Occupy Till I Come
Scripture: Luke 19:11-29
Sermon preached at Gospel Light Christian Church, Singapore
by Pastor Dr Paul Choo
on 02 January 2005
The theme verse for 2005, the year of Widest Evangelism
Scripture: Luke 19:11-29
Introduction: This parable is called the Parable of the Pound. Though there are several similarities with the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-39), there are also significant differences. A “talent” is worth approximately 50x more than a “pound.” Therefore, the amount of money given in the Parable of the Pound is far less than the amount given in the Parable of the Talent. Also, in the former parable all the servants are given the same small amount – signifying the little “resources” (eg. small in stature, weak in understanding, shallow in spiritual desire) that we each have at the beginning. But in the latter parable the three servants are given different amounts – signifying the reality that we all are given different measures of “abilities” (eg. natural talents, spiritual gifts). Since both these parables teach different but vital truths, they should be learned together to get God’s balanced truth on the topic of Christian responsibility.
Today’s parable describes two basic categories of people, the nobleman’s “servants” and “enemies,” representing those who are saved and those who are unsaved.
The Identification of God’s Enemies: Every single human being that has ever lived can be categorized as either God’s servants or God’s enemies. There is no “neutral’ category. God’s enemies all share one common desire, namely, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). Though it is “obvious” that the nobleman should rule over his citizens, they refused to be ruled by him. Similarly, though Christ is the Wonderful Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), He is rejected “without a cause” because “every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20). Many unsaved people claim to admire the Lord Jesus Christ but true admiration is evidenced by a desire to imitate. Some deny that they “hate” the Lord but admit that they are “indifferent” to Him, without realizing that indifference is a passive form of hatred. God will “slay” the unsaved “before Him” (v.27).
The Responsibilities of God’s Servants : The “servants” in this parable are “bond-slaves,” who were bought by their masters. We Christians are “bond-slaves” because we are bought by the precious Blood of Jesus Christ. The difference between being a slave of man and a slave of Jesus Christ is the difference between “hell” and “heaven” because the difference between a human master and Christ is the difference between “hell” and “heaven.”
The nobleman gave one pound to each master to trade with (v.13). This is a very small amount of money to begin any business! It teaches us that God gives us “grace” in small amounts to begin with. For example, we begin with barely enough faith when we first trusted in Christ as our Savior and we begin with barely enough spiritual understanding when we first read the Bible. God’s normal way of providing for us is in very small quantities, which we are responsible to “increase.” In other words, He provides just enough “capital” to start and we are responsible to build up (in partnership with Him) upon this capital. God does not bypass us, spoil us and make us lazy but He enlists us as His Partner in building us up. No Christian can say that he has no “grace” or “too little grace” to do God’s business! If we do not exercise the little graces that we have, we will soon lose them (eg. our muscles atrophy, heart hardens). Just as the “first” servant multiplied his pound by ten times (v.16), we too should greatly multiply God’s initial grace.
The nobleman told his servants: “Occupy till I come” (v.13) which means “Gain by trading till I come.” He did not give them any rules but rather simply told them to get the most profit out of the pound that he had given to them. This implies that God trusts us and gives us the liberty to use whatever (lawful) means to do His work. He prefers to lead us by love rather than by rules.
A trader should exercise his judgment to use the most appropriate method, at the most appropriate time in the most productive place (eg. China, Philippines). The first servant gained ten pounds (v.16) and was called “thou good servant” (v.17). The second gained five pounds (v.18) and was not called “good” but was nonetheless richly rewarded (v.19). The third servant did not trade with his pound but carefully kept it (v.20) and was called “thou wicked servant” (v.22), though his only sin was “not trading.” Few Christians realize that they have committed a wicked sin by not using their talents for God! (Also, few people realize that a possession is only really “owned” when it is used.) His lame excuse for inactivity was that he was afraid that God standards are so high that he dare not do anything (v.21). This is still a common excuse given by Christians who do nothing for God!
The servant was asked to trade, not fight his master’s enemies. Christians often prefer to fight than to “trade.” Others are busy ‘safe-keeping” their resources. Some spend it on luxuries. Some spend it all on providing for their families. The servants were told to “trade” and not worry about their own needs because they still received provisions from their master.
The nobleman did not say when he was returning, so they were to continue until he returned. There is no retirement in God’s business.
Conclusion: The Master will come again! We don’t know when but He is surely coming. And his reward will be totally disproportionate to our labors (v. 17,19).