The Parable of the Minas: What’s in your Handkerchief?
Luke 19:11-27
We had just looked at the story of Zaccheus, and addressed the issue of gossip, rumors, and slander. I encourage you if you weren’t here last week, get on our website and listen to that message. There in that story, when the people saw Jesus inviting Himself over to Zaccheus’ house they began to grumble and slander Jesus and Zaccheus. They had a misconception. There really wasn’t reason to grumble, but rather to rejoice because Zaccheus was repenting, and Jesus was declaring that salvation had come to his house that day. And there in the presence of Zaccheus, Jesus’ followers, and other spectators- He then addressed another misconception concerning the installation timing of His Kingdom. You see, Jesus was nearing the capital city of Jerusalem- He was currently in Jericho- just an afternoon’s journey away. In the past, Jesus had visited Jerusalem for the various festivals and feasts, as a young boy, and also since He had begun His ministry with His disciples. But this particular trip to Jerusalem was a bit different.
Jerusalem was preparing for the Passover Feast- the yearly celebration commemorating God saving His people from destruction in Egypt. During that time in Egypt, the angel of death passed over the homes that were covered by the blood of a lamb, and the people were then freed to travel to their homeland of Israel. And now during the time of Jesus, in Jerusalem, as per usual lambs were being gathered to sacrifice in the temple and people from all parts of the country were preparing to travel there. But what was different this year, was that Jesus now had a fairly large following of people- not just his 12 disciples, no there were many more. And conflict between He and the religious leaders had escalated so far that recently He had avoided entering into Jerusalem because He would be killed. He had been talking about His betrayal and death that would take place in Jerusalem, yet had also been talking about the kingdom he would be ushering in. In the minds of the people, they perhaps imagined that Jesus would overthrow the Roman oppression and be declared King in Jerusalem with the large following He had now acquired, but they were still trying to figure out what to do with the whole death part. Maybe they thought Jesus was just talking metaphorically about that, or maybe they thought if He was to be killed then His kingdom would still be ushered in immediately through the disciples there in Jerusalem, even after His death.
So there in front of Zaccheus and all the others, in a moment just weeks away from His crucifixion, He told them a parable concerning His coming Kingdom. Let’s read it together. (Luke 19:11-27)
Now this parable is very similar in nature to the parable of the Talents, that Jesus would later tell, as recorded in Matthew 25:14-30. We’re not going to read the passage from Matthew right now, but you might want to make yourself a note to look at it later. But I will right now, talk a little about some of the differences worth noting between the two parables. First, a talent was a much larger sum of money than a mina. 1 talent was worth approximately 15-20 years’ worth of wages- a very large sum of money indeed. In contrast, 1 mina was the equivalent to approximately 4 months’ worth of wages. In the parable of the talents, one was given 1 talent which he buried in the ground, another was given 2 and he doubled that amount, and another was given 5 talents and he doubled that amount. Each was given different amounts, one made no increase, but those given 2 and 5 talents each made the same proportional increase. They both shared the same diligence and faithfulness and had doubled what had been given to them despite having been given differing amounts to work with. And they both received equal reward- Jesus said to both of these “Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.” (Matt. 25:21-23) They did equal proportional work, and shared in equal reward. What they had to invest was different, but they produced the same percentage of profits, and received the same reward. The lesson would be that we are each given different gifts, abilities, tools, resources, finances, knowledge, etc. to work with, but with whatever we are given, if we are faithful to use that- whether great or small- we will each be rewarded with the same gift of eternal life in His kingdom. We will share in the blessing of His kingdom, all of us who surrender to Jesus, from the greatest among us to the least among us.
Now here in this parable of the minas, each slave (worker/servant) was given the same amount- 10 minas- the equivalent of 40 months’ worth, or just over 3 years’ worth of wages. And as with the Parable of Talents, 1 servant hid the capital he was given to work with. But the other two yielded an increase, but this time the increase was not equal proportionally. One servant doubled the 10 minas, producing another 10 (a 100% increase) and was rewarded with being placed in authority over 10 cities. The other servant produced 5 more minas from his 10, (a 50% increase) and was rewarded proportionally to what he had produced- he was given authority over 5 cities. What they had to invest was the same, but they produced different profits and received different rewards. The meaning being that there are areas in which we have each been given the same amounts and opportunities- we have the same God, the same Jesus, the same Holy Spirit, the same gift of His gospel message, the same gift of the scriptures, we are of the same universal body of believers- and yet we can each use those shared gifts differently.
