Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Transcription

1 Pentecost 3 July 3, 2011 Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Matthew 11:16-19, Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Wait a minute! Have we jumped two months ahead to Labor Day? We might think so given the gospel reading appointed for today. Couldn t the compilers of the lectionary have come up with something about independence or freedom or something more suitable to the Fourth of July?! Well, at least there s something in there about getting some rest. Jesus could have been speaking to a 21 st century audience just as well as to people of his day. This is one of those passages in the Bible we love because it addresses so compactly the human condition and need - Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens - as well as offering relief for that need - and I will give you rest. Jesus, in his wisdom, knew that we human beings do need rest. That s the promise: rest. Sounds good, doesn t it? So what s Jesus going to offer us here: a 3-day workweek, more vacation time, coupons for a day spa? No, in fact, what comes next appears to be a little odd, and downright counter-productive: Take my yoke upon your shoulders... Now we don t have to be very familiar with agricultural life to know that a yoke is a farm implement, a bar or frame that is put on the shoulders of draft animals so they can pull heavy loads. I don t know about you, but that s not my idea of getting rest from my burdens taking on someone else s yoke. Surely Jesus knew that the yoke was a familiar symbol of burden bearing, oppression, and subjugation. Yokes were not only laid on the necks and shoulders of oxen, but also on prisoners of war and slaves. Yoke is a word that often has the word of right after it. On this Fourth of July holiday, especially, we remember our country s founders, such as James Madison, who spoke about America shaking off the yoke of tyranny. In today s news, reports from northern Africa describe the determination of people to free themselves from the yoke of tyranny. Martin Luther in his day railed against the yoke of the papacy. Frederick Douglass orated against the yoke of slavery. A recent article about countries of the former Soviet Union claims that 80% of the people live under the yoke of authoritarianism. It s hard to find any positive meaning in those yokes. Yet Jesus uses that very word to describe the way that we will find rest for our souls. But he didn t pull that imagery out of thin air. The Book of Sirach, one of the books in he Apocrypha, describes the Wisdom of God this way: Come to her with all your soul, and keep her ways with all your might. Search out and seek, and she will become known to you; and when you get hold of her, do not let her go. For at last you will find the rest she gives, and she will be changed into joy for you. Then her fetters will become for you a strong defense, and her collar a glorious robe. Her yoke is a golden ornament, and her bonds a purple cord. You will wear her like a glorious robe, and put her on like a splendid crown. (Sirach ) It s clear that this passage from Matthew connects Jesus and his mission to the primordial Wisdom figure of the Hebrew scriptures, much the way that John s gospel connects Jesus to the pre-creation Logos. And one of the features of Wisdom is her yoke.

2 So what is this yoke that Jesus is offering? The word yoke comes from a verb meaning to unite or to join. So my yoke becomes the means by which Divine Wisdom brings us together: Her yoke is a golden ornament, and her bonds a purple cord. This is not simply a nice Kum Bah Ya campfire moment, but a way for us to imagine ourselves as an interconnected, interdependent reality, a mystic communion, that enables us to breathe together as the body of Christ Sophia. In this sense a yoke is not an implement of servitude, but a tool of connection. I m channeling now our teaching parish student Jayne, who always said, It s all about realtionship! Being yoked by Divine Wisdom, as seen in Jesus, is a way of being in relationship that makes it possible to live in our complicated world. This relationship helps us choose between what enlivens us and what deadens us. The more closely connected we can be aware of this, it becomes more possible to discern how to move in directions that provide energy and wisdom. We can see this in selection from the writings of John Muir this week and other nature mystics. And when I allow myself to stop for a moment and allow the beauty of that knowledge wash over me, I do find rest for my soul and gladly take that yoke upon me. But as restful as that image is, it doesn t negate the fact that a yoke is still a yoke. It assumes that there is a load to be pulled. Jesus doesn t invite us to a life of ease. Following the way of Jesus will bring the risks, challenges, changes, and commitment of a life of humble service. To take up this yoke is to join in the work of the realm of God, the work of justice, mercy, compassion, and the healing of the world. Bruce Chilton, author of the book Rabbi Jesus wrote in an article entitled The Way of Jesus to Repair and Renew the World, Following Jesus is not fundamentally a matter of religious affiliation, a way of feeling better about yourself, or a means to acquire your eternal reward. The path we are on is meant to lead us closer to God s vision and purpose for the world a world where, in our integrity and awareness of God s Spirit, we love righteousness, seek insight, heal with forgiveness, and love our neighbors as ourselves. This will come about, he claimed, if we are willing to accept the prophetic vocation (or the yoke) that Jesus has offered to every human being, no matter how prominent or unnoticed the struggles involved may be. This work may be hard, but it s not burdensome. The load is light and it is life giving. There are many examples, right here in this room, of ways of taking on the yoke of humble service. I always bring my brass yoke with me a gift at my ordination - and point out that my stole is a symbol of the ordained ministry as a way of taking on that yoke. But there are many ways, as many as there are people and opportunities in your work place, in your church, in other volunteer work, in your family, in your politics, in the choices you make each and every moment of each and every day. But tonight, as we bid Godspeed to Heather as she prepares to leave for Uganda this coming week, I can think of no better illustration of a response to the call to discipleship. I am sure that Heather has a lot of mixed emotions as she prepares to leave: excitement and trepidation, eagerness and nervousness. Maybe I m just projecting what I think my feelings would be onto her. But I m willing to bet that Pam has a bunch of feelings of her own from pride to anxiety, But Pam, you have worn the yoke of discipleship in raising your daughter and she is following also in the way of Jesus. That way is not one that will always be devoid of ambivalent feelings, of conflict, of hard work, of disappointments and pain along with the pride and the joy. But it is the way to find rest.

