Last week, as I walked out of the store, burrito in hand, sipping a new drink (at least new to Lubbock) called Bebe Kaffe (a very good "fizzy" espresso drink from Italy), I was almost run down in the parking lot by a lady driving her super-sized Lexus SUV, zooming to get the closest parking spot to the door, which just so happened to be the one that is reserved for "Expecting or New Mothers." As she jerked to a stop in the spot, only feet from making me a human speed bump, yammering away on her BlueTooth headset, she paused, momentarily, long enough to look up at the sign that marked the spot as reserved. With a shrug, she sauntered off into the store for her morning shot o' caffeine. I would have understood a little more if she were just a snooty mom-to-be, but the "Proud Aggie Grandmother" sticker on the back windshield of her car let me know she wasn't a recent mom, nor would she be expecting kids anytime soon...
This got me thinking about how much we, as both Christians and Americans, think we're entitled to. As I got to my office, typed on my notebook computer, sipped my espresso and my reverse-osmosis water, and went through my devotional time for the morning, I became extremely convicted. My reading for the morning... a brief passage in Acts.
In chapter 5, we see yet another example of how the early church and its leaders were persecuted as it really began to grown. The Jewish leadership was livid that the disciples had been teaching the people about Jesus Christ, since they could see that their power and influence would be greatly detracted from by this teaching. In fact, they had already begun to lose power in their spheres of influence. Angry at what had begun, they made a plan to arrest those who were teaching about Jesus. One of the Jewish council, though, a man named Gamaliel, told them that if the teachings were of men, then everything that they were teaching would come to pass and no longer hold value; but, if their teaching truly was of God, then nothing they (the Sandhedrin) would ever try would overturn what the men were teaching about Jesus (this makes me wonder if, later on in life, Gamaliel was converted to the Faith). The council then proceeded to call in the disciples and beat them with 39 lashes (evidently, 40 was considered inhumane) and told them not to teach about Jesus anymore.
The most challenging part of the passage, though, is what happened when the disciples left the presence of the council. "Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name." Wow... they considered it an honor to suffer? How often do I consider it an honor to suffer for the Name?
The vast majority of us need to look at our lives and what we think we're "entitled" to. Am I mad if I don't get my morning coffee, have my Pandora radio on the internet, or if I have to pay a little extra for gas, oil, etc.? When someone pops off about religion (take the "New Atheists" (Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and company), for example), do I get all huffy? How do I react when God doesn't give me that which I thought I was supposed to get, from the job promotion to the perfect little family? Do I count it as worth to suffer, in any way, for the most glorious and great Name in the universe, Jesus Christ?
May we all look less to the things that we arrogantly think we're entitled to, and more to the grace that is given us in Christ Jesus. What we deserve is death. What we have received is life. Where's our focus? May it forever be on the One who has given us all riches of the universe in Himself, and may we get beyond our human, selfish entitlements. What those disciples were so willing to suffer for, has still not been overturned by any efforts of man.
No more coffee for me this morning...
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