Friday, December 15, 2023

15 December 2023 - song selection


'We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,
we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.'

That generation was, it seemed, impossible to please. The strict religious asceticism of John the Baptist caused them to say he was crazy or possessed. The more relaxed attitude of Jesus, dining with sinners, known to enjoy the occasional wedding celebration, made them conclude he was a glutton and a drunkard who could not possibly come from God. But these complaints were superficial and stemmed from a deeper aversion to the messages of the forerunner and the messiah. Rather than be forced to take stock of their own lives, renounce sin, and turn to Jesus for healing and forgiveness that generation clung to superficial elements that they regarded as faults.

What of us? Are we impossible to please? In ages of moral laxity such as our own the Church is criticized for her supposedly stuffy and outdated moral code. Yet in ages and places of excessive puritanical spirit we see the Church criticized for the exact opposite reasons, for not taking as hard a line a her critics in those ages would prefer. And so we begin to guess that the fault is neither with Jesus nor with the Church he founded, but rather with ourselves.

We seem to be the sort of people who can only vibe with music that we ourselves initiated and control. We're like passengers in a car demanding to be in constant control of the radio because we don't even want to risk hearing anything but our familiar songs. It is as though we are so captive to the habits of our lives that any deviation feels like a risk too great to take. This isn't only true of those who don't know Jesus or those who are on the outside of the Church. Jesus continues to challenge his followers to adapt to the music he is playing in the here and now. But we most assuredly have a strong tendency to prefer the familiar and the comfortable.

But wisdom is vindicated by her works.

The works of wisdom, if we pay attention to them, will make it evident when a bias based on our subjective feelings has unfairly ignored something Jesus is doing on our midst. To ignore the initial invitation is one thing. But if it becomes clear that the invitation is working and bearing good fruit then it is another thing to continue to ignore it.

For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him (see Matthew 21:32).

It may sound trite to suggest that we must learn to respond to the music God is playing here and now but it is just so. In the abstract it sounds appealing but it is bound in reality to challenge us to come out of our comfort zones. But if we do respond, how great are the promises that await us.

If you would hearken to my commandments,
your prosperity would be like a river,
and your vindication like the waves of the sea;


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