Advent 3: Saturday
Read:
Luke 7:29-35And the Lord said, "To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and
what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling
to one another, saying: 'We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We
mourned to you, And you did not weep.'” (Luke 7:31-32)
So...what does a Christian look like? How does a Christian act? More than
once, different ethnic groups have sought to prove that a Christian looks like
them, and not like someone of a different color or appearance. A few crackpots
still make this argument today, but Scripture clearly defeats this with the
proclamation that Jesus has come to save all nations. The idea that He's the
Savior of only certain races gets very little traction these days.
There is, however, a popular notion that Christians act in stereotypical ways:
the Christian doesn't drink, smoke, dance, chew or go with girls who do. In some
circles, these behaviors are used to measure one's faith and commitment. This is
called Pietism, the notion that living the Christian life is very much about certain
behaviors. Left unchecked, it has a lot in common with the Pharisees of old.
Now, don't misunderstand: I'm all for manners and politeness, and against
boorish behavior and needless offense. The problem is that Pietism insists that
Christianity is about following rules that the Lord doesn't give in His Word.
While He forbids drunkenness, He doesn't prohibit drinking. And while a lot of
current dance moves are sinful in their imitations of sexual behavior, dancing
itself isn't forbidden, either. Yet we Lutherans come under criticism for being
too worldly when we do things which the Lord permits. Such critics would add
that our reliance on the Sacraments for grace further robs us of good behavior.
Our Lord rescues us from Pietism with todays' reading. John the Baptist
lived an ascetic life, isolated in the desert and eating locusts. Despite his
avoidance of pleasure, the Pharisees accused him of being demon-possessed.
Jesus, on the other hand, attended dinners with tax collectors and weddings, and
the Pharisees rejected Him, too, on the pretext that He was a drunkard. In reality,
the Pharisees used the behavior of Jesus and John as an excuse: they were really
rejecting the Gospel that both proclaimed. Thus Jesus quoted the children's
adage, “We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to
you, And you did not weep.”
So what does a Christian look like—and how does a Christian act? Christian
behavior looks like someone confessing his sins and receiving absolution,
trusting that Christ has died for his sins. It looks like someone kneeling at the
rail to receive the Lord's body and blood for grace and faith. The following day
may find him puffing on an abominably bad cigar, hopefully nowhere near me.
We take care as Christians not to offer needless offense; at the same time, we
make sure we do not demand obedience where the Lord does not. And we
rejoice all the more that we're saved not by our rules, but by Jesus' grace.
Once He came in blessing, All our ills redressing;
Came in likeness lowly, Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us, Hope and freedom gave us. (TLH 74:1)