To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ 

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at this glutton and drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ But wisdom is vindicated by her actions.” Matthew 11:16-19

Our Lord must have watched the children at play in the market-place, and have been grieved when a discontented spirit had been manifested by some of them. He had seen how no effort on the part of their companions could move these obstinate children from their sullen mood. And now he finds the behavior of the children to be typical of that of their parents. 

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SATISFY THE UNSYMPATHETIC. The disagreeable children can be enticed by no action of their companions. They will not dance to the gay music nor join in the mock mourning. A third method would be equally unsuccessful, because they are not to be pleased. 

They are sitting; there is always something wrong with children when they sit down for long; the life has gone out of them. Similarly there are people who are dissatisfied with all methods of religious work. 

Old staid methods are dull and gloomy to them; new and more lively methods are unseemly and irreverent. From the sobriety of the Quakers' meeting to the unrestrained fervor of a Salvation Army meeting they cannot discover any worship to suit them, and they find fault with all ways of conducting Church services. 

If some one could invent a new style of worshipping God this would be of no use for the discontented people. Their discontent lies deeper. 

The children had no mind to play; these people have no mind to pray. Therefore we shall not reach them by new methods. They are in a hopeless condition unless we can touch their hearts and lead them into a better state of mind. It is useless to pander to their prejudices. Perhaps at present all we can do is to pray for them. 

~ An excerpt from a sermon by W.F. Adeney

Let us not be discontent like the children in the market place example above that Jesus is talking about. Let us cheerfully worship our Lord through our ups and downs.