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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Joseph
Slife,
lay leader July 18,
2004 Main
Scripture
text:
Luke
19:11-28. And
one of the things the instructors
at that conference said was
this: "A
church can take the cultural
forms of the day and turn them
into teaching points in such a
way that -- for the people in
that church -- the popular
culture, at least in some
measure, will actually begin to
reinforce the gospel." Most
of the time culture wars against
the gospel. The culture says one
thing, while the Bible says the
opposite thing -- and there's a
battle going on. And
yet, if we look carefully, we can
find in the culture things that
echo the gospel and the teachings
of God's Word. The
church, through its teaching
ministry, can point those out to
people -- so that the next time
they see those things or hear
them, they are reminded of what
they they learned in
church. Some
of you were here one year ago --
on July 20th -- when I used a
film clip from Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade to teach
about taking steps of faith, of
trusting God to show up and make
a way where their seems to be no
way -- and in that case I was
teaching about being obedient to
God in the area of
finances. You
may remember nothing else of what
I said that day, but you remember
that step of faith -- because you
saw it visibly demonstrated in
the film -- the step that had to
be made before the provision
became clear. Well,
I'm at the movies again today. My
sermon is called, "The Lord of
All Things: The Return of the
King." One
of the great things about having
children is that they introduce
you to lots of good stuff you
might otherwise not know about.
And I've really become a big fan,
through the influence of my
children, of The Lord of the
Rings -- the mythic story
written by Professor J.R.R.
Tolkien, who was a contemporary,
and a friend, of C.S.
Lewis. The
Lord of the Rings is a
tremendous tale about courage,
faithfulness, humility,
friendship -- about embracing a
calling to something higher and
greater than
ourselves. Over
the last past four or five years,
filmmaker Peter Jackson turned
The Lord of the Rings into three
films, three of the most-watched
movies of all time. Earlier
this year, the last of those
three, The Return of the
King, tied a record by
winning eleven Academy
awards. Well,
that's just all background. What
I want to do today is play a
couple of quick scenes from
The Return of the King and
then take you to a passage of
Scripture in which Jesus tells a
story that could also be called
"The Return of the
King." The
two stories have some parallels
that I think will help us to
better understand the biblical
story -- and to remember the
truth it teaches. So
first, let's go the videotape. In
this scene, war is about to break
out -- and Gandalf -- he's the
guy with the staff and the white
beard -- and his traveling
companion, Pippin, he's the very
short guy, known as a hobbit --
Gandalf and Pippin have arrived
in the land of Gondor to pay a
visit to the leader of the land,
to talk to him about the fact
that war is imminent and to try
to enlist his aid. Now,
this leader is not the king --
listen for that line: "He is not
the king." His name is Denethor
-- and he's the steward of
Gondor, the one put in charge
until the king
returns. Let's
watch. Pippin:
It's
the
tree!
Gandalf!
Gandalf! There
is one remaining heir -- and man
named Aragorn. Gandalf doesn't
want to talk to Denethor about
that just yet -- he wants to talk
about the impending war. But the
steward has other ideas. Let's
watch. Gandalf:
The
enemy
is on
your
doorstep!
As
steward
you're
charged
with
the
defense
of the
city!
Where
are
Gondor's
armies?
You
still
have
friends.
You
are
not
alone
in
this
fight.
Send
word
to
Théoden
of
Rohan... Gandalf:
Authority
is not
given
to you
to
deny
the
return
of the
king,
Steward!
Denethor
(jumping
from
his
chair):
Rule
of
Gondor
is
mine
and no
other's!
