Robert Stagmer, Coordinator USSPN of Maryland

^{Sunday, September 07, 2008}

            ^“Occupy till I come…” As I spoke the words out of my mouth I realized it wasn’t a conscious thought but a sudden inspiration. I knew these words and their origin – JESUS. He spoke them in a parable, one we often refer to as the parable of the talents. I dug for the Bible and flipped to the page that read as follows:

 

LUKE 19: 11-27

¹¹   And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. ¹²   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, 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. ¹⁶   Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. ¹⁷   And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. ¹⁸   And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. ¹⁹   And he said likewise to him, be thou also over five cities. ²⁰   And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:
²¹   For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. ²²   And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: ²³   Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? ²⁴   And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. ²⁵   (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)
²⁶   For I say unto you, that unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. ²⁷   But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.

TO OCCUPY- (1)To take & hold possession of, as by conquest.

                         (5) To busy or engage; employ.

I saw a different orientation to this scripture than I had ever seen before.

1. They thought that the Kingdom of God was soon to come.
2. He ( the Nobleman) gave them each what they needed to work with.
3. He told them to “occupy till I come”.

THE KINGDOM

This scripture is a Kingdom Scripture. It is about responsibility, accountability and authority. It speaks to us in our time and place of what is expected of a citizen of the Kingdom. How well are we rising to the task?

The Kingdom that they expected to soon come was likely very different than the kingdom Jesus describes in the parable. He told many parables of the kingdom. Often they began with “the Kingdom of God is like…” You might ask the question why did he speak like this? The simple reason is that he was correcting the common misconceptions and ignorance of the Kingdom of God. I suspect that among believers today that this same set of distortions still exists. Is it “Pie in the sky in the great by and by” “no more sorrow, no more tears, no more the abominable thing” or “a land flowing with milk and honey”? 

A second thing to consider here is that Jesus told parables. He spoke kingdom principles using illustrations that were familiar to the people but with veiled meanings. Many of these stories drove very salient points and some were obscure. When I was asking The Lord how to witness to Jewish people he led me to understand that I need to know what the topics of conversation were in the Jewish community. I could do this by using the Internet and looking up the latest articles in the Jewish Times and the latest sermons by leading Rabbis. Was I in for a surprise? The topics of conversation were often very foreign from my gentile perspective and the sermons had little or nothing to do with God or the Bible. The perspective was often ethical and very liberal. As I got used to it I was able to see how it was possible to take a hot topic and show a biblical application. It doesn’t happen quickly, but I am getting the hang of it.

I am convinced that in the parables Jesus used “Hot Topic” issues that were the gossip of the market place. He linked with the common discussions of the time and gave them a Kingdom slant. For instance, the nobleman in the story bears a sharp resemblance to an actual story of the time. Archeuleus was the son of Herod. When his father died he wished to succeed him, but it wasn’t automatic. He had to be appointed by the Roman Emperor. There were Jews who didn’t want him to rule so they petitioned the emperor not to appoint him.  He got appointed anyhow, and when he returned, he had the dissenters assassinated.

Other times Jesus used familiar things like planting seeds or holding a candle. These were things to which the common people could relate.

An illustration that the Lord gave me goes like this: “The Kingdom of God is like a loaf of fresh baked bread”.

A few years ago my daughter gave me a Bread machine. I've always liked to bake bread. But, I used to do it only several times a year. Now with the machine I bake bread as much as several times a week. It’s so great because I can put in the ingredients ahead of time and set the machine to finish by the time I wake up so I have hot bread for breakfast. When I wake up anticipation sets in and as I open the bedroom door the wondrous scent has permeated the household. I make haste to the kitchen and release the beautifully risen loaf from the pan. I hurriedly take a large knife and cut that first slice. The taste, texture and smell are such a delight. Just enough crunch in the crust, and the center is tender and warm.

Bread is complicated stuff. The recipes are exacting as to content and measure. The problem is that it is so easy to mess up.  And can I mess it up? I can even foul up the prepackaged mixes. The other day I made a loaf of very expensive bread. I was extremely careful to measure all the correct ingredients. I placed it in the oven and patiently waited for the treat. When it was done I opened the top only to my dismay to find a flat heavy hunk of dough. I tried to salvage it but only ended up with a rock like substance too hard to eat. I cut it up in pieces and fed it to the dog-she loved it. It turned out that the yeast was dead and did not react at all when tested. When we mess up the Kingdom, it’s only fit for the dogs.

