To those who are heavy laden,
Most weary and burdened every day,
Do you not know the game
Where you are invited to come and play?[1}

A teacher watched children during recess one day. A group of them decided to play "birthday party." One child pretended to bring out a giant cake. Another sang "Happy Birthday." They laughed and invited everyone to clap, cheer, and pretend to blow out the candles. Everyone joined in except one little boy. "I don't want to play birthday," he said. So the children changed the game. "Okay," one said. "Let's play superheroes!" They tied towels around their necks as capes and ran around rescuing stuffed animals and imaginary kittens from trees. Everyone joined in. Except the same little boy. "I don't want to play superheroes." Finally, one child sighed and asked, "Well...what do you want to play?" The little boy shrugged. "I don't know." "So you'll never play anything?" "I guess not." The teacher, who had been watching quietly, realized the problem wasn't that the children had picked the wrong game. The problem was that one child had already decided he wasn't going to join in, no matter what was offered.

That is exactly the picture Jesus gives us in today's Gospel. "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn."[2] Jesus is describing the children's games of His own day. They would imitate two of the biggest events in village life, a wedding and a funeral. At weddings there was music, dancing, and celebration. At funerals there were tears, lament, and mourning. One group of children says, "Let's play wedding!" No one dances. Then they say, "Fine. Let's play funeral." No one mourns. Nothing satisfies them.

Jesus says, "That's what this generation is like." John the Baptist came preaching repentance, calling people to turn from their sins. It was the funeral song. They refused to mourn. Then Jesus came proclaiming the joyful arrival of God's Kingdom. It was the wedding song. They refused to dance. The problem was never the music. The problem was never the invitation. The problem was the unwillingness to join in. That question comes to every one of us today. Will you play the game? Not a game of make-believe, but the life of faith that God is inviting you into.

There is a remarkable painting by the French artist Honore Daumier called The Burden. It is a series of three paintings, each hanging today in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. The artist has two characters: a mother, with a breast exposed, with child barely able to walk before her. Together, holding hands they are in a hurry to leave something behind. She shoulders a great weight of belongings rolled up on her back, leaning over and forward to get away from something heavy. With each painting the artist is changing the lighting and shadows, so that we get a different reaction to what she is carrying. Once we see the painting with more definition, we can see the lines around her eyes, a sign of someone most weary and tired. The child’s face is obscured. We do not know precisely what she is trying to escape but the matter is urgent. Some of us know that feeling. So overwhelmed by our burden, no matter what, our mind is made up to rebuke both invitations to anything resembling the wedding or even the funeral. Faith is certainly required to look beyond. We do not always see where God is leading us. Yet He calls us to trust Him enough to step forward. Sometimes God calls us to a funeral. Not merely the funeral of a loved one, but the funeral of our pride, our sin, our self-sufficiency. There are things that must die before new life can begin. And sometimes God calls us to a wedding. To rejoice. To celebrate His grace. To receive the good news that the Kingdom has come near. As in the Book of Ecclesiastes we are reminded: "There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance."[3]

The question is not whether there is a time for each. The question is... What time is it for you? Jesus knows. He knows the burdens you carry. He knows the grief that weighs upon your heart. He knows the sins you are struggling to leave behind. He knows the weariness that no one else can see. And to every one of us He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Notice what He does not say. He does not say, "Figure it all out first." He does not say, "Carry your burden a little longer." He simply says, "Come." Come and mourn what needs to be buried. Come and celebrate what has been made new. Come and let Him break the Bread of Life with you. Come and allow Him to carry what you cannot.
Every day Christ plays His song. Every day He extends His invitation.
The only question left is this: Will you come out and play?

[1] The Rev. Jon Roberts
[2] Matthew 11:16-19
[3] Ecclesiastes 3