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For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you
did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow... But bring those
enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them
before me. Lk19:21, 27 The gospel of Luke is not for the fainthearted. The servant with the mina feared. Fear is the opposite of faith. He saw something in Christ that caused him to take the mina and neatly put it in a handkerchief and tuck it away. What he feared was loss of control. What he feared was Jesus asking of him something that he did not want to do. In this parable Jesus has the authority to override the law of sowing and reaping. He can collect what he did not deposit and reap what he did not sow. What this servant perceived in Christ which caused him to fear was not the loss of the mina but the loss of control and having to step out in faith. Christ, for example, might be calling him to give up his career to work for the poor. Christ might be asking him to give up his sex life to live a life of celibacy for the kingdom of God. God might be asking him to give up his secular music to sing hymns to God. God might be asking him to give up his television or computer time to read His word. In short, what the servant feared was losing power over his destiny and being ruled by God. The mina represents what God has given us in terms of material prosperity. God is asking us to invest not only what he has given us but what we have accrued on our own. If we give up control of our lives in this life, God will give us control of cities in the next and the next life will be in the millennium or thousand year reign. He who loses his life will save it and he who saves his life will lose it. It is our faith that God is a loving God and will provide for us more than we can think or imagine that gives us the courage to overcome our fear of loss of control and love for this world to invest our lives in his kingdom. Thank God for all the saints who have done so. One final note: In this parable those who invested their wealth and what God gave them for the kingdom reaped a ten and five fold reward. The one who withheld his mina was left with nothing. God will reward our faith if we have the courage to abandon all to him. Let us pray for courage and discernment to know the will of God. Amen |