Thoughts on Luke 7:31-34

Luke 7:31-34

New International Version (NIV)

³¹ Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:

“‘We played the pipe for you,
    and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
    and you did not cry.’

³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’

Have you seen "Shrek?"  Of course in my world this question is about the musical, not the movie -- but in both versions there is a great conversation between Shrek and Donkey.  Shrek is trying to explain to the rather one-dimensional Donkey what ogres are like, and he finally decides that ogres are like onions in that they have layers -- not like a cake, not like a parfait -- an onion. 

Like many passages and words of Jesus -- this one is like an onion.  And no, I don't really feel that it's a cake or a parfait. 

When I have a preaching assignment, I like to listen to and read what other people have said on the subject.  Type "John 3;16 sermon" into Google and you will get thousands of results.  Do the same for Luke 7:31-34 and there are seven.  SEVEN!  And four of those are from the 1800s.  No one seems to want to talk about this passage.  And I think I know why.  It calls us out.

Let's picture the marketplace of life for a moment.  

It is filled with color, distractions, people going on with their lives, goals, and problems.  There are things that people buy, things they reject.  Things that demand and deserve their attention.   Things that are real and important and legitimate.

When we have an agenda for the world -- desire as Christians that people should pay attention to us, come to us and cry when we play our sad songs and dance when we play our happy ones -- instead of going into the world and caring for real people, Jesus says we are "children" -- we value children in our culture but in the era of Jesus they were disease carriers and nuisances.  As insignificant to life then as cats yowling on the side of the road would be today.  Christians whine that the world is crumbling around them and build themselves up in self-righteousness and judgment of others.  And NO ONE CARES.  No one listens to the spoiled child throwing a tantrum in Wal-Mart.  And why should they?  They aren't contributing anything to the marketplace, to the development of the culture, to life.

Jesus refers in this passage to the differences between John the Baptist and himself.  John prepared everyone for a monster.  Prepare the way -- make the way straight for he is coming and he will rock the world -- but when the door opened, there was no monster.  There was a Lamb.

And the lamb didn't fight against his enemies.  He was a pacifist.  A celebrator. 

So what does that have to do with the idea of Jesus as our friend?  Lots. 

A writer I studied when I was a youth director warned that kids, especially teens, were very susceptible to the "you are what you eat" aspect of friendship.  He maintained that we become like those we hold close to our hearts.  Those we call our friends.  I still keep an eye on my kids' friends, just in the back of my mind.  Erin, for example, always wants to hang with Frankie Hartman, so I figure she's going to turn out okay!

Is the Jesus of the Gospels someone you would want your teenager to hang out with?  Is he someone you would claim as a friend yourself?  Would you go with him out drinking with the guys at the bar?  Fat, stinky, drunkards?  Or would you worry about what your church family would think if they saw you?  Would you go with him to take the hand of a prostitute?  Would you stand calmly while people picketed him and told him that God hates the people he loves? 

Jesus was not the friend anyone expected.  He still isn't.  John warns to make the paths straight -- because the one coming is going to knock everything flat anyway -- you'd better clear the way and FAST.  But there is no monster, no fighter, no warrior, no avenger.  Instead there is a peaceful man who is more concerned with how you treat other people -- including tax collectors and sinners -- than how you are treated. 

And that's scary but it's okay -- I read the end of the book and it all comes out fine...  but before that, there were and are consequences.  John came singing funeral songs, fasting, praying, warning.  He was mocked, ridiculed, raged at, and eventually beheaded.  Jesus came singing wedding songs; laughing, eating, drinking, enjoying life and loving everyone.  He was mocked, ridiculed, raged at, and eventually crucified.  And though he did this to save us from sin and death all he never guaranteed that he would save us from ourselves or from each other. 

It is time, as friends of Jesus, to live up to that friendship.  To grow up.  To embrace the idea of "we are what we eat" when it comes to friendship with Jesus.  He offers us true friendship along with true peace -- but it is (John14:27) but it's not the kind we expect.  He's not a monster on our side so we can whine and cry and be insignificant.  He IS significance.  We need to grow up as Christians and take the risk of saying "my Jesus is a friend not only to me but he is a friend to the radical Moslem... or the person shooting at the college... or the man with the sign making a fool of Christians everywhere... and we need to understand and accept the consequences.  Our friend is a lamb.  A man of peace and grace and love and commitment.  He calls us into depth, into sacrifice, into reality, into the risk of being significant in the world.  

We have a promise of security to take these risks -- our citizenship is in Heaven, we have a green card to work here. 

We have significance.  And overall I don't think we're failing.  We just look around and get stuck in despair.  How many of you think this country is worse, in worse shape now than it was a hundred years ago?

I disagree.  I don't think it's getting worse.

How many of you watched cowboy and Indian movies when you were a kid?  Where the Indians were the bad guys?  Can you even find one any more?  Nope.  Why not?  Because we figured out that Native Americans weren't savages.  And our whole idea about thinking that was funny or entertaining went away.  We can no longer root for the cowboys because we know what actually happened to the Indians.

How about for women?  Is it worse? Women couldn't vote in this country until 1920.  Women fought for the right to vote in this country for 78 years.  Think about that.  78 YEARS!  Most of the people who started the fight didn't live to see it won.  Do we think we'll ever go back in this country?  No.  Why?  Because of the law?  No.  Because we think differently about women.  Laws can go back and forth.  It's because we as a culture have changed our mindset about women.  We see women differently in 2014 than we did in 1814.  Or 1914.  The way to make a permanent change in behavior is to change attitudes, mindset, and vision. 

How about for people in America that aren't European descent?  Civil rights...  mind set change, not just for white people but for African Americans as well...

What if you're gay?  You have rights in this country today that you didn't have even last year or last month. We still have work to do as a culture in  this but you know what?  My teenagers have an entirely different mindset than teens in my generation.  It's a non issue for them.  That is cultural progress that can't be legislated.  

And our community of faith, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has been a leader in all of these cultural shifts.  I don't like denominational barriers any more than I like cultural ones but I am extremely proud to be an ELCA Lutheran in America today.  Whether we are embracing women in the pulpit or marriage rights or going as a community to literally give our life's blood in honor of a sick little girl we love -- we as a community of faith are striving to be grownups.  Are you doing your part to keep up?  Are you embracing your significance or are you whining at the sidelines that people aren't paying attention to your irrelevance?  It's a tough question, isn't it?

We have other things to tackle in this world, lots of them.  We need changes in mindset toward poverty, toward environmental stewardship, toward health and sickness -- But I firmly believe that grown up Christians are going to be at the forefront of these cultural shifts as well -- and we're going to win because there is going to be no end to the increase of His government or His peace -- so if you get afraid and are tempted to go back to the ways of spiritual childhood you need to remember that you live in an unshakeable kingdom.   Mission possible. 

You don't have to preach the message.  You are the message.  You are the message to the friends of Jesus Christ.  

When you meet a stranger that you are introduced to by a friend as "my good friend..." does it change your behavior toward them?  Yes.  You treat that person in a way that protects and cultivates the relationship you have with your friend, don't you?  Saying "this is my friend" says that this person is valued.  Tells you to care for them.  Implies that the connection is such that if you harm them, you are harming me, and if you care for them, you are caring for me. 

It's not by might.  It's not by power, but it's by my spirit, the Lord says.  Amen.