The Quest for Character: "Coming Out of Nowhere"
(Luke 19:11-27)
Main Idea: A significant character comes from determined faithfulness to insignificant responsibilities.
This morning in our series "The Quest for Character" we’re going to talk about faithfulness. We’ve titled this series as a "quest" for character. A quest is something that means it doesn’t happen overnight and has the possibilities of both positive and negative events occurring while you are on the quest. A quest takes time and is filled with uncertainties. That is certainly true with any of the issues of character we will talk about. It’s true of humility and it’s true of gratitude, but it is especially true of faithfulness. What I want us to see today is that a significant character comes from determined faithfulness to insignificant responsibilities. What Jesus teaches us today in the parable from Luke 19 is that it’s the faithfulness to little things, things that come out of nowhere, that make you or break you!
What is faithfulness? Essentially it means reliable or trustworthy, someone or something you can truly count on. There’s no question that our culture could stand a heavy dose of faithfulness. Marriages, businesses, friendships, churches, schools, organizations all are in need of faithfulness. People, all of us, need to be committed to do what we say we will do and be trusted to keep our word and our commitments. The reality is, though, that words like commitment, loyalty, reliability and integrity are rare in the character of our culture. When they are found, we celebrate them as if they are extraordinary rather than what should be expected as common or typical.
Faithfulness for a believer is essential to our character. Without faithfulness to Christ, other Christians, the church and to ourselves we have little that matters. If any characteristic should mark our character it should be faithfulness because it is a reflection of the character of Christ in us. Paul said, "…if we are faithless, he will remain faithful because he cannot disown himself" (2 Tim. 2:13, NIV)." It would be a denial of God’s very own nature for him to do anything other than be perfectly faithful." (J. David Hoke, Faithfulness, 2/6/94)
Throughout the ministry of Jesus he emphasized the need for faithfulness. He said in Luke 16:10, "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities" (NLT). He would commend and affirm those who were faithful in his stories such as the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:21 where the master affirms the servant by saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Jesus looked for, taught, and expected faithfulness from those who followed.
Yet here is the key issue we need to understand: faithfulness is a combination of God’s power and our persistence! We imagine that if we are going to be successful as a Christian then it really is up to God. So, if I am not successful, then it’s not because I’m at fault; it’s just God didn’t choose to help me. No, faithfulness includes both God’s ability and my obedience or my will to be obedient. Erwin McManus says, "Godliness is a result of divine activity and human action. God promises to do what we cannot do for ourselves and commands us to do that which he will not do for us." (Uprising, p. 180) God doesn’t make you faithful. He will provide all the necessary elements to help you but he will not do it for you!
Here, though, is the fascinating feature about faithfulness: it is accomplished by our persistence in the little things! That’s what Jesus said. "Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones." "The great things we long for and search for are found among the small things we may ignore or even discard." (Uprising, p. 179) In other words, the character of faithfulness comes out of nowhere!
This is true with the simple copper penny. Do you realize that –
What you and I imagine to be insignificant really is most significant.
The principle that what we do with the insignificant determines our true significance is found clearly in the parable we look at this morning. The parable is unusual and is very similar to the story Jesus told in Matthew 25, which we call "The Parable of the Talents." While it is similar, there are some very significant differences. It’s obvious Jesus used a basic story of persons being rewarded for faithfulness and adapted it as he needed.
The reason he told this particular story at this particular place is because of what Luke tells us in verse 11. "He told a story to correct the impression that the kingdom of God would begin right away." All through Luke’s gospel Jesus has been heading to Jerusalem. The location of this parable occurs just 17 miles from Jerusalem in Jericho. Everyone with him imagined that in 17 miles, when he gets to Jerusalem then he will overthrow the Romans, set up his rule and everyone is happy. Yet Jesus knew that wasn’t the plan! There was still work to be done before his kingdom would come. So he tells them a story about faithfulness to remind them that faithfulness was their responsibility to him.
Let’s take a moment and retell the story in order to understand what Jesus is saying about faithfulness. We need to remember that not everything in the story means something else. In other words, it’s obvious that the king represents Jesus and that his followers are the servants but not all the things the king does are like the things Jesus does. Yet the heart of the story portrays the message of Jesus that those who follow him are to be faithful.
