July 7^th s Sermon

SERMON BASED ON MATTHEW 11 VERSES 25 TO 30

Word of life: When we yoke ourselves to Christ, we find wisdom, forgiveness and community that make the journey of living so much easier.

 

INTRODUCTION

The hot and humid weather of the past week served as a reminder for me of what I pictured the continental congress to have been like. For if you have seen the musical 1776 we are reminded that June and July of 1776 were hot and humid days, not to mention days filled with tension and anxiety. For already the millitia of several colonies were at war with Britain. So there was much heated discussion among the halls of congress.

But what amazes me when I think on those early days of giving birth to our nation, was the sacrifices that many made. John Adams for example was away from his farm and his children were ill. History records that he almost lost all he had worked for in order to stay in Philadelphia and work for a declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson was newly married and forced by the circumstances to be away from his new bride to work for independence. Ben Franklin saw his family break up over this issue of independence. There are many more stories of how much these forefathers had to sacrifice in order to give birth to our new nation. So I must ask why? What motivates them to sacrifice all that they did?

I believe that they had come to realize that in order for any of them or generations that would follow them to thrive they would need to do whatever it would take to achieve freedom and independence. We could in fact say that they yoked themselves to the cause of Freedom and Independence when they signed the Declaration of Independence. Then they worked together to achieve that independence. Today, we still have that vision of our country people from all parts of this great land, having different ideas, but all yoked to the belief that we can be a free and independent nation under God.

To achieve this has never been easy. Yet, because we are yoked with others the burden is not as heavy on any one of us. For you see that is what yoking together does. Oxen that are yoked together share the burden of pulling the plow, it is not as hard on either of them as it would be if they were not yoked together.

DEVELOP

I think this is what Jesus is telling his disciples and us in todays Gospel lesson. Listen again to what He says. Read Matthew 11: 25-30

When we choose to yoke ourselves to Jesus, He promises us that we will learn from him, that we will find rest for our souls and that the burden will be light because the yoke fits well. I want to spend a moment looking at each part of that promise.

The yoke was a symbol in ancient Israel of obedience. So what Jesus is telling us is that when we are obedient to him, we will learn from him. My own experience has been that when I am obedient to someone is when I learn from them. Allow me to share with you one example, when I was 13 years old my Dad took me on his oil truck route to be his helper. I did not know anything about how the route worked and what exactly I was to do. So I was very attentive to him and followed everything he told me to do. In later years, I thought I knew better and would ignore certain procedures, only to have them cause me more grief and work in the end. When we are obedient to someone, we listen and learn from them. Jesus has told us he wants to lead us to the fullness of life, so if we are obedient and follow where he is leading we will learn how best to live our lives because he will give to us the wisdom of the Father.

Secondly, he promises that when we yoke ourselves to him we will find rest for our souls. The soul s greatest worry is what will it take for me to be acceptable to God. We know that Jesus on the cross has taken that worry out of our hands. He has made us acceptable to God through his death and resurrection. So that when we remain obedient to him we will share in that amazing gift he has won for us. No wonder our soul s can rest, for in Christ they have the assurance of Salvation. Thanks be to God!

Last but not least, when we are yoked to Christ we will find the burdens of life easier to bear. For in being yoked to Christ we come to be part of a community where love and hope abound. Allow me to give just one example of many. A man lost his spouse after only 5 years of marriage and he had 2 children to raise. The faith community where he was a part immediately swung into action, organizing ways they could help and support this family in the midst of the tragedy. Some would watch the children during the day, so the man could do his job. Others would prepare meals, so that when the father was home he could spend good time with the family and not be to exhausted. This continued for 10 or more years. The father will tell you that while loosing his wife was certainly tragic, the burden was made lighter by the willingness of his congregation to help. But he is not alone, many have found this to be true. The support of the congregation helps some of us face the burden of a loved one becoming ill, while it helps other face the challenge of raising children in this day and age, while it helps still others deal with the break up of their families. In other words, Jesus was telling us that together we can face those things easier than if when we are trying to do it alone.

CONCLUSION:

Jesus words, however, fly in the face of our culture s beliefs. Often our world has believed that true freedom means you are not yoked to anything. However, our forefathers learned that yoking themselves together was the way they could create a great nation, where freedom would abound. Jesus also, wanted to remind us that as we travel down the highway of life we will need to choose who will be our guide. He says to us as he did to the people so long ago; Come to me find wisdom, find assurance of your salvation and find community, these things will make the journey of life easier and the burdens lighter. Amen