Readings: Isaiah 11:1-9; Micah 4:8-13; Luke 7:31-35

“To what then will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”  Luke 7:31-35  NRSV

If I want to find fault, to find a reason to dismiss someone as unacceptable, I will surely find a suitable fault. It may be unreasonable, it may be unfair, but it will serve its purpose. In this, I am no different from the people who criticized John and rejected Jesus. So I ask myself this Advent:

What faults will I find to justify rejecting God’s messengers? How will I justify turning a deaf ear to their words, a blind eye to their faces?

I don’t want to find fault where there is none. I don’t want to reject God-With-Us because  he isn’t what I expected. I don’t want to be one of those people that Jesus is talking about.

I don’t want Jesus to say about me, “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.