ENTITLEMENT?
From the age of about 4 years old when I sat in a Church (our parents sent us to Sunday School each Sunday) the sun shone through the stained-glass window and I was spell-bound. It was a deep spiritual experience, even though at the time I just loved the moment. Going to church was always part of my life, and I thank my parents for making sure that all four of us, me and my siblings (Katy, George and Marlene) went to Sunday School regularly. Later, as a teenager I re-dedicated my life to God and now at the age of 79 still deeply believe in the love of God and he wisdom of His commandments.
But today I was challenged by the thought of God’s grace that goes above and beyond ‘fairness’ or entitlement.
Jesus explained this principle in a parable (“a narrative of imagined events used to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson/an allegory”) in Matthew 20:1-16 (a summary)
“A landowner goes out 5 times during the day to hire workers for his vineyard . At the end of the day, he gives them all the same pay. Naturally the ones who worked longer complained…(as we probably would have as well) .. But Jesus explains to them that he had not cheated any of them. They had agreed to work for that price. He added that as an employer... ”Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
The labourers were right, it wasn’t fair, it was better than ‘fair’ it was love and grace in action. If the grumpy labourer cared about his fellow-strugglers, he would have rejoiced in their good fortune…and they could celebrate together.
But I was sobered when, on reflection, I asked myself “Marge, where do you show this same sense of ‘entitlement’? I was mortified when I realised how judgemental I was…
All over the world people have been aware that they were more than flesh and blood and that there was a Higher Power. The difference was that each in their own culture, reached out to the Divine. Who was I to judge them, and I remembered, with horror, the “Holy” wars (there was nothing, and there is, nothing ‘holy’ about war). Jesus Himself said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1)
We dimmish ourselves when we elevate ourselves to a higher position than others, rather than seeing ourselves as part of the human race, each trying to make sense of this life. Each aware, or still unaware, of the fact that we are more than just a body and that we have an inconsolable longing for a reuniting with our Creator.
