Father, we thank you for your word.
Father, in a country like ours, at a time like ours,
parts of your word sound wonderful,
parts of your word sound really hard.
But Father, we thank you for Jesus,
we thank you that he died upon the cross for us,
we know that you love us.
We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit
would gently but deeply be poured out upon us,
pour out your Holy Spirit, Father, upon our minds,
upon our hearts, upon our wills,
upon the depths of our souls.
Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
so that we might hear your word written,
that it might come deeply into our lives
and that we might be disciples of Jesus
who are gripped by the gospel to live for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus,
your Son and our Savior, amen.
Please be seated.
Those of you who are lifelong Anglicans
know that it's not cricket
to interrupt the flow of the liturgy
to make comments before you read the gospel,
but I thought that it was appropriate today,
especially that verse 26 and 27
didn't completely and utterly catch you out of the blue,
or that you just snoozed through it.
You've got to be able to hear it.
So here's the thing about this text.
ISIS is in the news all the time
because they like to slaughter people.
They seem to, in fact,
I mean, not only do they behead innocent people,
they are so proud of beheading innocent people
that they film it and post it
so that as many people as possible
can see what they've done.
And wherever they go,
obviously there's some people
who are flocking to join ISIS.
That's a bit of a problem in our society.
We worry about Canadians fleeing Canada.
Imagine fleeing Canada.
For many of us, that's how we think about it,
to go and join ISIS
to engage in these acts of slaughter.
And so the question is,
is Jesus saying that God is like ISIS?
Is that what Jesus is saying?
Does God delight in slaughter
the same way that ISIS seems to delight in slaughter?
That's the question before us.
For many people in our culture,
they make no particular distinction
between Christianity and Islam and ISIS.
They just see it as all religion.
And so for many people,
they interpret and understand the Christian faith
from that lens.
And texts like this then are deeply, deeply troublesome.
In fact, they would probably say,
as my friend said to me,
how can you possibly want to love and worship
and adore a God like that?
Don't we fight ISIS?
Don't we send soldiers there
to participate in the struggle?
So why on earth should we worship and adore
a God like this?
So let's read the text again and have a look at it.
And so if you have your Bibles,
it's Luke chapter 9, sorry, 19.
And just as you're turning in your Bibles,
I've already said that there's some extra ones there
that you can use.
Luke chapter 19, just as we're reading it,
just a couple of things to remind us about it
before we start reading it.
This text, interestingly enough,
what we now call the Gospel of Luke
or the Book of Luke,
was written just over 30 years
after the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And it was written by a pagan
who was a doctor
who became a Christian.
He himself was not an eyewitness
of the events in Jesus' life,
but he obviously had gone through
some type of intellectual fact-finding journey
before he became a Christian.
And in some ways, what we see in Luke
is him recording his historical inquiry
into who Jesus was.
And the book is written for a pagan.
That's why the sermon titles,
the sermon series, by the way,
is called Luke, Jesus for Pagans and Skeptics.
It's also obviously for Christians
and Muslims and everybody,
but it's originally written
for probably a skeptic, definitely a pagan,
by a pagan who had become a Christian.
That's who wrote this text.
And today, as we're reading,
one of the ways that Luke organized his Gospel
was around a very, very long journey
that's taken 11, almost 11 chapters
of Jesus predicting
that he's going to go to Jerusalem to die.
And then all of these texts
from chapter 9 to chapter 19
up until his death in chapter 23,
it's all this long journey towards Jerusalem.
All within the mind,
he keeps reminding his disciples
that he's going to Jerusalem to die.
In fact, if you were here last week,
you'll know that just a few verses above,
chapter 19, verse 1,
which we're about to read,
he once again reminds his disciples
that he's going to Jerusalem to die.
And these are the last few verses
before Jesus arrives in Jerusalem.
Verse 28, which we won't read today,
Jesus arrives in Jerusalem.
So that's sort of the context.
You sort of have a bit of the flow of the book,
and here's what happens, chapter 19, verse 1.
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.
Just sort of pause there for a second.
If you're wondering where Jericho was relative to Jerusalem,
it's just under 30 kilometers away.
There's sort of two Jerichos.
At the time, there would have been like a ruined,
the Jericho ruins of the old city,
and there was a new city that was just a few decades old,
very new by those standards of those days.
And it's about, in other words,
it's about a six-hour walk,
and that's where Jesus is.
He entered Jericho, verse 1,
and was passing through.
And there was a man named Zacchaeus.
He was a chief tax collector,
and he was rich.
He was loaded.
And just if you're not familiar
with some of these types of terminologies,
it doesn't mean that he works for CRA.
We have at least one person in our congregation
who works for CRA.
He's a really good guy,
not evil at all, and not rich.
But in those days,
the way that the Romans,
so the Romans had conquered,
this pagan empire had conquered Jerusalem,
and the way that they raised taxes
is they said,
well, one moment,
Rome's a long way from Jerusalem.
One's a long way from Galilee,
a long way from Judea.
How on earth are we going to figure out
who has the money and how they hide it?
So what they did is they hired locals,
and they said to the locals,
okay, I think that we can raise,
you know, whatever it is.
You know, I think,
I'll use dollars.
I think we can raise $5 million in this region.