Here’s another illustration. “The Kingdom of GOD is like a great tall tree.”

Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was like a house with its foundations built on a rock. I am a real estate Agent and I go into a lot of houses. Many times I see houses that have cracked or settled foundations that make the house worthless. But when a foundation is built on a rock it becomes one with the bedrock and is a solid structure that can last for hundreds of years. When I was in Jerusalem, I got to tour the excavated homes at the south end of the Temple complex. Some of them were carved out of the bedrock and were over two thousand years old. I have seen houses built on the waters edge that with-stand the strongest winds and tides because the builder set down shafts into the bedrock and attached the structure as one with the rock.

I often go hunting in the deep woods. I see many stately trees, which give shelter to the wild animals and preserve the forest. I also see trees that have fallen over, some uprooted by the wind. Recently we had a high wind blow through Patterson Park just opposite the House of Prayer. Large trees were uprooted. When we went over and examined them, we found an expansive root system but the topsoil was only a few feet deep and below it was a hard bed of clay. The main root system of the trees could not penetrate the clay and so the roots spread out on the surface. The taproots, which are supposed to go deep and anchor the trees, could not reach down and grab the bedrock so the trees could not with-stand the wind. We need to have deep roots, taproots that grab onto the bedrock and become our anchor, so that when the winds blow and the storms come we will be able to stand.

“The Kingdom of God is like a mighty rushing river.”

        A river brings life and irrigates the land. Its banks cannot contain a flooding river. A fast moving river is crystal and clear and its water life giving. But a mighty river has its beginnings high up in the mountains where bubbling springs are its source. A little bubbling spring is all alone and produces only a trickle of water. Sometimes it is even dry for a season. Even that little trickle is powerful enough to cut away rock over time. But when it combines with other springs and forms first a stream, then a tributary, and then a river, it gains momentum. We are like the springs. Often we feel we alone are producing water, not aware that, only yards away, there is another and another, which will combine their streams with ours. 

Where is the kingdom?

Jesus said the Kingdom is God is within us. If so, how do we release it? The kingdom Jesus describes in the parable would lead us to the conclusion that in the Kingdom of God we will have work and responsibility and be accountable for it. How different from the kingdom of hedonistic pleasure depicted by most pagan religions. But that is not solely in the by and by, for Jesus said that the kingdom is now, and we are to pray for his kingdom to come on earth.

THE SUPPLY

Some of the servants were given tasks and the where-with-all to accomplish their tasks. It is an axiom that God’s supply is always sufficient for the task.

In the parable, the nobleman gives the servants an amount of money to work with. The pound or Mina was equal to about three months wages. So each man got, in today’s terms, about  $ 12,000. I reason that each earned according to his task and ability, since they were all given the same. Verse thirteen says that there were ten servants, but we only know about the three.

Verse fourteen tells us that there were also citizens (not servants?) who did not want him to reign over them. This parable concerns three types of persons: faithful servants, unfaithful servants and rebellious citizens.

The faithful servants are just that - full of faith. I am impressed that because of their faith they were successful in their assigned responsibility. Their faith became evidence and substance and produced increase. Because of their faith they were free to exercise their responsibility and produce fruitfulness. This was very pleasing to the nobleman, and he blessed them with praise.

The unfaithful servant was bound by his lack of faith, which produced a loss of ability and brought about his passive state. Thus no fruit was produced. He admits that he was bound by fear; Fear that paralyzes is the antithesis of Faith. This displeased the nobleman, and he berated the servant and took away the mina that had been given him.

In this area of the country Humanistic Intellectual Enlightenment is a stronghold. It allows a spirit of lethargy to operate over the people. This spirit produces a passive “I can’t do it” state of mind. This stifles initiative and limits the production of wealth. Revelation of God and His word dispels Intellectualism and breeds and strengthens faith. Faith dispels lethargy.  

The rebellious citizens present a different dilemma. Their problem is not lack of faith but refusal to recognize the sovereignty of the nobleman. They are denied their citizenship and the protection and benefits thereof. By denying the nobleman’s authority they placed their faith in themselves or false authority.

If we examine ourselves, we could see that in any given situation our reactions could be the result of being FAITH filled, faithless, or having missplaced faith. 

