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The Kingdom of God is a party!*Friday, March 2, 2001
Matthew 9:14-15
Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
He lived in the desert. He wore camel hair. He fasted. He fasted a lot. Even when he ate, it was often just insects and wild honey. And he did this in order to make himself different, consecrated, devoted, separated. Why? I think of the purpose of Lent in the religious life: to prepare for the coming of the Lord. John's clarion call to the people (so beautifully remembered in the musical Godspell) came with the words, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord!" John (as well as Samuel and Samson hundreds of years before, and Saul, later) were preparing for the wedding. Until the Messiah came, they waited, and the waiting was marked with restraint. Waiting is always like that...pent-up excitement, which requires restraint. People in our family are waiting for, among other things, the beginning of spring break, to see a play, to leave on vacation, to leave on a mission trip, to see relatives coming from Colorado, for the Illini to get to the Final Four (!), to see a just-born baby (!!). And when the waiting is over, the party begins! All things are beautiful in their time. First the waiting, then the wedding, then the party. Wedding parties are typically the wildest of all, restraint is thrown to the winds. In spite of the revelation he had from God, John couldn't easily change his lifestyle or his paradigm. After the bridegroom arrived, John kept up the life of waiting. Wrong. Wrong for us too. We fast, and then we feast. We are children of the King. And the King is coming. Lord, make it clear to my mind and my body, when is the time for waiting and retreat, and when is the time to relax and rest in your arms, and fill myself with your feast. Only yours, Lord. Only your feast. *This is the title of a great book by Tony Campolo. |
Along with Samuel, Samson and Saul (who later became Paul), John the Baptist took the Nazarite vow. This Hebrew term means consecration of the body, devotion to God, separation from the world. The process was dictated by God in Numbers 6 (v. 1-21). John took a lifelong vow to abstain from wine and anything alcoholic, to leave his hair uncut, to separate himself from the world.