In Luke 19:11-28 Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to die. He has just invited himself to Zaccheaus for dinner. All eyes are on him. While he has their attention, he teaches. Tension is building as the closer they got to Jerusalem the “expectation is building that God’s kingdom would appear any minute.” In this parable, Jesus describes the kingdom in terms of work to be done. He says the Kingdom is about investing the Gifts of God for the People of God. Our gifts must grow and they must give an increase to the kingdom.
In the story, the ruler of a kingdom is going away and gives 10 persons money for each to invest until he comes back. When he comes back he checks on the investment. One person has doubled the money, another has made 50% profit, and another has done nothing with the money. The ruler takes away the uninvested sum and gives it to the one who has doubled the money.
I wonder how many of us are like the servant who did nothing with what God had given him. How many of us invest our talents time and efforts for God's honour and glory?
The parable reminds us that doing nothing does not work in God’s kingdom. Doing nothing is not a kingdom value and therefore not an option. Further Sloth, laziness is one of the seven deadly sins. God expects more from us. Doing nothing under any circumstance and in any situation is not faithful behaviour. It doesn’t show trust in God. We are all called to act justly with love, honesty, and humility. We are called to be more Christlike which Luke says in Luke 4:18 is to make the world a better place by removing oppression and allowing all persons to live a full life.
God made us and we were declared good. We must embrace that goodness and be our best selves. If we do not use our talent we lose it. If we get lethargic, it is difficult to get active again. We must be energetic in what we are doing: giving our all to life, and not saunter through. COVID has taught us that the Church building will still stand even though we do not enter it. But we have seen the effects on Church attendance and relationships within the Church. We are no longer close-knit, and many have decided that they do not need the interaction, they can worship online and it is OK. But it is not OK. God is a God of community. God made us social creatures connected with the rest of creation. We must as Christians be focused on drawing others to Christ. We are called to add to our numbers as happened in the church in Acts, which the bible tells us people were added to their numbers daily. They provided a sense of well-being that the wider society was not providing. We too are called to provide a sense of well-being for all and sundry. It doesn’t matter how many times we have tried and failed; we must try again. Others should understand Church as a safe space where all are welcome.
The parable says we must sometimes take risks. The parable of the shrewd manager that reduced the amounts owing (Luke 16:1-12) also bears this out. Jesus wants us:
To give life our all.
To not be afraid to step out in faith for the growth of God’s kingdom and
To improve the lives of God’s people.
God does not take us anywhere he does not provide the means of doing what God has asked of us. Let us, therefore, go boldly in faith, investing the talent, time, and money that God has given us for the freedom of God’s people. Let us be intentional as we act justly with honesty, compassion, and humility investing the Gifts of God for the People of God
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