Take the Yoke
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
I went sailing this past week. And I was tired when I returned. I was not just a little tired when I returned; I was exhausted. The daily squatting, pulling, sailing all day, both the physical demands and the emotional demands were daunting. The demands of the sea on your body were constant — so I am tired, but I loved it. I loved every minute of the waves and the sun, and even the storms that hit, while frightening at times, reminded me of my humanity and my smallness in this universe. I am not sure of all the reasons that sailing excites me, but it does restore my soul to be on the water.
I sailed with a stranger; who couldn’t see, he had been blind since birth. He was competent and brilliant and conscientious aware that his lack of sight was dangerous and yet he had not let it stop him from pursuing his dream. Living on a boat side by side with a stranger for a week allows you plenty of time to talk and to think, and to just be. It is also part of why I think I love sailing.
The second night or so of our voyage the sailor shared with me that he felt somewhat lost. That he didn’t know if he knew the meaning of his life and felt as if he was still searching for something. I had already made this assessment for myself but was aware of the preciousness and the sacredness of this moment for him letting me in on this part of himself. He said, “You seem to have a sort of peace about you that I do not have.” I agreed and I thought this was probably true, my life no longer consists of striving after anything; I am aware of my purpose in life, and feel called to serve this parish and be your priest. To provide shelter to the sick, to preach the Gospel, to bring the Eucharist, to share God’s love with those in our community and around the world. I am at peace.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
The promise of Jesus to us all is rest. But the first part of that promise is dependent on us. “Come.” You have to come in order to receive rest. You have to be willing to receive.
Jesus begins the Gospel narrative today by asking the crowd,
“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we wailed and you did not mourn.’
He continues, “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’” (11:18-19a).
Jesus in speaking to that generation (in speaking to us as well), seems to imply that, “This generation” will be dissatisfied regardless — they were dissatisfied with John’s solemnity and his calls for the people to repent of their sins, and they were dissatisfied with Jesus eating and drinking with sinners.
It begs the question for us all. What is enough? What are we seeking? When will we know if we have found it? Have we become, are we the type of people, as the people in the generation that Jesus was speaking to, who are dissatisfied regardless?
The sailor I sailed with admitted his seeking for something, though here was a man who had attained much in this life. Financially secure. Professionally successful. Yet his life was empty in many ways.
“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.”
Come. Take. You must first come. And then you have to be willing to take. You have to be willing to take a yoke. A yoke is used for guiding you. A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is placed around two animals usually and it is used to guide them together. They can pull the plow together.
Jesus’ yoke is to guide us, to teach us, so that we can learn from him. And in this learning, we will find rest for our souls.
We live in a lost world. We live in a world where increasingly, day by day, we are turning away from God and Jesus. We are becoming more accepting, more enlightened, more diversified. In all of this blending in and acceptance, we need to be aware of the ways we may be losing our distinctiveness.
Acceptance and understanding are good. Diversification is the process of enlarging or varying your range of products or fields of operation. We need to be diverse, it can be good; we are not all the same nor do we all think the same nor are we made to be the same; but we must remain aware in our diversification that we do not water down the Gospel to such an extent that we no longer are distinct or stand differently from those around us. Matthew 5:13, “If the salt has lost its savor, how shall it be salted? It is good for nothing…”
This sailor told me that he believed Jesus was a good man, maybe a prophet, he did not believe he was the Son of God. It was nothing new to me — nothing I had not heard before. But it lies at the heart of Christianity and our distinctiveness, “…No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son…”. Matthew 11:27.
In the mystery of the Trinity, Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus is God. It does matter who Jesus is. And, it is in the acceptance of Jesus, in the coming to Jesus, in the taking of Jesus’ yoke upon you, that you will find rest.
Rest for your souls.
I was tired when I returned from sailing. Those who saw me commented on my tiredness. It took me several days to recover physically. But my soul was renewed.
This week we move into Vacation Bible School. And it will be exhausting. But we do this not just because it is something that we always do, but because we believe and hold that it is in the teaching the children about God, that we teach them about taking his yoke — that we teach them and show them through our words and our deeds that in their acceptance and love of Jesus in their lives that they will find rest. Our prayer is, is that as they grow they will come to know and love him.
The Collect this morning was, “O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection, through Jesus Christ our Lord…”
Lord, teach us to love. Grant us grace. Unite us to one another. Teach us to come and to take your yoke. Knowing that in being bound to you our burden becomes lighter. And in you and you alone we will find rest.
Amen.
