Sermon-4 Pentecost-Proper 9-July 6, 2014 The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. A grandmother is watching her beloved little grandson playing on the beach, in his little hat, with his little bucket and little shovel, when suddenly a huge wave covers the boy, and as it departs, the boy is gone. Falling to her knees, the grandmother cries out, "Lord, please, return my little grandson; he is such a good boy and deserves a long life." Just as suddenly, a second wave crashes ashore, and as it recedes, there is the little boy, still holding his little bucket and little shovel. The grandmother takes a good look, then looks to heaven and raising her voice says: "He had a hat...!" This summer in the gospel of Matthew Jesus is walking through Israel saying to those who follow- this is going to be tough-but it s going to be worth it! Almost every week he warns the disciples, following me is going to cost you, ALOT but it will gain you life. This is from the gospel of 2 weeks ago: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. "For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one's foes will be members of one's own household. This is from last week: Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; And now this week: "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 1
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." This is such a famous passage. John Stott, The famous preacher and chaplain to the Queen tells the story of going to South Georgia [Island], eight hundred miles east of the Falkland Islands. [They] landed at Grytyiken, which is an old abandoned Norwegian whaling station, the place where Ernest Shackleton, the famous Antarctic explorer, is buried. Here behind the disused and rusty buildings is a little Lutheran church that has recently been restored. Stott writes: When I approached it, it was surrounded by elephant seals and king penguins. What do you think I found on the east wall church inscribed in Norwegian? "Come unto me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." It sounds as though after all these dire warnings throughout chapter 10, Jesus is trying to bring comfort and solace to people who are struggling. But don be fooled. This is from The Rev. James Liggett,[ retired rector of St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Midland, Texas writes:] the primary thrust of what Jesus is saying here is not directed toward people who have just any kind of difficulty. By all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, or an older translation, who labor and are heavy laden, Jesus doesn t primarily mean folks with ordinary problems 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 s not what he s talking about here. Here, Jesus is talking quite specifically to and about those who are on a religious quest those who are seeking God, and relationship with God. He is calling to himself the religiously exhausted 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. 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
yoke allegorically. The Law was the Yoke, and the people who put it on others were both trying to train them-and attempting to control them. Jesus is not simply offering comfort or relief here. He s telling his friends that he s bringing something new. Something different. A new way of living to those who accept him. He s telling his followers that (here s Liggett again): 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 to me. Come to Jesus himself. In essence, Jesus is saying, If 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 if you want this, then come to me. It s a call to relationship to relationship with Jesus and to relationship with the community that continues Jesus life and ministry. The Pharisees kept telling the good Jews that if they did everything just right they would be ok. But Jesus says, just start a new life in me, with me. The Rev. Dr. Amy Richter tells this story of when she was a young parish priest: she was already late for the meeting. Rushing past the sexton who was putting the recycling out, she had her own arms full as she tried to get the back door of the church open. Juggling her lunch bag, laptop bag, and pocketbook, she tried to pull the door open. She knew that in the humidity the door would often stick, but this time, it just wouldn t budge. Not wanting to set anything down, she just pulled as hard as she could, hoping the door would open and she could still make it in time. No such luck. She gave up and noticed the janitor was watching. Did you pull as hard as you could? he asked. Yes, I gave it everything I ve got. The sexton smiled and said, No, you didn t. You didn t ask me to help you. He walked over, took her bags off her shoulder and said, Now try it. The door came open on the first try. Liggett again: Jesus is saying, If you seek God; if you seek his love; if you seek a life 3
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 if you want this, then come to me. In many translations, Jesus calls his yoke easy. Now, that s an unfortunate English word; it makes it sound like everything s 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 s just not true. The New English Bible s translation is better: It reads, My yoke is good to bear. 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 that yoke Jesus rejects, even though it was the yoke of the wise and intelligent. 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 labor and be heavy laden. It leads to living in what Paul just called this body of death. 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. To say to your child, or a friend, or your spouse, or anyone, really, I will only love you if you do right, is to ensure a [sad, painful] relationship. It hurts everybody involved. 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 t fit; that it didn t bring them to God; that it didn t enrich their lives. Yokes like that never do.
The question confronting humanity is, whose yoke or what yoke does one put on? No one lives without a yoke the demands of this yoke are to love God above all and one's neighbor as oneself. Love is a gentle yoke, not burdensome or wearying, but light, easy, pleasant. one thing more is necessary: to learn from Jesus himself how to walk the ancient paths that lead to the peace and rest of the kingdom of God and to inheriting the earth" (The Lectionary Commentary). Does love of God, and love of neighbor, feel like a "gentle yoke" to you?" or as Kate Huey (again) says, "Everyone gives their heart to something; be sure that what you give your heart to is worthy of it." We are deep into the gospel of Matthew and we are going to hear for 4 more months how to be a follower of Jesus. After 3 weeks of warnings, Jesus gets to the point-come into a relationship with me-keep it simple, don t work so hard at being the good Christian, the righteous Christian, the law abiding Christian. Just love God and love your neighbor and stop keeping score. Amen. As Luther put it in the Small Catechism: "I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to him." This is very similar to Step One of the 12-Step programs: "We admitted we were powerless over alcohol/drugs/etc. -- that our lives had become unmanageable." Zechariah 9:9-12 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 5
He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the warhorse from Jerusalem; and the battle-bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. with Psalm 145:8-14 God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God is good to all, and God's compassion is over all that God has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O God, and all your faithful shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your dominion, and tell of your power, to make known to all people your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your dominion. Your reign is an everlasting reign, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. God is faithful in every word, and gracious in every deed. God upholds all who are falling, and raises up all who are bowed down. Romans 7:15-25a I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 [Jesus said:] "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
'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 indicated 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 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." 7