And so a local would say,
okay, I'll raise you $5 million in taxes
in this region.
And the Romans didn't care
if the guy collected $7 million
as long as they got five.
Okay?
So Zacchaeus is Jewish.
He's not only a tax collector,
he's a chief tax collector.
That either means he's like,
you know, those real estate agents
that advertise in the top 1%?
It either means he's like
a top 1% tax collector,
or he's over other tax collectors.
And he's become very rich,
and for the Jewish people,
they would hate him.
He works for the pagan occupying forces
to rip off the local people,
take their hard-earned shekels
away from them,
and give it to the Romans
who pay their soldiers
to keep Jerusalem and environs
under their thumbs.
That's who Zacchaeus is.
So verse 3,
and Zacchaeus was seeking to see
who Jesus was,
but on account of the crowd,
he could not because he was
of small stature.
In other words,
he was a big man,
but a small man at the same time.
He was a big guy in that area,
probably one of the richest guys
in Jericho and in regions,
but he happened to be very short.
And here's the other thing
about this text.
It's very, very curious,
and you'll see the significance
of it later.
We have no way of knowing
why Zacchaeus was just curious.
In 1997, I think it was,
Billy Graham came to Ottawa,
and at the time this church
was called St. Albans,
and I'd only been there
a couple of years,
and there was a revolt
amongst a whole part
of the congregation
because they did not want
our church to support Billy Graham.
They didn't want me
to advertise it.
They didn't want me
to try to get people
to be volunteer counselors.
In fact, the revolt was so strong,
I'm not making this up,
had a small leadership team
that was going to help
to promote it
in the congregation,
and after the service
where it was announced
that we were going
to be supporting this,
there were so many people
who complained,
the entire volunteer
leadership team resigned.
But I had one of my,
several people
in the congregation,
and we went on
and supported it,
by the way.
But one of the people
who supported it,
he wasn't particularly
a follower of Jesus.
He just said to me,
George, Billy Graham
is like one of the most
important figures
of the 20th century.
Like, why wouldn't anybody
just want to go hear him?
Like, it was just,
he's just curious.
Who's this guy
that's known so many presidents
and influenced
so many people's lives?
I'm just curious.
And it looks as if
that's what was going on
in Zacchaeus.
He's just curious.
He's really curious.
He'd like to see
who this Jesus guy is.
Sort of eyeball him
and see if he looks different
or what's all these rumors
I hear about miracles
and raising the dead
and doing all these things.
Like, who is this guy?
So he's motivated
by curiosity.
That's what it seems to be.
So go back to reading the text.
Verse 4 again.
So Zacchaeus ran on ahead
and climbed up
into a sycamore tree
to see him.
He's really curious
because it's very undignified
for a rich guy
to climb a tree.
Imagine Conrad Black
climbing a tree
to see somebody.
Okay?
Or the head of the,
I don't know,
just, you know,
Canadian billionaire
climbing a tree
to see somebody.
It would look,
it would be in the paper.
It would be on Twitter
if we got a picture of him.
For Jesus was about
to pass that way.
Verse 5.
And when Jesus came
to the place,
Jesus looked up
and said to him,
Zacchaeus,
hurry down,
hurry and come down
for I must stay
at your house today.
A completely shocking
turn of events.
That Jesus wants
to spend time
with this notorious betrayer
of the Jewish people.
And so Zacchaeus
hurried down
and came,
hurried and came down
and received Jesus
joyfully.
And when the crowd
saw it,
they all grumbled.
He has gone in
to be the guest
of a man
who is a sinner.
In the original language,
a sinner is emphatic.
In other words,
if we were doing
a bit more literally,
it would be bolded.
That's how we would
do it today.
A sinner,
it's bolded.
And Zacchaeus stood
and said to the Lord,
Behold, Lord,
notice he calls him Lord,
the half of my goods
I give to the poor
and if I have defrauded
anyone of anything,
and in the original language,
this is a very accurate translation,
but what it's not capturing
is that it's an idiom.
And in the original language
when he says,
if I have defrauded
anyone of anything,
it's a polite way of saying,
I have defrauded people.
He's confessing to fraud.
And it's in that,
it's a sort of a,
you know,
an elliptical way
of making a confession
that some cultures do.
And that's what it says.
He's actually,
in the original language,
is he's confessing
to fraud to Jesus.
And if I have defrauded
anyone of anything,
I restore it fourfold.
And Jesus said to him,
today salvation
has come to this house,
since he,
that's Zacchaeus,
also is a son of Abraham.
So it's a fascinating story.
And here's the,
here's the big takeaway point
for us.
Jesus uses small things
in bringing about the miracle
and the mystery of conversion.
Jesus uses small things
in bringing about the miracle
and the mystery of conversion.
This is a conversion story.
It's the conversion story
of a rich guy
who is a betrayer
of the people of Israel.
And when he starts
to climb the tree,
not a believer in Jesus.
And sometime between
Jesus saying his name
and saying he wants
to spend time with him,
and by the time it comes
to Zacchaeus saying
he's confessing publicly
to fraud
and willing to give away
half of what he earns
and repay those
he's defrauded
by four times.
In between,
that word of Jesus
and that public confession,
somewhere in that process,
Zacchaeus becomes a Christian.
He is converted.
