The video here is of the whole service, and was captured from the closed-circuit tv system.
The texts for the day were:
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-14
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
And here is the script of the message:
Come Holy Spirit, lighten our burdens and yoke us with the easy yoke that Jesus brings to us. Amen
Does it seem to you that things are very difficult right now? Even something as simple as wearing a face covering is hot, it’s uncomfortable, and there are so many excuses to make about why we should not have to. But once we wash away all of our fear and helplessness, it is clear. It’s not that hard – wearing a mask keeps everybody safer. Including myself, but especially others.
Does it seem like this is one of those hot summers of strife? Issues that have been part of strife in the USA from the beginning are flaring up as people continue to be killed for no reason. There is all kinds of debate about whether the killers deserve punishment, when the level of punishment deemed appropriate appears to be more closely connected to the person killed than the one doing the killing. And yet it’s not that hard – if we claim to follow Jesus and love each other, then all killing is a reason for deep grief and sorrow, horror and sadness.
But then there are other things: does it seem to you that the urge to celebrate graduations and birthdays, anniversaries and ordinations is just as strong as ever? But there is a virus, and we are frustrated, and without knowing the whole story we are quick to demonize those who choose to celebrate and those who decide not to – anyone who disagrees with our way. And yet it’s not that hard if we make our decisions based on love for the exact people involved, and the longest-term benefit.
And that is our starting point for today’s text.
Because if we are going to be like Jesus, then the story and the ministry always starts right exactly where we are.
In the first distinct section of today’s text, Jesus has just finishing making it clear that John the Baptist was a super-duper prophet. The best ever.
AND YET – Jesus seems to say –
People don’t get it. They are never satisfied:
We are playing music
We are wailing in sorrow
John lived an ascetic life away from others
Jesus enjoyed time and food with friends
But nobody dances with us
But nobody will mourn with us
And they called him demon
And they declared he was hanging with the wrong crowd
When Jesus said “this generation” I’m pretty sure the intent was that “this” generation is all generations of humanity. Because in human history, there is a strong trend to want other people to behave and respond differently.
We want others to vindicate our own shortcomings, to fix our brokenness.
We want others to be MORE WRONG so that we can be MORE RIGHT.
If “they” are staying home, wearing masks, minimizing contact with others, and we want to be out of the house, spend time with friends, socialize for any number of reasons, then clearly “they” are wrong.
If “they” are out in the community, working with vulnerable people –
Those who don’t speak English
Who don’t have healthy minds or bodies
Who make terrible decisions that harm themselves and
others
And we want to avoid the discomfort of seeing how difficult life is for others, then clearly “they” should be doing something else.
At first glance it is all topsy-turvy. Like Jesus might be saying “make up your mind! Do you want social activities or not?”
But on deeper examination, notice something: in both cases “they” are doing something risky and uncomfortable, but something that helps other people.
The choices are not do you want to party or socialize, but how do we live the lives we are called to live so that we can LOVE OTHERS?
I think Jesus might be tapping on the idea that “this generation” is always looking for an excuse not to love.
WISDOM IS VINDICATED BY HER DEEDS, or as The Message paraphrase says “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” - and it’s not that hard. Street urchins know that music is for dancing and celebrating and crying is for sorrow.
Even when the celebrations and sorrows are not our own, they become our own because we love other people.
&&&
In the second section of our text (after a part where Jesus speaks frustration over the communities that he has visited, a part excluded from our lesson today), Jesus lifts up the children again.
Those street urchins who know how to dance when there is music
Who know that sorrow calls for tears, not intellectual explanations and excuses
And this time Jesus says THEY are the Wise Ones!
Jesus says – these children, these infants, they are my people.
They are the ones who understand my message. They are the ones who get my point. Maybe they have old bodies, but they are infants in loving.
Jesus declares that these infants in spirit see Creation as it was meant to be when Father, Son, and Holy Spirit created this universe, set it in motion, created the creatures who lives and have our being here.
It is the children-in-body-or-spirit who have the instinct for the obvious.
They are the ones who have seen the reality of God.
Jesus is saying, IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO FIGURE OUT ONCE YOU KNOW WHO WE ARE.
Once you know who YOU are, as a child of God, a sibling of Christ, a person being called by the Holy Spirit.
Here are the words Jesus uses. I want to read them directly because they are so beautiful, because they give me such relief from these strange, confusing, scary times:
28“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.
29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
There will be sorrow – death and pain, anger and horror. And the response is easy to know: grief and tears, mourning and wailing
But not fear. We are not captive to sorrow. We are free to celebrate the other side of things as well: the graduations and anniversaries, the relationships and love we experience from places expected and unexpected.
Because Jesus knows firsthand the sorrow of death, from watching others die to dying himself.
The difference is that with Jesus’ death did not stick. From raising dead people in his ministry to being resurrected himself, Jesus declared over and over that he has won victory over death. And that victory is ours, too, when we yoke ourselves to Jesus.
In the love of the Resurrected Jesus we do not have to worry or solve the problems or get defensive.
When we yoke to Jesus, it is not an equal yoke at all. It is an EASY yoke, a light burden,
because Jesus has done the hard part.
And that is where we get our freedom.
Freedom from defending our viewpoints
Freedom from the need to continue striving without rest.
Freedom to love everyone, even the people who disagree with us,
Who have chosen another path
Who live lives that may not validate our own ways of
living.
Jesus says: MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT
Jesus has taken it on and in the Resurrection offered us full and complete freedom to love:
To love by crying when others hurt (without checking whether they “deserve” the pain)
To love by laughing and living in joy and celebrating with and for those around us
To love everyone and know that we are not the ones who have to carry the burden because Jesus has already done it.
To love in the full and perfect confidence that it isn’t that hard,
because in Jesus our souls can rest.
AMEN
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