The story begins with a local leader who is called away and is designated as king over the area he had previously ruled. Before he leaves he calls ten of his servants together and gives each of them a pound of silver. Now this pound or "mina" of silver was equivalent to four months wages. The plan was for each of the ten servants who received the same amount to go out and do something with the money so the king could earn a profit. There was no direction as to what and how but there was the expectation that when he came back he was to have more than what he gave them when he left. One pound wasn’t all that significant but it was the place to start with their investment.
When he comes back he calls all the servants in and wants to see what the profits were (v. 15). We only hear the report of three because Jesus just needs three to make his point. One reports that he had taken the one pound and made ten pounds out of it through his investments. The king affirms him by saying in verse 17, "Well done!’ the king exclaimed. ‘You are a trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with the little I entrusted to you, so you will be governor of ten cities as your reward." The next servant gives a similar report and is rewarded as well. They both discover that their faithfulness in insignificant responsibilities was the basis for greater reward.
Then the third servant makes his report and it’s not good. He returns the original amount and explains that he hid the money in a cloth and kept it safe. The reason he did was because he was afraid of the king’s attitude. The king calls him "wicked" and tells him the least he could have done was taken the money to a moneychanger where it would have gained some interest. The punishment was that he took the one pound from this servant and gave it to the one who had ten already. What the servant didn’t understand was that his unfaithfulness with the seemingly insignificant eliminated him from further expectations.
Now this doesn’t seem fair to those standing by and they protest that the servant with the ten pounds and ten cities to rule doesn’t need anything else. The king responds, and this is Jesus’ point, "'Yes,' the king replied, 'but to those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away." (v. 26) The bottom line for those listening was what you do with the small stuff matters to God. The great things of God come out of small acts of faithfulness.
Now what do we need to see from this story that will help us in our quest for character? Before I begin I want to make sure you understand that this parable applies to what you and I do as followers of Christ until we die or until he returns. Now there is the principle here that in our culture that faithfulness with something small can become something big. (Like someone I know who received a $1000 grant from Ouachita after they graduated that if they had invested the $500 they spent on a trip to Florida in Wal-Mart stock, they could write one check and make a major dent in the cost of our new building and still have change!) But it’s not always true in our secular world. Faithful investments can be lost in moments; faithful service to a company can still find you in an unemployment line; faithful commitment to your marriage can still find you with divorce papers. You get the picture.
This parable is not a model or guarantee for the rewards of faithfulness in our own secular lives! It is teaching that when it comes to spiritual things and being a follower of Jesus Christ that a significant character comes from determined faithfulness to insignificant responsibilities. This parable teaches us that it is our responsibility to be faithful to Jesus Christ. Jesus has every right and reason to expect that you and I will be faithful to him. One thing that overrides this parable is that the king has an expectation of faithfulness from those to whom he has given something. It is unreasonable for you and I to think that God doesn’t care all that much if you aren’t all that hot as a Christian! Where we have come up with the idea that mediocrity as a Christian is the norm, I don’t know. We consistently settle for poor and shallow expectations of ourselves and others. We just imagine since we don’t care, God really doesn’t care either. He doesn’t really mind if I come to worship one Sunday a month. It’s no big deal to him if I never read my Bible or pray. He’s ok with my never sharing my faith. It’s no sweat if I fill my mind with junk and live a life contradictory to the life of Jesus. So what?
The truth is He does care! In fact, he cares so much that he said, "For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done" (Matt. 16:27). If you don’t already know, know it now: God cares whether or not you are faithful to him! He has let you know in advance that you will one day be evaluated as to your faithfulness to him. Like it or not, we have a responsibility to be faithful to Jesus Christ!
There’s another thing that is obvious from this story and that is that faithfulness begins with our response to insignificant responsibilities. In verse 13 the king gives the same amount to each servant. While not the most perhaps the king could give, it, nevertheless, wasn’t worthless. It may have seemed insignificant but it held tremendous significance. Did you ever realize that the key for unlocking greater opportunity, responsibility, and productivity as a believer is found in our attention to seemingly small, insignificant things? Faithfulness begins with the small steps and builds toward the larger ones. If you want to know more about the Bible, it starts by reading a few pages today. If you want to grow in your prayer life, it starts by spending a few minutes in prayer today. If you want to influence a friend in the faith, it starts with a phone call for lunch this week.
