Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we are encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ.
! I'm Pastor Patrick Daly, and each week I share sermons that balance the grace and love of Jesus Christ with the truth of the Word of God.
Together, we'll explore Scripture using observation, interpretation, and application.
This helps us discover practical ways to live out our faith every single day.
Let's dive in together into God's Word.
Good morning, everyone.
So how many of you might have gotten confused with the parable of the talents versus the parable of the minas?
It's very easy for us when we read this, we're like, wait a minute.
Didn't Jesus go over the parable of the talents, and what is the significance and the difference that we find here with the minas?
Like any parable, even if there is a variation, like what we find with the gospel accounts,
if you find a slight variation, you should pay attention to it.
Just like how we have the four gospel accounts giving different perspectives of what happened with the story of Christ,
sometimes we find what seems to be almost an overlap here.
And this parable of the ten minas, then, is similar to the parable of the talents.
However, there is some difference.
The first thing that we can note, just before we even go into this, is the parable of the talents.
Each servant was given a different amount.
How many of you remember that?
It starts off with how many?
Ten?
What about the second servant?
Five, right?
And the third servant received one, which was the indication is that we are to steward our talents, our money.
And I had previously talked about how important it is for us to steward our time, our talent, and our treasure.
Well, what's different here is that each servant is given one mina.
So here it's equal.
And there's a reason for that, we'll find, as we go into this.
So what I want us to do, let's pray, and we'll go forward.
Father, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for us to gather together.
As the seasons are changing, we know that you are the God of all seasons.
You're also the God that is the God of truth and the God of love.
We pray today as we go through this very different type of parable.
That seed is planted in us and that we steward everything that you have given to us.
For as your scripture says that every good gift comes from above, may we steward it well.
Amen.
We love you.
We praise you.
We glorify you.
And we honor you.
It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray and we all say together, amen.
So turn your Bibles to page 1044.
And we're going to, you know, we had our scriptural reading, but we are going to go over this here.
You'll find that this parable is after the parable of the persistent widow in the Gospel of Luke.
You have a lot of these teachings and healings where Jesus is healing the blind beggar and
Jesus and Zacchaeus, if you remember that story.
So what I want to do to kind of give us an understanding of what's going on, because when
you start off in verse 11, as they heard these things, well, what things are they hearing
is the question that might come up, amen.
You might wonder that.
So we know the story of Zacchaeus.
It goes in, you know, hurry and come down.
I must stay at your house.
Verse six.
So he hurried down and came joyfully.
When they saw it, they all grumbled.
He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.
Oh no.
And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor.
And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.
So what is the thing that's being said is what we find in verse nine and verse 10.
Jesus said to him, today salvation has come to this house since he also is a son of Abraham.
And verse 10, which is basically the gospel of Luke.
If we were to find one of the most significant passages is, let's read it together.
So it is upon hearing this, this is where Christ is painting this scene here.
As they heard these things, he, Christ, proceeded to tell this parable.
Why, church?
Because, let's read it.
He was near to Jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear when?
Immediately.
That helps us with the understanding of why this parable is even being done.
You can imagine that when you're hearing this, if you were part of the crowd, you have Zacchaeus,
he's coming down and Jesus is going to dine with this sinner.
Well, there are some people who are thinking, well, the salvation has come.
That's right.
So, okay, the kingdom of God must be appearing here immediately.
And for some of us, we might have heard about the, when is the, well, when are the end times
going to happen?
When is the second coming of Christ?
We can see that just as people are so excited about when the kingdom of God would appear,
so too do us as Christians.
How many of us have heard that before?
When, when the end times will happen?
When Christ will return?
You don't have to raise your hand, please don't.
But I'm sure at one point or another, we've heard the millennium, right?
How about Y2K?
You guys remember the Y2K bug?
Now, logically, that seemed to make sense, right?
The year 2000, that's when Christ will return.
There's a lot of times when people are looking at when is Christ going to return, just like
we're seeing here.
And so Jesus is telling this parable, this is important for us to know, before the triumphal
entry.
And he's saying this because if we remember in Palm Sunday, the crowds are thinking that
Jesus is going to be a revolutionary.
One that would, let's just say, overthrow the government.
