Word to the Wise
Friday, December 15, 2006 - Second Friday in Advent
[Isaiah 48:17-19 and Matthew 11:16-19]We played the flute for you, but you did not dance, we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.
Sometimes one cannot please anyone. Indeed, the expression, "There are none so blind as they that will not see!" comes to mind when encountering this passage from Matthew. Jesus chooses to imitate children mocking mourners as part of an image that shows that it doesn't matter what he does, some of his hearers (especially the scribes and Pharisees) will find fault. They criticized John the Baptist in a way completely the opposite of the way they criticized Jesus. They accused Jesus of being a drunk, and of associating with the dregs of society. They were wrong about the first but certainly right about the second. If we go to Bethlehem and see the child and wonder what he is going to be like (after all, the angelic host has some pretty good things to say), we can come back to this passage and realize that he's going to be the subject of some pretty difficult conversation. But then again, we can recall the times when nothing we said or did made any difference to some folks who were determined to make it all seem bad. One can only hope that in this season of hope folks might be willing to begin the process of seeing a future in Jesus, whether it be the child in the manger or the preacher in the square. AMEN
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