Entitlement Reform

I’ve been reflecting a great deal recently on a besetting sin of my generation: entitlement.

This past Sunday’s story from 2 Kings — one of my favorites in all of Hebrew scripture — vividly illustrates what can happen when our entitlement encounters God’s grace and gets in the way.

It has me wondering about how entitlement operates throughout our culture, and in a strange twist, how it drives the current mess in Washington. By strange I mean ironic, as a political movement pushing the damaging government shutdown and potentially dangerous debt-ceiling impasse suffers from an overgrown sense of American entitlement while simultaneously calling for “entitlement reform!” Granted, reform is needed for every sense of entitlement, and we all could all benefit from more than a little self-examination.

But what cure is there for the sin of entitlement?

The great ancient warrior Naaman teaches us about the powerful medicine of gratitude.

I say more in my sermon this past Sunday.