Gandalf
(turning
and
walking
away,
calling
to
Pippin):
Come! With
these film scenes in mind, turn
with me now to God's Word -- Luke
19 -- and let's read a parable
Jesus told. The
translators of the NIV Bible call
it "The Parable of the Ten
Minas." Mina is a Greek word for
a unit of money. One mina was the
equivalent of what an average
wage earner would make in about
ten days. The
New Living Translation calls this
story, "The Parable of the Ten
Servants." I like to call it:
"The Parable of Return of the
King." Here's
the scene: Jesus had been going
about for some time now doing
incredible things -- he had
healed people of leprosy, he had
cast out demons, he had given
sight to a blind man. Clearly,
Jesus was a man of supernatural
power. And
he had been teaching things that
caused people to hang on his
every word: He talked about the
coming of the Kingdom of God --
and He had likened the effect of
diligence in prayer to a widow
who was able to get justice
simply by being
persistent. And
now He's heading toward
Jerusalem, the capital city --
and the buzz throughout the
crowds is: "This is Him. This is
Messiah. God has heard our
prayers. This is the One who is
going -- to kick the Romans out
of land and restore the Kingdom
to Israel." That's
what the crowd is
thinking. In
Luke 19, verse ten, just after he
wins over a tax collector named
Zacchaeus, Jesus proclaims that
he came "to seek and save what
was lost." And
the crowd no doubt buzzed some
more. "We've lost our land to
Romans. They've beat us up,
squeezed us for taxes, killed,
and occupied our country. But now
Messiah is here -- and we're
gonna get it back!" That's
the context. Now, to our text --
Luke 19, starting at verse 11:
"While they were listening to
things, [that is, what Jesus
had just said about saving what
was lost] he went on to tell
them a parable…going to
appear at once." Now,
this is one of those occasions
when a biblical writer explains
why something is about to happen.
This is going to help us
understand this
parable. Jesus
told them this parable, the
writer says, "because he was near
Jerusalem" -- the city of God
where the occupying Romans now
had their stronghold -- "and the
people thought the kingdom of God
was going to appear at
once." Here's
the parable, verse 12: "He said,
'A man of noble birth…'
" OK,
let's unpack this a bit. This
story requires us to exert some
mental energy. We have to think
about it. Remember,
Jesus told this story because
"the people thought that the
kingdom was going to appear at
once." He is trying -- through
this parable -- to disabuse them
of that notion. The
kingdom is not going to come at
once. Jesus is not going to march
into Jerusalem and kick the
Romans out and restore the
kingdom to Israel. Instead,
he is going to leave the scene
and leave his servants in charge.
One day he'll come back -- "the
return of the king." But
in the meantime, his servants are
given resources and assigned a
task: "Put this money to work,"
he said, "until I come
back." Now,
in addition to the future king
and the ten servants, there are
other characters in this story.
They're referred to in verse 14
as his "subjects." Some
translations say his
"citizens." These
are people who'll be under the
king's rule someday -- IF he
becomes king. Now,
it says here they "hated" him. We
don't know why. The story doesn't
say. All we know is that they
tried to prevent him from
becoming king, but were
unsuccessful. But
think about this. The text says
the man of noble birth embarked
on a trip to a distant country to
have himself appointed king --
that's in verse 12. In those
days, distant meant that it took
a long time -- possibly many
months to get there and
back. And
the subjects who hated him sent a
delegation after him to plead
their case, to try to prevent him
from becoming king, which may
have delayed matters even
more. So
here's the picture. Let's say you
and I are part of the ten
servants. He's entrusted his
money to us and gone on a journey
-- for how long we don't know. He
has said, in effect, "Mark my
words, I am coming
back." But
is he? It sure looks uncertain.
He's got lots of people in
opposition to him. Suppose they
win? We're looking for him to
come back as king -- but suppose
he doesn't? Won't
we just be wasting our time and
energy trying to put his money --
his resources -- to work on his
behalf? What
if there is no "return of the
king?" Jesus
told this parable. "The people
thought the kingdom was going to
appear at once." Instead,
the church -- you and I -- is
called to live in that in-between
time, between the time the man of
noble birth goes away and the
time he returns, in triumph, as
the King of kings and Lord of All
Things. We're
the servants -- and all around us
are the subjects who show no love
for the king. In fact, the
message we get from our culture
is that He isn't the king at all
-- and He's certainly not coming
back. Now,
this usually this isn't said with
words. People say it by their
actions. They act as if there is
no ultimate authority, no
eventual
accountability. And
here we are in between. Jesus has
said, "Mark my words, I coming
back. The culture says, "We don't
want this man to be our king."
