July 5, 2020: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
Oh what food these words of Jesus are to us who hunger for rest from the ravages of 2020. This year has seemed like a Hollywood version of the plagues set against the Pharaoh and Egypt in Exodus – the virus spreading out of control in our country, face mask wars, our economy tanking with millions out of work, murder hornets and locust swarms, wildfires in Australia and devastating earthquakes in Puerto Rico, racism, sexism, well – all the dang ‘isms’ on full display – most often in the words of our own President, airplanes shot down, people shot down, and folks walking around pointing weapons like they think they are a sheriff in a B-Movie Western…and get this – we are only halfway through the year folks! We should have known something was up when we saw the death of Mr. Peanut at the Super Bowl, right? I mean if 2020 were a book title, it would be “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” I don’t know about you, but maybe we should just skip over the next few months and jump to 2021 – who’s with me?
So when we hear these all too familiar words of Jesus today, it is like music to our ears, right? For we are a people worn to the core. So before we dig a little further, as we must, let’s do just take some respite in what Jesus is saying, for we surely need this, perhaps more than we know.
I sometimes lead retreats for outside groups, and for our vestry, and there is a story I often share as we enter into our time together: “An explorer in Africa, anxious to press ahead with his journey, paid his porters for a series of forced marches. But almost within reach of their destination, they set down their bundles and refused to budge. No amount of extra payment would convince them otherwise. They said they had to wait for their souls to catch up.[1]”
They had to wait for their souls to catch up.
How many of you feel you need to lay your burdens down and wait for your souls to catch up? I can imagine most, if not all of you feel that way. Jesus calls us to lay down the burdens we have been carrying in life. What is it that burdens you? What is draining your soul?
Let those questions linger for a bit this week. Think and pray on them. Ask Jesus to help you lay them down, even if only for awhile.
But there is more going on here. Listen again to what he says to his disciples “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Jesus isn’t relieving us of our work, just of what we think it must be, or what we bring with us on the way. In other words, it isn’t that we aren’t to labor, it is what we are doing, or leaving undone, that burdens us, and drains our souls. He knows that it is often what we are carrying, not the fact that we carry something, that weighs us down and wears us out. So Jesus calls us to lay those down, and wear his yoke instead, and we will be given rest. What might those burdens be? Well, let’s get to that in a minute. For now, let us be clear about what Jesus is asking us to take on, for as one seminary professor put it, “it’s a yoke, not a hammock.”
Part of that yoke is what you are doing right now – no, not sipping coffee in your jammies while you watch the service – come on now…I know you do – and that’s just fine too. The thing is – there is a dual meaning for yoke, one that Jesus and his followers, as good and faithful Jews, would have understood. One meaning is that a yoke was, in the rabbinic tradition, the life work of the faithful – obedience to Torah – the word and law of God.
So, when Jesus invites those who follow him to find rest in laying our burdens down, he also asks us to pick up his yoke – as the living Word – which we will find easy and light. It is often said that when one does what they are passionate about, they never work a day in their life. There is much truth to that, to be sure, but one still works, right? Jesus wants us to find our labor, our yoke, in his word, which when taken into our hearts, does not wear us down, but lifts us up, as we do what he calls us to do. Perhaps that is why you are here this morning too, for you know that it is when we gather here – virtually or not – we are restored and renewed in Christ and one another – for when we come to him, we are given rest as we take in the Word as our yoke, and we are fed.
Secondly, a yoke in the secular world, then as now, is a farming tool that is placed on the necks of two animals so that they could team together to plow a field. That is an inspiring metaphor for our lives in Christ. We walk alongside him, his yoke upon us, as we work together in the harvest of God’s creation. A priest’s collar – this band on our necks, is a symbol of the yoke of Christ, but just because you aren’t wearing a collar doesn’t mean you are not also called to this work too.
Still, even while leaving our burdens and taking on his yoke will feel lighter and freer for us, there is a reason he speaks of rest. Jesus is not saying that if we live out our lives in him we will never tire. He often went to find rest for himself and his disciples. Clergy burnout is a great, if not unsettling example, that the yoke of Jesus, while light to our souls, can weary the body and heart on occasion.
That is why Jesus reminds us that it is a yoke, not a single harness – for we do not ever do this work alone. It may be a never ending labor of love in service of God, and all of God’s creation, but through it all He is with us, and in us, as we take each step forward, and in him, and we will find his yoke to be light. It is when we think we have to do it all alone – or worse, imagine that we are doing it all by ourselves, that we grow the most weary.
So all yoking aside, let us now consider what it is we are carrying that Jesus is inviting, really compelling, us to lay aside. As it is Independence Day weekend, let’s begin with the burdens we as a country bear, and what we are called to as people – first and foremost of Christ – but also of this nation. For in the same way Jesus call us to lay down our burdens and take on his yoke, we, as a people of this country, need to also consider what is weighing us down, what we need to set aside, for they are rooted in the same things – and it has nothing to do with not eating that third hot dog.
