Today\u2019s reading from Matthew\u2019s gospel is quite a contrast to what we\u2019ve been hearing Jesus say lately. For most of the last few weeks, Jesus has been talking about the cost of discipleship \u2013 the certainty of persecution, conflict, suffering and painful division for those who choose to follow him. \u201cLeave it all behind, pick up your cross, give up your life for my sake.\u201d Strong stuff like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today his tone changes, and Jesus is all sweetness and light \u2013 promising rest and comfort, light burdens and easy yokes. This is more like it. Gentle masters are much more to our liking \u2013 if we must have masters at all. But Jesus\u2019 words are a little more complex than they seem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First of all, the primary thrust of what Jesus is saying here is not directed toward people who have just any kind of difficulty. By \u201call you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,\u201d or an older translation, \u201cwho labor and are heavy laden,\u201d Jesus doesn\u2019t primarily mean folks with ordinary problems \u2013 such as too many bills, or being unemployed, or sick, or having ungrateful kids, a hard life, or whatever. Jesus has all sorts of things to say about stuff like that, but that\u2019s not what he\u2019s talking about here. Here, Jesus is talking quite specifically to and about those who are on a religious quest \u2013 those who are seeking God, and relationship with God. He is calling to himself the religiously exhausted \u2013 those who, like Paul was just saying, have tried all of the usual ways of finding some peace with the divine and have achieved only frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The real clue to this is the fact that a yoke was the common symbol for the Law of Moses, especially for the details of the law and the minute, ever-expanding demands of the legalism of the Pharisees. In fact, this is the main way the rabbis used the word \u201cyoke\u201d allegorically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, we need to remember here that here Matthew is presenting an exaggerated picture of the Pharisees \u2013 most of them were not nearly this bad; many were not bad at all; but there were enough jerks to justify this caricature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is why Jesus says that the wise and intelligent \u2013 that is, the religious leaders \u2013 have missed the point. He then adds that only the Son \u2013 not those leaders, and not you, and not anyone else, only the Son \u2013 knows the Father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The yoke of the Pharisees, their demands that you have to do this and this and this exactly right in order to matter to God, in order to be a decent person, in order to be loved or counted significant \u2013 that yoke Jesus rejects, even though it was the yoke of the wise and intelligent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That yoke, the yoke of seeking God by keeping the rules, by doing what somebody or anybody or everybody else says is the thing to do, by trying to get it right all the time and so living constantly in fear of getting it wrong, that yoke leads those who wear it to \u201clabor and be heavy laden.\u201d It leads to living in what Paul just called \u201cthis body of death.\u201d It leads to a religion and a life of fearful obedience to a multitude of petty dictates where the spirit is deadened, and where some measure of success is more likely to lead you into self-righteousness than into the heart of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To say to your child, or a friend, or your spouse, or anyone, really, \u201cI will only love you if you do right,\u201d is to ensure a sick and twisted relationship. It hurts everybody involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To teach that God says this is not only terrible theology, it can also be devastating. Yet the yoke of the Law, at its worst, did just that. Those who, like Paul, struggled under such a yoke discovered that it didn\u2019t fit; that it didn\u2019t bring them to God; that it didn\u2019t enrich their lives. Yokes like that never do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To go scurrying about with the notion that if we could only figure out the right thing to do \u2013 the right way to act, the right words to say, the right way to do the rituals \u2013 then we would be all right, is to skate on the edge of magic, as if we could conjure up God\u2019s acceptance. It will only ensure frustration and exhaustion. God\u2019s presence with us and God\u2019s love for us are never the results of our actions. He is in charge; we are not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to all of this, Jesus says, \u201cCome to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not to a new law, not to a new teaching, not to a secret interpretation or a hidden loophole, not to a book, not to a list; but \u201cto me.\u201d Come to Jesus himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In essence, Jesus is saying, \u201cIf you seek God; if you seek his love; if you seek a life that makes some sense; if you want a way of understanding the world that allows you to deal honestly with what happens and not be destroyed; if you want to be who you are created to be \u2013 if you want this, then come to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a call to relationship \u2013 to relationship with Jesus and to relationship with the community that continues Jesus\u2019 life and ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The alternatives, then and now, will fail. He will not. Remember today\u2019s collect, in which we are reminded that God has taught us that all the commandments are kept by loving God and our neighbor. Such is the yoke of Christ. And since this yoke has to do with these commandments to love, the folks who seriously take that yoke upon themselves usually find that it is shaped very much like a cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One more thing: In many translations, Jesus calls his yoke \u201ceasy.\u201d Now, that\u2019s an unfortunate English word; it makes it sound like everything\u2019s a snap, that very little effort or energy is required to do it. And as anyone who has tried to live the life of Jesus knows, that\u2019s just not true. The New English Bible\u2019s translation is better: It reads, \u201cMy yoke is good to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The point is not that this yoke, the Lord\u2019s call to relationship, makes no difference or asks nothing of us \u2013 quite the contrary. The point is that it fits, it\u2019s the right size, so it works \u2013 it leads to God, and it brings with it wholeness and a peace that can be found nowhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To come to him is to discover that what can seem a frantic and desperate task \u2013 life with God \u2013 is, in fact, not an earned reward, but a free gift. To come to him is to discover, as Paul discovered, that \u201cthere is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.\u201d To come to him is to discover that the task of getting it all correct is replaced by the absolute gift of God\u2019s grace, and our grateful response to that gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the strong stuff we\u2019ve been hearing the past few weeks about the cost of discipleship is still very much there. But the yoke is good to bear. It leads to life. To put it on is to be embraced by God\u2019s mercy \u2013 to carry it is to fulfill both God\u2019s will and our own deepest humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We are called to this new yoke, not to a law, or to a set of rules, but to a person and a community built around that person. And in this the religious quest \u2013 the greatest journey of human existence \u2013 can find its richest fulfillment, and its deepest satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus said, \u201cCome to me if you seek God, if you seek life, I will give you rest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sermon was written by the Rev. James Liggett<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s reading from Matthew\u2019s gospel is quite a contrast to what we\u2019ve been hearing Jesus say lately. For most of the last few weeks, Jesus has been talking about the cost of discipleship \u2013 the certainty of persecution, conflict, suffering and painful division for those who choose to follow him. \u201cLeave it all behind, pick…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201212,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[43,52,33,3],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-512014","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sermons","category-sermons-that-work","category-the-season-after-pentecost","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-proper-9a"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":43,"label":"Sermons"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":33,"label":"The Season After Pentecost"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":93,"label":"Proper 9A"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/sermon"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477251,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sermon\/512014\/revisions\/3477251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}