And they act as if they are not
subject to Him. Now,
what are we going to do? Are we
going against the prevailing view
by demonstrating our allegiance
to the as yet unseen king. Are we
going to take what he's entrusted
to us -- "Here, put this to work
until I come back" -- and use it
for Him? Are we going to invest
our lives in guarding His
interests and advancing His
kingdom. Jerry
is going to be preaching a sermon
series soon on having a biblical
worldview. And I don't want to
steal his thunder, but think of
this as the "prequel" to that
series. Because
what I'm talking to you about is
this: How do you think of this
world? Does your spirit cry out
from deep within: "This is my
Father's world.... The Lord is
King, let the heavens ring" -- as
we sang a few minutes
ago? Is
that how you think of the world?
"King Jesus is the Lord of All
Things -- and I'm waiting with
great expectation for the Return
of the King!" That's
a biblical worldview. And if you
hold that view, it will change
everything else in your life.
Because you realize you're a
servant, a steward -- entrusted
with resources that are not your
own, and called to take care of
the king's business while He is
away. Your
stewardship encompasses what you
do with money, of course -- 100
percent of your money, because
it's all really his, whether you
have one mina, or ten, a
thousand. It
encompasses what you do with your
time -- because it is time He has
given to you. It encompasses how
you use the gifts and graces He's
given you for ministry -- and if
you're using them. It even
encompasses whether or not you
vote in local, state, and
national elections. After all,
we're are supposed to take care
of the King's lands. So
the next time you see Denethor,
the sour-faced steward of Gondor,
ask yourself this: "Am I being a
good steward? Am I about my
Father's business? Am I
fulfilling my responsibility to
the Lord of All
Things?" Am
I investing my money, my time, my
prayers, my life, day-after-day,
week-after-week in a kingdom that
remains unseen to most of the
world? Am I looking forward with
expectant faith, trusting that
the day is coming for the Return
of the King? Lord
God, thine is the kingdom, and
the power, and the glory forever.
Amen.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
The
Lord of all things:
The return of the King
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
A few months ago, Pastor Jerry
and Laurence and I had the
opportunity to go to a conference
down near Augusta about using
media in worship -- video,
graphics, film clips and so on.
Background
of the story
Let's
watch
Gandalf:
Yes,
the
White
Tree
of
Gondor.
The
Tree
of the
King.
Lord
Denethor,
however,
is not
a
king.
He is
a
steward
only;
a
caretaker
of the
throne.
So
they go inside to see the
steward. Now the steward's family
has been ruling Gondor for
several generations, because
there is no king. In fact, m any
had thought that the royal line
had died out -- but that isn't
true.
Denethor:
...Do
you
think
the
eyes
of the
White
Tower
are
blind?
I have
seen
more
than
you
know.
With
your
left
hand
you
would
use me
as a
shield
against
Mordor.
And
with
your
right,
you
seek
to
supplant
me! I
know
who
rides
with
Théoden
of
Rohan.
Oh
yes,
word
has
reached
my
ears
of
this
Aragorn
son of
Arathorn,
and I
tell
you
now: I
will
not
bow to
this
ranger
from
the
North!
Last
of a
ragged
house
long
bereft
of
lordship.
Now,
as I said, the role of the
steward is to be in charge until
the king returns. He is to guard
the king's interests, to protect
the king's lands, to use the
king's resources wisely. And yet,
this steward completely rejects
that responsibility.
Background
of the text
The
parable
The
subjects
What
do we do?
A
biblical worldview
Remember
what you saw and
heard
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040718a: The Lord of All
Things: The Return of the
King.
©
2004 Joseph M.
Slife