“Put that money to work.” How many times have you heard that? I remember a long, long time ago in the ‘80’s my dad encouraging me to invest in mutual funds and that “let your money work for you” language was thick in the propaganda. Mutual funds were ways, safe ways for everyday people to start investing in the stock market with their savings. But…you needed $5,000 to open one. I wished I had been able to do that back then. Today that $5,000 would be worth enough to put both my kids through university. I was in university myself at the time and didn’t have that kind of cash on hand. To this day I have yet to have cobbled together enough to start an investment portfolio that would do me any good. I chose the route of charitable giving as opposed to saving the excess wealth we had to play with. I guess that makes me a fool in the eyes of many.
But anyway, we all know the idea of putting money to work. Investing in the stock market puts cash in the hands of businesses and entitles investors to a share in the profit that a company makes. That’s buying a share. The crazy side of it is that a share can be traded for more than its actual value. If Company A has an annual profit of 5% and Company B shows 15%, people will want to buy shares in Company B and will be willing to pay more for them because they believe they will make more from them. So, there’s what you make or lose from the actual dividend of the stock share and then there’s what you can make or lose from the perceived worth of the share itself.
The long of the short is that you can put your money to work, if you got it. It will make more for you. And the more you have, the greater means you have to buy shares in companies that will provide even greater dividends. Those who have more to invest almost always will make more than those who have less to invest. Then there are those who are good at making a buck on the strategic buying and selling of stock shares. They can start with a little and, keeping an eye on things, they buy low and sell high and make a lot off of the perceived worth of stocks regardless of the dividends. So, put your money to work is the mantra these days. Money will make you more money. Outside of a catastrophe, it’s a given. Don’t be afraid to invest. Invested wealth grows. That’s what they say.
Looking at our reading in Luke, this parable of investing seems to follow that line of thinking. Ten servants were each given a mina to “put to work” for a rich dude who was going away to be made king. We only hear how things went for three of them. But, no matter. The rich dude came back king and wants to know how his servants had done with the mina he had entrusted to them. A mina would have been worth three months wages. How well they did turned out to be the determinant of how much authority they would be given in the new king’s kingdom. Prove yourself faithful with a little and you will receive a lot.
The first servant to give account was apparently good at investing. His keen stewardship had caused that single mina to earn ten more. So, the king granted him authority over ten cities as the reward for his trustworthiness. The second was also good at investing but not as good as the first. His one mina only earned five more. So, the king granted him five cities to have authority over. The principle was that the extent to which one was faithful with a little determined the amount of authority one would be granted in the kingdom.
The third servant is a bit of a concern. Because he was afraid of the rich dude, he buried the mina so that he wouldn’t risk losing it. The rich dude now become king got very upset, called the servant wicked, and took his mina and gave it to the one who made the ten. Some thought that was unfair but the king just wanted to invest in the people who were most able to provide him with a greater return on his wealth.
The king finished the reckoning noting that to the one who has, more will be given. In the case of this parable, the thing that one has isn’t simply the mina. It is the faithfulness, the loyalty put into action, the desire to serve the king well. The one who has that desire and acts on it will be rewarded accordingly. The king then said, “the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away.” The one who does not have the desire to faithfully serve the king will have everything taken from him. This does not bode well for the next thing the king does is to have executed those who were against him being king. (Not a bright spot in this parable I know) Faithfulness, loyalty to the king put into action, is what pays. It’s what gives one the authority to reign in the kingdom.
So, what of all this? It’s a parable and so there’s some disguised meaning to things lurking about which we need to flesh out. Jesus told this parable to his followers as he was nearing Jerusalem and he said it particularly to those who think he is going to bring in the Kingdom of God upon arrival there. He’s was trying to tell them that was not going to happen and was planting the seeds that those who follow him will face a trial of faithfulness until he returns and then they will be rewarded. The million-dollar question here is what the mina is. What are his disciples going to be entrusted with until he returns.
What is the mina? We only know two things about it: It’s valuable and everybody gets an equal share. To spare us too much suspense, Jesus’ last words to his disciples in Luke’s Gospel were, “I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.” Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit in a very Book of Acts kind of way (which Luke also wrote). The Mina is the Holy Spirit which all disciples would receive and the Spirit will enable or empower all his disciples to serve faithfully until Jesus comes back to reign.
So, let’s put two and two together. We have all been given an equal share of the Holy Spirit to help us live the life of faith. The Holy Spirit is the presence of God with and in us who gives us the desire to want to know God as God has revealed himself to us in, through, and as Jesus. The Holy Spirit lets us know God is with us because he is God with us. The Holy Spirits makes us to feel and understand that we are beloved children of God. The Holy Spirit is who gives us the desire to want to know Jesus, to want to draw close to him, to want to lean on him in times of trial. The Holy Spirit leads us to know that “the Lord is my Shepherd.” The Holy Spirit makes us want to love others as we have been loved – unconditionally, sacrificially, without reserve. The Holy Spirit makes us able to forgive and to do the hard work of reconciliation. The Holy Spirit prompts us to want to pray and to study the Scripture. The Holy Spirit draws us to want to participate in Christian fellowship. The Holy Spirit compels us to compassion for others. Makes us hunger and thirst for a greater sense of the presence of God in our lives. He makes us want God’s will to be done here on earth as it is in heaven.
We’ve all been given the mina of the Holy Spirit. The challenge the parable presents us with is how do we invest the presence of God. How do we “do business” with the mina of the Holy Spirit and, if I might be so tacky, how do we put the Holy Spirit to work. The Holy Spirit causes us to grow in love of God, self, and others. Just as wealth, if invested, grows so also does the work of the Holy Spirit and our sense of God's Presence grow in us when we tend to it, causing us to bear the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If we are afraid and bury the presence of God in our lives out of fear of doing something that might offend God or simply cause us to make some changes, we quench the Spirit and we will lose our spiritual passion and joy and sense of God with us. But if we attend to the Holy Spirit, give time to sit with God, and follow the Spirit’s promptings we will develop a greater sense of God’s work and presence in our lives.
Investing the Presence of God begins with giving God some time, taking time for building the relationship with God. This obviously involves taking time to sit in an awareness of God’s Presence. Be still and know that God is God. Put an empty chair in front of you. That’s in essence what the lid of the Ark of the Covenant was in ancient Israel, a place for God to sit. I like three chairs one each for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While sitting there with your empty chairs, read some scripture, especially the Psalms, this gives God opportunity to speak to you. Sing a hymn. Give thanks. If you’re bearing a load, share it with God. If you’re mad at God, hurting, whatever, let God have it. Cry your eyes out. There’s nothing wrong with asking God to step up and hurry up and do what he does – heal, restore, resurrect. God won’t get us for being petulant in the midst of difficulties, but he will teach us patient endurance. A couple weeks ago I spoke of praying continually, specifically the Lord’s Prayer. That’s the only prayer we need. Give this prayer a lot of space in your thought world throughout the day and in your sleepless nights. If you feel moved with compassion, go with it. If you feel compelled to pray for or to call somebody, well, it just might be a God thing to follow up on.
Investing the Presence of God begins with giving space and time to be in relationship with our Living God. Like wealth will grow if invested, so our sense of God’s presence grows when we open up to it. God is present with us each. God will speak with us each. God will touch our hearts letting us know we are his beloved. God will give us peace in the midst of turmoil. Just give the Presence of God space and time and you will grow in Christ. Amen.
