A Glutton and a Drunkard

Matthew 11:16-19 (ESV)
"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates,

[17] " 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'

[18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon.' [19] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."
Has anything changed? No our generation is still the same. This generation even today writes off Christianity one day for being too legalistic, the next for being too evangelical. They want their religion neither hot nor cold, but tepid.
They accused John of having a demon, when he pushed the law they loved too far. Isn’t it true? Does this not happen even today? When you preach the law with all its force, when you condemn as sin, not the sins of others, but the sins the choir cherishes, then you have a demon. Then you have gone too far. What do you mean Jesus has to forgive the filthy rags I call good works? What do you mean that I should go to hell for not going to church last Sunday? What do you mean to be preaching the law in that way? What do you mean? It can’t possibly be true that these other people who believe in X, and have such a beautiful religion are really immoral because they do not believe in God the way I do? (Perhaps they should go to hell for believing in God the way you do if they did? I begin to think you view of God is not quite orthodox or in line with the Word of God.) Yes, you will be asked to shut up when you begin to identify false belief as sin. You will be told you have a demon.
And the sameones who would tell you you have a demon for preaching the law in what they deem to be too harsh a manner, will be the first to condemn you for smoking a cigarette, or drinking a beer, and these days for eating a hamburger, and not buying the organic produce and living as God never intended one to live, as a strict vegetarian. Yes do that and you will be accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, let them watch you walk into a bar wearing a collar and the stones will be picked up, they will be thrown.
For that is at the heart of this passage. To be accused of being a drunkard and a glutton, well that is what the parents were to tell the village elders of a rebellious son, who was to be stoned. "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, [19] then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, [20] and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' [21] Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.” (Deut. 21:18-21 (ESV)
And Jesus knew that it would not be the hedonistic heathen King Herod that would kill him, but the self-righteous snobs of Israel who feared the gospel would give rise to sin and licentiousness. And boy howdy is that the fear of fears in our generation among those who fancy themselves religious. Fancy themselves religious, they call themselves people of faith etc., as if faith were a virtue in and of itself, regardless of the object of that faith. These are the ones who engage in pissing contests with Mormons etc. trying to compare who has the stricter morals. These are the ones who think it doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you are a good person. And these are the ones who will stone you for preaching forgiveness and daring to live it.
But then its good to remember, it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher… Only the gospel, only in Christ, only in losing our life in his cross will we find life. And life we have in his resurrection.