Where does 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon find you? And how do you feel at that time?
When I was a little boy growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, 5:00 o'clock in the afternoon found me standing in front of a big window in our living room. If it was warm enough, I'd be at the front door with only the screen between me and the sidewalk leading to the street. I was watching for Mr. Greve's car. Every now and then I'd call out, “Mom, what time is it? Isn't it time for Dad to get here?”
Then, all of a sudden, Mr. Greve's car would pull up to the curb. Dad would get out with his brief case in hand. I'd jump through the screen door and run down the sidewalk to meet him. At times he'd take me up into his arms. We'd go into the house together, and I would be happy because Dad had come home.
Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that was a half century ago. It's been a long time since those days. But, you know, I still find myself waiting today, not for Dad but for someone else who is also very special – the Lord Jesus. He's been away a long time, but we're sure that He is coming back. He promised it, and I think from some of the other things He told us about His return, we're probably close to 5:00 o'clock – and I'm waiting. What about you?
The day He returns will be an exciting one for those who are looking for Him. On the other hand, it will not be happy for those who are not looking for Him to come back; some don't even want Him back. But He will come, and His return will usher in the Last Day of this present world's existence. What will that be like for those who are and aren't ready for Him? And what are we to do while we are waiting? That's the subject of our text today.
So, may the Holy Spirit graciously guide us in our study that we might be ready for that day. We will be ready if we are doing something in the present. Let's call that “something” Going About God's Business. From the way Jesus presents it here, we ought to be considering at least two questions as we go about His business. We ought to be asking ourselves I. What have we been gaining for Him? and, II. What will be received from Him?
I. What have we been gaining for Him because the Church here is doing business for God ? “Doing business?” you might ask. “I thought that Jesus didn't want His Church to be involved in buying and selling things in this world.” And with that answer you would be right, dear friend. After all, didn't He get angry and mightily object in His day when merchants sold animals for sacrifices and money handlers operated currency exchanges in the temple courtyard? They thought they were doing business for the benefit of the church, and they were turning a pretty good profit besides. But the Lord Jesus objected to that kind of business then. And He still objects to that kind of business today when people turn God's house into a marketplace to transact business there.
But, in another way, where profit or greed isn't the factor, the church is a place of business – the Lord's business. That's what Jesus called it when He was a twelve-year-old boy and went to the Temple for the first time. When he “lost” Himself in God's Word there, how did He refer to it? He said, “Didn't you know that I must be about my Father's business?”
Later on when He called the temple “a house of prayer,” He stressed that it was for worship and prayer and growth in God's Word. So, to Him going about God's business is done when we pray, proclaim the Word, and administer His Sacraments – when we worship Him in and with our lives.
“Church” is more than a building. It is God's people who lament their sin and acknowledge their need of a Savior before Judgment Day comes. They trust that in the blood of Christ Jesus they have been redeemed so that Judgment Day becomes a time of happiness for them as the Lord Jesus takes them onward to Himself in heaven. Once lost, they were sought and are now found by Him (Lk.19:10). In grateful response to that salvation, they serve Him on Sundays, weekdays, and every day of their lives.
They profess Him as Savior and Lord before the world, and they seek to spread that Good News all around. It's that spreading of the Gospel through Word and Sacrament that Jesus made the business of the church before He left it in His ascension, saying, “Go into all the world; make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them all things I have commanded you.”
You see, dear friends,
God's Business, the church's business is not politics, social reform, or commercialism. It's not even feeding the hungry or clothing the poor – although each of those is to be a part of the Christian's life. No, for the church
God's Business amounts to souls, winning them for Him by Gospel preaching and
teaching, in baptizing and celebrating Holy Communion, by joining in ministry, mission, and prayer. It's the business we are to do, each one of us, while He is gone for He has made no other arrangements for anyone else to do it except His disciples. And it's all to be done in view of the final day of reckoning that is coming.
That is brought out in our text when Jesus describes a man, obviously representative of Him, going away to a distant land to receive His kingship. Isn't that exactly what Jesus did when He ascended into heaven after bringing about our complete salvation? In that He became more than the king of the Jews. He became the gracious ruler of all who believe in Him as their Savior. Even now the Bible says He rules in heaven over all things for the welfare of His people (Ep.1; Ro.8). But He also told those people to do something while He's gone – to make disciples. And He's given them what they need to do it, the treasure of the Gospel.
