. . . speaking of things pertaining to the kingdom of God
Acts 1:3
We have seen a repeated theme about the kingdom; Jesus taught it can be like a tiny seed that bears great fruit. Something small that is planted, nurtured, and grows into something massive. We are also taught to pray for God’s kingdom to come (Luke 11). But how does it come? Do we pray and then God makes it happen? Or do we have more involvement in the process than that? The last kingdom reality to be discussed is how the kingdom comes. If we miss out on understanding and practicing this, we might miss out on seeing the kingdom come in our lives.
Jesus tells a parable (recorded in Matthew 25 and Luke 19) that helps answer this question. Luke 19:11 sets the context for this parable: “He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately.” He continues to tell a parable about a landowner who gave ten talents to one servant, five to another, and one to another. He left, and when he came back, he brought the servants to him to see what each man had gained by trading. The man with ten gained ten. He was given authority over ten cities. The man with five gained five more and was given authority over five cities. The man with one hid it because he feared the landowner. The landowner called this last servant wicked.
Jesus links the coming of the kingdom of God and stewardship. In a culture marked by victim and entitlement mentalities, this story rings the responsibility bell. We are to co-labor with the King. It is His kingdom and His talents, but we are to invest them and the profit to Him. We are not responsible to make seeds grow, but we are responsible to prepare the soil, to plant, to water, and to harvest. We are loved, free, powerful, and significant. The kingdom is coming. Invest whatever God has given you. Invest whatever gifts, talents, skills, time, and energy you have in things that matter.
Are you waiting for the kingdom to come but not investing what you presently have? In this parable, everyone who invested made a return on their investment. It was only the person who did nothing with their talent (other than hide it) that suffered loss. This is the great tragedy of life, those who do nothing for fear of loss end up losing the most. Do you find it hard to believe that He has invited you into such an important part to play in the coming of His Kingdom? Are you afraid of investing your talents? Does the reality of how powerful and response-able you are frighten you? Welcome to power. Welcome to how significant you really are. Do not fear failure. The only failure in the above parable was the one who did not try to invest. Welcome to the kingdom life.
“It was a hot day, son. I was about your age then. I left the house to go fishing, and as I ran out of the house, your grandma yelled, ‘Don’t forget your lunch!’ So I ran back and grabbed that old sheep skin bag and ran for the water. Boy, son, I sure liked to be outside on the edge of the lake, fishing. Little did I know what I would see before the day’s end.”
“I was down on the southeast side of the lake when I saw a crowd on the hill. I kind of fished my way over real slow. I didn’t know what was going on. I could hear Him talking. He was passionate. I never heard anybody talk like that. He wasn’t special looking; just when he talked, something happened. Son, I don’t know how many people were there, but it was more than I could ever count. So, I played around there on the edge of the lake until one of His followers came over to me. He asked me if I had anything to eat. I thought that was weird, but your grandma taught us kids about what God said to Moses about lying. So I told him what I had—two little pieces of flat bread and five sardines. He asked if he could take them to the guy that had done all the talking. I was a little hesitant. I was actually scared of going hungry. I really never liked sardines but the bread was sure nice. He said I could come with him to give it to the man that had been talking, and that sounded like fun, so I agreed.”
“What happened next son, you won’t believe. That man took my two pieces of bread and five sardines, held them up to the sky, thanked God, and then told His followers to pass out the food. All these people sitting on the side of the hill. I kind of laughed inside when he said it, but I sure wasn’t going to say anything. Those guys looked at each other and then at the fish and the bread, which was now torn into twelve pieces, and then looked back at Him. Then they put their heads down and started passing the food out. Son, I kid you not; you can have all my goats and Jethro the donkey if I’m lying—every single person on the hill ate until they were full.”
“When they came to me, I looked into the guy’s basket, and sure enough, the same piece of bread and part of the sardine was still there, and still the same size. He had passed out food to thousands, and it was as if nothing was gone. But I saw all them eating. Right there in front of me.”
“Wow! Papa, your lunch fed that many.”
“I guess it was my lunch, but he did it son.”
“Whatever happened to that man, Papa?”
“He was crucified not long after that, and some say He rose from the dead. It wouldn’t surprise me; I saw what He did with those bread and fishes.”
“Did He eat some of it, Papa?”
“Yes son, He ate some bread and fish that day.”
“Wow, Papa, you fed someone famous.”
“No son, I gave it to Him, and He fed me. Let’s go back inside now; it’s time to wash up.”
“Papa?”
“Yes, son.”
“I wonder what He could do with me?”