Kingdom Investors
Today is the last week in our teaching series called The Generosity Tree. It’s a series about how to be generous in a world of greed, and in our 1st week we talked about being generous with our time, talent, and treasures. In our 2nd week we talked about being content with what we have, so we can be generous with what we have. In our 3rd week we talked about being a cheerful giver, because the Lord cares more about the heart of the giver, than the amount of the giving. Well in this last week we’re talking about being a Kingdom Investor. We’re talking about being a Kingdom Investor, because the truth is everybody’s an investor who’s investing in something. The question isn’t are you an investor, it’s what are you investing in?...What in your life, are you investing in the most?...
Several years ago I met a top executive for Disney, and I remember him saying, “If you show me a person’s calendar and checkbook, I’ll show you what they’re most invested in.” His point was we’ll give our time and money to the things we’re most invested in. “If you show me a person’s calendar and checkbook, I’ll show you what they’re most invested in.” What does your calendar and checkbook reveal about you?...What does your calendar and checkbook reveal about what you’re most invested in?...The truth is both skeptics and believers are investors, and we typically invest in things we love, not things we don’t love. For example, you don’t see Apple investing in Microsoft...You don’t see UCF or Florida Gator fans investing in FSU jerseys...You don’t see a vegan investing in 4Rivers...It’s because we typically invest in things we love, not things we don’t love. So the question isn’t are you an investor, it’s what are you investing in?... What are the things in your life you love, the things in your life you’re most invested in?...This is what we’re talking about today, so let’s turn to Luke chapter 19 and get into it. If you’re new to the Bible you can just open your Bible to the middle, and keep turning right until you find Luke. We’ll be in Luke 19:11-27. The title of the message is Kingdom Investors, and the big idea of the message is if you love something, you’ll invest in it...If you love something, you’ll invest in it...
Luke 19:11-27 states, “As they were listening to this, Jesus went on to tell a parable because he was near Jerusalem, and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.” We’re getting a little context here as to why Jesus is telling his followers this parable. It’s because he’s getting close to Jerusalem, and they keep thinking he’ll take his throne as king and restore his kingdom right away. They keep thinking he’ll flex his power and kill it as king, but he keeps telling them he’ll restrain his power and be killed as king. He keeps telling them in Jerusalem he won’t receive a grown of gold, he’ll receive a crown of thorns. So he tells them this parable to teach them what to do after he’s killed, and while they’re waiting for him to restore his kingdom.
Vs. 12, “Therefore he said, ‘A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king, and then to return. 13 He called ten of his servants, gave them ten minas, and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’” So the king in this story gives his servants 10 minas, which is 3 months of wages, and he tells them to engage in business, until he returns. He tells them to invest it in growing his kingdom, until he returns. Now if they love the king, they’ll do what he asks. If they love the king, they’ll invest in growing his kingdom, because if you love something, you’ll invest in it. Let’s see if these servants love the king and invest in his kingdom.
Vs. 14, “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us.’” What we’re learning here is the king has enemies. He has enemies, citizens, people in his kingdom who hate him. They don’t love him, they hate him, and don’t want him as their king. Let’s remember that because it’ll be mentioned again at the end of the parable.
Vs. 15, “At his return, having received the authority to be king, he summoned those servants he had given the money to so he could find out how much they made in business.” So it’s time for them to give their fiscal report. It’s time for them to show the king how much they made in business, which is a major point of this parable. It’s that one day Christians will have to show King Jesus how much we’ve made in business, meaning we’ll have to show King Jesus how we’ve used his resources to help grow his kingdom. This is important, especially for those of us who are Christians, because a lot of times we spend and invest our money as if Jesus isn’t going to read our fiscal report. But according to this parable he will, and for some of us that might be scary. But it doesn’t have to be scary if we pray asking King Jesus how he wants us to use his resources, and then create a budget so we can be faithful with his resources. It’s good for both skeptics and believers to have a budget, but as Christians we should seek the guidance of King Jesus when we create our budget, so we can be wise Kingdom Investors with whatever resources he’s given us.
In fact my wife and I do this every year. We’ll pray seeking the guidance of King Jesus asking how he wants us to use our resources, and then we’ll create a budget so we can be faithful with his resources. He’s given us resources to invest in our family, so we can enjoy things like a house, food, and fun family vacations. He’s given us resources toinvest in our friendships, so we can enjoy having friends over to play games, watch football, and eat some good BBQ. He’s given us resources to invest in our church, so we can help support our church family, and get to enjoy participating in the growth of his kingdom. Jesus is a gracious king who gives us resources to invest in his kingdom and the people in his kingdom. So we create a budget not because we fear the king, but because we love the king, we love his kingdom, and we want to invest our resources in whatever ways he wants for his kingdom. You don’t have to fear showing King Jesus your fiscal report, if you seek his guidance on how to use his resources and create a budget. The king in the text is ready for his servants to give their fiscal report, so let’s see what their reports reveal.