He's explaining in this parable that it's not going to happen immediately.
And so we find in the text here that there's this nobleman who is leaving for the kingdom.
And I want to take a second here.
We find this so much in parables.
Think of the parable of the ten virgins.
Think of the parable of the talents and the parable of the minas.
This scene where you have the bridegroom or the master or the nobleman who's basically
somehow just disappearing off of the scene and then returns.
When we see that kind of language, that symbolism is, in this case, the nobleman is representing
Christ.
We're seeing Christ's first coming and his second coming.
Okay?
That's where you find, again, parable of the ten virgins, right?
They are waiting in anticipation for the feast.
The same thing with the parable of the talents.
They are waiting for the master to return and the master does return.
And in this sense, they are waiting for the nobleman to show up.
And this nobleman is offering...
Now, it's very interesting.
Let's go into the text here.
Verse 12, he said,
Therefore, a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.
Well, we've talked a lot about how, in Scripture, that which is small expands into something that
is great.
For the seed that gets planted into the ground, growing into a tree.
The stone, Christ representing the cornerstone, like in Daniel 2, expanding into a mountain,
which is showing kingdom expansion.
When we think of salvation, how it was originally for a select group of people, and now is available
for everyone, it is showing the kingdom that is expanding.
So when we're seeing to receive himself a kingdom and then return, it's talking about the expansion
of the kingdom.
And then return, calling out...
Now, it's so interesting in here.
How many...
Church, how many servants are in this text?
There's ten of them.
But there's only three that's mentioned here.
So it begs the question, what about the other...
the seven of the servants that were in this parable?
Well, there's a lot of debate on what's going on in there.
There's some scholars that say, well, ten is representing the completedness of the servants.
And some also say, well, clearly the Lord didn't want us to know what happened to the
rest of the seven.
I'm sorry.
It could be either of those.
It's just...
It is up for debate on that.
However, what's important to note is that there are ten servants, and they are all receiving
one mina each, and there's mentioning of three of them.
The three that were the most important, let's just say.
He gave them ten minas, and he said to them, engage in business until I come.
Now, there's a distinction then between citizens and servants, if you notice within the text.
Well, he's giving a mina to a servant, but not the citizens.
Well, that's something that we should take note initially, right?
He gives one mina to the ten servants, and there's only the mentioning of three.
There's two of them that basically invest their money, as it were.
And what about that third one?
It says he hides it where?
In his handkerchief, right?
The original language is saying he hides it in a cloth.
So if you're like, handkerchief, they had those back then, well, it's just indicating a cloth or something.
They may not have called it a handkerchief back then, but you're hiding it.
In other words, how many of you...
Don't raise your hand on this.
You might have that weirdo cousin that gets a lot of money and just hides it under their bed, right?
You might have one of those.
I have one of those in my family, right?
You can kind of think of some sort of modern equivalent to that.
But in essence, he hides it into a cloth and doesn't do anything with it.
And so we have these three.
Engage in business until I come.
I want to take a moment for the citizens then.
These citizens are not servants.
They live within this kingdom, as it were.
But they are rejecting the rule and the reign of the authority or the nobleman, as it were.
So it says his citizens, verse 14, they hated him and they sent a delegation after him.
I can kind of think, okay, what do you mean by that?
Did they like write a letter together and they're just going to send it over to the nobleman saying, we don't like you?
We can think about that.
This delegation after him saying, well, what does it say, church?
We do not what?
We don't want this man to reign over us.
And this is very similar to what we found within other parables and other times in scripture,
where you have people that are blatantly rejecting the Lord.
For example, when we talk about the four soils, the seed that is trying to get into the earth,
well, you have the, well, the path, right?
The road, as it were.
The seed's not going to go into there.
I'm sorry.
It's just going to bounce off whatever.
We can also think about how when we're, when we talked about these vineyard parables,
how there were people that, well, they rejected the messengers.
They even killed the sun.
So there's that lot of that kind of similar language that is in here.
The citizens hated.
They sent that delegation.
They don't want the king.
Verse 15, when he returned, having received the kingdom.
So there's this sense of preparation.
And let's also keep in mind, just as we see within this parable and in other parables,
God gives a certain amount of time for there to be preparation.
