Do Business With This Until I Come Back

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened with a long stretch of historical background on the Herodian dynasty before reading Luke 19:11-28, the parable of the minas. His aim was to show that the parable is not floating in the air but planted in a very specific place, on a very specific road, with a very specific crowd who knew exactly what kind of nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself....

Read together

1. Luke 19:11-28 main passage for the sermon, the parable of the minas
2. Matthew 2 the Christmas story, Herod the Great and the slaughter of the innocents
3. Isaiah 61 Jesus reads from this in his first sermon, declaring the acceptable time of the Lord
4. Luke 4 Jesus stops short of reading the vengeance of God, angering the crowd who wanted to throw him off Nazareth's ridge
5. 1 Peter 4 benediction, each one has been given a gift and should use it to serve others as faithful stewards of God's grace

Talk about it

1. The pastor connected current events in Israel to the historical pattern of evil being acted out against victims, and said that 'both sides' framing can sometimes obscure a clear moral reality. How do you think Christians should navigate that tension between showing compassion to all people and calling out evil for what it is?
2. The historical background showed that Archelaus went to Rome to receive a kingdom, that his own people sent a delegation saying they did not want him to reign over them, and that Jesus used this very familiar story as the skeleton of his parable. Why do you think Jesus chose a figure his listeners would likely recognize as corrupt and ruthless to illustrate something about the kingdom of God?
3. The servant who hid his mina said he was afraid because the master was a demanding man. The pastor said he has read this story many times and always found himself wanting to put Jesus in that role, which he pushed back on in this sermon. How do you read that servant's excuse, and what do you think his fear actually reveals about his relationship to the master?
4. Jesus told this parable, Luke tells us, specifically because the people thought the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. How does knowing that reason change the way you hear the parable?
5. At the close of the sermon, the pastor said that what God has given us to put to work until He returns includes forgiveness, love, mercy, grace, His word, rebuke and exhortation, and that we should be doing for others what He does for us. What does it look like practically to put those specific things into business in your own life right now?