Sermon 5-31-09
Luke 19:25-26
- Habits Are Like Rabbits
Audio Sermon
Habits Are Like Rabbits
"For I say to you, that to everyone who has
will be given; and from who does not have, even what he has will be
taken away from him, but bring here those enemies of mine, who did not
want me to reign over them, but slay them before me" (Luke
19:25-26)
It’s the habit of most people to view God as stern and unloving, with
judgment on His mind. Another habit is to think that if we openly share
His love and His life with the world, others might think we are somehow
“strange.” And for those who have trusted in the Lord and are gifted by
Him, it’s the habit of most to hide those gifts, thinking they might be
ridiculed if they use what He has given. And note: habits are like
rabbits – they keep on multiplying.
When the Lord Jesus was in the town of Jericho for a short time on
His way to Jerusalem and to His death, He stayed in the house of a “chief tax collector” named “Zacchaeus,”
a man who was “rich.” The people saw where
Jesus stayed and “murmured…
‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a
sinner.’” Zacchaeus knew what he was, and he repented, trusting
in the Lord, promising to “restore fourfold”
what he had taken. Jesus said, “Today, salvation
has come to this house…” and then came words which should give
hope to us all: “the Son of Man has come to seek
and to save that which is lost” (Luke 19:1-10).
A large number of people stood nearby as the man Zacchaeus repented
and confessed his sins. But then just as now, the people misunderstood
the words of Jesus. “They thought the kingdom of
God would appear immediately” (Luke 19:11). Most tend to hear
what they want to hear, even if the truth points in another direction.
They decided that Jesus was going to raise an army that would repel the
hated Romans from Jewish soil. The disciples thought they would be kings
on the thrones of a new empire, and of course, they liked the idea.
Jesus responded to their misconception with a parable. He said, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for
himself a kingdom and to return” (Luke 19:12 & forward). Ten of
the nobleman’s servants were each given a “mina,”
and each of those “minas” would be worth a
few thousand U.S. dollars today. When the nobleman returned, he demanded
an accounting, a profit and loss statement showing what they had done
with his money. The first “earned ten minas”
by investing the one he had received, the second “earned
five,” but another servant came forward who had merely hidden the
“mina” and had earned – nothing.
That man had decided the nobleman was a hard person and he
simply hid the treasure that was given him. The nobleman ordered the “mina” that was hidden to be taken “from him and (given) to the one
who (had) ten minas” (Luke
19:12-27). Jesus commented, “to everyone who has
will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him, but bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want
me to reign over them, but slay them before me" (Luke 19:25-26).”
Jesus used the example of money in his parable and considering that
his listeners were angry that He had entered the house of the rich tax
collector Zacchaeus, they may have understood Him. For us today, what
was He REALLY saying? What was the MEANING behind this parable? Money
was a good example for them because they understood investments. If you
were a potter, a goldsmith or a carpenter, you invested money to buy raw
materials and fashioned them into something that people would pay money
for to buy. You made a profit.
But your asset must have some agreed-upon value or no one will want
it. If you fill an envelope with dirt, take it to the bank and tell the
manager you want to deposit the dirt at interest, they will not take it.
If you argue that the dirt is valuable because seeds can be planted in
it to grow crops, they still will not take it and might call the
authorities if you don’t go away.
Obviously, Jesus was discussing more than money because it will be
worthless in eternity. Eternity is the “far
country” where Jesus, the “nobleman”
in the parable was about to travel to in His impending death, and
then “return” (Verse 12). What has the Lord
given to YOU that is so valuable it will cause Him to take everything
away if you don’t invest it properly?
You might think about what you have. Most who listen to or read these
words can walk. For five years when I was a boy I could not walk, which
helps me appreciate the value of that gift. Our Associate Pastor at
Friday Study Ministries has been blind since birth and his wife is
blind. He has helped me understand the value of sight. It’s a gift that
some don’t have. One of my sons has gone through years of hearing loss
and had two operations. Ears that can hear are God’s gift. We have
quadriplegic and paraplegic friends and two grandchildren with muscular
dystrophy. We understand the value of being able to move. Speech
and intelligence are precious gifts and God holds us accountable for
what we say, think and do.
The person who can move and walk is gifted by God to help those who
can’t. The sighted person can invest in God’s kingdom by helping someone
who is blind. Someone who can hear is able to help the deaf. Those who
are intelligent are never meant to be proud, but instead to help those
who are less gifted. If you can speak, what words are coming out of you?
Are you speaking comfort to someone who is hurt or ill? Or are you using
words that bring harm? Our habits of hiding or misusing our gifts from
God are indeed like rabbits that multiply, diminishing life for
ourselves and those around us.
Just like those servants who were given the “minas,”
you and I already know what the Lord wants from us. That’s revealed in
the words of His parable when He said, “bring here
those enemies of mine who did not WANT me to reign over them”
(Luke 19:27). This is reality: He is our King and His will is that we
invest our bodies and minds for the sake of others.
The answer of what those “minas” are all
about is found in 1st Corinthians 13, often called the “Love Chapter.”
In reading it, we find that what the Lord counts as valuable is not
quite what we would expect. A key gift at Pentecost was the ability to
speak in “tongues” (Acts 2), but if “I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love,” I am just noise. “Though I have the
gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and
though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not
love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me
nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
Many have spoken with tongues, prophesied, had knowledge, had faith,
gave money and became martyrs; but if we take it into God’s bank, will
it be received? “Prophecies…
will fail… tongues…
will cease… knowledge…
will vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). So
what will be valuable in the kingdom of God? – “Faith,
hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love”
(1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith and hope are like silver in the sight of
God, and love is pure gold. Whatever your ministry, your work,
prayerfully make it your habit to love those you serve.
Lord, thank You for Your many gifts. Help me to use them in love.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
