PPic: Oberon Golf Course - Links Pro Am 2006

PGA Chaplain Bible Studies

PGA Chaplain Bible Studies
Study Twenty Eight July 28th to August 3rd 2008.
Reading – John Chapter Ch18: verses 28 to Chapter 19:16.

“How privilege can go wrong?”

“As soon as the Chief Priests and their officials saw Jesus (after he had been beaten), they shouted, “Crucify, crucify!’’___ ’Shall I crucify your king?”Pilate asked. ‘We have no king but Caesar”, the chief Priests answered. Finally Pilate handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.”  John Chapter 20: verses 6a and 15b to 16. (New InternationalVersion).

One of the privileges in golf is being able invite your friends to play golf with you. In golf, especially when it comes to private clubs it is about who you know. Often the only way to play golf at many private clubs is to be invited by a member. I am so grateful to my home club at Oatlands. This is a private club, but they allow me to run a golf day and invite my friends who would never have the opportunity otherwise to play at Oatlands.
I remember on one of my trips to America, being invited to an exclusive golf club in Washington by my friends. It was like walking into a palace.

The worse case of abusing privilege I have seen and I am guilty of it myself is dressing inappropriately. On one occasion when I was given the privilege of attending a special event, I did not give the respect it deserved by how I dressed. In a similar way a PGA member turned up to a tournament in thongs one day only to be told to leave the premises.

It is also a privilege to be called a follower of Jesus. It is a privilege because it is undeserved and God is gracious towards us.

First we looked at Peter and then Pilate in Jesus’ trial. This week we look at the religious leaders responsible for arresting Jesus. The Chief Priests and Jewish leaders who arrested Jesus and put him on trial before Pilate were also privileged, because they were God’s people, called to be a light to the world.

But somewhere in their life they lost the plot. Rather than seeing Jesus as the fulfilment of their hopes they saw him as their enemy.

When we are in a privileged state it is so easy to get a false impression of your own importance and get trapped in self indulgence. I think this is something of what happened to the Jewish leaders. Jesus was getting the attention from the crowds, he was teaching a way of life that many of the rules the leaders enforced would not apply. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God and so this would mean less importance for them. It seems the leaders became jealous of Jesus and could see their privileges as leaders and representatives of God being eroded away. The only solution for them was to get rid of him.

Jesus was the one who was God and should have received all the respect that comes from being recognised as such. But rather Jesus became a servant who gave his life for others. Jesus did not need to be seen like we like to be, his privilege was in doing God’s will.

In the end the leaders thought that by putting Jesus to death, this would be the end of his life and influence. How wrong they were.

Prayer
Lord God, help us in the privileges that we have in life, to keep a level head and to be open to learning from others. Amen.

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