He is,
in the language
of the scriptures,
saved.
And it's really
an interesting story
because the Bible
doesn't give you
the specific moment.
And on one hand,
you look at it
and you say,
all Jesus did
is say his name,
look happy to see him,
and say he wants
to spend time with him.
That doesn't add up.
But that's how it works.
My conversion story
begins with seeing
a poster on a pole
on Elgin Street.
That's how my conversion
story begins.
Maybe in heaven,
I'll meet the person
who put that poster up.
Maybe the person
who put that poster up
grumbled
all the way
down Elgin Street.
Maybe he did it
because his girlfriend
or his pastor
roped him into doing it
and he was embarrassed
and angry.
Maybe he did it
with great prayer.
God used that small thing
to catch my attention
and make me curious.
And it ended
about a year later
with me becoming
a Christian.
The second small thing
that he used
was the way
a speaker was dressed.
Don't despise
small things.
Do not despise
small things.
I'm sort of quoting
Zechariah 4.
For those of you
who know the Bible.
And that's really
sort of a relevant thing.
Do not despise
the day of small things.
It's always a mystery.
Jesus uses small things
in bringing about
the miracle
and the mystery
of conversion.
And in some ways,
because conversion
begins with the heart
and at some point
in time,
the heart
professes with the lips
what's going on.
But you know,
on one level,
I don't know
if I can tell
the precise moment
that I turned
from just being curious
about Jesus
to actually being
a believer in Jesus.
I don't know
if I know
that precise moment.
You don't have to know
the precise moment.
Some people do know
the precise moment.
That's fine.
But we don't all know it.
I just know
that at some point
in time,
I crossed a divide.
And then,
in my mindset
in those days,
you had to make it real.
You had to go down
to the front
for an altar call.
That was just the way
I understood it.
And that was a big
stumbling block for me.
But it's not all about
coming down
for the altar call.
It's that inner
change in the heart
that's a mystery
and a miracle.
God uses small things.
Jesus uses small things.
We shouldn't despise it.
We shouldn't despise
how important
it maybe is
that we just say hi
to somebody
who comes to the church.
Or we walk across
the room
during the dessert time
and the coffee time
because we see somebody
standing by themselves.
where we smile.
Or we pray.
Or we give them a leaflet.
Where we just share
about something
that happened to us
in the day.
We don't know
if telling a barista
at a coffee shop
that we went to church
on Sunday morning
will somehow or another
begin a journey for them
that you will never
hear the end of.
But when you go to heaven,
you'll find out
that they're there.
And it started
with a small thing.
It's an amazing
conversion story.
And the other thing
about it is
there's just two other
things about it
and then we're going
to rush in
is that when we
just when we give
our lives to Jesus
and he comes in
and there's this
miracle of the new birth
which is beyond
what this text
is talking about.
It's sort of part
of the overall
New Testament understanding
which underlies
this text
which people like Paul
and other writers
start to make clear.
But you see
once we come to Jesus
then coming to Jesus
starts to bear fruit.
In this man's life
it bears three types
of fruit.
It makes him honest,
it makes him just,
and it makes him generous.
And conversion
bears fruit in our lives.
In Galatians
it talks about
the fruit of the Spirit
which is we receive
the Holy Spirit
when we become
followers of Jesus.
And that singular fruit
is love, joy,
peace, patience,
kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and self-control.
There's much different
types of fruit
and the Bible's
going to talk about it.
Jesus is going to talk
about fruitfulness
more in a moment
but it follows
upon conversion.
And the second thing
is that if you go back
later,
those of you
who were here last week
know that we read
the story of the rich
young ruler
who comes to Jesus
because he wants
to inherit eternal life.
And Jesus says to him
that you have to give up
all you possess
and we talked about
how what that really means
is is there something
in your life
that you would choose
over eternal life?
And that's what Jesus reveals.
He goes right to the heart
in the presence
of the living God.
And the disciples
when they hear
all of this thing
what they say
is that this is
completely and utterly
impossible.
Nobody could possibly
be saved.
It's completely impossible.
And Jesus says
you're right
it is impossible.
Camels will go
through eyes of needles
before you're going
to be able
to accomplish this.
But then he says
God does the impossible.
And here we see
a rich man
and God does
the impossible
in this rich man.
And in fact
he ends up
not giving all
because it's not like
there's a
it's not like Jesus
is calling us all
to be monks.
Jesus goes to the heart.
The heart.
I mean for us
you know as a general
for those of you
who are followers
of Jesus
the general basic way
to deal with
the problem
of money in our lives
which is a problem
for every person
is to give 10%
back to God.
10% or more.
Some people
he'll call to a lot more
but that's just sort of
like the garden
variety way
of dealing with it.
But here
at the end of the day
God does
that's why I said
that Jesus
uses small things
in bringing about
the miracle
and the mystery
of conversion.
Now a little while ago
in a different Starbucks
I happened over here
you know I don't
when I go to Starbucks
I don't sort of sit there
thinking I'm just going
to pretend to read the Bible
and I'm going to listen
to conversations.
I don't do that.
But some people
talk really loud.
And some people
in fact talk so loud
I have a hard time working
and I don't
I wish I could say
oh I
when I
they're so talking
so loud
I'm just filled
with love and compassion
for them
and I just spend
my time praying for them.
