09/24/2024
Entitlement Can Hit You in Ways
You Might Never Suspect
(What didn’t make the cut from Sunday’s sermon—Part 1—on An Entitlement Mindset)
The people of God (Israel) were chosen by God to fulfill a unique calling—to be a light to all the other nations of the nations of the world. God chose them because of their willingness to be used by Him for His purposes. For instance, Abraham’s willingness to follow God out into what would one day be the promised land, the Hebrew people willing to travel 40 years in the wilderness, a people willing to live by the laws of Moses even when it meant not fitting in with their neighbors, etc. But after a while the Israelites began to think that they were chosen--not because with God they could fulfill a special purpose--but because they were a special people, uniquely favored and loved for who they were. In the Bible, God doesn’t call the equipped. God equips those He calls. But the Hebrew people began to think that God didn’t equip them in order to fulfill their calling, but rather God called them because they were so uniquely equipped to serve him.
I very much doubt there was any particular point when anyone consciously thought to themselves, God loves us because we’re so lovable. It’s a slow road to a sense of entitlement. After a while the Israelites became less concerned about being an attracting light to their neighbors and more convinced that they needed to build fences to keep those neighbors out. The only good gentile is a gentile you can keep out of your clan, tribe, and nation. We are the chosen ones, they began to think. And we’ve been chosen because we are inherently exemplary. Alas, that was the opposite of what God brought his people to the promised land to do and be.
We’ve got to be careful that as Christians we don’t fall into the same trap. We should never forget that God’s grace is amazing because it is capable of saving wretches like us. In other words, without God’s generous favor we would still be wretches. We are inherently wretches. And the only reason we are anything more than that is because God is good and God is gracious.
Archived Posts
What just missed the cut for Sunday’s Sermon
Naaman’s servants may actually become one of the hidden gems of the sermon. They say, essentially: “If the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it.”
One of the Longest Benedictions I Ran Out of Time to Share
Maybe you know the story of how Joseph and Mary accidentally left Jesus at the gas station on their way home from Jerusalem. Well, not the gas station bathroom in Jesus’ case. Joe and Mary are far down the road before they realize Jesus isn’t with them...
So many quips and quotes...
So little time to preach
I wonder what Mary and Martha’s phones might look like:
* Martha = the open browser with 27 tabs
* Mary = the single window that matters
* Psalm 46 = God saying, “Close the tabs.”
Quotable Outtakes That Didn’t Make the Sermon This Week
“When you try to control everything, you don’t just exhaust yourself—you quietly replace trust in God with trust in you.” & more
There is a challenge when it comes to preaching the Word of God.
Preachers are called to open up and interpret the word—inspired and written down thousands of years ago—and make it relevant to a very different world. On top of that there’s a degree of persuasion that goes along with the process.
What Jessica Really Meant to Say in Her Sermon…
When Jessica or Rick or a guest preacher takes the pulpit it’s hard for me to write a One More Thing Blog. I can’t share with you what didn’t make it into the sermon because I have no idea, not having written or delivered it.
Jesus Keeps On Ruining Funerals!
I didn’t have anything this last week that didn’t end up in the sermon. No catchy illustrations that didn’t make the cut. No theological insights that slowed down the main point. No one can ruin a funeral like Jesus. Told as I saw it and that was it. So I did some quick research and I thought I’d share just a reminder of what Easter is all about.