Vs. 16, “The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten more minas.’ 17 ‘Well done good servant!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful in a very small matter, have authority over ten towns.’” This servant doubles it, which is a good fiscal report. He doubles the king’s investment, and gets employee of the month. The king promotes him to district manager over ten towns. This servant proves he loves the king, by investing in growing the king’s kingdom.
Vs. 18, “The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’” Notice this servant’s profit margins aren’t as big as the first servant’s, but it’s still a good fiscal report. He still increases the king’s investment by 50%, which is a great profit margin. So the king promotes him to district manager over five towns. Like the first servant, this one loves the king, and so he invests in growing the king’s kingdom.
Vs. 20, “And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it safe in a cloth 21 because I was afraid of you since you’re a harsh man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’” Simply put, he did nothing with it. This servant did absolutely nothing with the king’s investment, instead he kept it hidden in a cloth. In the original Greek manuscripts the Greek word for cloth can also be translated as handkerchief. He kept the king’s investment hidden in a cloth, in a handkerchief. He says the reason he did this is because he's afraid of the king, and because the king’s a harsh man. But that’s a lie because the king’s been generous and fair with the other servants, and if this servant’s really afraid of the king being harsh, then he would’ve done what the king asked out of fear. But he doesn’t do what the king asked, because he doesn’t really fear or love the king. So he buries the king’s resources in a handkerchief.
Now just like this king was gracious in giving his servant resources, King Jesus is gracious in giving us resources, even beyond financial resources. I mean you can attend church each week, but in some parts of the world people are being killed for attending church. So don’t bury your attendance, in a handkerchief...You can invite your friends to church, but in some parts of the world people are being tortured for inviting their friends to church. So don’t bury your invitations, in a handkerchief...You can read the bible every morning, but in some parts of the world they don’t have access to the bible. In fact right now over 1.5 billion people don’t have access to a full bible in their native language, which means they can’t wake up in the morning, grab some coffee, and read the bible for daily guidance like we can. So don’t bury reading the bible for daily guidance, in a handkerchief...My point is King Jesus has given us so many resources even beyond financial resources, and he wants us to use those resources instead of burying them in a handkerchief. The guy in the text buries the king’s resources in a handkerchief. He doesn’t really fear and love the king, so he doesn’t invest in growing the king’s kingdom. Let’s see how the king responds.
Vs. 22, “He told him, ‘I will condemn you by what you have said, you evil servant! If you knew I was a harsh man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, 23 then why didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest.’ 24 So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him, and give it to the one who has ten minas.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’ 26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who doesn’t have, even what he does have will be taken away.’”The king condemns the servant, using the servant’s own words against him. It’s because like I said before, if he’s really afraid of the king being harsh, he would’ve done something with the king’s investment. He would’ve at least put it in a bank to collect interest, but instead he buries it in a handkerchief. So the king makes a wise decision in taking away the mina from this servant. He doesn’t give this servant a promotion, because this servant has been milking the clock, not doing their job, basically taking a vacation on company time. The king isn’t being harsh, he’s being wise by not promoting this servant, and Jesus is saying he’ll do the same with us. If we don’t want to invest in his kingdom, he’ll give more resources to somebody who does.
Vs. 27, “But bring these enemies of mine, who didn’t want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence.” As I mentioned before the king has enemies. In vs. 14 it says his enemies hate him, they don’t want the king ruling over them, and the same is true for Jesus. Jesus is a king, this world is his kingdom, and some people hate him and don’t want him ruling over them. This is why not everybody gets to go to heaven. It’s because some people don’t want Jesus as their king ruling over them, but you can’t enjoy the kingdom of heaven without the king of heaven. You can’t enjoy life in the kingdom of heaven, if you don’t enjoy life with the king of heaven. So we have to love the king if we want to enjoy life in the kingdom of heaven, and if we love the king we’ll invest in his kingdom. This parable teaches us to be kingdom investors who invest in the growth of King Jesus’ kingdom, because we love the king and his kingdom. So the question isn’t are you an investor, it’s are you a kingdom investor?...Are you a kingdom investor who loves King Jesus, and are you using the resources he’s given you to help grow his kingdom?... I want to say thank you to everyone in our church who’s been a kingdom investor this year. Your kingdom investments in 2024 have helped our church to grow King Jesus’ kingdom. In 2024...
· Our weekly attendance has grown by 17%.
· Our financial giving has grown by 31%.
· We’ve had 41 first-time Kingdom Investors.
· We’ve added 23 new members.
· We’ve added 27 new volunteers.