We will each invest the “Gospel Capital” according to different degrees of faithfulness, and will be rewarded differently, according to the degree in which we use what we have all been given access to. So, as with the talents- in being different we can secure the same reward. And with the minas- in being the same, we can secure different rewards. Equality, yet opportunity to achieve. The differences are leveled out and we can all receive the same benefits, yet we’re still held accountable for those same benefits we all receive and we are encouraged to use those benefits for further reward. It’s like the perfect blend of socialism and capitalism! Someone needs to jump on that truth there and throw their name onto a ballot.
Well, I guess Jesus, in a sense, already did that. But he’s not running for President, He’d prefer rather to be King of your Heart. His campaign trail was 3 years of ministry here on earth. His values, viewpoint, and stance on things are recorded here in the Gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. He’s describing the scenario of what it looks like in a Kingdom where He is King, where equality, mercy, and fairness are paired with freedom, justice, and reward for hard work. It’s going to be awesome. But as this parable displays, there will be many who reject Him as King. They will say, as those in verse 14 “We do not want this man to reign over us.” And to those who reject Him, they will end up losing their lives, as verse 27 indicates.
Concerning the difference in the capital being invested- the large sum of a talent verses the small sum of a mina- perhaps it would be worth noting that concerning the things I mentioned that we share in- God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, His gospel message, the scriptures, the universal body of believers- these “mina” things- to the world- probably seem pretty small in value when compared to other great “talents”- resources, giftings, and means that some in the world have access to. Think about the Roman Empire in all it’s might, organization, wealth, infrastructure, power, legions of mighty soldiers- and compare all that to homeless Jesus, the 12 disciples and maybe another 100 outcasts, weirdos, and vagabonds.
Yet with these little “mina” things, we have the opportunity to gain authority over cities?! Jesus is the nobleman who has gone off to make arrangements concerning His new Kingdom, meanwhile you and I are left here- each given 10 minas to work with in a territory where the rest of the citizens reject His rule. (Take note of that fact- don’t miss that you are being advised to invest and work in an environment that is hostile to the King whose resources you are investing.) And when that King returns, He’s going to call each of us in to him to see what business we have done, and reward us appropriately. The Parable of the Talents covers the reward of receiving the Kingdom- the one who buried his one talent was thrown out into the outer darkness- His missed the reward of eternal life. But here in the Parable of the Minas, I don’t think we’re talking about the reward of eternal life, there’s no mention of casting out the one who did nothing with his 10 minas, it’s just that his minas were given away to others who worked the nobleman’s capital. The point being there are rewards beyond eternal life- God’s wants more for us than just barely scraping by Heaven’s gates. He wants to give us out of His abundance of riches, He wants to bless us beyond the reward of eternal life in His Kingdom. He wants us to experience rewards and blessings even in this life, now, even before we enter the Heavenly gates. But He can’t do that if we are protectively holding onto His 10 minas. He can’t do that if we take the resources that we as believers each have access to, and wrap them up in a handkerchief.
What does the servant say as to why he kept the minas in the handkerchief? Verse 21 “for I was afraid of you.” So much of our potential is robbed by fear. Fear paralyzes us and I believe often makes us ineffective for the Kingdom of God. Fear of the past, fear of the future, fear of others- fear of loss, fear of failure. Note that in this parable (as well as in the Parable of the Talents), there’s no mention of someone who actually used the talents or the minas saying to the master “I invested what you gave me, but ended up losing money.” No one says “Sir, I went bankrupt with what you gave me trying to invest it.” No, the only ones who lose are the ones who did nothing. You can’t lose if you try to invest God’s resources into His Kingdom- it’s impossible to lose! What’s the promise God says of His word? Isaiah 55:10-11 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” God’s word does not return empty. And I believe that when we invest His words, His truths, His resources- He is able and willing to multiply that investment and bless us in return.