It is so easy, though, for us to be blind to this simple principle because we put off the insignificant expecting the significant to drop in our lap. I read the cartoon "Lola" this week. It showed the grandmotherly character Lola before a judge in traffic court. The judge says, "And why were you speeding this time, Lola?" Her response was, "I’m old. I don’t have time to dawdle, Judge." His answer was, "Sounds reasonable to me! Case dismissed!" Then she says, "It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you quit playing games." (Lola, Steve Dickerson and Todd Clark, Oct. 5, 2004). When you and I quit playing games about the insignificant things that seem unimportant we begin to discover what it means to be faithful!
This story of Jesus teaches as well that faithfulness with insignificant responsibilities expands our capacity for greater effectiveness. (v. 17-19) The servant who used his one pound to gain ten more pounds was rewarded with responsibility of administrating ten cities. Because he extended his opportunities, he was rewarded with expanded capacity. It is easy for us to get this backwards. We imagine that we should start out with the responsibilities of ten cities when we really can’t be faithful in the one thing we have volunteered to do.
I have met persons who come to churches and they expect that they should immediately be given significant leadership responsibilities. Now it is true that you don’t want someone who has the capacity to administrate ten cities to spend all their time working with small tasks. Yet if that person isn’t faithful to a commitment to work with a small job, then how do you know they have the capacity to administrate a larger responsibility? Jesus’ point is that faithfulness to the "grunt" jobs puts you in a place to be responsible for the "great" jobs. The point is how you serve exposes how you will lead. If you are a faithful servant then you will be a trustworthy leader. If you are a sloppy servant then you will be an ineffective leader.
It’s interesting that Jesus spends the most significant part of this story on the third servant who did nothing with his one pound. What this teaches is that unfaithfulness with insignificant responsibilities eliminates our capacity for future rewards. (v.20-26). The servant who was unfaithful was called "wicked" by the king (v. 22). There are a lot of things that maybe I would have called the guy rather than "wicked." Lazy, ungrateful but certainly not wicked. Yet we can’t avoid the word and the obvious serious concern that Jesus shows toward our neglecting our opportunities. I mean, isn’t it possible that God sees our negligence of human capacity in a different way than we do? We see this and think, "Okay, so I have not reached my potential but I can make up for it. It’s not that big of a problem." Yet Jesus raised the issue that once the opportunity is gone, it won’t come back again!
Erwin McManus writes, "There’s so much talk about potential in our culture, as if it’s the end-all of success. Has anyone ever said about you, ‘He has so much potential’? If you’re under twenty—let’s give you twenty-five—consider it a compliment. Potential—your untapped or unlocked capacity. Potential—the hint of greatness not yet developed. ‘He has so much potential’—a statement of praise and maybe even adoration. And then you’re thirty, and you still have all this potential. Pressing forty, and you’re still full of potential. If you’re forty-five and someone looks at you and says, ‘You have so much potential,’ pause, excuse yourself, step into a closet, and have a good cry."
What once was a statement of promise is now an assessment of lost opportunity. There is a point where you’re not supposed to be full of potential; you’re supposed to be full of talent, capacity, product. Potential is a glimpse of what could be, yet there must be a shift from where we have potential to where we are potent. You’re not supposed to die with your potential." (Uprising, p. 187) When we are unfaithful with our possibilities we risk dying with our potential!
I told you at the beginning that this parable was told to help Jesus’ disciples to understand that right then was not the time for him to set up his kingdom. But he told a story about a king who left persons with responsibility and came back to see what they did with the responsibility. One day Jesus Christ is going to return and will evaluate your faithfulness and mine. It is our responsibility to be faithful. That faithfulness begins with the little opportunities that come out of nowhere. When we are faithful with the small things, it increases our capacity for more responsibility. At the same time, when we are unfaithful with the insignificant then we can be sure we risk losing greater opportunities.
So what are you going to do? Ignore your responsibility to be faithful? Put if off one more day? I read a fable in which three demons tried to capture the world. The first demon declared, "There is no God!" But too many people had a sense for the divine in their hearts already. The first demon was not believed. The second demon said, "There is no sin!" But the newspaper keeps hitting the front porch every day with evidence to the contrary, so this demon was not believed either. The third demon was more savvy, however. He whispered, "There is no hurry!" and he captivated millions. (In the Meantime by Scott Hoezee, 2003). A significant character comes from determined faithfulness to insignificant responsibilities. Faithfulness starts now!
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor
First Baptist Church
Jonesboro, Arkansas