EXPECTATION, ENTITLEMENT, AND DUTY

So he [John] began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves,'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

And the crowds were questioning him, saying, "Then what shall we do?"

And he would answer and say to them, "The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise."

And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, "Teacher, what shall we do?"

And he said to them," Collect no more than what you have been ordered to."

Some soldiers were questioning him, sayiing, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages."

Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, John answered and said to them all, "As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat into His barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
(Luke 3: 7-18)

John has some pretty challenging things to say about what should follow repentance.

He is startling from the get-go, for he does not greet those who came to him with soft, gentle words. Instead, he calls them a "brood of vipers." Not just snakes, but poisonous ones. He's not letting anyone off the hook just because they showed up to be baptized. He told them that their actions after that point needed to reflect the change in their life, and he warned them against falling into the trap of feeling entitled to righteousness just because they were "children of Abraham."

These days I seem to see Entitlement in all sorts of small things on every side. Drivers in large shiny SUVs who feel entitled to abruptly change lanes in front of others, without signalling and without even being cautious about the space between them. People who get impatient in lines because "I'm in a rush!" (as if nobody else is on a schedule). During Thanksgiving week, a major department store chain had a Black Friday commercial that featured a cheerfully pushy young woman who cut into the store entrance ahead of an older woman while virtually putting her hand in the other woman's face and then later lifted an item right out of another shopper's cart. Not only is Entitlement becoming a rampant plague, it is actually being celebrated as desirable. It doesn't seem to matter that the behavior is rude and selfish.

John cut that off at the knees by basically telling those beginning to feel self-righteous and entitled. "You think you're so special because you are a Child of Abraham? Well, you're not. God could make Children of Abraham from all these stones if He wanted to. No, you're not special."

That seems to have caught the attention of many, because they started asking "Then what are we to do?"

John's answer is very simple, and yet it seems to be so hard for us to follow. "If you have extra, give to someone in need. Do your job - just do your job. Don't use it to steal from others."

We're always trying to leverage our positions into "something more, something bigger". But how often do we do that at someone else's expense?

For me, lately, I have been seeing both sides of this matter, of "what we should do" following repentance.

On the one hand, early last month as I was considering how God blesses us in unlikely ways, and how when things were short for me I tended to get very close-fisted because of anxiety, Into the midst of those thoughts, God dropped a sermon about the widow who gave of her very small savings. Jesus pointed out that although what she gave in monetary value was tiny compared to a rich man who had preceeded her in giving an offering, He said that in God's eyes, her gift was far greater. About the same time, somewhere else in my life, someone had quoted "God loves a cheerful giver."

It set me thinking about how often God unexpectedly blesses us. So I decided that whenever I did have cash-in-hand, I would take out two dollars to have available to anyone who asked. Two because one was for myself, to remind me that I needed to give, and not be selfish, and the other was for God and the needy person, God in the needy person. "Whenever you have done it for the least of these, you have done it to Me." I call it the "Me and Thee Fund." And the "rules" are that I give it to whomever asks from need, and that I give it cheerfully. The first time, I was coming out of a 7-Eleven after buying a sandwich on my way home, and I was surprised at how easy it was to give the man that two dollars - with a smile and even saying "God bless you" as I gave it. The second time, I was coming home late on a wet, cold Sunday evening, just at the top of the exit ramp from the freeway. There was a man there with the begging sign. And I thought that anyone who was sitting out there on a night like that really was in need. I got that two dollars out before I even reached him, and handed it to him as my light turned green.

Me and Thee. Even when things are tight for myself. I mean to try and be sure to have even that little to give away to someone else whose need might be far worse than my own.

And the other hand of the matter, I have been blessed to see people doing as John recommended: "If you have two and you see someone who has none, give him one of yours." At a time when so many are dealing with our damaged economy, I have received from others. They have given according to their abilities, but I am finding that their mere action of giving is so powerful all amounts are ... well, equal. The small gift is as precious as the larger one.

These then are the things John called us to do, to prepare for the coming of the Lord: don't start feeling entitled to specialness, be generous when you can, and do your duty without trying to use it for greater gain.

It seems simple enough.