This week we have been looking at the distorted
view of God as a sweet old man. To address this
distorted view of God, we have been looking at a parable that Jesus told His
closest followers that is recorded for us in account of Jesus life in the Bible
called the gospel of Luke.
In this parable Jesus explained that a nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom
for himself, and then return.
Jesus explained that the nobleman called ten of his slaves, and gave them one
mina each and said to them, 'Do business with
this until I come back'. Each
slave was given four months wages by the nobleman who was to become king and
was given the responsibility to take care of the business of the future king's
kingdom until the he returned as king.
The
nobleman's expectation was that his slaves would take the resources and
responsibilities that they had been given and leverage them in a way that would
advance the kingdom of the future king in his absence, so that when the
nobleman returned as king, his kingdom would have expanded to a greater degree
than when he had left.
Upon
giving each servant the same amount of resources and responsibilities to
advance his future kingdom in his absence, the nobleman left on his long
journey to be crowned king. While the
nobleman was away from his future kingdom to be crowned as king, the citizens
of his future kingdom sent a delegation after him to deliver a message to the
future king that they did not for him to rule over them as king.
However, despite the response
of his citizens to his becoming king, the nobleman, after becoming king,
returned to his new kingdom. And upon his return, the new king called for the
ten slaves to appear before him to explain how they had done when it came to leveraging the resources and
responsibilities they had been given in his absence. The new king wanted to
know how faithful each of the slaves had been when it came to the
responsibility they had been given to invest the resources they had been given
in a way that expanded and advanced his kingdom.
Jesus explained that the first servant had taken the one
mina that he had been given and turned it into ten minas. In other words, the
servants faithfulness in fulfilling the responsibilities that he had been given
resulted in a 1,000 percent profit for the king and his kingdom. The slave's
faithfulness in his responsibilities
prior to the new king's return resulted in the king giving him corresponding
responsibilities in the new kingdom.
Jesus explained that the second slave had taken the one
mina that he had been given and turned it into five minas. In other words, the
servants faithfulness in fulfilling the responsibilities that he had been given
resulted in a 500 percent profit for the king and his kingdom. The slave's
faithfulness in his responsibilities
prior to the new king's return resulted in the king giving him corresponding
responsibilities in the new kingdom.
Jesus then revealed how another slave had done
with the resources and responsibility that he had been given in Luke 19:20-21:
"Another came, saying, 'Master, here is
your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief;
21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take
up what you did not lay down and
reap what you did not sow.'
Unlike the first two slaves, a third slave had taken the
one mina that he had been given and kept it in a handkerchief. Now this
handkerchief was a face cloth that was often worn to protect the back of a
person's neck from the desert sun's heat. Instead of faithfully fulfilling the
responsibilities that he had been given to leverage the resources he had been
given to advance the new king's kingdom while the king was absent, this slave
carelessly laid aside the resources in a place where they could have easily
been lost or stolen.
The slave then responded to the new king and his lack of
faithfulness and responsibility for the mina he was given by doing what we can
tend to do when we are busted for being irresponsible, which is to make excuses
and play the blame game. The slave blamed the nobleman who was now king: “I was
afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not
lay down and reap what you did not sow.”
In other words, the slave states “I was afraid of you
because I knew that you were unjust and a thief. I knew that you are a
unyielding man who takes what is not his. So I did not risk the possibility of
loss, so I am just giving you back what is yours”. The slave rationalized and
made excuses for his irresponsibility and shifted the blame instead of owning
up to his irresponsibility. Jesus then revealed to the disciples how the new
king responded to the unfaithfulness and irresponsibility of the slave in verse
22-26:
"He said to him, 'By
your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking
up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did
not sow? 23 'Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and
having come, I would have collected
it with interest?' 24 "Then he said to the bystanders, 'Take
the mina away from him and give it to the
one who has the ten minas.' 25 "And they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas already.' 26 "I tell
you that to everyone who has, more shall
be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away.
Now as soon as I read verse 25 your immediate response might
have been “wait a minute, that’s not fair. I mean the one slave already has ten
minas. Shouldn’t the mina go to the slave who has five minas? Shouldn’t the new
king redistribute the income so that everyone has the same? That would be fair.
