A Sermon by Rebecca M. Taylor
Director of Children's, Youth & Family Ministries
All Saints Parish, Brookline, MA
July 6, 2008
Lectionary: Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30; Psalm 145:8-15
Jesus said, "Come ... Take ... Learn ... Find ... Rest. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30)
"What am I going to do with you? What am I going to do with you?"
Have you ever heard that question? Have you ever asked that question?
If you're a parent, you may have asked that question, and when you did, you were frustrated – even exasperated – by something your child did to test the limits. As you asked that question – "What am I going to do with you?" – you were probably thinking, "How can I show this child how very much I love him – and how very much I don't like what he just did?"
If you've ever heard that question posed to you, you know that you have overstepped the boundaries of acceptable behavior. And you may have wondered, "Yeah, what is she going to do with me?" And behind that question is fear – fear that just maybe you have become unlovable, even by the person you assumed would never stop loving you.
I hear that same frustration in Jesus' question today – the question that begins the gospel reading: "To what will I compare this generation?" (Matthew 11:16) He is speaking about the religious leaders of his time – those scribes and priests and Pharisees who just do not understand and will not accept who he is and who John the Baptist is.
In the verses leading up to today's gospel, we learn that Jesus and his disciples have been traveling throughout Galilee, preaching and healing in all the cities and towns. (Matthew 10:1-8a) Big crowds have come out to see them. ( Matthew 4:25; 5:1; 7:28; 8:1, 18; 9:8, 25, 33; 11:7) And the common folks who make up these crowds are "astounded," (Matthew 7:28) "filled with awe," (Matthew 9:8) and "amazed" (Matthew 9:33) by their encounters with Jesus and his friends. At the same time, the religious leaders have accused Jesus of blasphemy. (Matthew 9:3) They have criticized him for associating with sinners.( Matthew 9:11) From their point of view, Jesus was constantly in a state of Jewish ritual impurity, by virtue of the company he kept. In the next chapter of this gospel, they will begin conspiring against him, planning how they will destroy him. (Matthew 12:14)
Meanwhile, the civil authority (Herod) has put John the Baptist in jail. (Matthew 11:2; 14:1-4) Too soon, this great prophet – the one Jesus compares to Elijah (Matthew 11:14) – will be executed. Herod the Great does not want to be publicly criticized by this wild man who has been drawing crowds to him, as well. Lock him up. And shut him up – permanently.
So there is a tension between the people of Israel and their leaders regarding both Jesus and John. In growing numbers, the people accept Jesus and John. Some are even willing to become their disciples. But their leaders reject and distain both men. The religious leaders think they know exactly what the Messiah will be like, and neither John nor Jesus fit the bill.
In today's gospel, Jesus criticizes the religious leaders for their arrogance. He characterizes them as children who won't play nicely with either Jesus or John:
"[You are] like children," he tells them, "sitting in the market places, calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and [John,] you didn't dance! We wailed, and [Jesus,] you didn't mourn.' " (Matthew 11:16-17)
From their places of sanctioned power and influence, the religious elite dismiss both Jesus and John as irrelevant. There's a complete disconnect between these very religious men (on the one hand) who understand themselves to be keepers and interpreters of Jewish Law, and (on the other hand) Jesus and John, two holy men who are agents of divine revelation.
"You can't dismiss us." Jesus tells these leaders. "[W]isdom is vindicated by her deeds." (Matthew 11:19) In other words, what John and Jesus have been doing – their deeds – speak for themselves. John preached repentance and a return to right relationship with God. People were compelled by that message and came for ritual bathing. Jesus was healing the sick, raising the dead, and bringing good news to the poor. (Matthew 11:4-5) People flocked to him. The ministries of both John and Jesus point directly to the God of justice and love and peace.
"To what will I compare this generation? What am I going to do with you?"
Pray, that's what Jesus does.
