In Luke 7: 31-35 we have an amazing little parable of Jesus, where he compares the people around him to children playing. A modern day version might be: The people are like children playing at a party. First, they play musical chairs but some wont join in saying they want to play ‘pass the parcel’. When the group start to play ‘pass the parcel’ , the ones who said they wanted to play it, complain again and wont join in.
Jesus compared this to the religious leaders of His time who criticised John the Baptist for living frugally in the desert, saying he must be demon possessed. Then, when Jesus came along eating and drinking with tax collectors and ‘sinners’ , they weren’t happy with His way of life either.
We might say nowadays that the religious leaders needed to ‘get a life’ – that maybe they needed more to do so they didn’t have time to moan and criticise. When outlined in a story or parable – the situation seems laughable, trivial and immature, but so often as Christians we behave in the same way.
Even in Churches we have disputes over what kind of hymns to sing, pews or chairs to sit on, to use the pulpit or not, where to position ourselves for communion, taking up an offering or leaving out a plate, letting out the building to other groups …….. so much time and effort spent over little things that can easily become big divisive issues.
Where is God in all this? Obviously, each of us would say He’s on MY side and may even try to justify our position with that argument. Rather than trying to develop God’s priorities, it may be easier, more comfortable and less challenging to stick in our own little huddles with our own narrow prejudices – and I speak to myself here. We may excuse our inaction by saying the church service is too short or too long, the speaker too fast or too slow, has too many or too few hymns etc. Just like little children who want to play with their favourite toys when they want to, we want to guard our own views and not be open to anyone else’s – allowing no one – not even God- to tell us what to do.
Maybe that’s why we are so bad at being good stewards of all the blessings God pours out on us. It’s much easier to believe that things are ‘mine’ , then I can do whatever I want with them. But God is creator and owner of everything on earth. If I can accept that, it should change my perspective and impel me to submit all – every part of my life-to Him.
It is only when we are empty that God can fill us with good things like His Spirit. In Philippians 2:5-11, we read that Jesus emptied Himself and became as a servant. It is impossible for us to become servants of Christ if we see ourselves as masters of our own destiny. Only by emptying ourselves can we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and be able to be filled with His Spirit.