Yoked Together
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Rev. Christine E. Chiles
“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.”
Faith Statement: Living as Jesus teaches is the yoke he desires to place on us. This yoke makes it possible to carry heavy burdens.
Sermon Purpose: Yoked to Christ, we are also yoked to each other, to receive promised rest, and a lightening of burdens. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6.2
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest”.
Who among us does not desire rest? Whether it is the toil of day-to-day responsibilities, stresses that arise from work or family, or burdens that overwhelm us, we all at some point feel indescribably weary.
As often as we have heard this appealing invitation from our Lord, how often do we quit listening at the end of verse 28? Where it says “rest”? Because if we quit right there, Jesus’ invitation conveys a sense of literally stopping to rest. A mental image is setting down a ton of responsibilities, a heap of obligations, a mountain of challenges and a load of worries we carry. I got to thinking about HOW the Lord would give us this rest.
One of the ways God provides rest is giving us the Sabbath. To take one day a week in order to receive the rest God intends for our good. The conventional way we stop for rest is to take a vacation. We don’t really need a study to tell us this, but driving around yesterday I heard on the radio a story about new research showing that regular vacations lead to longer lives. For instance, in Framingham, Mass., heart study researchers found that women who took a vacation once every six years or less were almost eight times more likely to develop heart disease or have a heart attack than those who took at least two vacations a year.
How might Jesus actually provide this promised rest? How could I take Jesus up on this offer? It can’t be like when Pastor Durk and I cover for each other’s vacation days. We schedule ahead for our days off , brief each other about ongoing issues, and upcoming meetings, and make provisions for ministry to continue. I have some vacation days coming up shortly, but if I spent my whole vacation trying, I couldn’t list or even imagine all the ways Jesus is able to fulfill this promise of rest.
I’ve tended to ignore verses 29 and 30. Instead, I liked staying with a mental image of lazily swinging in a hammock under a shady tree, sipping a cold lemonade. But reading on, it occurred to me that the meaning of rest Jesus intends may be different than a vacation. What kind of rest is Jesus describing? Looking at verses 29 and 30, Jesus talks about being yoked, and continuing to work and carry loads. However, by learning from Jesus, the work becomes easier. I found a quote by Henry Drummond, a 19th century evangelist who thought about this a hundred years before me!
When Jesus speaks of burdens carried, “It was not some special burden laid upon the Christian, some unique infliction that they alone must bear. It was what all people bear: it was simply life, human life itself, the general burden of life which all must carry with them from the cradle to the grave. Christ saw that people took life painfully. How to carry this burden of life had been the whole world's problem. And here is Christ's solution: "Carry it as I do. Take life as I take it. Look at it from my point of view. Interpret it upon my principles. Take my yoke and learn of me, and you will find it easy." Henry Drummond (1851-1897), Pax Vobiscum
A key to lightening our loads, is learning to live as Jesus teaches, and a primary lesson he teaches, is to bear one another’s burdens. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6.2 That seems counterintuitive, to add even more responsibilities than ours. It would be an adding if not for the word Jesus uses- “Yoked”.
Let’s think about a yoke and its purpose. Immediately we visualize two oxen harnessed together with a bow yoke, which is a wooden crosspiece that runs across their shoulders. The crosspiece is held on the animals' necks with an oxbow, a U-shaped piece – the oxbow transmits force from the animals' shoulders. That’s the kind of yoke of which Jesus spoke. It’s function was twofold: to get two animals working together, in tandem, and to lessen by half the weight the animals pulled. A yoke is a gentle device created to make hard labor light, through the company of at least two.
When we hear this verse from Matthew we are thinking we are one of those oxen, and Christ our Lord, is the other. That is true, and isn’t it amazing to think that our Lord humbly submits himself to be yoked to us, to help us.
Here is a little different image. I know Jesus is still in this - he has to be because our doing his will is contrary to our nature. Left to our own, we would throw off any yoke- but imagine that the two oxen are two disciples yoked together. Imagine that the two oxen are two disciples yoked together. The weight of the burdens we carry are lifted as we are yoked together in Christ, in the life he calls us to and teaches us to live, a life of service to others. In that life and in that service, we share each other’s burdens, and lighten each others’ load.