No I look daggers
at them wishing
that they'd speak
more quietly.
And I
I'll confess that
further later on
in the service
it's part of what
I have to confess
I'm not always charitable.
But sometimes people
just talk loud
and
and at this time
the two women
got very very heated
they were talking
about a
a friend
a mutual friend
and the whole conversation
I wish I'd heard
the beginning of
and then I guess
they maybe realized
they were talking
really loud
maybe they noticed
other people
looking daggers at them
and they got quieter
so only heard a little bit
but the thing
that they kept talking about
is that this woman
had to keep to her path
she has her path
she has to follow
her path
she can't get
deflected from her path
because it's her path
and they kept on
talking about her path
and following her path
and being true to her path
and
that's sort of
a very interesting analogy
I don't know if it's something
that Oprah's talking about
or I don't know if it's
Deepra
Chopra
or somebody that talks about it
but they seemed
it was their language
so they'd probably
be deeply offended
to what Jesus says
in the comment
about Zacchaeus
leaving his path
to become a follower of Jesus
because look what Jesus says
in verse 10
and actually this is
when I read this verse 10
just so you know
you know
sometimes people say
well that's just what you say
Jesus is all about
or you know like that
but you know listen
listen
the book of Luke is a book
that's one of the things
I try to bring out
as we go through the book
we're going through the book
and it's written
in a particular way
Luke's thought a lot
about how to write this book
and in the course of the book
you'll notice
that basically
half of chapter 19
all of 20
all of 21
all of 22
all of 23
all take place
in Jerusalem
you'll notice
that out of a 24 chapter book
over 20% of it
all takes place there
in fact those are even
longer chapters
it's even more than that
and a lot of it focuses
on the crucifixion
the death of Jesus
and in fact Luke
and Luke organizes
his whole book
saying that this
this man Jesus
keeps saying
I'm going to go to
Jerusalem to die
and so Luke
is writing a book
to try to communicate
a particular type of thing
and in the course of it
Luke reveals
what Jesus understood
his purpose in life to be
so this isn't me
imposing something on Jesus
it's not just
oh yeah
you know you're just
like an evangelical
or you know
or someone to say
you know you're this
or that or that
no no no
you just try to
you just read a book
and if you're reading
the book
the book reveals
Jesus reveals
what his purpose is
and it's in verse 10
for the son of man
came to seek
and to save the lost
in fact if you could
put up the second point
here's the second
takeaway point
Luke records
Jesus' self-understanding
of his purpose
I am the son of man
who came to seek
and to save the lost
Jesus
Luke reveals
Jesus' self-understanding
of his purpose
I am the son of man
who came to seek
and to save the lost
son of man
means that he's quoting
from Daniel chapter 7
and Daniel chapter 9
who in that
in that particular case
almost is
you know Jewish people
didn't have a category
at the time
of understanding
that there could be
something like a trinity
but it sure almost
looked like God
and it's a
and he's a majestic figure
who will come to rule
and is in God's presence
and has all of this authority
and Jesus is saying
that that whole promise
of authority
and reigning
and ruling
that's me
and the one who has
that's going to fulfill
all of these promises
and predictions of God
about coming to rule
and to reign
this one who just seems
to be all about power
actually is coming
to seek
and to save
the lost
that's why I've come
and he says this
this is
he says this
and then there's the parable
and he's in Jerusalem
and in Jerusalem
at this point in time
it's like
he's on
going down
on the roller coaster
and it's just
inevitable
at this point in time
or not entirely
because he keeps doing things
he could
he could avoid it
if he wants
but he keeps doing things
that will culminate
with his descent
to the cross
and his descent
to death
and he explains
to us his purpose
and
and here's the thing
about it
you see
if you go on
and you read
that Luke also
not only wrote the book
wrote the book
of Luke
but he wrote the book
of Acts
we see that
in the book
of Acts
it's all about
the Holy Spirit
coming upon
the followers
of Jesus
to continue
the purpose
and the mission
of Jesus
it means
that what's part
of our purpose
if we understand
ourselves
as a congregation
of followers
of Jesus
to seek
and to save
the lost
means that we
seek out
soccer moms
and the poor
and high tech
executives
and government
leaders
and people
who work
in theater
and Muslims
and gay activists
and academics
and
entrepreneurs
and stay at home
moms
and stay at home
dads
and people
in China
and people
in Kazakhstan
and people
in the Arctic
and people
in India
and we don't
just say
well we're
just going
to pray
for them
but we seek
we seek
because that's
what Jesus
does
we are very
heart
to be a
go to faith
not a
come to
religion
we seek
the Bible
describes
them as
lost
and that
would probably
