Being Inconvenienced and Dr. King

This past Tuesday was April Fool's Day. I left my house running a little behind, but I felt okay because it only takes me 10 minutes to drive to the school where I teach. Everything was going fine with my drive until I made the last turn to my school. Traffic was piled up like I have never seen before. As I creeped closer to the school I saw a group of students had compiled near the parking lots. I first thought maybe there was a bomb threat or something. But as I got closer I could see the students cheering and dancing, they were having fun, this was not an evacuation. As I pulled into the school the Senior Class was pointing the students into the teacher parking lot and the teachers were being pointed to the student lot. As I drove by them I gave a little smirk, a cute prank has been played, but I rushed into the school a little frustrated I was late due to the traffic.
When I got into the school the amount of complaining I heard from the faculty was unbelievable. I will not go into detail but some of these teachers were so self focused and so self absorbed that they could not see the humor with having to give up their parking spot to a student for one day. There was such a sense of entitlement that they could not even take joy in the fact that the senior class choose to do a prank that was not illegal (usually we have students sneaking out past curfew to vandalize with paint. They did write with window chalk on teacher's windows who parked in the teacher lot. Can't keep them completely away from the paint I guess. But at least this paint washed off.). However, few teachers saw the humor in any of this.
Where did we get the sense that we won't allow ourselves to be inconvenienced? I had to listen to teachers complain all day because they had to park somewhere different!
Let's talk about what it means to be inconvenienced. Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A man who died fighting for what was right. Dr. King allowed himself to be inconvenienced. He could have gone his whole life and left things the way they were but he left his family and his place on earth because he was trying to lead a nation in truth. The truth that all men are created equal and the dream that one day his children would be judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin. Dr. King gave his life fighting for equality and I work with teachers that don't want to give up their parking spots for a day so the senior class can have a laugh.
Where did Dr. King learn to have the attitude that he was willing to put himself into mortal danger fighting for what was right. The answer to that question is, Jesus. Dr. King knew that Jesus had made the ultimate sacrifice for mankind! Jesus left his eternal throne in heaven to come to earth to die for man's sins. There is no greater sacrifice than that of Jesus. And Dr. King knew that, he had learned that love from Jesus.
So what is keeping you from being inconvenienced by others? May I submit to you that allowing yourself to be inconvenienced by others is the gospel. There has been and will be no greater inconvenience in all of eternity than for our God and King to leave his throne on high to lower himself in the form of man to heal the sick and seek the lost.