So it's not like he goes for a few minutes and then returns.
There's a certain amount of time, which actually, from a symbolic perspective,
we can think of how, how many of you have heard of the age of grace or the church age, as it were,
or the age of salvation.
In other words, it's a time in which we as people can respond to the gospel message until Christ returns,
until the final judgment, as it were.
This is showing that in a parabolic, in a very simplistic manner.
And so it goes on into, he ordered the servants who had given him money.
Verse 15, that he might know what had been gained by doing business.
The first came before him saying, Lord, your mina has made how many more?
Ten minas more.
And he said, well done, good servant, because you've been faithful in a very little.
You shall have authority over ten cities.
Which is basically, if those of you hear the language of you want to 10x your business or 10x your life,
it's basically God saying, I'm going to give you so much more.
Because when we think of not only just receiving salvation being the greatest gift,
but also how much more when we think of eternal life,
when we think of the works that we do upon being saved,
that they are storing up treasures in heaven.
There's so much into that.
The second came, verse 18,
Lord, your mina has made five minas.
And he said to him, you are to be over five cities.
And another came saying, Lord, here is your mina, which I kept away in a handkerchief.
Why?
Why did he do it?
He was afraid.
That's interesting.
He was afraid of the nobleman.
I was afraid because you are a severe man.
You take what you did not deposit and reap what you did not sow.
In other words, he's saying it's not fair.
It's kind of interesting.
He said to him, I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant.
You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow.
Why then did you not put my money in the bank at my coming that I might have collected it with interest?
And he said to those stood by, take the mina from him.
It's very harsh language when we're thinking of that.
Receiving some sort of payment and then having it taken away because you didn't do anything with that.
Verse 25, and they said to him, Lord, he has 10 minus.
I tell you that everyone who has it will be given more.
But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring...
He's speaking to the citizens in that regard.
The ones who are blatantly rejecting his rule and his reign.
And so in this, I want to go to the symbolic meaning.
If we can go to that slide real quick.
It's the previous one then.
So yeah, the nobleman then represents Christ.
And the mina then is a representation of the invitation.
Now, I've mentioned to you before about how God extends an invitation.
And it's the question of whether or not you are going to respond to that invitation or not.
We've been going over this idea of metanoia, right?
The changing of mind.
And sometimes the changing of mind can be filled with grief and sorrow.
But even despite the changing of mind, you might not still respond.
It's just like when you receive literally a letter in the mail and it's saying RSVP to this.
You might think about it and be like, oh, I should go.
But I'm not going to go anyways.
There's still this call to respond to salvation.
So when we have this idea and this notion of repenting, changing your mind,
whether it's the light bulb idea or whether it is through grief and sorrow,
there is still a responsibility for you, for us as individuals, us as people, to respond accordingly.
And so what you're seeing here is the opportunity from God.
It is the question then we can think of the mina not necessarily as salvation,
but the question of whether or not you are going to respond to that salvation.
Because when you see verses like this, just like the seed language,
you could see, okay, this is salvation language.
The seed needs to take root, though.
The invitation needs to be responded to, or the mina needs to be put.
In this case, there needs to be response with what God has given to you.
So in this, when I use the language of believing in the Lord and being saved,
that is you responding to the gospel message.
Because you can receive, again, that invitation and say,
you know what, I'm not going to do anything with this.
But it is up to us to respond to that.
We also have the citizens then who reject, those who reject blatantly the noblemen.
Why didn't they receive a mina?
They didn't want it.
Even if a mina was given to them, they wouldn't have cared.
That's something we have to factor in.
Just like how we talk about the posture of the heart.
Are you ready to receive the invitation?
That's why there's so much in Scripture that talks about
how your heart needs to be softened, ready to receive.
That's why we, as Christians, evangelize and we live out the gospel
so that minds can be changed and hearts can be softened
so they are ready to receive the invitation and respond accordingly.
That's how things get connected with that.
And then, of course, cities, which is future rewards.
I put in your notes, eternal reward, kingdom partnership, right?
You're partnering with the Lord.
And so the big thing with this is knowing that everyone receives,
the servants receive one mina.
