Sermon Illustrations: Familiarity

It's 8 am and there's a knock on the door, and a guy gives you $100. You ask, "Why are you giving this to me?" "I just wanted to share it," he answers. That evening you're telling everyone. Next day at 8 am, there's the same guy knocking on your door and handing you $100. This happens every day for three weeks, and by then you're just waiting at the door. By the end of the seventh week, you're leaving an envelope at the door: Leave money here. After three months, you go out and check the envelope and there's nothing there. Same the next day. On the third day, you're waiting at the door, and you see the guy walk past your place to your neighbour's. "Hey, that's the wrong house," you yell. The next day the same thing happens, "Hey, he doesn't deserve that," you shout. Eventually, you become angry and resentful that you are no longer getting something you didn't deserve in the first place. You took it all for granted. In the beginning, the sense of privilege was very high, but over time it diminished and you began to see it as your right.