The way I’m going to illustrate this may seem like a turn of the tables; I am blessed to serve you as associate pastor, and to care for YOU is the work to which I am called. But I’m going to share how you have cared for me, and that this mutuality exists should be no surprise. Martin Luther describes this as the vocation of every Christian: we are all called to serve Christ, using the ways God has uniquely created and gifted us. This mutuality of ministry is designed by God, and here are some ways you, the people of God at MGLC, have lightened the Chiles family’s lives, fulfilling today’s Gospel promise.
What go me thinking about all this happened two weeks ago, as I drove back from Dent, MN, where I brought my son Kevin to a Concordia Language Village. Kevin is there for an entire month to study all things Japanese. Kevin, Jim and I were all apprehensive about a whole month-long program, how intensive this might be, and about showing up not knowing a soul. Well, Kevin and I arrived at camp, walked into the registration hall and found Braedon Stamas! What a nice surprise to know that Kevin and Braedon would be together at the camp.
Another surprise was meeting Lori Heater. Lori is the first person I met who understood and named my experiences of raising a child with special learning needs. Lori is a trained group facilitator, and has developed an extensive network of information and organizations assisting people with special needs. Lori and I have attended several conferences for congregations to be inclusive communities of faith for people of all abilities. Through Lori, I found a support group I attend each month, called “Café Aspie” for family and friends of people diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders, like Asperger’s Syndrome. It’s been very helpful to me.
There’s Kurt Schwedler, who has some kind of natural-born radar for detecting visitors who walk in the doors of MGLC. Shortly after we arrived, Kurt welcomed and befriended my son Jeff and invited Jeff to play drums for contemporary worship here. What a blessing for Jeff to meet new friends and have this opportunity to serve God.
Speaking of my boys, Nick and Tanya Oetken chaperoned a trip to the ELCA Youth Gathering in San Antonio Texas, which Jeff and Kevin attended. It was such a positive experience, Jeff and Kevin went with Todd Grover and our high school youth to San Francisco on the Youth Works mission trip last summer. In two weeks, Kevin will go to Fort Apache, AZ with our youth mission trip this year. These trips help our youth grow in faith by leaps and bounds.
Two years ago my mom was diagnosed with cancer, and I went to Florida to be with her and dad for her surgery. We felt the prayers of our Prayer Team, prayer chain, and congregation with us, giving us all strength. Mom is doing great - by the way.
Whether a divine “coincidence” or a direct hand-on help, these gifts were received by the Chiles family with deep gratitude. I believe THIS WAY is very much a part of God’s plan for our life in Christ shared together, living that lightens our lives.
Thinking about oxen and yokes reminded me of our family vacation last summer out West. Jim and I climbed into our van and followed the dusty Oregon Trail from Nebraska all the way to California (via Interstate 80 and in a lot more comfort than the first pioneers.) We stopped at For Kearny State Historical Park, at a museum with an authentic prairie schooner. We donned costumes provided by the museum for a photo atop the covered wagon. Jim put on a vest and a big bullwhacker’s hat and whip, which went really well with his shorts, tennis shoes and t shirt. I tried on a sun-bonnet and calico dress. The museum had ox yokes but we didn’t try on one of those. We learned at Fort Kearny that a single ox couldn’t budge the big freight wagons; they weighed as much as a Hummer when loaded with flour, salt and beans. But if you rounded up enough oxen, fitted them with yokes, and pointed them west, they could haul that heavy wagon, plumb over the mountains all the way to the Pacific.
And if you got enough wagons and families together, that was a wagon train, and it was safer and more fun way to travel than trying to go it alone. Now there’s an image for us: the Maple Grove Lutheran Church wagon train, all pulling with Jesus pointing the way, yoked together for service and mission, and lightening each other’s loads. Jesus said, “ 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.” Jesus will teach us to slip on his yoke; yoked together in Christ and sharing his life, means sharing our lives, and sharing our lives in Christ means we will lift each others burdens, and lighten the load. Amen.