Jesus closes his conversation regarding John by denouncing the generation who are missing what God is doing right in front of their noses.
“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: “‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” (Matthew 11 v 16-19)
Next time you watch children play observe their agenda. There can be a number of rules and it seems that everyone is breaking them. Frustrated voices are being raised because no one seems to be following the same rule. There can be a lot of grabbing of toys and shouting ‘Mine!’ In the end they haven’t ‘played nicely’ and it has ended in tears. Selfish childish games are not only for people of a certain age, grown-ups play them also.
John was accused of being too depressive, mourning and even having a demon. They didn’t get it. John’s ministry was God’s agenda but they didn’t want to play. So then Jesus is here, standing amongst them, God with us, the party has started! But again they don’t like this game either. It is too joyful, generous and all encompassing.
Consider your life with its twists and turns. You went into education; you had a lifetime of a variety of jobs, you developed skills and took on activities, you met friends and a few enemies along the way and then you retire to enjoy your last period of time on this earth. The most difficult part of your life has been to decipher and then trust God’s agenda for your life. To realise you don’t set the rules, He does, but you still have to play even if you want to throw your toys out of the pram.
If that generation had only played according to the rules and accepted John for who he was then they wouldn’t have missed the all-important Immanuel. Their lives would have adapted to the new rules and wisdom would have confirmed they were right.
Instead, they kicked back, rejected and ignored what God was doing.
What is God doing in your life? Whatever it is and maybe you can agree by looking back on your life and see that you didn’t always want to play according to the rules God had brought for your life. But now? Will you trust Him that right now He is here, with you, leading you in this season and you will commit to fall in line and play His game not yours? His agenda outweighs yours.
Missions Paul 