The Call To Faithfulness Series

In our parable today, this nobleman summoned 10 of his slaves, gave them minas, which were the equivalent of three months pay, and said to them, “Do business with these until I come back.” This command is better translated as “transact” with these (minas) until I return. The implication of this assignment is that the nobleman’s slaves are to venture into the marketplace and do business with that he entrusted to each of them. In doing so, it will be no secret in the community who these slaves are representing. Then, Jesus poses an adversarial environment as a backdrop for their new assignment by saying, his subjects hated him and sent a delegation to saying, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’

There are four things we learn from this parable. First, we are called to name our allegiance and to live boldly as followers of Jesus. It would be easy to profess our allegiance once the nobleman returns and has become King. Jesus is saying, I’m asking you to assert your allegiance now before I return. Kenneth Bailey tells the story of teaching some short courses at the Lutheran Church of Latvia. While there, he observed the interviewing of prospective students and inquired of the interviews what questions they asked. They said, “The most important question is ‘When were you baptized?’ And he asked why is that so important? They answered, ‘If they were baptized during the period of Soviet rule, they risked their lives and compromised their futures by being baptized. But if they were baptized after liberation from the Soviets, we have many further questions to ask about why they want to become a pastor.” And then he writes, “the master challenges his servants to live boldly and publicly as his servants, using his resources and unafraid of his enemies, confident in the future as His future.” Hugh Hewitt in his book “The Embarassed Believer” contends that most Christian are embarrassed believers. They do not talk about their faith or church. They don’t have Bibles on the corner of their desks. They never engage others in spiritual conversations. And the result has been the dramatic increase of pornography and violence over the last five decades. The values of the world today pale in comparison to the values of mid last century. He writes, “From Paul’s imprisonment and martyrdom to this year’s murders of Christians around the globe, there is an ennobling and inspiring thread of courage uniting saint after saint. It is an inheritance of every believer. And it is to this that we are called.” Paul writes, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes...” Romans 1:16 And Jesus said, “ If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” Too many of us are embarrassed, silent, secret agents for God. Yet we are called to be bold witnesses of Jesus Christ. He closes with these words, “Christians in America trying to save the lost, comfort the suffering, cure the ill, clothe the naked and bring joy to the despairing will not make a significant and lasting impact unless they do so openly and without apology as Christians. The witness must accompany the work or the work will not endure and the world is hungry for our witness.’ Bold witness!