01/27/17 - Matt 20

Jan 27, 2017 – Matt 20

Whoever wants to be first must be your slave.   Matt 20:27

Salvation doesn’t mean we are entitled, it means we are called to surrender.

Entitlement is the standard of our age.

I’m embarrassed to bring it up, because it has become so prevalent in our lives.  Think of the thousands of ways we live with entitlement these days:  Injuries are entitled compensation.  Drivers are entitled to drive 5 miles over the speed limit or turn slowly at stop signs.  Patrons feel entitled to a reduced bill when the food isn’t exactly right.  Golfers are entitled mulligans.  Losing our job entitles us to government support.  Bankruptcy can even entitle us to get out of debt.  The list goes on and on.

Jesus had a different rule for His Kingdom.  Instead of entitlement, Jesus calls for surrender.  Entitlement would have kept Jesus in heaven, but instead he surrendered to the nativity.  Justice would have entitled Jesus to live, but He surrendered to paying for sin on the cross.  Israel would have kept Christianity to itself, but surrender sent Paul out to bring Christianity to the world.  Entitlement focuses on self, but Jesus calls us to surrender ourselves to others. 

Slavery is not our favorite word, but at the root of slavery is the loss of entitlement.  When you become a slave to something, you release all rights and expectations in surrender to what owns you.  When the owner is human, you may be given blessings, but the slavery is to an imperfect person.  When the owner is possessions or addictions, you are headed for disaster.  But when the owner is God, then you are back where you started, in the hands of the one who created you to be used for His purpose.

Jesus didn’t die to free us from God, He died to free us from sin and self.  We no longer are slaves to everything else, so we can be under the ownership of God.  That is surrender.  Some people believe God is supposed to given them their entitlements – happiness, long life, paradise, love – but God doesn’t want to condemn us to slavery again.  He wants to free us from entitlements so we can discover the true blessing of surrender.  That’s why people who are FIRST in His eyes are truly slaves to righteousness.

This would be a good time to re-examine your entitlement list.  What are you expecting from God?  What do you believe you deserve, or have earned?  Check your entitlement behaviors and choose to surrender them.  After all, if it weren’t for God choosing to give us life & breath today, we would have nothing to feel entitled about!  Recognize that Jesus gave us salvation so that we would surrender to His calling, instead of feeling entitled to pursue our own.

Don’t let Entitlement be your standard in this age.  Discover the freedom of surrender.