REFORMATION — MATTHEW 11:12-19 — Oct 26-27, 2024
Ascension Lutheran, Littleton
“PLAYING THE GAME”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from Jesus Christ our Savior, amen.
Our Gospel reading for today in Matthew 11 talks about children playing games. What do you suppose children of that time did to play with their friends? Well, we don’t have to wonder, because we know quite a bit about that. They had all sorts of things they did.
They played with toys. We’ve found rattles and spinning tops and balls made of leather and stuffed with corn husks. We’ve dug up jacks and dolls and board games like checkers. We know they played games similar to our hopscotch. These games were fun and also helped to develop hand-eye coordination and balance and thinking skills.
Children also had fun competitions with their friends when they started to get just a little older. They did archery and used slingshots and had foot races. It was routine for children to engage in these activities, and it was also important training because they taught skills they would use as adults. That’s why we see in Judges 20:16 that there were 700 left-handed warriors who could sling a stone and hit any target, they could hit a single hair every time. That’s why David could hit a heavily armored Goliath in the only exposed spot his armor didn’t cover.
Playing was a part of life for children, even back then. As it says in Zechariah 8:5, “The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Jesus referred to children playing in Matthew 11. He talked about how they mimicked community events, two of them in fact — dances and funerals. Jesus used their play to bring home an important teaching to the people of that day, and to us as well.
Jesus was sharing how people have tried to manipulate God and even actively fought against Him. He described this human mutiny by comparing them to children at play in verses 16 & 17 of our Gospel, He said, “To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: 17 “‘We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’” Ancient Jews used many musical instruments such as the pipe, the flute, the harp, the trumpet, etc. They used them in worship and at parties. And singing sad songs, dirges, was typical at funerals. Jesus painted this word picture of children complaining to their playmates that they didn’t play the game right. “If we play the pipe, start dancing. If we sing a dirge, you need to start crying and mourning. You’re not doing what you’re supposed to do. Do what we tell you!”
Jesus was comparing what these children were saying to how some of the people back then were complaining about John the Baptist and Jesus. In verses 18 & 19 Jesus said, “18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
They complained no matter what. If you were really strict about things, or if you were really social, if you lived in the wilderness or lived in town, if you ate and drank what everyone else did or you had a special diet, they let you know — you’re wrong. In other words, they were saying, “We set the rules, and you follow them, or else we will cancel you. Play the game, our game, or we will ruin you.”
Do you ever see that or feel that today? Do you get the idea if you don’t act a certain way you’ll be excluded? And how long does that “certain way” last? It gets changed all the time because it’s really about who has the power, who’s in control, who calls the shots.
It’s been this way almost from the very beginning, influencers trying to convince others how they need to think, act and speak. It’s not just a current thing with all the politicians trying to tell us what’s up and how we have to vote so our city or state or country or world won’t explode. It’s not just TV commercials trying to get us to buy their products or we won’t be cool or accepted or keep up. It goes all the way back to the core of what’s right and wrong.
In Genesis 1 we see over and over, “God said…, God said…, God said…” But then in Genesis 3 we see a new phrase, coming from the evil one, and it was subtle. “Did God say? Did God say?” That devil was trying to bring doubt into their minds and hearts, and his deception worked. They turned away from their identity as children of God and from the clear Word God had given them. That’s the way the devil always works. He attacks your identity, and God’s Word, and your relationship with the Lord.
It was this same tactic in the temptation of Jesus. The devil tried to tempt Jesus by getting Him to doubt His identity, saying, “If You are the Son of God; if You are the Son of God…” and by misquoting and misinterpreting the Word of God, and trying to get Jesus to obey the devil’s commands instead of God the Father’s. But Jesus was having none of it. He just kept quoting the Word, saying, “It is written; it is written; it is written.”
Today we’re celebrating the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther was making the point that we had been led away from the clarity of God’s Word and the Gospel message of our eternal Salvation: by grace alone through faith alone. God used Luther to restore our understanding of who God is, and the relationship He wants with all of us. God is the One who is love and who wants to rescue us from our sins and bring us into relationship with Him.
Tragically, the devil’s teaching had become almost universal that you get saved by your own efforts. Even the official teaching of the Church was that you had to do certain things, a sufficient amount of them to earn your way into Heaven. Imagine that for a minute. If that were true our whole life long we’d be wondering, “God is that enough? How about now? Have I done enough yet?” That will only bring hopelessness. Here’s a thought picture for us. Imagine a loaf of bread with lots and lots of very thin slices. For every good work you do you’re given one tiny slice of the loaf. But you never know how long the loaf is, and you need the whole thing to get into Heaven. So there’s never peace. And besides that God tells us so clearly that none of us can earn our way into Heaven by our own efforts. But thanks be to God, He’s done it all for us already. It says in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of your works, so that no one may boast.” It’s a gift. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” When you’ve got Jesus you’ve got the whole loaf. It’s yours because He’s yours, & you’re His!
What are the temptations today? They haven’t changed.
It will always be an attack on your identity. So who are you? In Christ you are a child of God. It will always be an attack on God’s Word. But His Word and its truth will never change and it will never pass away.
And it’s an attack on your relationship with the Lord. The reality is He will never stop loving you no matter what. So enjoy that.
The world is going to tell you, “PLAY OUR GAME LIKE WE TELL YOU.” But you can tell them, “NO THANKS. I’VE GOT A BETTER OFFER. COME JOIN ME. COME AND SEE.”
In Jesus’ name, amen.
