Grace or an entitlement?
By GAYLORD L. GOERTZEN
Pastor, Ebenfeld MB Church
Roy Larson's regular electric wheelchair was being repaired so when he went out to get a haircut in downtown Glen Ellyn, Ill., he expected to have some minor difficulty maneuvering the stick control of his "loaner." But the minor difficulty became a major problem when one of the wheels got caught when he crossed the railroad tracks on Main Street. As Larson struggled to free the wheel, the chair's electrical system shorted out and the chair refused to move.
Suddenly the red lights began to flash and the signal bells started to ding. The gates in front of him and behind him began to lower. A train was approaching.
The first person Larson saw as he frantically looked for help was Mark Bade. Bade had been running an errand when he saw that Larson was in trouble. He ran to Larson's side and began to struggle with the wheelchair.
At almost the same moment, Doug Burgeson stopped his car at the tracks and saw what was happening. He leaped out of his car and helped Bade wrench the chair free from the track and drag it out of the way. The three men looked up just in time to see that the train was less than 20 yards away.
"After the train went by, I just said thanks," Larson said. "The only reason why I am here today is because these two guys saved my life."
In Luke chapter 17, God's word records the story of 10 men who needed help. All 10 men were lepers and were living out in the countryside as social and physical outcasts. When they saw Jesus coming they had hope, so they called out in a loud voice. "Jesus, Master, have pity on us." Jesus did not ignore their cry for help. Jesus helped them. Jesus said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests."
When the 10 men turned to go to the priest, they were healed of their leprosy. One of the men, when he saw that he was healed, stopped, turned around, and began praising God. Then he ran to Jesus, fell at the feet of Jesus, and did the only thing he could do. He thanked Jesus. The man just happened to be, not an Israelite, but a man from Samaria, a man who was a foreigner living among God's people.
When Jesus saw the man kneeling at his feet, Jesus asked, (Luke 17:17-18): "Were not all 10 cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
Where are the other nine? That's an important question. Why didn't the other nine give thanks to Jesus? Why did only one man, and a foreigner at that, give thanks? One word: entitlement.
What's an entitlement? It's something people in need receive, but those who receive it see it not as a gift, but as something owed to them. When you receive something you're entitled to receive, something that's owed to you, why say thank you?
That's how it was for the nine men who didn't say thanks. They thought God owed it to them to heal them. Why? Because they were Israelites who obeyed God's commands. They thought that they had been denied justice when they got leprosy, so when Jesus healed them they thought they finally got what they deserved. They had finally received justice from God. The Samaritan, however, knew he didn't deserve healing, so when he received it, he knew it was a gift of grace and he responded by thanking Jesus.
Why is it so hard for us to say thank you? Isn't it because we think someone, either God or people, owes us something. But when we realize that all we have — our health, our wealth, our country, and our families — is a gift of grace, not an entitlement, we can be thankful. That's especially true when it comes to salvation. There is no way we can earn salvation, that's why Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead. We have to receive salvation as a gift of God's grace. When we realize salvation is a gift we don't deserve we can say, "Thank you, Jesus."
