November 12, 2004

            I like Nursery Rhymes.  If I didn’t have small children, I’d still like Nursery Rhymes.  And while I’m not saying that it is my calling in life to do a deeply philosophical or psychological study of the tales and tunes with which we bring up our children (I’m not lacking after all in things to do), I HAVE found that if you look deep enough, there are some pretty nifty pearls hidden in some of the Nursery Rhymes we sing and tell to our children.

            Some are indisputably obvious.  Little Boy Blue, for example, shirks his work and the livestock successfully escape their incarcerations and begin their reign of terror.  Just where IS Blue Boy?  Sleeping under the haystack.  For shame!  Sleeping on the job!  I bet he has to turn in his horn!

            Little Bo Peep learns to lighten up a bit (or least we hope so) when she fails to find her missing sheep.  Don’t worry, Bo!  They know the way home.  Just leave the light on for them!

            Of course, some of the rhymes are more complicated and satirical.  To get the beauties buried in those, you’ve got to go a lot deeper!

            Contrary Mary, for example, must be someone who has her own ideas about doing things and doesn’t have an ear for the wisdom and advice of others.  Or maybe she’s in management for a major corporation and has some pretty impressive skills in delegation and administration (I don’t get the feeling that the “pretty maids all in a row” have yet formed an effective labor union).

            Old King Cole, a merry old soul though he may be, seems to be the object of some subtle scorn, too.  After all, you’re not heroic if all for which you are remembered is that you called for your pipe, your bowl and for a violin trio.

            While we all are, of course, delighted that each fiddler has a “very fine fiddle” and that he can handle the instrument well, it doesn’t really make us feel that the good old king is in touch with the world around him (either deliberately or out of simple ignorance).  The gentle fun in this favorite children’s verse was likely satirizing a king who was notably disconnected from the needs of those for whom he was responsible.

            This fine old fellow is perhaps a looking glass reflection of Christians today.  Here we are, in the land of plenty and we are just as enamored with our “pipes,” “bowls,” and “fiddlers three” as was Old King Cole.

            Selfish habits and selfish attitudes are the pipes we smoke today.  There is so much a Fog of Self enveloping us, it’s hard for others to see Christ clearly.  Too often the fumes of selfishness and self-righteousness are so thick that they choke out spiritual life and fruitfulness.

And don’t we call for our bowls too, driven as we are by our physical impulses?  It is SO easy for God’s people to fall into the alluring pit of self-indulgence that most of Christianity today is characterized by it.  Unfortunately, the more our passion for comfort and ease take hold of us, the less we are passionate for serving and knowing Him.  “Give us our creature comforts!” we cry out.  “Bring us the choicest of delicacies!  Don’t withhold any pleasurable experience that life has to offer!”

“Oh, yeah!  And send in the Fiddlers Three!”  Those rascally fiddlers are SO talented and SO eager to make their fortune entertaining the Old King and the King most likely is SO eager to be entertained, the rhyme concludes with everyone being very merry.  I can only conclude that those who are merry are those who’ve been the beneficiaries of the excesses of the king.  Those outside the walls of the king’s court, though citizens of his kingdom, are not privy to the fun inside.

The “fiddlers” we today face as Christians are not necessarily evil in of themselves.  However, let us be careful to not confuse following Christ with being entertained.  Let us not simply seek for diversion by going to church, but let us seek the One Who died that our sins might be forgiven and that through Him we might have Abundant Life (see John 10:10).

If your interest in church or in ministry can be boiled down in its essence to wanting to be entertained, then, my friend, you have missed the great point in being called by God to become His child.  Do you want more of God in your life?  Let go of all this stuff, get outside the “castle walls” of your comfort zone and get out there with God in the front lines of changing lives.

Perhaps you are not a Christian and your life is only about serving your self and your passions or finding different kinds of amusements to take your mind off things.  Ironically, the king and his court could not be satisfied forever with the overflow of extravagances they enjoyed.  Sooner or later, they would have grown bored and their fineries would lose their luster.  Their hearts would have finally cried out, “Is this all there is?  Is there no higher purpose to life?”

Perhaps if you find yourself here, you’ll now turn to Jesus and let Him give you a new tune to hum in your heart as you allow Him to be Lord and Savior of your life!

“…We ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth.  He called you to this through our Gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.  May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2Thessalonians 2:13-17).

(Thom Mollohan has ministered in southern Ohio the past nine years and is the pastor of Pathway Community Church.   He and his wife are the parents of three children with another on the way!   He may be reached by email at pastorthom@pathwaygallipolis.com).