“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 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.
“Come to me, all you who 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.”
My sermon from the 5th Sunday after Pentecost Sunday (July 9, 2023) on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30.
During the first three years after I was ordained, I spent a few days in January at a conference for newly ordained clergy. Bishops, pastors, and deacons from all over the northeast gathered together for prayer, worship, and to participate in a bunch of workshops. The one I remember the most was led by a former bishop of the New England synod, Rev. Margaret Payne. The workshop took place in a small lecture hall where everyone sat in a large circle. I don’t recall the official name of that workshop but our topic was money. She began the conversation by introducing herself and giving a shoutout to everyone from New Jersey since she began her ministry in Princeton Junction. Once that was all done, she asked the entire class a question: if we looked at everything Jesus said, what thing or topic or idea did he emphasize and focus on the most? Now I think that’s a pretty good question because what we emphasize in the name of our faith doesn’t always match up with what Jesus said or did. We have a lot to say about our traditions, our values, and the roles we expect people to play. The details about what we say changes but the fact that we do this has been a part of the church since Jesus rose from the dead. We do this, I think, because living isn’t easy. We are created beings living in a created world and our lives are often complicated and full of different kinds of people, experiences, joys, and sorrows. We know that Jesus has a lot of say about what it means to live as God’s beloved children in a world that God loves. And yet what Jesus emphasized during his earthly ministry doesn’t necessarily match the ministry we emphasize in his name. I, and everyone else in that room, already had an answer ready to go when Bishop Payne asked the question. When it comes to that one thing in our everyday life that Jesus talked about the most, the answer is always money. Jesus knew that the easiest way to discover the idols, morals, and values at the heart of a person, a community, or a nation was to simply look at their budgets. Everyone in the room said, in unison, that money was the physical and tangible thing Jesus talked about the most. Yet Bishop Payne pushed us to not forget all those things Jesus talked about that feel a bit spiritual, mystical, and even abstract to us. When it comes to Jesus’ earthly ministry, there’s only one thing that Jesus talked about more than money: and that thing is the kingdom of God.
Now I think we treat the kingdom of God as a primarily spiritual thing because in Matthew’s gospel, he named it as the kingdom of heaven. Living in this world is complicated enough so we let heavenly things remain in whatever comes next. Yet I’m not sure if deemphasizing the kingdom of God in the here and now is necessarily what Jesus wants us to do. Much of his ministry was devoted to the proclamation that in him, and through him, and because of him – God’s kingdom was near. He, through his words and actions, embodied what the kingdom of God is all about. He didn’t let God’s love remain as an abstract thing; instead, he taught and he prayed and he reconciled people’s relationships to themselves, their God, and their neighbors. He didn’t tell those who followed him to primarily devote themselves to the life that comes after this one. Jesus, rather, lived his life so that we could see what our lives could be too. And a big part of his own life was a promise that those who are weary and those who are carrying burdens – that they, in him, could find rest.
Now that promise from Jesus is one of the most comforting things Jesus ever said. It’s also, I think, one of the hardest to believe because our burdens are still here. If we named all the stuff that feels like a burden right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up feeling a bit guilty or ashamed by what we consider a burden. Some of what we carry feels pretty normal – like the burden of having a terrible boss, or struggling to find the right kind of work/life balance, or even dealing with the pile of laundry that never seems to be put away. Yet there are other burdens that are a bit different and way harder to swallow. We might, for example, be a caregiver, who is completely overwhelmed by the care we are required to share. And it’s a heavy burden to watch a loved one fade while knowing there’s nothing we can do about it. There’s the burden of carrying a pain we know we can never forgive. And there’s the burden of being unable through circumstances, situations, or maybe a few bad choices to provide for those around us. There’s also the burden of fear and sorrow, of grief and pain, and knowing all the ways we’ve failed to be the people God has called us to be. And while we’re busy naming all our burdens, Jesus, in his own ways, seems to be adding to them since loving God and your neighbors is never easy. Jesus, with his words today, doesn’t promise that our burdens go away. But he does, I think, promise that they don’t have to become the emphasis for what our lives are all about. Instead, there’s something more to who we are and who we get to be – because being the body of Christ means that the kingdom of God is already here.
Eugene Peterson, who authored the paraphrase of the Bible known as “The Message,” heard in Jesus’ words the following: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” When we keep company with Jesus, we participate in the kingdom of God. Instead of focusing on what we think Jesus would say in this moment, we’re first invited to spend more time with Jesus himself. We do this through prayer, worship, by eating at His table, and paying attention to his story as it unfolds. And when we do this, we notice how Jesus chose to take on all the burdens of being human. He chose to be a caregiver and a friend who had the guts to love the loveless and to see people as more than whatever they were living through. He chose, over and over again, for his life, his death, his resurrection, and his ascension – to be FOR you and for the world. It was his way to emphasize our humanity so that we can choose to emphasize the fullness of God’s story too. When we act as if our story is the only story that a person could have, we end up increasing their burdens rather than realizing how all our burdens, in Christ, are never ours alone. Jesus took on the things that weigh us down because our burdens or what feels like burdens or even our guilt at admitting what is draining our heart and our soul is not the total of who we are. Instead, we get to emphasize a new story, a different story, a kingdom of God kind of story that promises that today isn’t the limit to who we are. Rather, because Jesus took on our burdens, we – as the body of Christ in this world – get to take on each other’s burdens too. And when we do that, we are doing more than imagining what Jesus might say to the moment we’re living in. We are, instead, living as if God’s kingdom is truly near.
Amen.