Without Entitlements

Without Entitlements--November 27, 2017

"You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain, but through we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition." [1 Thessalonians 2:1-2]

Contrary to popular Christian opinion, the followers of Jesus never got free passes.  Being truthful about that fact may clear one of the bigger hurdles that gets the church tangled up and tripping over its own feet these days.  We never got free passes, and we are not promised or owed entitlements, either.

In our place and time (really, ever since Constantine), it is pretty common for the Respectable Religious Crowd to expect the culture around us to make a special place for Christians because we are, or have been, the majority of the population in this country.  We find religious-sounding folks getting upset when non-Christians refer to events in December as "Holiday" events rather than "Christmas" events, even if they don't share our belief in Christ (and even when the events in question have nothing to do with Jesus--after all, what about an appliance sale really has to do with the birth of our Lord?).  We find folks getting really mad if someone can't put cross-shaped monuments or displays of the Jewish/Christian Ten Commandments on public grounds (and yet no one seems to think it could compromise the meaning of the cross or the commandments to have them associated with power-wielding governments).  People who remember an earlier generation when blue laws kept most stores and activities closed on Sundays now get upset when the rest of the world does not automatically make its schedule around the Christian holy day (meanwhile how many of those same suddenly devout folks don't bat an eye when their kids have soccer games on Sunday mornings?).  In other words, we tend to have a belief that it should be easy for us to be Christians in our culture, and that everybody else around us, while free to have whatever faith they want, should be flexible around our wants and calendars.  We expect free passes and entitlements, in other words. We expect things to be neat and tidy for ourselves.  

Historically, though, that's just now how Christianity was birthed.  Here in the letter that we call First Thessalonians, Paul makes that clear. Paul knew that his faith in Jesus was going to make things messier for him, not simpler, and that it would be more difficult rather than less to live by the upside down values of Jesus.  But he never expected, much less demanded, that the world around him had to give him special treatment because he was a Christian. That wouldn't have made sense to Paul, or to any of the New Testament era church.

Here in today's verses, it appears that Paul is referring to the events we know about from Acts 16-17, where he and Silas were stripped and beaten by a mob for freeing a slave-girl who had a spirit that told fortunes (effectively depriving her "owners" of their income and making them mad over it).  And when the authorities sent the angry mob away, their next step was to throw Paul and Silas in prison (yes, this is the set-up for the story of Paul and Silas singing in prison before the earthquake and the encounter with the Philippian jailer).  And then the next thing you know, Paul and Silas head over to Thessalonica, and there's an angry mob waiting for them there, too.  Nevertheless, in every town, and even when they've been horribly mistreated, Paul doesn't give up speaking the good news of Jesus wherever he goes.  He goes where Jesus leads him--which is always into the mess, not away from danger or complications.

Paul did not expect a free pass. Paul did not assume he was entitled to a friendly hearing.  He knew that he was in store for a lifetime of opposition and that his voice would always be one from the margins.  But he was convinced that the news he was bringing was just so inherently good, so compelling and beautiful and true, that it was worth telling, whether or not the crowds and the authorities made it easy for him or not.

If Christianity is not merely a hobby--something that can easily fit into the pockets of free time in our already booked calendars--then it is worth living out this faith of ours whether or not the culture around us makes it easy for us or not.  And at least as Paul's story makes it clear, we Christians have not traditionally been given free passes by the world around us, because the world around us knew that the way of Jesus truly is dangerous to the order of things "as they are."  If we really are part of a revolution, a movement, and not a pleasant pastime, then we should not expect to get special treatment.  If anything, we should be prepared for the world to make it harder for us bring the news of Jesus.  After all, following Jesus will lead us to seriously question our economics, our politics, our personal comfort and its cost to others, and how much of ourselves we give up to technology.  Paul and Silas were beaten and stripped at the decree of the authorities because their actions to liberate the slave-girl cost her owners a profit.  And the world around us, enamored as it is with profits, is always going to have trouble with Christians who question whether our piles of money are worth our devotion.  The world around us is always going to be upset when we go around announcing that the emperor is wearing no clothes.  That's how it has always been for us.

I had a professor in seminary who once asked in a sermon, "Can Christianity survive in times of persecution?  Certainly--we have plenty of evidence from 2,000 years of history that the church even thrives at the times and places where it is pressed the hardest.  But can Christianity survive in times of comfort?  That is much more in doubt."  If we spend our time and energy fussing that the world has not given us free passes or preferred status in the public square, and spouting angry words that we have not been given special entitlements for being Christian, then we are wasting time and energy that could be spent simply bringing the good news to people around us and letting the grace of Jesus speak for itself.  And in fact, we would be spending our energy and time serving ourselves by trying to make it more comfortable to be Christians, rather than serving Jesus and others bringing the Good News to people even when there is no special place made for us at the table.

So how will we spend our energy today--trying to get ourselves out of the mess Jesus leads us into, or going into the mess precisely because that is where we find Jesus? Complaining that we Christians are not given specially enough treatment, or simply putting the love of Jesus out there for people, whether or not we get a pat on the back from the world for doing it? 

Are we willing to share the Good News only if we get a free pass to do it, or have we found the Gospel so compelling by itself that we cannot help but live it and speak it, regardless of what the rest of the world does about it?  That kind of witness is going to turn some heads....

Lord Jesus, give us the courage and love to keep sharing your Good News rather than looking for easy outs or the path of least resistance.  And give us the wisdom and passion to see where you are leading us today.