Properly Approaching (American)privilege-4 Series

PROPERLY APPROACHING PRIVILEGE-IV

—Matthew 21:33-46

OR:

A CHRISTIAN APPROACH To AMERICAN PRIVILEGE

Attention:

Lost Loot

A little boy came home with a $10 bill he claimed to have found.

"Are you sure it was lost?” asked his mother.

“Yes, I’m sure,” said the little boy. “I saw a man looking for it.”

The little boy did not approach his privilege properly!

Need:

Christians, like many Americans, can center their Privilege & Pride upon illegitimate sources.

Thru this parable, Jesus highlighted/clarified a proper approach to a God-ordained privilege.

There is a Proper(Christian) Approach to Privilege.

What is a Proper/Christian Approach to Privilege?

Or

How should Christians approach their God-ordained privilege?

9 approaches to American privilege.

We have previously discovered that we must

Approach our privilege with...

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT(:33a)

2. RELIABILITY/Trustworthiness(:33b)

3. AVAILABILITY(:34)

4. HUMILITY(:35-39)

5—Approach your privilege with...

SENSIBILITY(:40-41)

Explanation:(:40-41)Logic/Reasonableness

:40—“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?”

The owner of the vineyard will return.

He will return for the sake of His son, & for the sake of the vineyard.

He will return with righteousness & justice in mind.

Jesus pointedly asked the spiritual leadership(chief priests, elders, Pharisees) what they thought the landowner would “do” to the vine-growers.

*It is personally eye-opening for us to see our situations objectively.

We are often better able to see our own fault when completely distanced from our personal part in a sin(s) by seeing the same fault(s) borne out thru another’s erring actions—*Thus Jesus used parables to effect change in others.

There are chains of events which we do not want to see others involved in or bring about or effect,... The very chains of events that we ourselves may bring about thru our own personal sinful influence. Such disparity is called ‘hypocrisy,’ or ‘being judgmental’ or ‘prejudiced.’ It is saying one thing while doing another. It is expecting certain behaviors from others, while seeing yourself as exempt(usually thru personal piety & self-righteousness).

cf.--David via Nathan--2Sam. 12:1-9(:7).

2Sam. 12:1-9—“Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him, & said to him: “There were two men in one city, one rich & the other poor. The rich man had exceedingly many flocks & herds. But the poor man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb which he had bought & nourished; & it grew up together with him & with his children. It ate of his own food & drank from his own cup & lay in his bosom; & it was like a daughter to him. And a traveler came to the rich man, who refused to take from his own flock & from his own herd to prepare one for the wayfaring man who had come to him; but he took the poor man’s lamb & prepared it for the man who had come to him.” So David’s anger was greatly aroused against the man, & he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this shall surely die! And he shall restore fourfold for the lamb, because he did this thing & because he had no pity.” Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, & I delivered you from the hand of Saul. ‘I gave you your master’s house & your master’s wives into your keeping, & gave you the house of Israel & Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! ‘Why have you despised the commandment of the LORD, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, & have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.”

*Jesus’ warning regarding hypocrisy—The ‘speck vs. the plank’ or ‘the splinter vs. the log’--Mat. 7:1-5(:3). Lk. 6:37-42(:41).

Mat. 7:1-5—“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; & with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; & look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, & then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

Lk. 6:37-42—“Judge not, & you shall not be judged. Condemn not, & you shall not be condemned. Forgive, & you will be forgiven. “Give, & it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, & running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” And He spoke a parable to them: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into the ditch? “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher. “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, & then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye.””