But, the timeless reality is that life
is not fair. As a matter of fact, fairness is not a biblical value. Nowhere in
the Bible will you see the concept of fairness. What you see everywhere in the
Bible is the concept of rightness.
Jesus
here is revealing the reality that the new king rewarded the slave who was faithful
with the responsibilities that he was given and did the right thing, the
responsible thing. And the new king responded to the slave who wanted to
associate with king without trusting in the king or obeying the king by
rejecting that slave.
And
because the measure for the new king was faithfulness to the king; because the
measure for the new king was to be responsible with the resources that have
been given by the king to the citizens of his kingdom, the king will respond to
unfaithfulness and irresponsibility with rightness and justice. Jesus reveals
this reality as he brings this parable to its conclusion in verse 27:
"But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to
reign over them, bring them here and
slay them in my presence."
The new king responded to the citizens of his kingdom who
hated him and who rejected and rebelled against his rule and authority in their
life by exercising his authority as king. The new king exercised his rule and
authority in his kingdom by executing those who rebelled and rejected his rule
and authority. You see, for the new king, to be a part of his kingdom required
faithfulness to the authority of the king and faithfulness in fulfilling the
responsibilities that come with being a part of the kingdom.
To openly reject and rebel against the king would result
in judgment from the king. To fail to be faithful to the king because of a distorted
view of the king will also result in judgment from the king. And
it is here, in this event from history involving a parable concerning a future
king and his kingdom, that we discover a timeless and true view of God given to
us by Jesus that can enable us to rid ourselves of the distorted view of God as
a sweet old man. And that timeless truth is this: We have a distorted view of
God when we view God as a sweet old man instead of the lord of a boardroom.
The
timeless reality is that we have a distorted view of God when we view God as
sweet old man. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as some sweet
old man sitting on a rocking chair in a retirement community waiting his turn
to play shuffleboard. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as old, out
of touch, over the hill, out dated, overrated, and unconnected to the world we
live.
We have
a distorted view of God when we view God as the sweet old God that we can visit
whenever we want to; at Christmas or Easter or when we may remember Him at our
meals. We have a distorted view of God when we view God as so old that He may
have created this world, but He certainly doesn’t understand it anymore. We
have a distorted view of God when we view God as a sweet old man that gives us
our freedom so that He can play shuffleboard.
However,
unlike the sweet old man who gives us our freedom so that He can play shuffleboard
in a retirement home, a more accurate view of God is that of the lord of a
boardroom. You see, God is not old; instead God is timeless. God exists outside
space and time, so God does not age.
A more
accurate view of God is that of the lord of the boardroom who is ever present,
and actively engaged and at work around us. A more accurate view of God is that
of the lord of a boardroom who expects us to be partners in what He is doing in
the world.
A more accurate view of God is that of the
lord of a boardroom who is both just and generous. You see, as Lord of a
boardroom, God can both keep us to our end of the deal and forgive us when we
fall short. A more accurate view of God is that of the lord of the boardroom, who
holds the power in one hand to wipe out the angry mob who rejects and rebels
against Him, and in the other hand the power to give away the keys to the
kingdom to those who faithfully trust and follow Him.
A more
accurate view of God is that of the lord of a boardroom who takes the profits of
His advancing kingdom and generously and gives them away to those who
faithfully fulfill their responsibilities in the kingdom. A more accurate view
of God is that of the lord of a boardroom who is more good, generous, and full
of grace than we can possibly imagine. And because of that reality, we should
offer ourselves to Him as wildly as He has offered Himself to us.
So here is a question to consider: Which of these
two views describe how you view God? Do you view God as a sweet old man? Do you
view God old, out of touch, over the hill, out dated, overrated, and
unconnected to the world we live? Do you view God as simply a the sweet old God
that we can visit whenever we want to; at Christmas or Easter, or that we can
remember at our meals?
Or do you view God as the lord of a boardroom? Do
you view God as the lord of the boardroom who is ever present, and actively
engaged and at work around us? Do you view God as the lord of a boardroom who expects
us to be partners in what He is doing in the world? Do you view God as the lord
of a boardroom who is both just and generous?
Because the timeless reality is that we have a
distorted view of God when we view God as a sweet old man instead of the lord
of a boardroom…
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