When I was a bit younger, I was into exercise and fitness (I still am but to a much lesser extent due to four back surgeries and three knee surgeries). I was in my 40s when I realized something had to give. I was overweight, medical problems were beginning to pile up on me, and I was pretty depressed about it.
So I started walking. That turned into jogging (9 miles a day, 5 in the morning and 4 in the evening). Then I added working out at the gym. I lost 60 pounds in less than a year. But I also started feeling trapped. I became a slave to the routine. I hated for anything to interrupt the regimen. Can you imagine what that meant for a pastor? Meetings, weddings, funerals, and hospital visits spelled trouble for a guy in ministry.
After a while, I found the pathway forward while maintaining fitness. I adopted a simple philosophy that worked then and still does.
Do what you can when you can.
There is an even simpler version of that philosophy: do something and a little more.
I am preaching a few sermons from Luke 19:11-27. It’s the parable Jesus taught (immediately following the Zacchaeus episode) about the ten minas. It is important to note that Luke tells us that Jesus told it because the people who were around and following Him,
[S]upposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
That is important. The parable is about a nobleman who was leaving to receive a kingdom and then returning to install it. In other words, he was going to the seat and origin of authority to be coronated king and then return to reign as the legitimately recognized king. In the interim the nobleman gave ten slaves/servants one minas each (most scholars agree that a minas was equivalent to a little more than three months wages.) The last thing he said to the servants was,
“Do business with this until I come back.” (verse 13).
The obvious implication is that the nobleman expected each servant to use the money to prepare for his return and reign (and he foresaw problems at his return because the citizens of the country made it clear they did not want him to return and govern them [see verse 14]).
I’m sure you know the remainder of the parable. When the nobleman returned he called his servants together for an accounting. One put the minas to work and returned ten minas to the nobleman. He was rewarded with being given authority over 10 cities in the kingdom. Another returned five. He was given authority over 5 cities. Then one servant stepped forward and presented the original minas wrapped in a handkerchief to the nobleman along with some rather disparaging words about him (see verses 20-21). The nobleman then judged him to be a “worthless slave.”
I’m sure you have figured out why I began this by talking about my philosophy for fitness.
To accomplish something valuable and important begins with the desire and then the will to do it. When things begin to happen that stymie progress the will must kick in to figure a way to continue in the right direction.
Something is better than nothing. So figure out what that something is, do it, and then do a little more.
In the parable, the servant who made five minas probably had nothing but admiration for the servant who worked his minas into ten. You can imagine him even getting with the ten minas servant later on to see what he did to earn so much more. But the guy who did nothing but hand the one back to the nobleman didn’t seem to care a less what the others were able to do. He just called the nobleman’s character into question and seemed to imply, “You should be glad you're getting the original minas back.”
He did nothing and seemed arrogantly proud of it.
It is important to note that Jesus intentionally picked a worldly thing to leave the servants in the parable. It wasn’t the Urim and Thummim, the Ark of the Covenant, the Levitical Priesthood, or even the gospel. It was money. The nobleman expected his servants to do something with the money that would help pave the way for his return.
We have an election on November 5 (less than a week away as I write this). People who are in the know are telling us that tens of millions of people who call themselves Christians aren’t going to vote in the election (see HERE, HERE, and HERE).
Voting may not be manna from heaven or the anointing of the Holy Spirit but those who know world history in general and American history in particular know all too well that the ability to self-govern is truly a gift from God. A gift with the expectation to use it to prepare for the arrival of the returning King Jesus.
Millions who have been given that gift are planning on waking up on Wednesday the 6th with a smile and a chuckle concerning how they didn’t soil their dignity by voting for either of the flawed presidential candidates.
“Here you go, Jesus. Here is the single vote You gave me to use to prepare the world for Your return. Just the way you gave it to me. It’s still in pristine condition because it hasn’t been used. Aren’t you proud of me for not soiling it by using it for either of those two losers?”
That’s how they plan on attending to the Lord’s business? Doing nothing? If the choice was between Saul or David their rationale for not voting for either would probably be,
“Saul has taken away our vineyards and flocks so we weren’t voting for him and David is a womanizing adulterer who had his mistress’s husband killed. No vote for him either!”
Except that one of them was destined to be Israel’s greatest king (save One).
One candidate has vowed to federalize killing babies, continue spending and tax policies that have already crippled the nation’s economy, promised to use taxpayer money to continue to mutilate sexually confused children and even convicted felons, and make sure that all federal agencies become the final arbiters of what is legitimate information and "misinformation."
The policies of the other candidate, while certainly not perfect, are much more in line and consistent with biblical values and the founders’ intentions. But he is often brash, profane, and pretty arrogant.
This isn’t a popularity contest. As stewards of the vote it isn’t even close. We’re either going to try to restore America to the ‘city on the hill” status or we’re giving it over to those who want to make it the modern Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sitting out the election only helps one side. And that side has made it crystal clear what it thinks of Jesus: “You’re at the wrong rally.”
I don’t think a vote withheld will be appreciated by Jesus if it helps install Moloch, Jezebel, and Nebuchadnezzar in official government positions.
Do something and then a little more with what you have. Otherwise, you might be called "worthless slave" by the Nobleman.