be an
offensive
term
to those
two women
in the
Starbucks
and I
think I
would have
viewed it
as offensive
as well
but all
I'll say
about this
is that
there's
two types
of ways
there's
two stages
of being
lost
the first
stage
of being
lost
is not
knowing
you're
lost
the second
stage
is knowing
you're
lost
but you're
equally
lost
there's a
thing in
the paper
a little
while ago
but I
think she
was a
tourist
from Sweden
or Norway
I can't
remember
which
and she
was out
in a
part of
in BC
and she
was sort
of in a
remote area
where you
do some
remote
snowboarding
and she
was with
a group
of house
mates
and she
wandered
off on
her own
and sometime
way off
long after
she wandered
off on
her own
she realized
she was
lost
but she
was lost
long before
she realized
she was
lost
right
that's how
it works
and probably
when Zacchaeus
climbed up
the tree
that's not
the way
he would
have used
to understood
himself
but as he
confessed
fraud
as key
to his
way of
life
it was a
confession
that he
was lost
you see
the interesting
thing about
that expression
of lost
which even
though we
might find
it on
it's actually
a very
homey
type
of
illustration
it implies
something
about what
God wants
for us
you know
it implies
a home
and safety
and civilization
and ones
who love
you
and it
implies
a place
where there's
healing
and resources
and it
implies
all of
these things
that there's
this waiting
for you
to enter
into
I mean
in the story
of the young
woman
it's
her parents
I can't remember
if it's Norway
or Sweden
talk to her
so glad
she's safe
her housemates
so glad
she's safe
the resources
of Canada
to find her
to make her
safe
lost
while on one
hand
it might be
offensive
on the other
hand it's
actually a
profound image
of a
civilization
of care
of food
of shelter
of loved
ones
of that's
what Jesus
is
available
and many
of us
we live
in a world
where people
maybe don't
know that
but that's
what Jesus
is saying
and he's
saying
that we
know
that that's
the case
and we're
to seek
and save
I mean
Jesus
doesn't save
but we're
to seek
and tell
him about
Jesus
that should
be the
purpose
of our
church
now some
of you
might say
okay
George
you know
those old
pirate movies
where people
walk the
plank
and you
know how
in those
old pirate
movies
you walk
the plank
and I
don't know
if let's
say over
there that
mark I can
see it there
that's the
end of the
plank and you
know they
walk along
and they
talk to the
cat pirates
maybe hoping
or whoever's
going to make
them walk
the plank
hoping that
there'll be
some deliverance
that a boat
will show up
that people
will change
their heart
and George
was all began
with verse 26
and 27
and Jesus
using this
parable about
slaughtering
people and
you've been
chatting away
to us
with all
sorts of
types of
things
but George
you've
come to
the end
of the
plank
unless you
keep
chattering
away about
verse 10
verse 11
comes and
that takes
you right
to verse
27
so just
restate it
I mean it's
very interesting
for Jesus
to say that
he came to
seek and
to save
the lost
it's very
interesting
to hear
that Jesus
uses small
things in
the mystery
and the
miracle of
conversion
it's a
very interesting
thing but
what about
this portrayal
of Jesus
and God
as delighting
in slaughter
is Jesus
like Isis
is God
like Isis
it's time
to read
so let's
look at
verse 11
as they
heard these
things he
proceeded
that's Jesus
to tell a
parable
because he
was near
to Jerusalem
and because
they supposed
that the
kingdom of
God was
to appear
immediately
just pause
notice there
that Jesus
understands
that the way
that they've
understood
all of the
Old Testament
promises
they've
misunderstood
it
and they
think that
when the
Messiah
comes
he will
act as
a political
conqueror
and they
don't understand
that that's
not how it's
going to work
at all
and so he
tells them
this parable
to prepare
them for
the truth
verse 12
he said
therefore
a noble
man
and that's
correct
but in
literal language
it actually
is a man
of noble
birth
a man
of noble
birth
went into
a far
country
to receive
for himself
a kingdom
and then
return
and he
sort of
noticed
that
that's
just
a bit
of an
aside
Jesus
is warning
them
he's the
person
of noble
birth
he's
God's
son
and he's
going to
go to
a far
country
that's
going to
involve
his death
and his
resurrection
and he's
going to
go to a
far
country
to receive
a kingdom
and then
he's going
to return
he's warning
his disciples
that there's
going to be
a time
when he's
absent
and then
he's
going to
return
that's
what he's
warning
his
disciples
verse 13
calling
ten of
his
servants
he gave
them
ten
minas
and said
to them
engage
in business
until
I
come
but his
citizens
and that's
actually
the literal
word in
the original
language is
subjects
actually
but his
subjects
hated him
and sent
a delegation
after him
saying
we do not
want this
man
to reign
over us
and the
original
language
this man
is derogatory
it's
they're really
putting him
down
it's like
this man
we don't
want this
man
to rule
over us
they taking
a posture
of being
superior
we don't
want this
Nazarene
of uncertain
birth
with all
his pretensions
of seeking
and saving
the lost
we don't
want this
man
to rule
