INVESTING YOUR MINA
Luke 19: 11- 26While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’ “He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, to find out what they had gained with it. “The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’ “‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’ “The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’ “His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’ “Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’ “His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ “Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ “‘Sir,’ they said, ‘he already has ten!’ “He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
Introduction: Background of the Parable
On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him (Zechariah 14:4-5).
Title: INVESTING YOUR MINA
- The Mina of the Moment
- The Delegated Ones
- The Noble and The Servant.
E.g. Ronald Gerald Wayne?
I. THE MINAOF THE MOMENT
The mina, or Minah, was a basic standard of weight among the ancient Hebrews. In the sacred system of weights, the sacred mina was equal to 60 shekels, and 60 sacred minas equaled 1 sacred talent. The mina was also a unit of currency.
The Parable of the Ten Minas vs. Parable of the Talents,
In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), one was given five talents, another two, and another one. Some are given more skills and abilities than others and are accountable to God for what they have received.
The Parable of the Ten Minas – Each of the ten servants was given the same equal amount.
Equal amount symbolizes:
First – the fact that we have all been given the same number of hours in a day to invest in the kingdom of God. Examining how we spend our time can reveal how much or how little of our time is invested in eternal things.
The second – the mina represents what is given to all believers in an equal amount–the stewardship of the message of the gospel.
Paul the apostle wrote:I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (Romans 1:16).
Spiritual warfare and opposition break out wherever the gospel’s message is preached. But no matter what opposition servants receive from the enemies of God, we are to spend ourselves in this holy endeavor—the stewardship of getting the gospel to all the earth.
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world and then the end shall come” (Matthew 24:14).
Each of us is given a mina and God wants us to be faithful stewards of it.
II. THE DELEGATED ONES
Investments in the Kingdom of God.
Jesus was talking on two levels. The Lord spoke of a noble person, Himself being the noble person, who is to go to a distant country, heaven, and receive His kingship from a superior power, His Father.
The parable focuses on two sets of people, some who oppose Jesus’ kingship and servants who are given resources to invest while He is away.
There is no middle ground. Either you are against Him (Romans 5:10) or you are one of His servants. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters (Matthew 12:30).
We are not to be servants who spend our mina on our comforts—our King has given us a job to do, a mission to glorify God and release men from servitude to Satan. The message of God’s love, mercy, and grace toward all humanity is a sacred trust given to all who believe:
On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
Approved – Greek word “dokimazo.” – means to test something as to whether or not it is counted worthy or approved.
Paul writes that God has entrusted the gospel to us, His servants. God tests our hearts to refine us so that we can be trusted truth-bearers.
The Noble Master did not set one of them over another. They were left to sort out the details themselves as to how to put the minas to work.
The Nobleman entrusted the same amount to each servant and gave them complete freedom to do what they determined individually to invest His resources.
So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12).
Every Christian has a responsibility to promote and spread the gospel in any way they can. We cannot keep it to ourselves.
The Greek word translated by the phrase “put this money to work” (NIV) or “occupy” (KJV) is pragmateuomai. It means to do business, invest or trade intending to bring a return on the investment.
We get the word pragmatic from this Greek word. To be pragmatic is to deal sensibly and realistically with something. We are responsible for sitting down and thinking through ways we can strategically invest our resources to get the maximum return for the kingdom of God.
There is no more significant task on Earth than the catching of men. “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
The Nobleman was looking for faithfulness. The way they went about investing what all three called “your mina” indicated what was in their hearts. The return on the investment by the first man showed how much he valued the trust given to him by his master.
Application: When we believe the gospel and receive the grace of Christ into our lives, we are obligated to employ our talents and abilities to share with others what has changed our lives. We are to do what we can to give it away to others. We are to invest our time, energy, and even money in promoting the Kingdom of heaven wherever we can.
One of the servants put his mina in a sweat cloth or handkerchief, saying he was afraid of the master. When called to account by the master, the mina was taken from him and given to the one who gained ten minas.
The Nobleman didn’t need the money. Each of the two men kept the increase of the master’s investment along with the reward of cities. The one who did nothing had no prize and lost his investment seed money.
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
The noble master was not interested in the money itself; he calls it “trustworthy in a very small matter”.A test to see the level of their faithfulness. He wanted to find out who managed their Lord’s money with prudence and trustworthiness among his servants.
To everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away (Matthew 25:29).
Two ideas that have caused a number of problems in churches today regarding faithfulness.
- The idea that someone’s faithfulness is connected to how much they know about God’s Word. They act as if RIGHT BELIEF- or orthodoxy – is a good measure of someone’s faith.
- The idea that someone’s ability to lead requires a “full training” before they begin in ministry. They act as if COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE – is a good measure of someone’s ability to serve.
The problem with the first idea – relying on ORTHODOXY – or “right belief”. GOD’S WORD says – You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that–and shudder.
A better measure of someone’s faithfulness is ORTHOPRAXY – “right practice”. We should be much more concerned with FAITHFULNESS in OBEYING and SHARING than measuring maturity based only on what we know.
The problem with the second idea – no one is ever fully trained.
What we need today is more than knowledge of who God is and what He does. It is not just having the right belief but right practice.We know, butwe are not faithful. We failed to employ our talents and abilities to share with others. We did not invest our time, energy, and even money in promoting the Kingdom of heaven wherever we can. We have kept the mina for ourselves using many excuses.
“Whoever keeps his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 16: 25
The Bible reminds us, “However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find (this kind of persistent) faith on the earth? Luke 18: 8
“Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.” Matthew 24: 46
With what we are doing now with His mina, will He find faithfulness? Will He find us doing His will?
“Well done, my good servant!” (Luke 19:17).
III. THE NOBLE AND THE SERVANT
Jesus is both the Master (man of Noble birth) and the Faithful Servant in this parable.
As a servant, He is the Good and Faithful One who gave His all, His life and everything. He made the Father’s business His business, He sowed seed in the morning, and at evening He stayed on task. He came to do the will of His Father because He loves the Father.
And therefore He received the praises and honor, “well done, good and faithful servant.” As God said, ‘this is my Son in whom I am well pleased.’
Whatever we failed to do, He faithfully did. His faithfulness for our unfaithfulness. He used that one earthly life (mina) as an investment so that all may have life and have it more abundantly.
He is the Noble person. He is the Son of David, the noblest birth of a Jew. But His nobility is not earned so much by being a descendant of David but because of His character. He is the most upright person. He is the kindest, most generous, gracious Man who has ever lived.
Jesus called His disciples and gave them a promise that He will go to His Father’s house and prepare a place for them. He went as far as death and hades through his death on the cross. And He will return to judge sin but will take the faithful ones to be with Him forever.
Because Jesus loves the Father, He was a faithful servant. When we love God, we can become faithful because it is His faithfulness as a servant that helps us to be faithful and the reason why we can remain faithful. And His promise that He will return to take us home should propel us to invest our short life, the one mina, we have received for the Kingdom of God.
CONCLUSION:
The use of a “city” is one way of showing the disproportionate amount rewarded for the energy, time, and money invested by the first two people. I believe that God is showing us that:No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9).
What are your thoughts concerning investments? Each one of us has been given a short time to be a steward of the Gospel. May there be no lame excuse on our part in failing to be faithful because he who remains faithful to the end, the same shall be saved.
