 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
July 3, 2005
Laying the Burden Down
Romans 7:15-25a, Matthew 11:25-30
As Christians, we believe that the Bible is God's word to us. But let's be honest: more often than we care to admit, the distance in time and location between us and the people of the Bible is a difficult challenge to overcome. There are times when the week's scripture readings can seem far removed from our lives. And then there are readings like this morning's, both of which have sentences at least that seem to speak directly to us today.
Take Romans. Who among us does not relate to Paul when he writes, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." (7.25)
And at some point or another, all of us want to accept Jesus' invitation in Matthew: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." (11.28)
Both of these verses have a contemporary feel to them, even as they address situations two thousand years old.
In Matthew, Jesus was addressing those who were burdened by the religious obligations imposed by the scribes and the Pharisees. It was part of the Old Testament and Jewish tradition to speak of the "yoke of the Torah", but in their zeal to maintain religious purity while their country was occupied by a foreign power with a foreign religion, instead of being a yoke that helped guide the people and give them hope, the demands had instead become a heavy burden.[1] The yoke Jesus offered stood in contrast to the yoke insisted on by the religious authorities.
In the Romans text, Paul is also talking about the law. The passage is taken from a larger argument. For Paul, the law was not in and of itself a bad thing. The law was neutral; it could bring people closer to God, or it could come under the power of sin, such as when the forbidden became more enticing, or when following the law to the letter became more important than the relationship to God the law was intended to encourage.
We are not under the law in the same way Paul's and Matthew's communities were. Mainline Christian churches don't make the same kinds of demands on members; we don't have a set of codes outlining the way we should worship, eat, work, etc. But there are other unwritten laws and codes and expectations that do burden us.
There is human nature, and the inevitability that we will be selfish and worry about ourselves first, that we will hurt the ones we love. Then there are the expectations laid on us by our society. We experience the pressure to be successful at work, have the right house in the right neighborhood with the right car in the driveway, be a model spouse and parent, AND involved in the community.
Children and youth are not exempt from these pressures either. Like the rest of us, they're constantly bombarded with images of what they're supposed to look like, dress like, act like, be like. The pressure to get the best grades and excel in the arts and athletics begins in middle school, and sometimes earlier.
Impossible demands are placed on us. We are expected to give 110% to everything. We're promised that happiness is available through a particular purchase or accomplishment. Is it any wonder we end up feeling burdened, or burned out?
It is in this place that this morning's texts meet us.
Paul ends the passage with the lament, "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Paul recognizes the truth: we human beings are under the power of the sin. The world is under the power of sin. That is, the things the world tells us are the way to live are actually the things that are life-taking, draining us without giving anything of substance back, or numbing us to or isolating us from what is happening around us.
Jesus in Matthew invites us, "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." (11.28-30)
Hold on! Laying burdens down and finding rest is one thing, but taking on a yoke is quite another!
I'm no expert on yokes. I've never put a yoke on an animal, or worn one myself. Yokes were and still are seen as a symbol of oppression—being under the yoke of someone or something means being in their control, under their power. And although yokes are something few of us may have direct experience with, all of us are under the control of something—materialism, an addiction, self-interest, fear, even the idea that we can earn love or approval.
But putting on the yoke Jesus offers is something different. In Bible times, oxen worked the field in pairs, held together with a yoke. When Christ invited others to take his yoke upon them, perhaps what he meant was, put on this yoke, and I will be right beside you, sharing the burden with you. Yes, it is an act of submission. But it also means that we will never again bear anything alone.
It doesn't seem like an easy thing to do, yoking ourselves to Christ and following him. But the reality is, we will be yoked to something, and which is better: to be under the weight of something that only wants to take from us, or to be yoked to someone who wants what is best for us and will help us along the way?
In the Christian life, it is a choice we must make again and again. It's an embarrassing thing for a pastor to admit, but I am guilty of believing that I can do things all on my own. It seems that in difficult times, it is easier to remember to make God part of my equation. For example, I am convinced that I made it through last fall because 1) I knew I was in over my head and 2) many of you were praying for me. Now that things are back to "normal"-or at least a little closer to whatever normal is-I forget. I forget I still need God to be part of the everyday, the small and middle-sized things I deal with here and at home. So I trip up and fall and make mistakes and wonder why things aren't going the way I want them to, and then I remember again.
I remember I can't do it alone. And my attempts to lay those burdens down look like this. Sometimes I pray about them as part of my morning devotional time. But just as often, it happens in the car as I'm driving to church or home or to an appointment, and I'm feeling overwhelmed by what I've got to do or what I don't have done. While driving on First Avenue or sitting at a stoplight or wherever, with my eyes open, I start talking out loud, "God, I can't handle everything. I can't do it. Help me." Then I give a litany of the day's concerns. At the end of it, I feel a little better, like a weight has been lifted. And then I find those things I thought were burdens weren't so bad afterall, and sometimes they work themselves out, or the right person comes along.
That's how I do it. No doubt some of you have other ways and are better at it than I am. And others of you are still holding very tightly to everything, still believing you can do it all on you own.
But I invite you:
Lay the burden down. Remove the yoke of what controls you and wants to take everything you have without giving anything back, and put on the yoke of Christ who wants to share the burden. Let Christ lead the way, and follow him, and you will find rest for your souls.
Thanks be to God! Amen.
1 Eugene M. Boring, The New Interpreter's Bible: Vol. VIII, Matthew. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995. p. 275. Go Back
| Return to Sermon List |
First Presbyterian
Church of Cedar Rapids
310 Fifth Street SE Cedar Rapids, IA 52401
Phone: 319-364-6148
E-mail: church@fpccr.org
Copyright © 2003-2007 First Presbyterian Church of Cedar Rapids. All rights reserved.