Unless the Lord Builds the House
Summary
Entitlement is the most destructive force on earth and no person, group or ideology is exempt from its barbaric cruelty. Students demand the “right” not to be offended; the wealthy contend that they've “earned” the fruit of “their” labor; and consumers “demand” access to products with righteous indignation, even as citizens grumble about public benefits. All of us believe that we are entitled to receive, earn, own, produce and/or protect whatever we want, whenever we want it. The worst part is that we all complain that everyone else is entitled, itself a sign of our own entitlement! Alas, we turn to the Prophet David for wisdom: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, [and] to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2) In other words, in the Bible, human beings do not accomplish or deserve anything. Everything is a free gift. It is the Lord who offends students for their sake. It is the Lord who provides both our employment and our hard work. It is the Lord who fills the land with bounty and it is the Lord who provides and revokes benefits; yet, for some reason that is not enough; humans are not satisfied with sharing in God's generous provision. On the contrary, we want to possess it, to control it, and to hoard it for ourselves. “Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Mark 12:10-11) Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:1-12. Episode 187 Mark 12:1-12; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Industrious Ferret” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/Entitlement is the most destructive force on earth and no person, group or ideology is exempt from its barbaric cruelty. Students demand the “right” not to be offended; the wealthy contend that they've “earned” the fruit of “their” labor; and consumers “demand” access to products with righteous indignation, even as citizens grumble about public benefits. All of us believe that we are entitled to receive, earn, own, produce and/or protect whatever we want, whenever we want it. The worst part is that we all complain that everyone else is entitled, itself a sign of our own entitlement! Alas, we turn to the Prophet David for wisdom:
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, [and] to eat the bread of painful labors; For He gives to His beloved even in his sleep.” (Psalm 127:1-2)
In other words, in the Bible, human beings do not accomplish or deserve anything. Everything is a free gift. It is the Lord who offends students for their sake. It is the Lord who provides both our employment and our hard work. It is the Lord who fills the land with bounty and it is the Lord who provides and revokes benefits; yet, for some reason that is not enough; humans are not satisfied with sharing in God's generous provision. On the contrary, we want to possess it, to control it, and to hoard it for ourselves.
“Have you not even read this Scripture: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this became the chief corner stone; this came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” (Mark 12:10-11)
Richard and Fr. Marc discuss Mark 12:1-12.
Episode 187 Mark 12:1-12; Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Industrious Ferret” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com (http://incompetech.com/)) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/