That's what the mina represents in this parable; it's the Gospel in Word and Sacrament with which we do business for Him in this world, the business of winning souls for eternity. And note that each of the servants in the parable - 10 of them representing the whole church - each of them receives the same amount, one mina, because there is only one Gospel of salvation in Christ. We each have its blessings in the same proportion if we hold to His teaching on it. With this we are to do business for Him while He's gone.
Now that leads to the question, dear friend. What have you been doing with it? What have I been doing with it? What have we as a church been doing with it? Because doing something with the Gospel is directly tied with Him gaining something from it. He cannot gain souls for eternity if we are not going about our business for Him here.
Are we sitting on it like that one unfaithful servant in the parable? He said he wrapped it up in a cloth and hid it away because he was afraid. Actually, the way in which he talks makes one feel like he held a grudge against the king. Are we sitting on the Gospel like he was for any reason? Or are we actively putting it to work, living it in our lives, enjoying it in our faith, expressing it by words and actions to those around us so that they see and hear about Christ and are drawn to Him? We can't do anything about how others will receive the Gospel. That's the work of the Holy Spirit in people's hearts. But we can do something about getting it to them and in that do our part in gaining an increase for Him.
The Apostle Paul reminds us of our privilege and responsibility here when he asks, “How can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ....For faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Ro.10:14).
Dear friend in Christ, in view of the Last Day, in view of the Last Judgment that will find people either in heaven or in hell, what have we been gaining for Christ as we go about God's business? Again, there is nothing that we can do about the results in people's hearts and lives. But there is something we can do in proclaiming Christ to them. And in that proclamation God promises that His Word will not return to Him empty-handed, but it will have a result of faith according to His will. After all, in the parable Jesus said that the minas that were put to use produced an increase. The Gospel used gains souls for Christ. But the Gospel wrapped in a cloth and hid away can do nothing. And Judgment Day will show it.
TR. Judgment Day will also show what is received from the King . What will be received from Him when He returns?
II. We know that Judgment Day will find the believer in heaven with God. But what about those who don't believe? What will they receive from Him?
Paul wrote in the Epistle lesson today (2Thess.1:5f): “He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. (The believers were undergoing persecution for their faith.) This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord.”
What a horrible fate awaits those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ – who do not know Him as their Savior. And they can be of two types, according to our text.
They can be outright enemies of Christ who oppose Him as heaven's king; we call them atheists. Or they can be people who are lazy with the Gospel, like the man who buried it in a cloth. They have it, they hear it, it's actually in their hands, but they do nothing with it for themselves, let alone for the welfare of others.
One can despise the Gospel only so long, dear friends, before it doesn't affect them any more. And then it proves no good for them or for their gaining others. That's the situation the lazy servant was in. It is somewhat along the lines of our saying, “Don't use it and you lose it.” Sadly, that is where Judgment day will find many.
Instead of enjoying eternity with God, they will receive eternal punishment for not caring about His business. What a horrible shame that is if it takes place because of one's negligence towards the Gospel. Perhaps we could call it a sin of doing nothing.
Think of it this way. The story is told of a man who lived near a road that crossed an Ozark stream. One year it rained so much that the bridge washed away. “Why not put some boards over the stream so people won't have to walk through the water,” his wife told him. But the man was lazy. “Why should I drag boards down there for a bunch of other people? Besides, it's not even on my property. Let the man who owns it do it.” So he did nothing.
When people came down the road, they had to walk through the water. A man ruined a good pair of shoes; a lady ruined her pants; a boy got very sick when his feet became wet in the cold. Whose fault was it that these things happened? The man's! He could have laid those boards across the stream to help them.
Of course, he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He even tried to justify his inactivity. But that was exactly his sin – doing nothing when he could have done something, for the Bible says, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins” (Ja.4:17). Furthermore, Jesus encourages us, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Mt.25:40).
Actually, Jesus died to pay for that kind of sin, too, as one repents and turns to Him in faith. And for His sake, God graciously forgives the sin of not doing what we could do to help others. But because Jesus came to help us for Judgment Day, faithful disciples will follow His example and go about God's business of proclaiming the Gospel to others. It's a privilege and a joy. What we will receive from Him isn't told us exactly, not even in this parable. But the joys of heaven and grace will certainly be ours. That's His promise. And its coming we look forward to.
Sadly, when I got older, I didn't look for my Dad as excitedly as I once did. As we go about His business, God help us always to be excited , anticipating with joy Jesus' return in judgment. Amen.