And this is connections connected with the wicked tenants,
the talents, the ten virgins.
All of these, you start seeing patterns that exist within Scripture,
which helps us not only understand who God is,
but how he embeds the stories,
the whole gospel narrative within parables.
It's actually how we can share in the gospel message with other people.
When you share with people from different faith traditions,
or you're just sharing to someone who doesn't believe in the Lord,
sharing a parable with them is a great way of sharing a story.
You know, there's some people out there who talk so much about storytelling
that it's a way to relate to people.
What better way for you to relate to somebody
than through the parabolic messages?
I think it's so funny that using the word parabolic,
I think of a parabola in mathematics,
but also a parable.
You can actually use parabolic in a mathematic sense
and in a biblical sense regarding parables.
I thought that was very interesting.
And so in this then, let's go to that next slide.
What can we learn about this?
Because part of what we do here at Ontario Community
is we read the word of God.
Scripture is our source.
We learn from the word.
And the first thing is that servants receive a mina.
The citizens reject the noblemen
and in turn do not receive a mina.
The servants receive the mina,
representing a chance to respond in faith.
And so the mina is representing the opportunities
that God has entrusted to you.
And it's the question of what you're going to do with that.
Now, it's not the question of,
well, how much money are you going to make?
No.
It's how you're stewarding what God has given to you.
That's what matters.
And so God gives us,
He gives us this life on this earth.
He gives us salvation.
He gives us that time, that talent, and that treasure.
And it's the question of how we are going to respond to that.
I mean, even if you think about it,
we think of stewardship.
It even can be applicable to the unbeliever.
You can even take this and say,
how are you stewarding your life?
Just period.
How are you stewarding your life here on the earth?
And how are you stewarding your life in Christ?
So there's kind of this twofold.
There's this layered sense that exists with that.
The second thing then is faithfulness is shown through what, church?
Through action.
The words that you speak, the things that you do.
We have to, when we receive salvation,
the greatest gift given to mankind,
it is allowing for God to work in your life.
It is allowing for God to transform you from the inside out.
When we think of love and compassion and joy,
we think of the fruit of the Spirit.
We think of how God is changing us from where we once were,
from once being in darkness and entering into light
and continued transformation is remarkable.
Now, I must remind us, we're not saved by what we do,
but we are saved so that we can do.
There's a difference there.
And so the servants,
it's showing the sense of how they stewarded what God has given to them.
And for us, it means that faithfulness,
it means responding to what God has given to you.
So it's not a contest of, you know,
oh, I got 10 minas, you know,
Joey here, he got two.
No, it's not like that.
What matters is that you are stewarding what God has given to you.
That's what matters in the eyes of God.
And then the third thing, now this is interesting.
The view of God is determined by stewardship.
Now, it's very important for us to know when we come to know the Lord,
God calls for us to be transformed.
And when we think about it, we shouldn't be afraid.
Just as how scripture tells us that we're not to worry about tomorrow.
We're not really to worry about much in trusting in the Lord.
And yet, in this case, it was actually fear that was holding this person back.
That's, to me, when I read that, that's very convicting to me.
I don't want to be afraid of the Lord and not do anything.
I want to have full confidence in the Lord and boldly step out in faith.
In how I grow as a person and how I live out the faith for other people.
And so, when I read that third one, I want you to think,
well, that might be very convicting to you in how you view the Lord.
Hopefully, you look at the Lord.
Yes, understanding that He is the God of justice, mercy, love, compassion, truth,
all of these different attributes.
It's a call to respond.
Not a call to not do anything.
Some of you may have heard, how many of you have heard churches say,
come as you are.
You can raise your hand on this one, right?
Now, it wouldn't make any sense for a church to say,
come as you are and remain as you are.
It wouldn't make sense for someone to say,
well, you can't come as you are either.
It's a two part.
There's two parts to this.
That we come as we are in our current state,
regardless of all the junk and the messiness that we have,
and letting God transform us.
It's not something that I or man or people can force upon you.
The ball is in your court to respond.
And I certainly pray, and just like for this church, or really in any church,
that when you come to the Lord,
you come as you are,
but you don't remain as you are.
But that you change even but a little.