· We now have a total of 120 volunteers, and 19 are student volunteers!
· We’ve celebrated parent commissionings, we’ve celebrated baptisms, and we’re about to celebrate 6-7 more baptisms in December!
· We’ve also been involved in local missions, global missions, and church planting initiatives to help start new churches for even greater kingdom expansion.
Your kingdom investment in 2024 has helped grow our church, which has helped grow King Jesus’ kingdom, and we’re looking to continue to grow in 2025 with your continual kingdom investments. But we don’t just want to grow numerically; we also want to grow spiritually. These numbers mean nothing if we aren’t growing spiritually, and in 2025, one of the primary things we want to focus on growing spiritually is our joy. Every year we seek the Lord asking what he wants us to focus on, and one of the primary things for 2025 is our joy. We’ll be focusing on the question how can we bring much joy into our lives, the people in our city, and our world? In 2025...
· We will do a series on Philippians and Ecclesiastes, which are two books of the bible that can help us grow in learning to find joy in Jesus in everyday life.
· We will have a bible study app and booklet available for you called The Bible Recap, which ends every lesson helping us find joy in Jesus, because he’s where the joy is.
· We’re also focusing on bringing joy into the lives of others in our city and world, by doing some local and global city serves in places like Choice’s Women’s Clinic, Residing Hope Children’s Home, a mission trip to reach different people groups living in NY, a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and much more.
Our focus in 2025 will be on bringing much joy into our lives, the people in our city, and
our world. You can be a Kingdom Investor who helps us with that! You can be a Kingdom Investor who helps us grow numerically and spiritually in 2025, so we can keep growing King Jesus’ kingdom. This parable teaches us to view our resources in ways that can help grow his kingdom. It teaches us to ask the question, what does King Jesus want you to do with his mina?...What does King Jesus want you to do with his resources?...If the king’s given you salvation and new life in relationship with him, how can you use that new life to lead others into a relationship with him?...If the king’s given you a chance to be a small group leader, how can you use that leadership to equip someone else to be a small group leader?...If the king’s given you a church or youth group to be a part of, how can you use that to invite others to be a part of it?...If the king’s given you 10 mina or 1 mina in financial resources, what’s it look like for you to use those financial resources to grow his kingdom in the rest of 2024 and in 2025?...What does King Jesus want you to do with his resources?...I can tell you the one thing he doesn’t want you to do, is bury it in handkerchief. John Piper once mentioned this when he was telling a story about two people, who retired early at ages 51 and 59. He said they currently live in South Florida, where they cruise on their 30-ft boat and collect seashells. Some of us are like “That sounds nice! I’d like to retire young, have a 30-ft boat, and chill on the beach collecting seashells.” But what John Piper says next is convicting. Piper states, “Bob and Penny achieved the American Dream. But imagine coming to the end of your life—your one and only life—and the last great work before you give an account to your Creator is, ‘I collected shells. See my shells.’ What a tragedy. Yet people today are spending billions of dollars, to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. Today I’m here to plead with you: don’t buy it. Don’t waste your life.” Don’t waste your life. Don’t bury your life, in a handkerchief...
The big idea of the message is if you love something, you’ll invest in it...If you love something, you’ll invest in it...So what do you love?...What do you love, what are you most investing in?...The Disney executive said if you look at your calendar and checkbook, you’ll see what you love and what you’re most invested in. But John 3:16 says, “For God so loved, that he gave...For God so loved, that he gave, his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but shall have eternal life.” The fact that Jesus was willing to give up his life for your life, proves he loves you. It’s because if you love something, you’ll invest in it, and apparently Jesus loved you so much, that he was willing to invest his entire life for you. But the question is are you willing to invest your life for him?...Are you willing to accept him as your king, love him as your king, invest your life and resources in his kingdom, or waste your life and resources burying it all in a handkerchief?...If you love King Jesus, then invest your time, talent, and treasures in helping grow his kingdom, rather than burying those things in a handkerchief.
I’ll leave you with this final thought from CT Studd. In the 20th century CT Studd was considered the most famous professional athlete in England. He was the Patrick Mahomes in cricket, and people all over the world knew who he was. But at the height of his career, he walked away from all of it to become a missionary in India and China, where he eventually died in relative poverty. What CT Studd did would be like Patrick Mahomes saying, “I’m quitting football to use my time, talents, and treasures to live as a missionary in the Middle East.” People would wonder why he would ever do something like that, just like they wondered that about CT Studd. In fact CT Studd was asked why he walked away from it all, and he said, “Only one life to live, will soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ, will last.” He walked away from it all because he knew the only legacy that’s eternal is Christ’s legacy. Studd was a Kingdom Investor, but what kind of investor are you? “Only one life to live, will soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ, will last.”