Give Up Your Rights Series

Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who! centers around two characters: Horton, an elephant living in the Jungle of Nool, and the tiny mayor of Whoville, which is an extremely small world, which resides as a speck on a clover that Horton carries around.

Vlad, an evil vulture, chases Horton to grab the clover. As Horton runs to protect the citizens of Whoville, they experience earth-shattering upheaval. Whoville’s citizens are in a panic, so the mayor tries to tell them what’s really going on. Take a look. (show Whoville Mayor Warns Citizens movie clip).

"You've got to listen to me," he calls from an elevated balcony. “Our whole world could explode!” He tries to illustrate Whoville's peril by popping a beach ball with a pen, but his attempt goes comically wrong.

Laughing, the chairman of the Whoville City Counsel presses his advantage. “Mr. Mayor, you're finished! No one believes you; no one supports you.”

Determined, the mayor says, "Horton believes me."

"Horton?" the chairman asks. "Who's Horton?"

The mayor's response is a bit hesitant at first: "Horton is a giant elephant in the sky—don't bother looking, he's invisible. And he's the one risking his life to get Whoville—which, by the way, is a speck on a clover!—to safety."

The citizens of Whoville are confused at first, then erupt into gales of laughter.

Undeterred, the mayor says, "I can prove it!" He points to a small tube at the top of the balcony and says, "Horton's voice comes out of this horn." Speaking into the tube, he says, "Horton! I have all of the Whos gathered in town square. Let them know you're there!"

As Horton ponders what he should say, Vlad the evil vulture swoops down and steals the clover holding the speck (Horton Hears a Who, 20th Century Fox, 2008, directed by Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino, Scene 23, 00:54:40 to 00:56:30).

Poor Mayor. He tries to tell his people about the real world beyond their world, and nobody believes him. That often happens when believers try to tell people in their world about the Lord. The world thinks they’re crazy, but there is a way to get some people to listen.

If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 9, 1 Corinthians 9, where the Apostle Paul shows us what he did to get people in his world to listen and believe.

1 Corinthians 9:1-2 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord (ESV).

Paul establishes his credentials as an apostle, as one sent by the Lord Himself. That is, he saw the Lord with His own eyes, and the Corinthian believers were God’s seal of approval on his own ministry.

1 Corinthians 9:3-4 This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? (ESV)

Paul had a right to eat and drink at the church’s expense.

1 Corinthians 9:5-6 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? (ESV)

Paul had a right to get paid by the church, so he could eat and drink, get married, and take care of a family. Paul asserts His rights as an apostle and preacher of the Gospel, and that’s what you must do to gain a hearing in this world.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS!

Confidently recognize your freedom in Christ, and acknowledge what people rightfully owe to you.

First, know your rights by virtue of your position. You’re a husband, a fathers, a mother, a senior adult, a teacher, or a pastor. And as such, you deserve certain privileges. You deserve respect. You deserve a living wage. You deserve a lot of things because of your position and rightfully so.

It reminds me of the pastor who requested $200 a month from his church board. He wanted to pay someone to mow the church lawn and care for the flowers on the church’s property. “The former pastor did that himself,” the oldest board member quickly pointed out. “I know,” the new pastor replied, “But he doesn't want to do it any more” (“Lite Fare,” Christian Reader).

Pastors shouldn’t have to worry about that kind of stuff. The same goes for many of you. So know your rights by virtue of your position.

Second, know your rights by virtue of common practice. That’s the argument Paul makes in verse 7