Even in knowing who Jesus Christ is and believing in Him,
placing your trust in Him,
and being saved and letting God work in and through you.
I'm always encouraged by the thief on the cross,
that even at the last moment,
that thief was saying,
Can Jesus remember me?
Well, talk about last minute change of plans, right?
But yet, Christ said,
Amen, you will be with me in paradise.
And so, there's still some sense of transformation.
Maybe not a lot.
Well, it's better late than never.
Amen?
We have to think about these things.
And so, maybe,
don't let your view of God
make you think that you come as you are,
and you stay as you are.
Come as you are, and be transformed.
Let God change you
to who He wants you to be.
And I'll tell you,
perhaps you can identify with this.
You might know people
that have come to the Lord,
and they've been transformed,
and their life has never been the same,
or they've been on a trajectory.
This doesn't mean we're going to be perfect,
mind you,
but it means we are going to be changed.
We're going to grow in Christ as it were.
And so,
let us be faithful to the Lord,
and how you view God
should not be,
I'm going to come as I am
and remain as I am.
I'm going to receive salvation
through belief,
and I'm going to be on a journey
of being molded
and being continually transformed.
This then comes to then,
what do I do about this then?
Well, I mean,
there's nothing in the parable
that's saying that citizens
can become servants,
but we can find throughout Scripture
the call for us
being in darkness and into light.
Maybe you identify as a citizen, though.
Maybe you've lived your life
in rejection to God.
Maybe you've said,
you know what,
I don't want an invitation,
I don't want God,
I don't need God.
Perhaps it's a prayer for you
or a prayer for us
to pray for people
who have hardened hearts
for the change of heart,
for the change of mind.
I pray that if your heart is hardened,
that it will be softened.
Just like as we talked about
the parable of the wheat and the tares,
the weeds representing sin,
that you will have that change of mind
of who Christ is
and how you need to rely on Him.
And so,
become a servant,
receive your mina,
receive that invitation.
And upon receiving that invitation,
respond accordingly.
Believe in the Lord
and be saved
and be on this path
and this trajectory
of being molded by Him.
I wish I had a picture of it,
but yesterday,
my wife and I,
we went over to,
there was a new coffee shop
in,
I want to say Nampa.
I get those cities confused,
I apologize.
There's a new,
no, it was in Boise,
excuse me.
It was in Boise.
It was a new coffee shop,
I believe it's called Art Gallery
if you want to look it up.
And on Saturdays,
they have a pottery class.
And what's so fun
is when you see children
try to make pottery
as opposed to someone
who is a skilled potter
and they're using the wheel
and they're pushing
the little button, right?
You could probably make a beat
going on some music
while you're molding
the clay there.
But it was so fun
seeing my children
try to make pots,
as it were.
Right?
And let's be honest here,
you know,
I can't really drink
out of the cup
that they've made.
Or it's going to fall over,
I'm going to set it down
and it's going to,
you know,
spill out my drink
as much as my kids
would like me.
Oh, you know,
put your coffee in there.
Not really going to happen.
But we see that
when someone is working
at the wheel
and they're molding it,
they're putting their thumbs in it,
they're putting water into it
to make it into
a specific image.
How many of you
have done pottery before?
You know exactly
what I'm talking about,
right?
You're molding into it
and you're putting,
you know,
there's,
I'm not a potter
so if I screw this up
I apologize in advance,
right?
But you're changing it
as it's happening.
You're changing its shape.
And to think of God
as the potter
and us being the clay then,
well that takes a lot of work,
doesn't it?
If you can think for a moment,
if we were just a pile of clay
and we're being put onto this wheel
and spun around and whatnot,
that's something that is requiring
God's hand
or hands as it were
with intentionality
molding you.
That's not just one,
you know,
a one time thing,
one and done.
No,
you keep working at it
until it's ready to go.
And that's part of how we see
how God works in and through us.
So I bring this back to this idea
of the mina,
symbolic for the invitation,
symbolic for our life in Christ.
Are you going to respond then
to the Lord?
So become a servant,
receive your mina,
accept the life
and the opportunities
that are entrusted to you,
not only on earth,
but also in Him.
And choose to acknowledge
and understand who Christ is
the second thing then
is, right,
respond in faith
in your what
and your what church?
