a Homily for Proper 9 A

Text: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

 

Dance, Puppet!

“It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another”

This is how Jesus speaks to “the current generation,” His generation. Returning from seeing John the Baptist who summoned Him, to question Him. John, asking Jesus of Nazareth: Are you the one? As in Capital T, Capitol O: The One. Asking Jesus because he’s worried. He’s starting to believe that Jesus isn’t The One. That he was wrong. If that’s the case, he seems to be thinking, then I’ve got some more work to do.

What Jesus finds in John at the beginning of chapter 11, he finds here in the crowds. Questions and doubts. But it isn’t the questions or the doubts that are the problem exactly. It isn’t the content of their minds or their hearts that is problematic. It is what they’re actually saying to one another; how they’re treating each other that’s the problem.

[L]ike children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, `We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

I did this and you didn’t respond. They seem to say.

Fickle. The one who doesn’t eat is full of sin. The one who does eat is also full of sin. With these children, there is no way to win. No way to avoid the abuse. Condemnation comes regardless; the public shaming, the brutal vision of human justice. I did this and you sat and watched, the people say from their seats. All sitting. All condemning the other.

Bad Communication

So familiar, this armchair quarterback, this freelance culture critic is. You really need to work on this, she says. Or we were here; where were you? The accusations, the bullying. So familiar to our families, to our church. Too familiar here.

This week we’re given yet another vision of communication, which has been a common theme for weeks. This one is about what we do, intentionally or not. The image Jesus uses is vivid, of children in the marketplace, sitting and shouting at another person, also sitting, also shouting. I told you to jump and there you are, sitting on your bum! I said “jump!” so get up and jump!

Always outward, external. Not dialogue. All one way. No directions, only expectations. Unrealistic expectations. I played music, why didn’t you dance? We cried, why didn’t you join us?

Jesus holds a mirror to our ridiculous and abusive tactics which neither communicate our needs or proclaim the Good News of a risen Christ, our Liberator, our Redeemer, our Lover. How could we be so foolish and arrogant? How can we expect so much of others and so little of ourselves? How can I preach this message, when my own expectations may not be understood?

What of the volumes of words not spoken, but expectations held regardless? Needs never raised, prayers never requested, hope never delivered? What of all of the ways we continue to sit on our hands, when all Jesus has asked is to lend one of them to our neighbor?

Naturally Paired

We start by remembering that Jesus is fond of children. Jesus loves children. And Jesus tells His adult followers to be more like children than the world-weary adults that they are. This image He offers here is not negative, then, for being childlike is good. It is a sign that we don’t understand GOD’s ways because we are always learning, always becoming, always growing. This is a positive thing.

This image is also much less abstract and generic than it sounds. It isn’t one person, the bad apple shouting at a crowd, but about two: the pair: I played, why didn’t you dance? The story is full of pairs: I/you, Jesus/John, even the yoke. As Sonja Olson describes

A yoke is a wooden crosspiece placed over the necks of two animals, fastened and then attached to a cart or plow that the two animals are to pull. A load so great it takes at least two animals to pull. How can that be light? Is there any significance of the many pairs listed? The flutes playing along with the dirges being sung. The demons being laid down beside the gluttonous drunks. John walking beside Jesus. The Father is linked to the Son. The Son stands among those to whom he is revealed.

All these pairings, this yoke, these children in the marketplace, this burden, all of this work looks so heavy and when we proceed alone it is. All by ourselves, pulling a cart alone, the burden is too much. It is a double portion, poured for two.

Our partner in life and work and ministry is always GOD the Holy Spirit if we let Her carry the yoke for us/with us. If we aren’t too proud or stubborn or distrustful.

Never Alone

There is always room for two, not because we need the space in case a second one shows up or because the Holy Spirit follows us like a trained dog, always at our side, always commanded.

There is always room for two because yokes are designed for two. With two, we can make sense of this world, of this work. If we marry, we have a life partner who alters the burden and shares its weight. When GOD calls us into ministry, we are bound to serve with others. Nothing about church, nothing about faith, nothing about prayer, nothing about preaching, nothing about presiding at the table, nothing about serving, nothing about living in this world, nothing about Jesus the Christ Himself is solitary. Nothing about us is alone. We do this together or not at all.

We don’t sit on our hands and bark commands, we share. We must ask for help to receive it just as we must repent to receive forgiveness. Jesus reminds us of this all the time and then expects it of us. Just as He invites us to welcome and expect welcome in return.

In this way, we are all still children because we need to be taught, shown what GOD wants. We need to learn, to keep learning. Our mistakes, our negligence, our immaturity, is so easily revealed. Even our eldest members are not immune.

Thank GOD! That means there’s still hope for every one of us. Even you. Even me.