Entitlement. It's a quintessentially American idea, isn't it. We learn it early when we learn to sing, "This land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York island..." We see it in our subdivisions; we have a clear sense that, somehow with the presence of a chain-link fence between our backyards, we know precicely where your sod ends and mine begins. You paid for your space, and I paid for mine: the common wisdom couldn't be clearer on this. We very much feel entitled to our property, our car, our "stuff", even our ideas can be copyrighted! And almost comically, we feel entitled to our parking space at the supermarket. We think, Imagine the nerve of that other person in that other car when she mistakenly thought that she could have my parking space.

So, I should not be surprised about the anger and shock of many of my fellow Americans when they view the recent surge in Mexican people walking across that all-important border from "their country" into "our country." We, after all, are entitled to this space, and it would take some nerve for someone else to think of entering it without our permission. (And all along I wonder what my friends of Native American descent are thinking about all of this.)

It's also no surprise that one of the earliest words our children learn, after "da-da" or "ma-ma", is "mine." But, I have to ask, is that stuffed animal, grasped in the child's chubby little fingers really "hers"?

Let's think about this in the context of Christianity. Did Jesus or the early Christ-followers speak of entitlement or ownership? In fact, they did!

Jesus, who said he had "no place to lay his head," (Mat 8:20), traveled frequently and, as far as we know from the gospels, did not own any property. And, the earliest example of a group of Christians is found in the book of Acts, chapter 2, which includes this description: "All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need." It seems that Jesus and the early Christians weren't particularly interested in entitlement.

My wife recently heard someone re-tell what he thought was a "great" analogy about the immigration of Latinos into the U.S. He said it is like someone breaking into your house, making your beds, sweeping your floors, and then demanding that you pay them for their services. This analogy fits perfectly well when viewed through the lens of the American notion of entitlement.

But the analogy, re-told by a Christian (!), is incompatible with Jesus' teachings in at least three ways. First, many of Jesus' parables reject common wisdom of who "should" and who "should not" have something. For example, in answering the question "who is my neighbor?", Jesus replied with the story of the Good Samaritan. It is important to remember that Samaritans were viewed in an extremely negative light by people in Jesus' day. They were literally outcasts, (lowest in the caste structure), and even dreadedly "unclean." Imagine a Mexican immigrant with AIDS and a criminal record. In Jesus analogy, it was the Samaritan, and NOT the members of society who "should" have been favored, who helped the person in need. Thus, "Good Samaritan" is an ironic phrase, and the analogy was used by Jesus to dismantle societal expectation of entitlement, caste, and place. Even the Samaritan is your neighbor, he seemed to suggest.

Second, Jesus didn't teach that people should get what they deserve. In the analogy offered to my wife, the person who broke into the home would deserve to be criminalized, not paid. Earthly justice (notions of entitlement) would say that the person broke and entered into someone else's property, and should therefore be punished. But I recall another parable from Jesus about a man who hired some workers. Early in the day, he hired some men to work his field and they agreed to work all day for one denarius. As the day went on, the owner realized he needed more help, so he hired more men, and said he would pay them a denarius as well. Then it happened again. And again. And by the end of the day, he was hiring people right up until the last hour. Everyone got paid the same, no matter how long they worked. Of course, those who had worked all day felt that they had been ripped off. But Jesus concludes the parable by saying "So the last will be first, and the first will be last." Now, this parable is an analogy for the Kingdom of Heaven, and not a specific country, per se. But as Christ-followers, in all of our actions, should we not seek to follow his notions of justice over the ways of the world?

Third, Jesus offered himself as a sacrifice for others, and generously doled out grace instead of worldy justice. As Christians, we believe that humans deserve punishment for our sins, and that God offered his son Jesus as the sacrifice to receive the punishment we deserve. In everything we do, as Christ-followers, we are to emulate that act of love. "Love one another," Jesus said, "as I have loved you." I am reminded of the wonderful gospel parallel epic story entitled "Les Miserables," by Victor Hugo. At the beginning of the story, Jean Valjean, a criminal who has recently escaped from prison, finds shelter in the home of a priest. During the night, Valjean steals the priest's costly silverware and then flees. The next day, he is caught by the law-enforcing authorities, and is brought before the priest. He knows he is about to be punished for what he did. But to his surprise, the priest informs the authorities that not only did he give Valjean the silverware, but that he forgot to take the candlesticks as well! The priest blatently ignored the notion of entitlement and chose, instead, the Christ-like notion of grace. He was a wonderful example of loving one's neighbor as one's self. He loved Jean Valjean as Jesus loved him.

I wonder, if Jesus were to tell an analogy of a person breaking into your home and sweeping your floors, how would he tell the story?

My friends, I understand that the immigration of people into the U.S. is a challenge to "our" way of life, and that it runs against our ideas of justice, entitlement, and ownership. But ask yourself if these ideas are grounded in Christian love.

Are you a Christian? Consider this verse from the New Testament book of James: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world." Who, in our lives, is orphaned by poverty and legalities? Who is left behind, like a widow, by a society insisting on entitlement? Consider the Latino immigrant, and think of a way to love her as Jesus loved you.