I Went to a Garden Party

This sermon was heard at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshall, Texas on July 3, 2011, the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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Genesis 24:34–38, 42–49, 58–67
Psalm 45:10–17
Romans 7:15–25a
Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

Jesus has just finished, well, for the time being I guess, just finished instructing the disciples; then he went to preach and to teach in the towns of Galilee. Before our reading today, Jesus has just met with the disciples of John the Baptist. The Lord has confirmed his identity to John’s disciples by reminding them of his acts declaring actions speak louder than words. He has also told the assembled crowd that John is the prophet who is more than a prophet. As the last prophet to declare the coming of the Lord, John was in essence the last of the Old Testament prophets. But there were many in the crowd that did not hear or accept the words of John or the words and actions of Jesus. So Jesus looks at the crowd and as the old saying goes, this one’s for you.

Jesus gives the word to this generation. He rightly tells the crowd that they expected one thing and got something completely different. This did not please them.

The crowd played the flute, but John did not dance.

The crowd sang a dirge, but Jesus did not mourn.

This isn’t code speech at all. When the holy people got John the Baptist, they didn’t want his harsh words and chilling indictments. John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.” The people expected one thing and got another. Instead of “shining, happy people” they got the prophet in a leather poncho eating bugs. While the bugs he was eating were within Jewish dietary requirements, they surely weren’t the kind of food the temple leaders ate.

When the holy people got Jesus, they wanted someone who was a more reserved, more reverent. The last thing they wanted was some drunken glutton drawing attention to himself, especially considering the low-life’s he was hanging out with. He’s way too far out on a limb dealing with sinful men and (shocking) sinful women.

When the holy people met both men, they would have preferred someone who would tell them what they wanted to hear, what they expected to hear.

Isn’t that always the way it is?

As sure as the people were unhappy with the oddball prophet from the wilderness, they weren’t too happy with the one who followed him either.

You just can’t please everybody, can you? You act like an Old Testament prophet and the people tell you to lighten up. You lighten up and the people tell you you’ve gone too far and need to reel it back in a notch.

John just doesn’t fit in with what the mainstream establishment considered to be proper. Jesus doesn’t fit in with the mainstreamers either and upsets all worldly wisdom. In the end Jesus reminds the crowd that “wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Rick Nelson is a name some of you will remember. He was a TV star in the 1950’s with his parents, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson (a big band leader and vocalist in the day) and his brother David on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Rick became a pop star in the late 1950’s singing songs like the Fats Domino classic “I’m Walkin’.” In the mid 60’s Rick’s tastes turned more toward the country rock sound that was becoming popular. This new sound had the sad effect of losing many of his old fans who loved the 50’s sound while not gaining any new fans because they were suspicious of his 50’s pop idol status.

This came to a head at Madison Square Garden on October 15, 1971. Rick and his band were on a bill with other pop and rock stars of the 50’s at an old time Rock and Roll Revival show. When the other acts on the bill came to the stage in their costumes from the era, Rick and his band didn’t. They came to the stage in longer hair wearing their stage clothes from their current tour that reflected their current country rock sound. They played their old hits, but then started playing their new stuff too. The new music was not well received. Ultimately Rick and the band left the stage to a chorus of boos. This inspired his last hit song, “Garden Party.”



The chorus goes like this:

But it’s all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself.

As Nelson sang, you can’t please everyone. Jesus says, “You say John had a demon and I’m a glutton and drunkard who hangs out with tax collectors and ‘sinners.’” Rick sings ya got to please yourself. Jesus doesn’t go there though.

Instead of pleasing himself Jesus is concerned with pleasing the Father. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned and revealed them to the little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”

Jesus sings, ya can’t please everyone, so ya got to please the Lord.

He goes on. Praying to the Father, Jesus also tells the crowd that the Father has committed all things unto him. No one comes to the Father except through the Son.

This is what makes Christians distinctive from everyone else on earth; we come to the Father through the Son. As for me, I believe in God the Father Almighty creator of heaven and earth, in Jesus Christ his only begotten Son our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit. Some say there are other ways to serve God, but as for this house we will serve the Lord.

Jesus then promises he will reveal the father to all whom he chooses. The glorious news for the world is that Jesus wants everyone to receive the Father. Jesus chooses the world to receive the Good News; the kingdom of God is near.

Jesus invites us come. There is not one of us who is not weary or burdened and Jesus promises us rest. He invites us to take his yoke and learn from him. He promises he is gentle and humble in heart. In Him we will find rest in our souls.

Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I don’t have to tell you that this doesn’t always seem true for the disciples of the Christ. Many are forced to surrender all they have, even their lives for the truth of Christ the Lord. But there is something special about the type of yoke Jesus mentions.

The standard oxen yoke of the first century hasn’t changed a whole lot. It’s not unlike the covered wagon yoke of the nineteenth century. What makes this so special is that the yoke was designed for two animals. It’s not one but two oxen who take the yoke to pull the plow or wagon. Jesus uses the yoke as a model telling us that we are not in this alone. We aren’t called to take up our yoke; we are called to take up his, with him.

The joy of this yoke is that there is always one lead animal and one follower. As Jesus tells us to take up his yoke; we are to join him as he leads us to do the work he has already begun, work that continues today. Jesus continues his work today, the work begun in his life and death and resurrection continues. God never stops. God never stops creating.

Scripture says God never changes. This is true. What scripture never says is that God is done with us. Scripture does not say human understanding of God’s wisdom ended in Eden, the sharing of the Law, or the word of the Prophets. If the work and Word of God was absolutely complete with the resurrection then the Epistles would not have been necessary to further explain the Good News to the early church and us today.

There is new work being done in Jesus Christ everyday. It is seen in fresh water projects in Central and South America. It is seen in building projects in the Ninth Ward and Joplin, Missouri. It is seen here in Marshall in how we help feed people through My Friend’s House.

The new work being commanded at the end of Matthew’s gospel in the Great Commission is explained here in Matthew 11. How do we go and make disciples? First we take the yoke of Christ and go where he leads.

There is something new being done in Christ. The last verse of “Garden Party” speaks to this.

If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck,
But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck.

In the song, Rick Nelson sings that if all he was going to do is go to garden parties, sing nostalgia shows and become a relic of the Rock and Roll era of the 1950’s, he’d rather do something else. I believe God is saying this too. If we put God in a box on a shelf, ending God’s good work of creation and redemption in the dust of the first century, he’d rather be driving a truck too.

Whenever we believe that the wisdom of the first century is the end all and be all of our faith, whenever we think that God quit creating after the Eden story of Genesis, whenever we think that the work of the Spirit ended with the Pentecost; we need to think of this Garden Party. Jesus will not be contained by low expectations bound to the specter of history.

Jesus is creating new music. Jesus calls us to dance. We are to take up the yoke and follow, not to take up the yoke and just stand there. As I said when I began, “Jesus looks at the crowd and as the old saying goes, this one’s for you.” Our question is are we part of the generation who will not hear the tune Jesus is playing or are we willing to dance as he plays.

Jesus continues to lead us today. Jesus continues to call us to follow. So now it’s up to us. John prepares the way. Jesus calls the tune. Jesus and John show there are times to mourn and times to dance. It is up to us to follow whichever music or Lord calls.