Waiting...With a Mina

2nd Sunday of End Time, Last Judgment, 11/10/19
Luke 19:11-27


Waiting...With a Mina
I. God’s faithful people use it wisely.
II. God’s enemies waste it and oppose it.


What do you do while you’re waiting for someone or something? If you suffer from impatience, it can get very annoying. It can be such a waste of time, unless you plan for it.

For instance, if you know you’re going to be sitting in a waiting room for any length of time, you bring something with you to occupy your time. Perhaps you bring a book or magazine with you. In our world today, most of you have a mobile device with which you can check your personal accounts, surf the web, or even carry on some business. If I know that I’m going to be waiting for an extended period of time, I’ll bring my laptop computer with me and get some work done. My point is, few of us enjoy just sitting and doing nothing while we’re waiting. We do something to occupy our time.

Today’s worship focus is the Last Judgment. Countless people in our world would rather not think about that day at all, let alone celebrate it in worship. But, as Christians, we know that our Lord and Savior tells us that will be a glorious day for every Christian. And even though there’s a side to us might make us a little uncomfortable about that judgment, I’m sure there have been times in your life when you’re hit with how rotten and evil our world is. That’s when you have wished that Jesus would return soon, put an end to all evil, and usher us into everlasting glory. And that’s a pious wish for God’s people.

But what should we do while we wait for that day to occur? After all, it’s been nearly 2,000 years since Jesus visibly ascended into heaven and assured his people that he will visibly return one day. Two thousand years is a lot of waiting. And none of us knows how much more waiting we’ll have to do. So, what can we do to occupy our time?

Jesus has an answer to that question for you this morning and his answer involves a mina—an ancient weight of money. In this parable before us a mina is given to each of ten servants. This morning, Jesus reminds us that he has given each of us a mina. We possess that mina until Jesus returns on the Last Day. And so we wait for him. Waiting...with a mina. Are you curious about what that means for you? Then follow along with me as we delve into this parable of our Lord.

Part I.

In our world of constant and instant world news, you know what can easily happen with sound bites. They’re shared out of context and the message that the author or speaker intended is obscured and twisted. You’re smart enough to know that you can’t believe everything you read and hear.

I’m not suggesting that the words before us this morning have been twisted or are unreliable. What I’m saying is that understanding the context in which Jesus spoke them is critical for understanding them properly. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover for the last time. That’s right—in short order Jesus knows that his enemies will succeed in crucifying him. He’s passing through Jericho where he gives sight to a blind man who has declared before the crowds traveling with Jesus that Jesus is the Son of David—a clear messianic proclamation. And the crowds that were traveling with him praised God.

Then he meets a chief tax collector named Zacchaeus who invites Jesus to dinner at his house. Jesus declares himself to be the Son of Man and tells Zacchaeus that salvation has come to his house.

And that’s where our text begins. It states, “While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once.” The people thought that Jesus was about to create a glorious earthly kingdom of Jews. In response, Jesus told this parable to correct their thinking.

Let’s take a brief look at a few of the parable’s details. Obviously, the nobleman is Jesus. That nobleman departs with the promise to return, just as Jesus did. But before he does, he gives each of his ten servants a mina. A mina is a unit of money worth about three month’s wages—a significant sum. The best interpretation of that mina is that it represents the gospel—the good news that Jesus is the world’s Savior from sin. His servants use that mina to engage in spiritual business—kingdom work. The servants all correctly state that the mina belongs to their master and that mina produces the results. The gospel belongs to Jesus and it has the power to bring about spiritual results.

When he returned, the master asked for an accounting. One servant’s mina gained ten more and Jesus commended him for his faithfulness and rewarded him out of grace, not merit. The other servant’s mina gained five more and, likewise, Jesus commended him and rewarded him out of his grace, not merit. Jesus had entrusted them with something precious and they were faithful in using it.

His point is clear. I’m sure you get it. Jesus suffered and died for the sins of every sinner. He rose again and ascended into heaven. Before departing, he entrusted the mina of his gospel to each one of us. As we wait for his return on the Last Day, he wants us to put that gospel to work, realizing that it’s his gospel and that gospel contains the inherent power to produce the results that Jesus is looking for. When we proclaim the gospel, the power and the results are not ours. Jesus simply asks us to proclaim it faithfully.

So, imagine that today is the day that Jesus returns. He has entrusted us with the mina of his gospel, and we’ve been waiting for him to return with that mina in our hearts and hands. What do we have to show for all these years of waiting? And when we give that gospel back to Jesus, what will he say to us? Will he commend us or condemn us?

Let’s shift our focus a little. We already know what Jesus will say on the Last Day to Christians, to you, to me. He will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you” (Mt. 25:34). That’s it. The Last Judgment will simply be a declaration before every other human being that we are members of God’s eternal kingdom by faith in Jesus. There’s no doubt about it. There’s no reason to worry. That’s because our sins have been washed in the blood of Christ, and our God has declared us to be not guilty. We’re innocent! All because of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and not because of anything we have done or could do. That’s our eternal confidence in the Last Judgment.

So now, that confidence inspires and motivates us as we wait...with a mina. Love for Jesus moves us to put that mina to work. It happens when we speak his saving truths to someone. It happens when we work together as a congregation of Christians to grow in the gospel and share the gospel. It happens as we support mission work through our offerings and prayers. That’s waiting...with a mina.

Part II.

The Bible states clearly that God loves every sinner. The Bible also states clearly that every person is a sinner and God hates all who do wrong—Psalm 5. Those seem to be exact opposites. How can they both be true? God’s love and his justice meet at the cross of Jesus. There at the cross God perfectly showed both.

But we still cringe when we hear these closing words of our text, “But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me.” He spoke those words about the wicked servant who only acted out of fear and not out of love. That wicked servant’s excuses were actually accusations against Jesus—that he was ruthless and unfair—accusations which weren’t at all true. Without love or trust in Jesus, he was left to face God’s wrath and judgment.

Likewise, with the enemies. Throughout his ministry Jesus faced opposition—sometimes brutal opposition. In spite of the fact that he always said and did the loving thing, they hated him and opposed everything he said.

Sadly, it still occurs today. Jesus only wants to save sinners eternally. Every sinner. He suffered and died for every single sinner, even those who blaspheme him and oppose his gospel. His desire is that they realize their sins, confess them and turn to him for forgiveness. But if they refuse, then his righteous judgment awaits them.

And so, we wait…with a mina.

To be sure, we are rightly concerned about the opposition we encounter to Christianity, in our personal lives and in our world. We can even be righteously angry with those who blaspheme and blatantly deny what God’s word plainly states. But vengeance in our hearts and abusive words from our mouths are not God-pleasing. And neither is despair, as if somehow our gospel efforts are useless and destined for failure. We are waiting with a mina for Jesus to return. That mina is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ. That gospel message is God’s power to change hard, sinful hearts. Of course, we’ll face opposition as we put that mina to work. Expect it! But don’t bury your mina. Never think that you have nothing to change our fallen, evil world. God’s mina changed your heart, made you a child of God and an heir of eternal life. Because of that gospel’s work in your heart, you can live with confidence that the Last Judgment will be a glorious day of victory for you and every other Christian. No matter how evil things become in our world, Jesus wins and we win with him. That’s what the Last Judgment means for us.

And so, we go on waiting…waiting with a mina. What will you do with yours today? Tomorrow? Amen.