Shown to be Right

Scripture: Luke 7:31-35

31 “To what can I compare the people of this generation?” Jesus asked. “How can I describe them? 32 They are like children playing a game in the public square. They complain to their friends, ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist didn’t spend his time eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He’s possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man, on the other hand, feasts and drinks, and you say, ‘He’s a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and other sinners!’ 35 But wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.” (Luke 7:31-35 NLT)

Yesterday we read that “all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.”

Among the crowds who heard John’s message, there were religious people and unreligious people. There were tax collectors and a variety of sinners (because there are a variety of ways to sin, of course). There were Roman soldiers among them who, like the other “sinners”, asked John, “What should we do?” (Luke 3:7-14) John told them, “Stop cheating people, don’t misuse authority and intimidate people, change your mind and your actions!” They accepted that this was God’s plan for them!

John the Baptist confronted personal sins. The Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected John’s message and accused John of being demon-possessed. Jesus confronted the “acceptable sins” of the religious system; racial pride and privilege; exclusion of “outsiders” and “others”; abuse of the weak and marginalized, profiteering from their positions. Those same leaders rejected Jesus’s message and accused Jesus of being a drunkard! They excused their hypocrisy and continued to practice the “acceptable sins” of their system: Racism, hatred of “others”, threats and intimidation, abuse of the weak and marginalized. They rejected God’s plan for them.

We represent the message and mission of the church in our generation. We must not be infected with the same hypocrisies of the Pharisees and experts in religious law: Inconsistencies between our preaching and our practice, religious pride, privilege, exclusion of others, excusing our sins while condemning others’. Wisdom is shown to be right by the lives of those who follow it.

Prayer:

Father, In your love and mercy, shine a clear light into our hearts. Illuminate the dark places. Give us grace and humility to acknowledge the truth and accept your plan! May we be faithful to the message and mission of Jesus. For your Kingdom’s Sake!