The Scripture Reading this week is Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
The Sermon title is What Yoke Do You Wear?
Early Thoughts: We all carry a yoke (or two or three). We all have burdens. Some of them are physical, some are emotional, some are real, some are created by our imaginations. What do we do when they become too much to bear? How intentional are we in choosing which burdens or yokes we will continue to carry and which ones we will get rid of (or not even pick up in the first place)?
Life is a series of choices. Sometimes we need to say yes. Sometimes we need to say no. Those choices might lead us to feel overwhelmed, they may lead to more relaxation. They might make us exhausted, they might help us feel refreshed.
What choices does Jesus encourage us to make?
There are two distinct sections to this week's readings, and yet I think they are linked together. First we have what is really the end of a story about John the Baptist. In these verses Jesus points out that some people will always find a reason to complain. John was too ascetic, Jesus is not ascetic enough. But really both made the choices they made as a way to lead people to a new understanding of God and God's relationship to the world. Do we need to follow John's asceticism, to deny ourselves things we enjoy? Sometimes. Do we need to follow Jesus' example and risk being accused of being gluttons (or maybe even accused of straying into hedonism)? Sometimes. Maybe both in moderation and at the right time? How do we make the choices?
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| (Actually the Scripture reference should be 11:28) |
The second section (skipping over some challenging words about woes to the unrepentant -- Matthew's gospel has some difficult images of judgement and punishment at times) includes a very well known passage about heavy burdens and easy yokes. Indeed, when we dedicated the bench which sits in front of St. Paul's we used these words and dedicated the bench to those seeking comfort and refreshment.
At first glance it seems the two sections are wholly unrelated. But I think they are all about choices.
Jesus does not say that following his path would always be restful. Indeed it would sometimes be very challenging. Sometimes it would feel like a heavy burden to be going against so much 'common sense' and lifting up a new way of being in the world. Jesus does say that we can come to Jesus and find a resting place, a time we can set the burden down.
Among other meanings, a yoke is a tool used to help two animals (often oxen) work together to share the load. Together the oxen can pull a heavier load. Jesus encourages us to pick up his yoke. I think he is encouraging us to take up the second side of a yoke with Jesus placing the other side on his own neck. We find rest in Jesus because Jesus is sharing the load -- if we choose to let him.
Jesus does ask us to take up a yoke, to take up some burdens. But not all the burdens we carry (literally or metaphorically) are ones that Jesus asks us to pick up. Jesus also invites us to pay down the burdens we do not need to carry, to see the wisdom revealed by God (in a variety of ways) and know when to be ascetic and when to be a glutton.
But we do not do it alone. We do not need to use our strength alone. Sometimes we can put our burdens down, have a rest, and then decide which ones we are supposed to pick back up and continue the journey.
What weighs you down? What burdens can you drop? What are you being invited to pick up and share the load?
--Gord
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