July 4th, Independence Day, which we celebrate this weekend, is often a time of fellowship with those we love, and finding rest together as we feast at Bar-B-Ques and watch amazing fireworks displays. There is nothing wrong with any of that. We need rest, and it is an important thing to celebrate. Yet, if we really took to heart what happened on this day more than two centuries ago, we would realize that this should also be a day of remembering our past, while setting our hopes toward a better future.
We know that the reason for this holiday is because on July 4th the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress, though it took several weeks more for it to be fully signed. It was a significant and dangerous move. No other group of people had dared to declare their right to self-rule against such a powerful empire as Great Britain. As the closing line suggests, these men were signing their death warrant. It reads “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”
But it is the opening of this Declaration that most of us remember, and take to heart: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
This was a noble idea, if not a dangerous one. Yet we know that many were excluded from the freedoms proclaimed in those hot July days in Philadelphia back in 1776 – people of color, women, and the indigenous people from whom we stole this land. And we know we have not yet achieved the full dream of our Founding Fathers, even while we have stretched it beyond the white, straight, male myopia out of which this document, the Declaration of Independence, was born, and our Constitution was rooted.
Yet, in as much as the Bible, our Holy and sacred text, has stories of imperfect people doing some pretty horrific things, and verses that would give us all pause in our present context, we also know that it is not a dead document, but a living one, filled with truth beyond our imagination, and drawing us into a deeper relationship with God (of course it helps if folks actually read it, and not take snippets out of context). So too the treasured documents of our nation – the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These are texts that are foundational to our system of government, drawn upon the dream of freedom, but deeply flawed in its origins (but again, it helps if we actually read these founding documents from time to time.)
We aren’t meant to read the Bible, or wave it about, and then do nothing to live it out.
We also are not meant to read the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, or wave the flag about, and do nothing to bring about this dream for all people, not just for some.
Citizenship in this country is something you have to work at – hard – especially if you are one of those fortunate enough to be given a chance at that dream from the start. If you aren’t sure if that means you, then think of it this way – if you don’t have to worry about Congress or the Supreme Court granting you rights, then you are one of the lucky ones. We must continue to work to expand that initial dream of equality and unalienable rights to everyone if we ever hope to make this a more perfect union.
Why? What has that to do with us, a people called to wear the yoke of Jesus? Everything.
Everything. For the very things that prevent that perfect union from becoming reality are the same ones that are some of the burdens Jesus would call us to lay aside today – the oppression borne out of our collective sin of racism, sexism, heterosexism, national arrogance, and abuse of creation – as we shackle our sisters and brothers with chains of hate and violence, and scorch the fertile earth with the fire of our greed.
Jesus is inviting us to lay down those burdens, to rest, and then to pick up instead his yoke of love and humble service to all God’s creation. And when we do, when we lay those burdens down, we will feel renewed and restored, ready to be who we are called to be – active agents of change that will not only bring the dream of our nation into reality, but take steps closer to living into the fullness of God’s vision of shalom for all of creation.
To be sure, the work of a disciple of Jesus goes far beyond that of a citizen of any nation of this earth, for he calls us to wear a yoke of unconditional love, forgiveness, and humility as we serve him, but one thing is absolutely clear – if you are a follower of Jesus you will be a good citizen of the world. You can certainly be a good citizen and not a Christian, but you cannot do the reverse. Sadly, some try to do both and fail, for the yoke they wear is one of power and privilege – not of Jesus. How can you tell? If anything we do in this world lays a burden upon the back of another, we are not serving Jesus, but something or someone else.
So on this July 4th weekend, may we remember that this “Great Experiment” that is these United States lives on, and while deeply flawed, has a tremendous potential for good, if, and only if, we as a people bear witness to an ever expanding vision of what is possible, and demand that all are included in that dream. For if we can do that, we will one day rest from our labors and celebrate a true day of independence.
And every day, may we remember the invitation of Jesus to lay aside our burdens, that which weigh so heavily on our souls – our pain, our feelings of unworthiness, our fears, our hate, our greed, and our arrogance – which lead us away from him. Let us set those down and abide with him, that tomorrow we may rise restored and renewed bearing his yoke – laboring in his name till all may know God’s unconditional love and grace.
You know, in a lot of old war posters was often an image of man in red, white, and blue, with the words “Uncle Sam wants you!” It was a call to work together for the freedoms of this country.
Jesus may not be on a poster, but he is calling you too, saying “Come to me!” His is a call to rest and let our souls catch up, that we may work with him for the sake of the world.
May we never forget which of these calls comes first and foremost, and may God bless you, and this nation, on this Independence Day weekend, and forever more.
Amen.
For the audio from the 10:30am service, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here:
[1] Charwick, The Soul of the World, A Modern Book of Hours
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
July 5, 2020
Fifth Sunday After Pentecost – In A Time Of Separation
1st Reading – Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45: 11-18
2nd Reading – Romans 7:15-25a
Gospel – Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
