Pentecost 7

May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

SEASON: Pentecost 7
PROPER: 9A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: July 7, 2002


TEXT: Matthew 11:25-30 – “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 and gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

ISSUE: A yoke is that which controls, and that which must fit properly. The passage addresses a people who are strictly controlled by the powers and authorities over them, which is quite burdensome, and that does not fit their condition. Jesus teaches what it means to be his disciples and followers of the Father. The yoke fits their condition, and ours, and it is the control of love.
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This section of the Gospel account of Matthew gives us some respite from the strong demand to be our Lord’s disciples. In past passages the call to discipleship meant enduring difficult times and facing hardships in a very anxious and upset world. They were burdensome times. Finally, the word to the disciples is to Take the yoke of Christ upon you, and learn from him. “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.”
The passage opens with a rather obtuse way for Matthew’s Gospel account. At first you might think that you were reading the Gospel account of John: “All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” In order to best understand what this all means is to understand what it was like to live in Jesus’ time. It was a time and system of patronage. Poor people needed assistance from the wealthy leadership. They sought out brokers who would direct them to those that might help them in terms of leading them to wealthier people who could assist them. In this passage, Matthew is indicating that Jesus is the broker, or mediator that leads the poor to the great patron, God the Father. And many poor peasant people who had come to know Jesus were coming to know and understand that Jesus was leading them back to the Father, while some of the wealthier leaders were providing barriers and rules, laws, that prevented access to God the Father. These were supposed to be the wise and intelligent, like the educated Pharisees. But their teachings were often great burdens that stifled a relationship with God, rather than facilitating relationship with the mercy and compassion of God. Infants, meaning the poor peasantry, slaves, are gaining through the teachings of Jesus the wisdom of knowing God as love and compassion, and being in relationship with God. Jesus, the broker, is revealing the way to God.
The yoke is easy and the burden is light with Christ. The yoke is a unique image. A yoke was wood made by a carpenter, which Jesus was reported to be. There are a couple of things that it is important to understand about the yoke. First, the yoke must be made to fit the animal that would bear it. They were custom made. Second, the yoke was used to control the animal. Jesus is saying, my yoke is easy, my burden is light, my control of you is light and uncomplicated.
The people of the time were carrying heavy burdens and were often severely controlled, with no control of their own over their lives. Unscrupulous landowners, who made heavy demands, controlled peasants. Peasants lived a day to day existence, while wealthier religious leaders grew fat on the tithes of the poor. They often hoarded the money rather than making it readily available to the needs of the poor. There were some 613 laws in the Book of Deuteronomy that were to be followed in order to please God, according to Pharisee leadership. Not all of the Laws were bad. Many Jews, even today, rejoice in keeping the laws of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, and consider it to be an honor to do so. However for the poor some of the laws were almost impossible for them to keep, and the economic rules and taxations were extremely burdensome.
It has been said that Jesus was like a Martin Luther of his time. He had the wisdom to redeem the time with its economic exploitation, and its heavy economic and religious subjugation. Jesus offers a new way that was rooted in the Apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus 51:25 (Sirach): “Come to me, all you that need instruction, and learn in my school. Why do you admit you are ignorant and do nothing about it? Here is what I say. It costs nothing to be wise. Put on the yoke and be willing to learn. The opportunity is always near.”
Taking on the yoke is required. We are all under the control of God. But the key point is that the yoke of Christ is easy; it fits. The burden is light and less controlling. It is the yoke of love and compassion. It is the gift of grace. The yoke of Christ is love. It fits the human condition. We need to be loved, and we need to share love. We love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our minds, and with all our strength. That is our yoke, to love God, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Is that especially easy? Of course not. Loving people, who are sometimes are to us not loveable is not easy. Loving ourselves is not always easy either. But that is the demand. We are under that yoke, that command, that control from God. But it fits the need and contributes to the health of the human condition.
Living in the world today certainly has its burdens. Demands are made upon us all the time, and many times we feel that we have no control. The pain and suffering we may bear may at times, be as if the yoke upon us does not fit. It rubs, chaffs, annoys, and burdens.
Some know the burdens of having to care for aging parents, who are not always in the best of health or moods. Some have the burden of being those who still have children to care for in addition to aging parents. The burden of ill health of any family member is a great distraction to a family.
Some have the burdens of looking after young children in an extraordinarily difficult time when the cultural sexual mores is quite lax, and access to drugs and alcohol is so available. Young people today are so vulnerable in a dangerous culture.
Dealing with all the loss of loved ones is a very stressful burden. Miscarriages are difficult. Alcoholism and drug addiction are vicious burdens in a family. Dealing with the burden of a divorce is terribly disruptive to a family and creates enormous stress. All around us we deal with life’s difficulties.
The burdens we bear are not just personal. As a nation we bear the burdens of terrorism and other destructive forces that do not appreciate our pursuit of freedom, and government for the people, by the people, and of the people. Our nation with all its power and authority seems to be the policeman for the world, not an easy position to have in the world. We bear the burden and difficulty of breaking away from old prejudicial traditions that stifles the freedom of some peoples on the basis of their gender, race, or religion.
As Christians we bear the burden and the yoke of Christ’s discipleship. We are called to spread the gospel without excuse, and to make God’s church grow and be a resource for the world. We bear the burden of being the conscience for government officials, and not linked to the government. We are called to give generously without counting the cost, not even of a handicapped ramp. We are called upon to be the servants of God in a trouble and anxious world.
To this difficult age, to the pain and suffering of our lives, to the burdens we all share come the voice of the Lord who leads his people to God. “Come to me all that are weary and 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.” The passage does not say that there are not burdens and difficulties in life. There are. No one knew that any more than Jesus himself. But it is in accepting Him and turning to Him we find love to touch our feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy. Through him who also suffered and rose again, we are given hope in despair. We are strengthened for service. Through Him and with Him we are given patience, kindness, the ability to endure, and to continue in the Way of Christ, and in the process of bringing about the Realm of God, the Kingdom of God, the Reign of the God of Love and Peace. We come to realize life is difficult. We come to realize that we don’t have to be in control of everything, but that God is. (What a relief for some folk!) We come to find the strength to carry on, and in the worst of situation to know that beyond death and despair, there is hope, resurrection, and the dawning of a new day.
This passage from Matthew was good news to the poor and the disenfranchised of the time, knowing that God was with them in the battle for new life and freedom through following the way of Christ. It is good news in our age too. It is time to take on the yoke of Christ that fits well, and to be under his yoke, where his love and forgiveness for us and for one another is far more enduring than the arrogance, the rage, the fury, the hate our world stores up and imposes destruction. It is the yoke of strength that guides us into the way of love that is the ultimate power that stands up in the world. In communion with Christ we are in communion with one another, and we share one another’s burdens in love.