Luke 7:31-35

Posted by DJL on May 4, 2013 in Daily Bread | 0 comments

“To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the market-place and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.’ 
For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

The tone of the conversation is changing.

Jesus is no longer just teaching, no longer just healing. He is now also challenging. He is challenging the religious authorities who criticized John and now criticize him. He is challenging those in the crowd who are not open to the new thing John announced and Jesus begins.

And, make no mistake, he is also challenging us.

If I were pressed to summarize his challenge it would come in the form of a question: do you want to be redeemed or not?

Seems like a silly question, doesn’t it. I mean, who doesn’t want to be redeemed. Except for one thing. To be redeemed means to need to be redeemed. It means we must admit our need, our vulnerability, our incompleteness, our falling short. And that can be hard. We’ve been trained both by our culture and often by bitter experience that showing our vulnerabilities can be dangerous. If we show need it may not be met. If we open ourselves to others because we are incomplete without them they may disappoint us, even hurt us.

But there’s another reason redemption is often a little more frightening than we usually admit. And that is simply that redemption implies change. If we are not perfect in and of ourselves – if we need and want redemption – that means that we must change.

And when push comes to shove, most us don’t want to change. Not really. Change is hard. Change often implies loss. Change feels like death…and sometimes it is.

So we, like Jesus’ first audience, all too often sit like children in a playground finding something to make fun about anyone who would dare promise redemption and, by extension, invite change.

Yes, the tone of the conversation is changing. It’s getting more personal, more challenging, even more confrontational. How will those listening to Jesus respond? More to the point, how will we?

Prayer: Dear God, you promise life…life after death. Give us courage to face the griefs and challenges and changes and deaths that await us, trusting that you are with us, have gone ahead of us, and will not let us go. In Jesus’ name, Amen.