Child’s Play
There was a game we played in elementary school called opposite day. Someone would announce that it was opposite day, and from then on whatever you said, the exact opposite would be true. If you liked someone, you would say that you didn't like them—which meant that you did. You would say “no” when the answer was “yes.”
Looking back, it was a profoundly dumb game. But it might surprise you that this “opposite” game works its way out in real life. I remember being a youth pastor and watching a high school boy and girl pick on each other. She would often punch him in the shoulder for something unkind he had said. It got so bad that one Wednesday evening during Bible study I told the girl that if she hit him again, it meant she liked him, and the two of them should go to their parents and ask to date. Then I told the boy that if he made fun of her one more time, it meant he liked her and wanted to date her. They both ignored each other the rest of the night. But later that night I received two phone calls. The first was the boy, asking if I really thought the girl liked him. I told him it was obvious, wasn't it? After that call, the girl called and asked the same thing. And wouldn't you know it, they ended up dating, and now they are married with two boys.
Why do we so often do the exact opposite of what we truly believe? Why do we say one thing and then do another? Why do we come to church and then fail to live as the church the rest of the week? Why do we believe the hard truths of Scripture but do not live them out? James speaks to this very thing when he warns us not to be hearers of the word only, deceiving ourselves, but to be doers of it (James 1:22–25).
These “opposite” games we play are not confined to our generation or the one before us. This is the way human beings have always acted. They are told one thing and do another. Think of our first parents. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—and what did they do? They ate, and introduced sin into the world and into the lives of everyone born after them.
Jesus teaches on this very thing in our Gospel lesson. He references a game that children played, an ancient version of opposite day. The children would divide into two groups: one would pretend to play music, and the other would act out the music in the opposite way. If the first group played joyful music meant for dancing, the others would act as though they were at a funeral. If the first group played a dirge, funeral music, the others would dance and rejoice. This is how Jesus describes the generation he lived in.
But Jesus goes on to show that the adults were not merely playing a children's game. In a far more serious way, they lived their lives in the opposite direction from what the time called for. John came fasting, preparing the way for Jesus, and the generation said he had a demon. Then Jesus came feasting with sinners, and they called him a drunkard and a glutton.
What does this mean? It means that this generation—and every generation—has a hard time discerning the times. And even when they can tell what season it is, they do the exact opposite of what it requires. As Protestants, our default setting is protest. Our first act is usually rejection rather than acceptance. We see it plainly enough: when we enter a season of fasting, we start finding every excuse for why we cannot fast. When we are confronted with the truths of Scripture, we play devil's advocate to dismantle the truth so that we will not have to live it. We are the ones who tell the pastors and the church what we will and will not do, rather than humbly submitting our lives to God's Word and to those entrusted to shepherd us with it.
Jesus then teaches that wisdom will be vindicated by her deeds. In other words, those who are wise, those who follow Jesus, will prove their understanding of the times and seasons by how they act in accordance with them. Let me be more clear. The Bible teaches that today is the day of salvation. Many live the opposite, as though today we eat and drink for tomorrow we die (1 Corinthians 15:32). But those who wisely discern that today is the day of salvation will not put it off. Their wisdom will be revealed by their deeds; they will live as though salvation can be laid hold of today, and they will reach for it.
Solomon the wise teaches the same thing. We recite his famous words—there is a season for everything, a time to mourn and a time to laugh—and we are meant to live according to the appropriate time (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). As Christians, we live into the season God places us in, not against it. We play “truth day,” not “opposite day.” There will be times for fasting, which are always times of preparation. There will be times for feasting, which are always times for celebration. And ultimately, now is the day of salvation. The day is long, and it is meant for all to be saved while there is still daylight left. For after the day of salvation comes the day of judgment, and your deeds will vindicate how wisely you lived in accordance with the day it was.
May we live according to the time—not acting in opposite ways, but in truth. Will you be wise? Or will you be engaged in Child’s Play, playing games with the time the Lord has revealed?
Peace be with you,
Pastor Bruce