3 I don t know how much rest you re going to get in Uganda, Heather. But rest in the Bible doesn t have the same connation as the kind of rest we re hoping to get this holiday weekend. Rest in scripture can refer to Sabbath rest. But it is also an image of salvation, of what will be when the world is finally ordered according to God's purposes. By taking on the yoke of Wisdom, we participate in God s great clean-up of the world (John Dominic Crossan) In offering rest, Jesus promises life under the compassionate care and healing nature of God. In this life we are yoked together with one another in Christ Sophia - free from the burden of the need to justify ourselves, free from the weight of sins real and imagined, free from the fear of isolation and death and free to rest deeply and securely in God's grace. It is just two months to Labor Day. May we, however, live every day with the yoke of Wisdom upon us. May we support Heather as she travels far away to live out her calling. May we support Pam as she misses and worries about her daughter. May we support one another in each of our labors. And may we find rest, even amidst the hard work of it all together. Amen Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, Rather than permit his son to marry a Canaanite, Abraham gave his servant a commission to find a wife for Isaac from among the tribal community from which Abraham himself had migrated from Haran to Canaan. A religious theme added meaning to this very romantic tale from Israel s patriarchal period ca BCE. It developed the promise to Abraham that he would father a great nation through his son Isaac. Behind the details of the tribal legend lay Israel s faith in God s over-ruling providence throughout its history. It is written... "I am Abraham's servant, he said. YHWH has greatly blessed Abraham. He is now a wealthy person. God has given him flocks, herds, silver, gold, servants, camels and donkeys. Sarah, Abraham s wife bore a son late in life, and he is Abraham s heir. Abraham swore me by an oath, saying, 'You must not allow my son to marry any of the Canaanites, in whose land we live. Go to the land of my mother and father, to my kin, to find a wife for Isaac.' "Today, when I came to the spring, I prayed, 'O God of my master Abraham, let my journey be a successful one. Let it happen like this here I am standing at the spring, and when a young woman comes to draw water, I will ask her, "Please let me have a drink from the spring." If she answers, "Drink, and I will water your camels as well," let it be that she is the woman whom YHWH has chosen to become the spouse of Abraham s heir, Isaac.' Before I had finished praying, I saw Rebekah approaching the spring, shouldering her water jar. She went down to the spring to draw water, and I asked her, 'May I please have a drink of water?' She immediately put the jar into the spring and said, 'Drink, and I will water your camels as well.' So I drank while she watered the camels. Then I asked her about her parentage. She replied, 'I am the daughter of Bethuel, ben-milcah and Nahor;' whereupon I put the ring in her nose, and the bracelets on her arms, and I bowed down and worshipped YHWH. I praised YHWH, the God of my master Abraham, who led me to the right place to find the way to the daughter of my master's kin for Isaac. Please tell me that you will show this kindness and loyalty to Abraham! If not, tell me, and I will turn to other places." They called Rebekah and put the question to her. She replied, "Yes, I am ready to leave." So Rebekah and her attendant went with Abraham's servant and his entourage. They blessed Rebekah and said to her,

4 "You are our sister, and you will increase; to thousands and tens of thousands! May your offspring take possession of the gates of their foes!" Rebekah and her attendants got ready, then mounted their camels to followed Abraham s servant. The servant took Rebekah, and they set off on their journey. Now Isaac had gone to live in the region of the Negev, and came to the Well of the Living One Who Sees Me. One day toward evening he went out in the field; and as he looked around, he saw camels approaching. When Rebekah saw Isaac, she alighted from her camel and asked the servant, "Who is the man out there, walking through the field toward us?" The servant said, That is indeed Isaac." She then covered herself with her veil. The servant told Isaac all that had been done. Then Isaac led Rebekah into Sarah's tent, and she became his wife, and he loved her. That is how Isaac was comforted after the death of his mother. Second Reading from John Muir It is probably safe to say that no American ever experienced wilderness as religious ecstasy more than John Muir. He called the Sierras the Range of Light and - as Light in the sky - they evoked in him immense religious longings. Before the magnificence of nature, he found himself dumb with admiration, prostrate and humble before the power of God who created it all. All Muir's books seem to say the same thing over and over: "Look! Nature is overflowing with the grandeur of God!" Muir writes... A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. Every hidden cell is throbbing with music and life, every fiber thrilling like harp strings, while incense is ever flowing from the balsam bells and leaves. No wonder the hills and groves were God's first temples, and the more they are cut down and hewn into cathedrals and churches, the farther off and dimmer seems the Lord himself. Matthew 11:16-19, Jesus likely uttered these three quotations attributed to him at quite different times. The first saying not only described a children s imitative game of biblical times, it also told of the frustration of teaching without visible response. The prayer in vss may not be Jesus words at all. They reflect an attitude more common in later period when some regarded the Christian community as more closely restricted than in the first flowering of the Pentecost spirit. It is written... Jesus said: "What comparison can I make with this generation? They are like children shouting to others as they sit in the marketplace, We played the flute for you, but you would not dance; we sang you a dirge, and you would not mourn.' "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He is possessed. The Chosen One comes eating and drinking, and they say, 'This one is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!' Wisdom will be vindicated by her own actions."

5 Then Jesus prayed, "O God, Creator of heaven and earth, to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever, you have revealed to the youngest children. Yes, everything is as you want it to be. Jesus continued, Everything has been handed over to me by God. No one knows the Only Begotten except God, and no one knows God except the Only Begotten - and those to whom the Only Begotten wants to give that revelation. Come to me, all you who labor and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon your shoulders, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Here you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."