OCCUPY TILL I COME

 In Luke there is a wonderful parable Jesus teaches at the home of Zacchaeus, the chief among the publicans.  Now the Scriptures does not say, but I believe the disciples were there. As a child in Sunday School I remember being told the story of how little, short  Zacchaeus climbed up in a sycamore tree because he wanted to see Jesus a noble desire.  Jesus saw him in the tree and said come down because today I must abide at your house. And of course Jesus took a lot of grief from the religious folks (probably the disciples too) because they said He (Jesus) was eating with a sinner (ain't we all), but Jesus said, "And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. ¹⁰ For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."  (Luke 19:9-10) This was in keeping with Jesus' maximum effort to minster to only the Jewish people. Jesus' time on earth was not to minister to the Gentiles, but to the lost house of Israel, sons of Abraham.  We see this truth in Matthew when Jesus sent out the 12 disciples, "These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans (half Jewish) enter ye not: ⁶ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.   And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand."  (Matthew 10:5-7) as a matter of fact Jesus only ministered to two Gentiles; the Centurion in Matthew 8:5-10 and in Mathew 15:21-24 where a Gentile lady's daughter was grievously vexed with a devil and of course Jesus cast the demon out, but first in verse 24 Jesus says, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."  From Genesis 12:3 (when the Covenant with Abraham and the entire (past, present, and future) Jewish people was established) to Romans 1:1 (where Paul began to share the Gospel of grace through faith) that entire swath of Scripture is written about and written to the Jewish people. All of the parables and stories in the Gospel are about "the lost sheep of Israel,"  but that does not mean we today cannot glean some truth and learn from the parables and  stories.  So too this truth is the parable in Luke 19:11-27 we will take a look at.  In the parable the players are the nobleman Jesus, the servants the nobleman's workers (maybe us), and the citizens the Jewish people. Let us look at portion of the parable,  "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. ¹³ And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds (each got one pound), and said unto them, Occupy till I come. ¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.¹⁵ And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading."  (Luke 19:12-15)  So Jesus calls His servants (maybe us) before He goes away, gives us money, talent, abilities, resources, capabilities, and then says, "Occupy till I come." Now notice the word "Occupy" is capitalized in mid sentence.  Also notice the nobleman (Jesus) did not tell the servants what to do when they "Occupy" He left their occupying up them. But we know when the nobleman comes back (after He receives the kingdom) He takes stock of each servant and rewards them according their faithfulness to Him. Sadly this parable plays out in the lives of so many Christians today. They are busy occupying for themselves in their lives, living for themselves, planning for the future, scheming up ways to get ahead, but not occupying for the nobleman.  Jesus really lays it on the line in Luke 16 when He says to the disciples (maybe us), "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. ¹¹ If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? ¹²  And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"  (Luke 16:10-12)  Did you get that?  If you have not been faithful in little things, insignificant things you will not be faithful in big things. If you have not been faithful with "unrighteous mammon" things like: money, houses, cars, God given talents and abilities then "who will commit to your trust the true riches?" ("riches" added). Now Karen and I are NOT followers of American Idol, but the #1 common denominator with most of all of the winners is they started singing in church. God gave them a talent, but they were unfaithful to God and used His talent in the secular world to make money.  What are the true riches?  Money, fame, power, authority, etc.  No my friend the true riches of God are:  peace, joy, longsuffering, health, etc. and "who" will give these to you if you have not been faithful with "unrighteous mammon?"  These my friends are riches that are only found in God.  I like the next verse, if you are not faithful with "another man's" things "who shall give to you that which is your own?  If you cannot take care of your boss' stuff, his duties and goods, the house you rent,  relationships "who will give you that which is your own?" Only God can give you things that nobody can take from you if you have been faithful with "another man's." Until then everything you have is up for grabs by the world.  