over us
that's
the original
language
and that's
going to come
back to this
at the end
verse 15
when the
man of
noble birth
had returned
having received
the kingdom
he ordered
these servants
to whom he
had given
the money
to be called
to him
that he might
know what
they had
gained
by doing
business
the first
came to him
saying
lord your
minna has
made ten
minnas
more
and the
lord
said to him
well done
good servant
because you
have been
faithful in
a very
little
you shall
have authority
over ten
cities
and the
second
came
saying
lord
your
minna
has
made
five
minnas
and the
lord
said to him
and you
are to be
over
five
cities
and just
sort of
pause
there
here's
the first
thing
for us
to
understand
as we
get into
this
until
jesus
returns
or calls
me
home
i am
to use
his
resources
under
my
care
to be
fruitful
as i
glorify
him
to those
of us
who are
followers
of jesus
that's
what jesus
is saying
to us
we live
in that
in-between
time
our lord
and savior
has died
upon a
cross
and risen
from the
dead
ascended
to heaven
he will
return
and how
are you
and i
to live
our lives
in this
in-between
time
we are to
understand
that the
things that
we possess
whether it's
our
our mind
whether it's
our strength
of will
our iron
resolve
whether it's
our looks
our youth
our age
our wisdom
our connections
our financial
resources
our job
our position
in the community
our position
in the family
the fact that we
have a family
or we don't
have a family
the number of
children
grandchildren
singleness
whatever it is
that are resources
they are ultimately
his resources
not mine
not the
not the states
either by the way
okay
this isn't
like a way
of sneaking
in socialism
it's neither
socialism
or capitalism
it's something
different
you and i
have resources
and and and
they're not
really my
resources
or our
church's
resources
they're always
god's resources
and he's made
me a steward
of his
resources
and he says
that i am
to be fruitful
with these
resources
as i glorify
him
notice in
verse 19
look at
verse 19
he said
to him
oh sorry
not verse 19
um
uh
verse uh
17
16
sorry
verse
verse 16
my notes
aren't very
good here
the first
came before
him saying
lord
your
minna
has made
ten minna
more
he doesn't
say
lord i
took your
minna
and i
made ten
minnas
more
he doesn't
say that
he said
your minna
has made
ten
right
there's this
humbleness
in the face
of the resources
for some reason
god blesses
some of his
followers
with spectacular
vast resources
some of us
have very
small resources
but we're all
in a sense
equal in the
sense that
whatever the
resources are
that he's
given
they're under
our care
and we are
to be as
fruitful as
we possibly
can with
them
to his
glory
and
fruitful
here means
it means
not just
gospel
proclamation
it means
honesty
and generosity
and justice
it means
good works
it means
act of
love
it means
loving our
city
it means
if we're
called to be
an entrepreneur
to be
an entrepreneur
like to be
the type
of boss
that ends
up that the
papers want to
talk about you
being like one
of the best
employers in the
country
and it means
about being
profitable
and providing
jobs for the
city
or the
region
or for parts
all around
the world
it means
if you're
given musical
gifts
that you
write beautiful
music or
paint beautiful
paintings
it means
gospel
proclamation
it means
loving your
husband or
your wife
or your
kids
and being
kind to
your neighbors
and being
just and
generous and
faithful and
honest where
you work
it means
being fruitful
it doesn't
just mean
gospel
proclamation
but it
includes
gospel
proclamation
as we
have these
wide
resources
and we
are to
love the
city and
love the
world and
bring glory
to God
as we
fulfill
and do
these things
with generosity
and honesty
and justice
to the glory
of God
that's what he
calls his followers
to do until he
returns
or calls me
home
that's what the
Bible is calling
us to
that's what it's
calling us to
as individuals
and as a
congregation
and then
there's these
two very
sobering
images of
justice
and of
hell
and the
Bible
doesn't try
to reconcile
them it
gives two
different
images
but they're
very sobering
and before I
read verses
20 to 27
I want to
give you the
point and
help you to
try to see
how my
summary point
helps to
explain what
is said in
verses 20 to
27
if you could
put it up
in mercy
God judges
me by my
knowledge
my judgments
and my
desires
in mercy
God judges
me and you
remember I
always put
the I always
make my
points that if
you want to
write them
down that you
put it down
it's not
talking about
I don't want
I try as much
as possible
when I write
these points
not to say
oh yeah I'm
reading this
point down for
Susie and
Fred
no no
write down
for yourself
so you
say it
right
in mercy
God judges
me by my
knowledge
my judgments
and my
desires
this is one
of the many
many many
many reasons
why this
text is not
at all
betraying God
like Isis
who seems
to show no
mercy
have obscure
medieval
hateful
standards
many many
reasons why
God is not
like Isis
and it
begins that
it's done
in mercy
and in
mercy
he will
judge us
in this
text
with my
knowledge
my own
in a sense
standards
or rules
and
or judgments
and my
desires
let's read