SUPERNATURAL SUPPLY

When God called us to start a Christian school in 1977, we had no money, no students, no faculty, no texts and no building. The only thing we had was faith. He provided over the next nine months, and we opened by the end of September. The first thing we got was a school bus. Eventually we even got a bus driver. Our teachers came from all over by faith. We opened school with over 200 students and nine highly qualified faculty in a rented church facility. That year there were some major struggles, but each time we met them with an application of prayer and faith.  At the end of that year we knew we had to make some major changes in order for the ministry to survive. To do that, we needed $ 10,000, a change of facility, a reshuffling of the staff, a new curriculum, and different admission policies.

We decided that we would go on a ten day fast. By the third day a supporter stepped forth with a $ 5,000 matching gift pledge challenge. We had to raise the matching funds. By the tenth day we had all the money. During the first three days we rewrote the admission policy, and by the tenth day we had our enrollment in place. Teachers began to come forth, and by the tenth day we were fully staffed. On the fifth day a facility became available. We signed the lease the next day only hours ahead of a large government agency, which offered nearly twice what we got it for. Before the fast was over our application for a new curriculum was accepted.  Everything fell into place in the most supernatural manner.

PUT IT TO USE TO PRODUCE 

        The command to occupy was not a passive command. It did not mean to simply sit on it. It means to aggressively take hold and put it to use to produce. The faithful servants understood that. OCCUPY also carried the connotation of being accountable for the task and the supply.

        There’s something else here, and that is the reward for being faithful. Those that exercised their faith were rewarded with new authority. The unfaithful was berated, and stripped of what little authority he had. (note: He didn’t really loose anything he would not have had since he was given the mina in the first place.) The rebellious not only didn’t get anything, they lost everything, even their lives.

SELF EXAMINATION for Kingdom servanthood 

1.    What task has the Lord set before me?

2.    What supply has he given me?

3.    Have I responded in a faith filled manner?

4.    Have I been rebellious?

5.    Will I hear the Lord say to me? “Well done, thy good and faithful servant.”

IMPLICATIONS FOR STRATEGIC INTERCESSION

        The Kingdom of God comes in a way we don’t necessarily expect. I have participated in situations where I knew that we had entered into a kingdom experience. But, one experience does not make a sustainable kingdom. It is rather the consistency of being willing to enter into new and differing experiences to see the power and presence of God. For example a new wave of Glory Centered worship is emerging.  This is a continuation of the Harp and Bowl / Third Day/ Tabernacle of David worship experience. Sometimes this worship comes in a planned way, or sometimes it is extremely spontaneous.

        I also find that as we travel around that different groups of intercessors pray in different ways. Some are very quiet while others are boisterous. Some pray softly or weep while others go to war.  I prefer a mixture of worship, prayer, prophecy and declaration. Don’t be afraid or hold back in entering a different dimension than that to which you are accustomed.

We each are blessed with a measure of faith. It is how we apply that faith that produces fruitfulness. As you serve a God given task, apply your faith to it. Cause the Good and Acceptable and Perfect WILL OF GOD to become evident by the application of the evidence and substance of your faith. Through your consistent prayers and declarations the GAP will be filled. Our faith is born in revelation from the Word of God. Further revelation increases and builds up our faith. Pray for greater revelation of God’s Word producing greater faith in God’s people.

Occupy till I come - GOD IS CALLING US TO GO BEYOND THE GAP AND PUSH INTO ENEMY TERRITORY. We are to take and hold it and put it to use for the kingdom. Intercessors pave the way for the evangelists and pastors who need to be under the direction of Apostolic authority. In this we are part of a team. We need to be careful that we are operating under authority and don’t outrun the Apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists and pastors and get into territory that we cannot take or hold. That would be misplaced faith and a futile suicide mission, and we certainly don’t need any unnecessary casualties of war.  So work with a team that has a plan. You, as a watchman, report to the team what you are seeing in the Spirit and the team will fit it into the plan. The new thing that God is bringing forth is the apostolic team. Get in the flow and be part of one.

As we are faith filled to meet each given task and produce fruit for the kingdom, He rewards us with additional authority. This requires us not only to be fruitful but also to reach for new levels of sanctification and holiness. We should seek greater fruitfulness and holiness. When this happens,

 God can give us greater responsibility, which can produce greater fruit and thus greater authority.

LORD, THY KINGDOM COME, THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN.   AMEN