I have friends who are praying for God to give them a better car, a bigger house, a new job, but are perplexed why their prayers are falling on deaf ears, well why should God give them something bigger and better when they have not used what God has already given them for His glory?  The word "Occupy" in Luke 19:13 is from the Greek #4231 and means busy one's self with trade, not work. We are to be busy doing things in our lives not for ourselves, but for the glory of God. We are to trade our time, resources, home, cars, abilities, etc. for the purposes of God to see people come to the LORD. What a winning trade off!  We are to trade our leisure time for the time we spend with God. Our occupying here on earth should be used to share the Gospel message with family, neighbours, co workers, strangers, enemies, whoever. Our home should be a place where people can come to hear the Scriptures revealed.  Our cars, trucks, SUVs, etc. should be used to carry people to our home, a good church, the doctor's office, the market, as Jesus said, "as you are going make disciples" in Matthew 28:19. We need to open up our homes (like Zacchaeus did) to make a place for the sharing of the Gospel have it be in a Home Group Meeting setting or one on one.  Now in Luke 19:16-27, we see where all of the servants were given 1 pounds (verse 13) by the nobleman and had to give account how they handled it in the absence of the nobleman. The first servant was given 1 pound and now has 11 pounds and was given rulership over 10 cities. The second servant increased the nobleman's worth by five pounds (now 6 pounds) and was rewarded rulership over five cities. Another servant came and presented one pound which means he no increase for the nobleman who was wrought because of the servant's unfaithfulness so he took the pound and gave it to the first servant who now has 11 pounds. As a matter of Scripture this servant did not even try to trade the nobleman's money verse 20 says he kept it laid up in a napkin fearing the nobleman because he was an austere man. Do you see a pattern here? But the nobleman gave pounds (G#3414 mina, a certain weight equal to three months salary) to 10 servants.  I wonder what happened to the other seven servants?  Maybe the servants were unfaithful like the last servant and lost ALL of the nobleman's money we just do not know, but it looks and smells like 4/5th of the servants were unfaithful. Sounds like today. The servants were to trade (occupy) the nobleman's money for rewards which were based on their faithfulness not the increase of money. Of course Jesus again is talking about the servants receiving their rewards when Jesus sets up the kingdom.  This was Jesus' plan when He came to earth. He would proclaim the kingdom of God is at hand and the Citizens (the Jewish people) would crown Him their Messiah, but as we saw in verses 14 they said they hated the nobleman and would not have him reign over them. We know the Citizens rejected Jesus and even crucified Him. So God had to insert 2,000+ years (the age of grace) into His timeline, but do not worry this parable will come to pass for His servants in the Millennium. Now the point is the servants were to trade the pound God gave them for future rewards. Their occupation was not working for man, but working for God and for future rewards. They were to be trading (occupying) one gift for a greater gift.  You know we stand on the threshold of the year 2021 and what we did for God in 2020 will soon be sealed for all eternity, but the question I have is how will we occupy in 2021?  Will we be about trading what God has given us in 2020 and the past for greater rewards in 2021 and beyond?  The choice is ours.  Will we occupy till He comes?  It looks like to me many Christians believe Jesus is not coming back in their life time and the world could care less, but I believe Jesus is coming back maybe soon and maybe in my life.  I do not know when and I do not want to know when all I want to do is be ready when He comes calling and occupy till He comes.  What will happen then?  I really do not know. I think the very best we can do when it comes to future things in God is to be very careful with things we have been told by people and just do all that we can do to be ready. Then when He comes just go along for the ride. You know my thoughts and heart is on the 4/5th of the servants who were unfaithful.  WOW I believe 8 out of 10 were unfaithful or the nobleman would have commented on them. The trend was down hill by way of service.  Maybe the eight servants stole the pound after all it was not about the money but about the service and future rewards, trading (occupying) a given gift for future gifts. I guess there is nothing new under the sun.  It was a shame then and is a shame today.  In the future then what shall we receive then?  Well I cannot answer that question either, but I know what we receive will depend on just how faithful we want to be to the nobleman. Written by David Stahl