Sermon Tone Analysis

Now, we’ve seen other things like this before: the Harry Potter novels and films tell one large story through seven smaller stories; the same goes for The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Matrix, and so on and so.

(You can even see it in certain series which were created centuries ago, like the stories of the Three Musketeers from Dumas.)

Have you ever wondered why these series exist?

Arguably, today, the answer is, “To make money.”

But why does it work?

Why does it make money?

Because when a story is really good, you want to know what happens AFTER the end.

The story comes to a really satisfying conclusion—so satisfying, in fact, that we want to know what happens to the main characters after the final moments.

That’s kind of what we see in today’s text: it’s the sequel, the what now? that comes after a really satisfying story.

That satisfying story, if you remember, was the story of Zacchaeus.

We have Jesus coming into Jericho and calling Zacchaeus out of the tree.

He goes to his house, and something happens in Zacchaeus to radically change him: he gives away nearly everything he has because of the change Jesus has produced in him.

And we find out that everything that’s happened to Zacchaeus has happened on Jesus’s initiative: he summarizes these event in verse 10:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

So Jesus came to seek and save his people; and when he does it, he draws them to himself, he transforms them from the inside out, and he saves them, so that they are now his.

That’s wonderful…but just like we want to know at the end of our favorite series, the thing we want to know at this point is, What happens next?

What does Zacchaeus do with this grace he’s been given?

What do any of us do?

What is the experience after meeting Christ supposed to be?

Today’s text deals with that question, and it deals with it in no uncertain terms.

In fact, this text should be taken together with the previous one, because the two passages take place one right after the other.

V. 10 has Jesus saying, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

And in v. 11, we read,

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable...

So what he’s going to say in today’s text, he’s saying to those people who were either in Zacchaeus’s house or within earshot, listening (including Zacchaeus himself).

So let’s read the text together, then we’ll get into it.

:

Serviteurs et citoyens

How many people in here saw Avengers: Endgame?

That movie is unlike anything that’s ever been done before, not because it’s great (it is), but rather because it’s the culmination of twenty-two films, made over ten years, telling individual stories which each contribute to one much larger story.

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business.

16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’

17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!

Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’

19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man.

You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’

22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant!

You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and 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 the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’

”

Servants and Citizens

11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.

13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’

14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business.

16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’

17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!

Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’

19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man.

You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’

22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant!

You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow?

23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and 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 the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’

”

Serviteurs et citoyens

(Luc 19.11-27)

(Luc 19.11-27)

A Note on Parables

()

Anon, 2016.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version, Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

While Endgame is the biggest example we’ve ever seen, we have seen other things like this before: the Harry Potter novels and films tell one large story through seven smaller stories; the same goes for Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, and pretty much all long-form storytelling on television.

(You can even see it in certain series which were created a very long time ago, like in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, or Dumas’s d’Artagnan novels.)

How many people in here saw Avengers: Endgame?

That movie is unlike anything that’s ever been done before, not because it’s great (it is), but rather because it’s the culmination of twenty-two films, made over ten years, telling individual stories which each contribute to one much larger story.

Before we start digging into this, just a quick note on parables, to explain why we’re going to do this the way we are.

Combien de personnes ici ont vu Avengers : Endgame ?

Ce film est unique : non pas parce qu’il est génial (il l’est), mais parce qu’il est le point culminant de vingt-deux films qui racontent des histoires individuelles, qui contribuent chacune à une histoire plus grande.

Have you ever wondered why these series exist?

Arguably, today, the answer is, “To make money.”

But why does it work?

Why does it make money?

Combien de personnes ici ont vu Avengers : Endgame ?

While Endgame is the biggest example we’ve ever seen, we have seen other things like this before: the Harry Potter novels and films tell one large story through seven smaller stories; the same goes for Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, and pretty much all long-form storytelling on television.

(You can even see it in certain series which were created a very long time ago, like in Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, or Dumas’s d’Artagnan novels.)

Ce film est unique : non pas parce qu’il est génial (il l’est),

Parables are, to use Jen Wilkin’s definition, “deceptively simple stories meant to illustrate a larger truth.”

So they’re fictional stories Jesus tells to get his point across; they’re always easy to understand at face value, but when you start digging at the deeper truths behind the stories, you start uncovering layer upon layer of meaning.

C’est le plus grand exemple de cela qu’on a vu, mais on a déjà vu d’autres exemples : les films et les livres d’Harry Potter racontent une longue histoire à travers sept plus petites histoires ; c’est pareil pour Star Wars, Les chroniques de Narnia, et plus ou moins toutes les séries télé modernes.

(On peut même le voir dans certaines séries qui ont été créées il y a longtemps, comme les histoires de Sherlock Holmes ou les romans d’Artagnan de Dumas.)

Because when a story is really good, you want to know what happens AFTER the end.

The story comes to a really satisfying conclusion—so satisfying, in fact, that we want to know what happens to the main characters after the final moments.

Have you ever wondered why these series exist?

Arguably, today, the answer is, “To make money.”

But why does it work?

Why does it make money?

mais parce qu’il est le point culminant de vingt-deux films qui racontent des histoires individuelles, qui contribuent chacune à une histoire plus grande.

Parables weren’t unique to Jesus; they were a common teaching tool at this place and time.

So the problems we often have when reading the parables are problems the first readers (or listeners) probably didn’t have.

That’s kind of what we see in today’s text: it’s the sequel, the what now? that comes after a really satisfying story.

Vous vous êtes déjà demandé pourquoi ces séries existent ?

Bien sûr, aujourd’hui la réponse est : « Pour gagner de l’argent.

» Mais pourquoi ça marche ?

Pourquoi ces séries font-elles autant d’argent ?

We read parables and we want to attach meaning to every detail we see.

But parables are not allegories, in the strict sense of the word: they are illustrations.

So some details are included simply to help the story feel more immediate and real to its listeners—not every detail means something.