I went sailing this past week. And I was tired when I returned. I was not just a little tired when I returned; I was exhausted. The daily squatting, pulling, sailing all day, both the physical demands and the emotional demands were daunting. The demands of the sea on your body were constant — so I am tired, but I loved it. I loved every minute of the waves and the sun, and even the storms that hit, while frightening at times, reminded me of my humanity and my smallness in this universe. I am not sure of all the reasons that sailing excites me, but it does restore my soul to be on the water.
I sailed with a stranger; who couldn’t see, he had been blind since birth. He was competent and brilliant and conscientious aware that his lack of sight was dangerous and yet he had not let it stop him from pursuing his dream. Living on a boat side by side with a stranger for a week allows you plenty of time to talk and to think, and to just be. It is also part of why I think I love sailing.
The second night or so of our voyage the sailor shared with me that he felt somewhat lost. That he didn’t know if he knew the meaning of his life and felt as if he was still searching for something. I had already made this assessment for myself but was aware of the preciousness and the sacredness of this moment for him letting me in on this part of himself. He said, “You seem to have a sort of peace about you that I do not have.” I agreed and I thought this was probably true, my life no longer consists of striving after anything; I am aware of my purpose in life, and feel called to serve this parish and be your priest. To provide shelter to the sick, to preach the Gospel, to bring the Eucharist, to share God’s love with those in our community and around the world. I am at peace.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
The promise of Jesus to us all is rest. But the first part of that promise is dependent on us. “Come.” You have to come in order to receive rest. You have to be willing to receive.
Jesus begins the Gospel narrative today by asking the crowd,
“To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, “We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we wailed and you did not mourn.’
He continues, “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’” (11:18-19a).
Jesus in speaking to that generation (in speaking to us as well), seems to imply that, “This generation” will be dissatisfied regardless — they were dissatisfied with John’s solemnity and his calls for the people to repent of their sins, and they were dissatisfied with Jesus eating and drinking with sinners.
It begs the question for us all. What is enough? What are we seeking? When will we know if we have found it? Have we become, are we the type of people, as the people in the generation that Jesus was speaking to, who are dissatisfied regardless?
The sailor I sailed with admitted his seeking for something, though here was a man who had attained much in this life. Financially secure. Professionally successful. Yet his life was empty in many ways.
“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.”
Come. Take. You must first come. And then you have to be willing to take. You have to be willing to take a yoke. A yoke is used for guiding you. A yoke is a wooden crosspiece that is placed around two animals usually and it is used to guide them together. They can pull the plow together.
Jesus’ yoke is to guide us, to teach us, so that we can learn from him. And in this learning, we will find rest for our souls.
We live in a lost world. We live in a world where increasingly, day by day, we are turning away from God and Jesus. We are becoming more accepting, more enlightened, more diversified. In all of this blending in and acceptance, we need to be aware of the ways we may be losing our distinctiveness.
Acceptance and understanding are good. Diversification is the process of enlarging or varying your range of products or fields of operation. We need to be diverse, it can be good; we are not all the same nor do we all think the same nor are we made to be the same; but we must remain aware in our diversification that we do not water down the Gospel to such an extent that we no longer are distinct or stand differently from those around us. Matthew 5:13, “If the salt has lost its savor, how shall it be salted? It is good for nothing…”
This sailor told me that he believed Jesus was a good man, maybe a prophet, he did not believe he was the Son of God. It was nothing new to me — nothing I had not heard before. But it lies at the heart of Christianity and our distinctiveness, “…No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son…”. Matthew 11:27.
In the mystery of the Trinity, Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus is God. It does matter who Jesus is. And, it is in the acceptance of Jesus, in the coming to Jesus, in the taking of Jesus’ yoke upon you, that you will find rest.
Rest for your souls.
I was tired when I returned from sailing. Those who saw me commented on my tiredness. It took me several days to recover physically. But my soul was renewed.
This week we move into Vacation Bible School. And it will be exhausting. But we do this not just because it is something that we always do, but because we believe and hold that it is in the teaching the children about God, that we teach them about taking his yoke — that we teach them and show them through our words and our deeds that in their acceptance and love of Jesus in their lives that they will find rest. Our prayer is, is that as they grow they will come to know and love him.
The Collect this morning was, “O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection, through Jesus Christ our Lord…”
Lord, teach us to love. Grant us grace. Unite us to one another. Teach us to come and to take your yoke. Knowing that in being bound to you our burden becomes lighter. And in you and you alone we will find rest.
Amen.