verses 20
to 27
and the
first is
dealing with
the religious
deals with
those who
go to the
Anglican
Church of
Canada
the Pentecostal
Assemblies
of Canada
the Associated
Gospel
Churches
the Presbyterian
Church in
America
the United
Church
the Roman
Catholic
the Orthodox
probably also
very specifically
refers to
Jews and
Muslims
and in
probably in
some type
of way
anybody who
understands
themselves
as being
religious
and
spiritual
verse 20
then another
came saying
Lord
here is your
minna
which I kept
laid away
in handkerchief
didn't even
keep it
safe
didn't even
bury it in
a field
so Robert
couldn't put
it
threw it
on his
desk
covered it
with a
napkin
didn't show
any respect
to the
minna
not at all
didn't care
if it was
stolen
didn't care
about doing
anything about
making business
said to
do business
with it
I have better
things to do
than make
business
do business
there's TV
to watch
couches
to sit
on
I don't
know
my own
interests
I have my
own money
to make
you know
whatever it
is
so he just
says
here is your
minna
which I
kept
laid away
in a
handkerchief
for I was
afraid of
you
because you
are
and the
word here
translated
as severe
is
it's a
good word
but it's
another
equally good
word
that they
could have
used
is exacting
I remember
when I was
in university
there was
a professor
that everybody
had to take
a course
from in those
days
her name
was Gertrude
Nerwith
and she
nobody
most people
didn't
most students
didn't like
taking courses
from her
she was
exacting
you wrote
a paper
for her
she was
exacting
in terms
of grammar
she was
exacting
in terms
of how
you understood
if you
said that
Marx said
this
or Durkheim
said this
she was
exacting
to make
sure
if you
were
fuzzy
she
didn't
let you
get away
with it
she didn't
think
that her
job
was to
write
smiley
faces
and say
you really
have
good
intentions
she'd
say
no
your
grammar
is
atrocious
and you
haven't
understood
Durkheim
I mean
she was
actually
very pleasant
if you
got to
know her
but she
was
exacting
that's
what it's
saying
here
for I
was
afraid
of you
because
you
are
an
exacting
man
you
take
what
you
did
not
deposit
and
reap
what
you
did
not
so
and the
Lord
said to
him
notice
how he
condemns
him
he doesn't
say
to him
he doesn't
actually
agree
with him
that that's
a fair
way to
describe
him
the
master
doesn't
say
actually
you've
completely
misunderstood
me
just
look
what
I
just
did
with
these
other
guys
like
I
actually
I'm
really
generous
like
a
man
is
approximately
four
months
wages
and
or five
months
depending
how you
count
four or
five
months
wages
an
average
working
guy
or
gal
in
Canada
and
I
just
gave
you
this
much
and
if
you
say
it's
five
months
for
an
average
working
guy
or
gal
in
Canada
and
they
made
the
equivalent
of
50
months
and
as
a
reward
I'm
going to
let
you
rule
over
the
ten
cities
in
Canada
I'm
actually
really
generous
I'm
like
your
biggest
fan
I'm
rooting
for
you
to
succeed
I
plan
to
the
master
doesn't
say
actually
you've
completely
misunderstood
me
the
master
just
says
okay
this
is
what
you
believe
this
is
your
knowledge
okay
I'm
going to
take
your
knowledge
as
the
basis
and
I'm
going to
take
your
judgments
and
I'm
going to
take
your
desires
because
you
ultimately
just
really
are
more
concerned
about
your
own
business
and
mine
I'm
going to
take
your
desires
your
knowledge
and
your
judgments
and
that's
how I'm
going to
judge
you
that's
how I'm
going to
judge
you
ISIS
doesn't
say that
to us
does he
you don't
want to
have
anything
to do
with
me
you
want to
do
your
own
business
you
think
I'm
severe
and
not
really
worthy
of
sort
of
listening
to
and
you
want
to
misunderstand
me
and
that's
really
what
you
want
to
do
and
you
probably
saw
other
people
understood
things
different
and you
weren't
even
curious
like
you're
not
curious
about
me
at
all
I'm
going
to
give
you
what
you
want
I'm
going
to
give
you
what
you
want
why
then
did
you
not
put
my
money
in
a
bank
and
I
might
have
collected
it
with
interest
and
he
said
to
those
who
stood
by
take
the
minute
from
him
and
give
it
to
the
one
who
has
from
the
10
and
they
said
to
him
has
will
be
taken
away
and
the
image
in
this
particular
case
the
judgment
the
image
of
judgment
or
hell
is
a
man
alone
completely
separate
from
God
with
nothing
that's
the
image
that's
God's
judgment
you
don't
want
to
have
anything
to do
with
me
don't
have
anything
to do
with
my
resources
you
got
it
you
have
nothing
and
then
it
turns
to
verse
27
and
now
I
guess
in a
sense
he's
dealing
with
those
who
they
don't
make
any
pretenses
about
being
religious
they
don't
make
any
pretenses
about
being
spiritual
they
just
the
fact
of the
matter
is
that
they
just
don't
want
to
have
how
dare
you
say
there's
any
rule
that
I
have
to
follow
how
dare
you
and
in
their
inner
life
that's
their
theme
song
how
dare
you
how
dare
you
presume
to
tell
me
what
to
do
or
how
to
live
my
life
as
long
as
God
doesn't
impinge
upon
them
at
all
and
they
can
be
their
soccer
moms
or
they
can
be
a
conservative
party
activist
or a
liberal
party
activist
or a
gay
activist
or a
professor
or a
rich
entrepreneur
as
long as
they
can
live
their
lives
and
they
don't
they
don't
even
any
type
of
rattle
or
noise
