Up to My Neck in Love
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Luke 7:29-35
29. (When they heard this all the people and the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; 30. but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) 31. "To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32. They are like children sitting in the market place and calling to one another, `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not weep.' 33. For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine; and you say, `He has a demon.' 34. The Son of man has come eating and drinking; and you say, `Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' 35. Yet wisdom is justified by all her children."
Without Christ as the center of our lives, we are like restless children on a late summer day. They don’t want to swim—done that; don’t want to go for a walk—done that; don’t want to run through the sprinkler—done that; don’t want to . . . well, you get it! Luke is pretty in-your-face with these verses. First God sent John the Baptist and we didn’t like what he had to say, so we rejected him. Then He sent Christ—and we really didn’t like what He had to say. So what will it take to get our attention? What needs to be said or done to make us understand?
The Pharisees didn’t like to hear about the first being last and the last being first—they were pretty comfortable with their lifestyle and their place in the pecking order. They could not imagine giving all that up to accept mere “commoners” as equals. That would topple the whole system to which they adhered and proliferated! They didn’t want John to baptize them because that would be an acknowledgement that they accepted what he proclaimed. They certainly didn’t like what this rabble-rouser, Jesus, was saying – it was heresy! It was madness!
And how are we like these Pharisees? Are we a bit too comfortable in our faith? Do we “settle” for doing the “minimum required” to be considered a Christian? Do we go through the motions and hope secretly (and desperately) that it will be enough to earn us salvation? Do we dip our toes in the water, but never go in up to our knees, let alone jump off the high dive and become completely immersed in the love of God through Jesus Christ?
I had a rough time this morning—2nd morning after two weeks vacation is worse than the first! And we’ve got a lot going on in our family—and a lot planned in the next few months. And it’s hard to focus on the “now.” It’s hard to not get frustrated that it’s not all over and decided and settled. And I think God directed me to these verses to remind me about what’s really important! If you can’t practice your faith; if you can’t rest in Christ; if you can’t resist all the ways Satan wrangles his way into your mind and heart when you’re restless about the little things – inconsequential in the big scheme of things – then how in the world will you deal with a real tragedy? How will you remain faithful when your faith is truly tested?
How will you demonstrate you’re a Christian today if you’re crabby and restless? How? OK. I get it. So even though I’m running late this morning, and even though I haven’t even begun to put the Christmas “stuff” away, and my house needs a good cleaning, I have Jesus. And, if I’m not mistaken, that’s the whole point—not all the other nonsense Satan uses to distract me!
We can choose the “close enough” route, or we can dive on in the water. But we can’t have it both ways! Come on in—the water,s fine!
I hope you spend today immersed in the love of Christ – right up to your neck! And that you don’t let the “little things” distract you from the big picture.
Mary
