give Us This Day Devotional love me love my wife Love My Wife Reformed Catholicism Blog Spirit-Reality Take This Cup Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 September 2018 July 2018 March 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, who is the true neighbor?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The robber The priest The Samaritan The Levite