or
hum
but
the
second
there's
any
type
of
rattle
or
noise
or
hum
it's
how
dare
you
how
dare
you
who
asked
you
to
speak
how
dare
you
but
as
for
those
verse
27
those
enemies
of
mine
who
did
not
want
me
to
rule
over
them
bring
them
here
and
slaughter
them
before
me
and
in
a
sense
they
also
are
given
exactly
what
they
desire
they
in
a
sense
the
theme
song
of
how
dare
you
how
dare
you
rule
over
me
is
that
they
would
choose
anything
other
than
being
ruled
and
so
they
are
given
what
they
desire
which
in
this
particular
case
they
don't
realize
they
desire
death
but
they
desire
death
because
you
see
the
fact
of
the
matter
is
that
God
can't
stop
being
God
he
can't
stop
being
God
and
at
some
point
in
time
right
now
we
can
live
in
a
veil
we
can
sort
of
suspect
I
was
just
talking
to
somebody
the
other
day
who
studied
biochemistry
the idea
that the
DNA
and the
RNA
and the
cells
could
all
happen
by
chance
there
must
be
some
type
of
design
or
intelligence
or
creator
and
there
this
sense
of
order
there
must
be
something
like
a
God
world
we'll
die
in
an
ongoing
world
we're
subject
to
physical
laws
you know
and
you can
make a
case
that there's
moral laws
and legal
laws
and there's
society
and there's
all these
things around
us
and we
live in
this
entire
world
but we
want to
try to
pretend
as if
there's
nothing
like that
which is
over
us
but at
some
point
in
time
that
type
of
pretend
and
that
type
of
ignoring
will
be
completely
and utterly
renewed
and you
only have
in a sense
in the
presence
of God
and at
that
point
in time
you say
I would
choose
anything
over
being
subject
to you
and God
says
but I
am
you are
desiring
death
and so
you will
have
here's
the thing
about this
text which
makes it so
unbelievably
different than
Isis
look at
verse 27
again
but as
for these
enemies
of mine
who did
not want
me to
reign over
them
bring them
here and
slaughter them
before me
and verse
28
and when he
had said
these things
he went
on ahead
coming up
to Jerusalem
and in the
rest of the
book of
Luke
who is
slaughtered
Jesus
is
slaughtered
in
Jerusalem
it goes
from
slaughter
to
Jerusalem
here's
the thing
which is
so
breathtaking
about
this
text
and about
how it
is
that
Jesus
seeks
and
saves
the
lost
to
seek
and to
save
the
lost
Jesus
came
to be
slaughtered
in my
place
by
subjects
like
me
to
seek
and to
save
the
lost
Jesus
came
to be
slaughtered
in my
place
by
subjects
like
me
I can
just say
it again
to seek
and to
save
the
lost
Jesus
came
to be
slaughtered
in
my
place
by
subjects
like
me
it
could
have
been
my
hands
that
put
the
thorns
upon
his
brow
it
could
have
been
my
hands
that
nailed
his
feet
to
the
tree
it
could
have
been
my
voice
in
the
crowd
that
chose
the
murderer
rather
than
the
one
who
came
to
seek
and
save
the
lost
Jesus
was
slaughtered
in
my
place
so
that
I
would
be
saved
no
longer
lost
that
friends
is
the
gospel
please
stand
you
know
there's
no better
time
than
today
if
you've
worried
that
God
is a
hard
cruel
man
who
just
wants
to
crush
you
and
you
haven't
realized
that
in fact
he's
a
God
of
mercy
who
wants
to
change
how
we
understand
who
he
is
and
has
actually
sent
his
son
set
aside
his
glory
and
splendor
and
divine
prerogatives
to
become
a
human
being
to
become
poor
and
even
to
the
point
of
dying
and
being
slaughtered
by his
subjects
all
for love
all
for you
all
for me
all
to seek
us
all
to save
us
that
is who
Jesus
is
that
is who
the real
God
is
and
I'm not
going to
lead you
in a
sinner's
prayer
I'm going
to say
to you
there's no
better time
than today
than to say
Jesus
save
me
I
was
lost
save
me
your
own
words
cry out
from your
heart
Jesus
save
me
and
for
those
of us
who've
prayed
that
prayer
before
then the
cry
of our
heart
should be
Jesus
make me
fruitful
to your
glory
forgive
me
for
thinking
these
are
my
resources
my
triumph
make
me
fruitful
make
me
honest
make
me
generous
make
me
just
make
me
loving
make
me
full
of
good
works
make
me
share
the
gospel
make
me
fruitful
for
your
glory
make
me
a
disciple
of
Jesus
gripped
by
the
gospel
living
for
your
glory
let's
pray
just
have
a
moment
of
silence
and
then
I'll
pray
a
moment
of
silence
for you
to pray
your own
prayers
before
God
Father
if there
are
any
here
who
have
called
out
to
you
maybe
for
that
first
time
recognizing
that
you've
worked
a
miracle
of
conversion
a mystery
of
conversion
in their
hearts
and they've
cried out
to you
Father
I ask
that you
pour out
your Holy
Spirit
upon them
and us
and seal
that
and deepen
it in
them
and Father
for us
who are
here
make us
disciples
of Jesus
gripped by
who Jesus
is and what
he did
upon the
cross
for us
who can
now
live
for your
glory
Father
may your
Holy Spirit
fall upon
us as a
praise to
you
that
reads
your
word
and
talks
about
your
word
and
shares
the
good
news
of
Jesus
and has
a
heart
of
love
for
this
city
and has
a
heart
of
love
for
the
world
and is
willing
to go
and to
be
sent
and to
go
Father
may your
Holy Spirit
fall upon
us as a
congregation
and make
and build
us
into a
congregation
like this
that does
all things
not for
our glory
but for
your glory
may Jesus
increase
and may
we decrease
may you
increase
and may
we
decrease
and this
we ask
in Jesus
name
Amen