The only way we will lose, is if we are passive- if we hold onto, guard, protect what we are to spend and invest. Yes, hide God’s word in your heart (as the Psalmist proclaims, Psalm 119:11), but then as Jesus says, from your mouth speak of that which fills your heart. (Luke 6:45, Matt. 12:34) In order to invest something, you have to let go of it, use it, and spend it. As valuable as it is to you, as familiar as it is to you, as comfortable as it is to you- you have to unwrap your handkerchief and let go of its contents. That’s hard though sometimes, right? We have this treasure of Jesus- tucked deep in our hearts, we have this treasure of experiencing church, the treasure of His word and truth- tucked deep in our hearts, and maybe sometimes as believers it’s easy to protect that treasure by holding onto it personally, keeping it secure in our hearts, and flying under the radar in public. We fear discomfort, mockery, insults from the citizens who don’t want Jesus to reign over them. So, we wrap up our treasure in our handkerchief- perhaps with very good intentions- aiming to not lose any of it, nor have it tainted, nor have it harmed. But Jesus is calling us to invest it. To use it. To spend it. To let go of it. And He knows that we won’t lose, but that in letting go and investing we’ll gain that much more.
I have a folded handkerchief for each of you that I want to pass out to you now… As you hold the folded handkerchief in your hand, I want you to examine your life, and think about any area in which you might be storing/hiding/protecting Jesus’ resources. Is there anything tucked away in the handkerchief of your life that you should rather be investing? Are you silent about sharing His truth with others? Are you ashamed to offer to pray with someone in need? Is His word sitting closed inside there somewhere? Are there financial resources that He wants you to sow into His Kingdom? Maybe there’s a comfortable job or career, that’s being shielded by your handkerchief, and God wants you to let go of it to follow Him into something new that would greater benefit His Kingdom. I want us each, no matter how difficult it may be, to be able to open each fold of the handkerchief, and truly be able to say to the Lord “whatever is in it, is Yours Lord, and I want to be a good steward in investing for your Kingdom. There’s this thing here tucked away, and I unfold it to you Lord- I want you to help me multiply it. And here I unwrap this part to you Lord as well, forgive me for holding onto it, I want to use it for your glory. I want to give you a few moments to think about and pray through this, and as you do, let this handkerchief object lesson be etched firmly into your mind, as you unfold it and prayerfully release whatever it may be to the Lord...
Now I’d like for you to take your handkerchief, and fold it back up again, and this time I want you to not examine yourself personally, but to examine the role of this church fellowship. I want you to think specifically about this body of believers and the resources that we each have shared access to. I want you to think about all that God has given to Glady Branch: The church building, the finances, the location off the highway, the proximity to downtown Brevard, the relative closeness to Rosman, the people, the favor in the community, the history, the connections- all these things and more. And we have to ask ourselves, are all these God given resources being invested for maximum kingdom profit? Or, are there God given resources that we are merely just preserving, sheltering, and holding inside our handkerchief? Are we fearful to invest in new and different ways? Are we fearful of letting go of anything?
Our leadership team here at Glady Branch has been discussing over the past several months this very concept. We’ve been asking “God, what do You want us to do, how do You want us to move, what is it that You want to do here amongst this group of believers, how can we be most effective for Your Kingdom?” We’ve talked about having open hearts and open hands to whatever the Lord would want to change in us. And we’ve had very real moments when we’ve realized areas that would be difficult to let go of and let God handle. Positions, roles, areas of leadership, traditions, experiences, past history, titles, areas of comfort. Even I have had to wrestle with my own comfort zone shaped through my personal preferences and experiences. And I’m so thankful for and proud of each of our volunteer staff leaders, as each one, (myself included) has worked through in their own heart and has come to the conclusion of “Whatever it is Lord, even if it’s concerning an area I personally consider difficult, even so Lord, whatever it is I’m willing to surrender and let You do what You want to do for the benefit of Your Kingdom. My hands are open, my handkerchief is empty.”
I’m asking today that you join us in that humbling attitude. I don’t have it all figured out, I don’t know exactly where God is leading us- but I’m pretty confident He’s working and is up to some big things. There are all kinds of “Kingdom rumblings” taking place across our county- potential opportunities to seize the day and boldly pursue His Kingdom- not just as Glady Branch, but as united believers across the county and across denominational lines. There’s so much potential for really big, great things to be done for His Kingdom, but I believe that in order for us to see those big things accomplished, each of us is going to have to humble himself/herself and say “Lord, it’s all on the table. You arrange the pieces as you see fit. Whatever resources we have, their Yours anyway, and You can have full access to them. We don’t want to mismanage Your resources and hold any of them tucked away in a handkerchief. If there’s any hindrance in building Your Kingdom, take it away. Help us to release any barrier that might be preventing us from taking Your 10 minas and turning them into 20.”
Again, I want to give you a few moments to think about and pray through this. Prayerfully unfold and release the contents of your “church handkerchief” fully to the Lord and for the purpose of effective investment in His Kingdom.