Your words
and your action,
right?
You don't want to be known as,
how many of you have read
that verse in scripture
is don't be a double-minded man
or don't be a hypocrite,
right,
when Christ is calling out
the Pharisees,
calling them hypocrites.
We want our words
and our actions
to be in alignment,
not against that.
Who wants to live that way?
I mean,
you really think about it
being,
saying that you are one thing
and living completely.
That just,
I think of what my mother
used to say.
There's a famous poem,
if some of you know it,
that's awesome,
is,
oh,
what a web we weave
when first we practice
to what?
Deceive,
right?
So a lot of us
do know that one,
right?
When we're not living
in congruence
or we're not living
in alignment,
we've got to have
our words
and our actions
be in alignment.
So when we're placing
our trust in God,
now look,
does that mean at times
like our backs
at the chiropractor
need to be adjusted?
For sure.
We're not going to be perfect,
but we've got to have
that alignment.
We've got to have
that intentionality.
So don't bury your mina.
Don't throw away
your invitation,
as it were.
Use your life.
The,
it's just like
when we've talked
about the parable
of the talents
where we consider
our time
and our talent
and our treasure.
Steward your life.
Most especially,
respond to the gospel
invitation then.
Let your life
reflect faith
through your words
and in your actions.
And finally,
live today
in confidence
of what?
Christ's return.
Isn't it interesting?
In so many parables,
it's talking about
the bridegroom,
the master,
the nobleman returning.
I just find that fascinating
because even back then,
people were thinking,
this is it.
It ends here.
But we know
that in so many times
in scripture,
it's talking about
preparing the way,
living in preparation,
living with oil
in your lamp,
as it says in the parable
of the ten virgins, right?
Stewarding your life.
There's all of these things
that help us
in our journey.
Look,
Christ will return
and he will bring
his kingdom.
And that's something
to look forward to.
So are you a citizen
or are you a servant?
I pray that you are
a servant
and I pray that you
respond
with your mina.
Much like you respond
to your invitation.
And let this be a call
for you to steward
every single day
with purpose
and intentionality.
Knowing that we're
a work in progress.
Are we all a work in progress?
Don't raise your hand, right?
I know you all are.
We are all
a work in progress.
But it means that God's
going to continue
to work on us
in our minds
and in our hearts as well.
Steward today
with eternity
in mind.
And so,
if you've received
that mina,
that invitation then,
may you respond
accordingly.
May you respond
boldly in faith
in your actions
and what you say
and in what you do
and know
that Christ
will return.
And you will give
an account to him.
And so,
let us think about
all of this.
This wonderful
parable.
Right before
Jesus goes
in his triumphal entry,
this is what he's teaching.
To show
that these people
that are the crowds
that are going to be there,
well,
we do say,
Hosanna,
we praise the Lord.
But we also recognize
Christ being
the fulfillment,
him showing up
the first time
and that he will
come again.
May we have
full confidence
in him,
in his promises,
and in his prophecies
together.
Let's pray together.
And Father,
we thank you
again for this time
for us to go over
this very unique
parable.
May we
not be like
the citizens
who blatantly
reject you.
And may we
come as we are
to you
and receive
this invitation
to respond.
but may we
respond
by believing
in you,
growing in you,
knowing your word
and knowing
what it means
to live in love
like you,
and may we
be moved
to act
in our words
and in our actions.
what a powerful,
often overlooked
section of
scripture.
I pray that
if there's
anyone
that has
that hardened
heart,
that it will
be softened.
I pray that
if someone
has received
the mina,
may they
steward it,
may they
respond,
so to speak.
and I pray
that all of us
have responded
to the greatest
opportunity
and that is
salvation
in your son,
Jesus Christ.
May we
continue to grow
not only as
individuals,
but as a church
and may we
be moved
to live
and love
like your son,
Jesus.
It is in the name
of Jesus
that we pray
and we all say
together,
Amen.
Thank you for
listening for this
week's message
from Ontario
Community Church.
I pray that
you are encouraged
and strengthened
in your walk
with Christ.
For more sermons
and resources,
visit
OntarioCommunityChurch.org.
May God bless you
as you live out
his grace
and truth
every single day.