Monday after the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 14, 2022 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 19:11-27 (NKJV)
19:11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. 12 Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant; because you were faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’
20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 21 For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 And he said to him, ‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’
24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’”
Devotion
The goods which the Lord has given to us to invest and to grow are not physical goods but spiritual goods of the Spirit. When Christ ascended to heaven, He commissioned His Church to preach the Gospel, to administer the Sacraments, and to love one another as He loved them. We are to use these spiritual goods wisely so that we grow in grace and in the knowledge of salvation. Dr. Luther teaches in his Small Catechism that our motivation to serve the Lord comes from fear, love, and trust. While the fear of God curbs our flesh, it only motivates us so far. If we were only motivated by fear, then our service would be coerced; eventually we would begin to resent God. Not only would we not make good investment of His spiritual blessings, but out of spite we would deliberately hide our gifts and grieve the Spirit.
True, God-pleasing service must come from the love we have for our God—love which is wrought by faith. God promises grace and every blessing to those who love Him and keep His commandments. He rewards with grace those who use His talents for the extension and growth of His kingdom. Knowing that we must all give account for our service at the end of this life, let us show forth the richness of that grace by our works of love!
Prayer: O God, so rule and govern our hearts and minds by Thy Holy Spirit, that being ever mindful of the end of all things, and the day of Thy just judgment, we may be stirred up to holiness of living here and dwell with Thee forever hereafter; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
