“To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”
-Matthew 11:16-19
I used to DJ parties; every DJ loves a great party. It was easy to love the people who would dance all night no matter what song I played. I also came to appreciate those who couldn’t dance but didn’t let that fact stop them from joining the celebration. The toughest people at a wedding? Those who didn’t join in the celebration at all and complained instead.
We’ve all experienced times in our lives where we haven’t wanted to participate—and I am not just talking about dancing at a wedding, but also in life, for a multitude of reasons. There are occasions where God calls us to take part in what He’s doing, and at times, we choose not to engage. The problem with our response is that God is moving. He is engaged. He is looking for His children to join Him in His amazing work in our neighborhoods, workplaces, vacations, and barbecues, both locally and globally. God is actively at work in the lives of people around you, healing and working miracles. He wants you and me to be part of it, yet sometimes we look the other way. We get distracted and busy, jealous and afraid. Sometimes we may think God gets a little too noisy for our comfort level.
Here’s the problem—when we disengage or choose not to engage, we become a generation that lacks perception and refuses participation. We become known as those who missed the promises, goodness, and plans of God for us and those around us. But there is good news. We have the opportunity to be known as a generation that says yes to Jesus Christ with uncompromised obedience in order to participate in His plans and promises for our world. The question we want to wrestle with here is how. How do we know we are saying yes to Jesus with steadfast obedience?
Jesus begins this portion of Scripture in Matthew 11:16 with His own question, “To what can I compare this generation?” In Jesus’ culture, when you were invited to a wedding, you joined in on a celebration that lasted for days. When there was a funeral, people were hired as mourners to help grieving families if they could not engage emotionally. It would be shameful to attend a wedding or a funeral and not engage appropriately. Yet these people Jesus addressed brought shame to themselves, not just because they didn’t understand what was going on, but because they chose not to participate. No matter what God tried in their hearing, in the viewing, they chose not to respond. And for a culture like this in those days, it was offensive. I believe Jesus is posing that same question to us today.
Perceiving and Participating
How do we know we are saying yes to Jesus? First, by perceiving and participating in what God is already doing.
John the Baptist came and preached a message of repentance. He challenged the people to reconsider their sin and how they were living their lives. He challenged anyone who would listen to realign their lives back to God. Sadly, everyone thought John was crazy. He ate bugs, didn’t dress in the latest fashion, and hung out in the wilderness. Some folks responded, but as Jesus stated, most thought he was a demon-possessed lunatic. Jesus, on the other hand, came celebrating and being among the people—and everyone believed Him to be too loose to be sent from God or even to be God. He hung around and allowed Himself to be embraced by people the religious elite thought God would never surround Himself with. John was too rigorous. Jesus was too inclusive. And the people were uncomfortable with both types, so they wouldn’t join in.
Have you spent enough time with the Lord to know when He is at work? To perceive when He is on the move, even when you cannot feel Him? Do you have a sense deep in your soul that God is in your midst and is doing something new? Jesus’ generation missed it. People were being stirred and moved to reconsider their sin, but most ignored the stirring. Outcasts were being welcomed in by Jesus. He was healing, blessing, forgiving, and speaking with authority, but they ignored Him. Friends, have you learned to perceive what God is up to in your life and are you learning to say yes when He calls your name? Or are you ignoring the stirring?
Becoming Childlike
The second way we know we are saying yes to Jesus is when we become childlike. Later in Matthew 11, Jesus prays, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. . . . My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matt. 11:25, 27, NLT).
Jesus challenged—and continues to challenge—people’s preconceived notions about what God is doing. Some may think they are wise, believing they know God and understand what He is up to, but they do not. The revelation comes to those who are childlike. By using the term “childlike,” Jesus is talking about those who do not rely on their own understanding, ones who are not living life based on their own power, status, or strength. They are people who trust like a child.
Once on a family vacation, one of my daughters taught herself how to swim. She was about four or five years old and decided she was going to jump in the pool and swim to the other side. The risks involved never crossed her mind. I considered the risks, yet if I had given her this information, it may have kept her from taking the plunge. So instead, knowing I would be with her, I gave her the green light: “Go for it.” My daughter dove in, and for the next 30 minutes, swam repeatedly from one end of the pool to the other.
Sometimes, if we really knew how things were going to play out, we would never take the first step forward. Are you trusting God to be with you as you take the next step, or do you not move forward until God reveals the whole plan? Let’s relearn how to be like children. Let’s remember that we can trust the Lord to remain sovereign over everything He invites us to engage in.
Resting in Christ
The third way we know we are saying yes to Jesus is when we learn to rest in Him while on His mission. After talking about the childlike and whom God chooses to reveal Himself to, Jesus says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light” (Matt. 11:28-30, NLT).
This is the beauty of Jesus Christ. Regardless of how people have responded to Him, He again gives them the opportunity to perceive and participate. He sees what is truly burdening the crowds. He knows why they ultimately long for Him and show up wherever He is. He sees their striving, their toiling. He knows how they have been wasting their time and energy and are exhausted. They ultimately cannot find a place to lay their burdens down, so He offers them rest and refreshment.
Jesus’ promise is not that work will cease. Many times in our lives, we come to Jesus wanting to disengage. We say, “Jesus, take this away from me.” But instead, Jesus says, “No. I will give you refreshment so you can continue to join Me in My mission. I will breathe life into your lungs, I will show up in power and victory so that you can keep in step with Me.” Jesus isn’t going to take away the work, but He is there in it with us, making sure that we have all that is necessary to accomplish what He has called us to do. John the Baptist and Jesus were both misunderstood and persecuted. You, too, as you keep step with Jesus and His mission, will be misunderstood and persecuted, but fear not. He has refreshment and nourishment, not just to sustain you, but to help you thrive.
What Kind of People Will We Be?
In this passage, Jesus poses the question, “To what can I compare this generation?” But the underlying question for us is, “What kind of generation do we want to become?” Let me for a moment address the generations that might be reading this article.
Traditionalists, those of you who were born approximately between 1925 and 1945, you were labeled the silent generation. You learned not to cause trouble. In the name of Jesus, I bless you to give the enemy trouble. As long as you have breath, Jesus isn’t done yet.
Baby Boomers, those born approximately between 1946 and 1964, your generation has been labeled the “me” generation. You were taught to not trust anyone. But Jesus is saying you can trust Him. All you have been carrying and burdened by because no one seemed trustworthy, you can lay at His feet.
Gen X, those born approximately between 1965 and 1976, your generation has been labeled the forgotten generation. But Christ has not forgotten you. He sees you; He hears you. He knows your toil and promises refreshment.
Millennials, those of us (yes, that’s me) born approximately between 1977 and 1995, we have been called the first global generation. Our problem is we have too much knowledge. We think we know best, but there is One who knows more and better than we do. Will we trust in what He is doing?
Gen Z, those born approximately from 1996 to 2015, everyone is trying to catch up to you. You are the first generation of digital natives. Much of how you have been raised, or are being raised, is about being smart, stable, and secure. Your greatest investment will be how you engage with Jesus Christ in this incredibly diverse world you are in.
At the Cross, all generations find their purpose. It is at the Cross that Jesus made permanent trouble for the enemy, where He showed that God could be trusted to fulfill what He promised, where He offers your paradise instead of toil, where you obtain your greatest security. The Cross made no sense to most, but God used the nonsensical things of the world to bring us life.
So, do you want to participate in God’s plans and promises for our world? Then say yes to Jesus with uncompromised obedience. Who knows where your yes will ultimately lead you? But I do know that a yes is what Jesus is looking for in us. Yes, Lord.
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