"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth," he begins. "You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and you have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will." (Matthew 11:25-26)
Infants. Now this image of childhood takes on a positive tone (unlike Jesus' earlier use of the word "children.") The Greek word here is nepios, which literally means "not speaking." Jesus describes the common folk as infants. These people who keep coming to him in greater and greater numbers are like babies who can't even speak yet, who just want to be fed with the grace of God. God has decided to reveal the life-giving power of divine love to the poor, the sick, the hungry, the oppressed – the sheep who have no shepherd. (Matthew 9:36)
These common people have no preconceived notions about what the Messiah will look like and how the Messiah will behave. They just know that when they are in the presence of Jesus, they feel cherished and alive, and that relationship gives them joy and hope.
God is at work here, manifesting divine grace through Jesus. "All things have been handed over to me by my Father," Jesus says. "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." (Matthew 11:27) Jesus acts on behalf of God who has empowered him with true wisdom and true authority to bring everyone – everyone – into the Kingdom where there is no boundary between heaven and earth.
"What am I going to do with you?"
Extend an invitation to deep, intimate discipleship, that's the other thing that Jesus does.
"Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest," Jesus tells the crowd. (Matthew 11:28) He's inviting not just "the infants" but also "this generation" as well. The invitation is extended to all. True, the poor and the sick and the disenfranchised carry heavy burdens. But so, too, do the "know-it-alls" who have arrogantly distanced themselves from true relationship with God.
Jesus offers rest, rest in their deepest parts – "rest for your souls," he say. (Matthew 11:29)
He offers his yoke, too, and this is his parting shot at the religious leaders. "My yoke is easy," he says, (Matthew 11:30) implying that theirs is not. And he's right! The religious leaders had over 600 rules from the Torah about how to be in right relationship with God. As one commentary I read this past week noted, "God gave the Law to guide the Jewish people through the moral thickets of life, but well-intentioned people embellished the law until it became its own thicket." (From Sermon Nuggets http://home.twcny.rr.com/lyndale/Pentecost%208A.htm)
Rabbis speak of the difficult but joyful experience of taking on the "yoke" of Jewish Law and living in obedience to it. But when any set of laws – religious or secular – are used to relegate some people to the margins of the community, then those laws become a burden, both for those who are trying to obey them, and for those who enforce them.
Jesus' yoke – his rules – are simple: Love God and love each other. Period.
And here's the bonus: he offers to teach his disciples how to live fully into these two rules. "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me," he says. (Matthew 11:29)
This invitation to "learn from me" suggests relationship, which opens up a new way of thinking about this image of "yoke." A yoke usually joins two working animals together as a team. One of those animals is the experienced one, the leader. Jesus invites his followers to harness up with him. He assures them that he will help them plow through all the challenges of their lives. He invites them to work along side him has he prepares the field – God's glorious Kingdom – for planting and harvesting.
Here is how one commentator puts it:
"The one who yokes with Jesus rejects the pomp and circumstance of power and glory, fame and fortune…[Y]oking with Jesus [brings] promised 'rest', a rest to be contrasted with the frenzied and frantic pace of [our daily lives.] Jesus' 'rest' is predicated upon the fact that we are together with him and he with us as we go about our daily lives. As with two oxen yoked together where one is the more experienced 'plower of the field,' so we too are the novices in the kingdom and where he leads we follow, as he takes a step we step in pace with him, side by side." (From Preaching Peace: http://www.preachingpeace.org/yeara/proper9.htm)
Sometimes we test the boundaries of our relationship with God, just like the religious authorities did in Jesus' day.
Maybe we decide to boss God around a bit. We don't get what we ask for in prayer and we blame God, rather than look at how we might be working at odds with what God wants for us. "We played the flute for you, and you didn't dance. We wailed, and you didn't mourn."
Or maybe, we think we know exactly what "holiness" looks like. Our preconceived notions keep us from seeing the many ways that God is active in the world around us. "Wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Or maybe in our arrogance, we test God against our own criteria of right and wrong. We stay entrenched in the ranks of "the wise and intelligent," rather than coming to God as infants – open and receptive to whatever life-giving, life-transforming, nourishment Christ offers us.
If we are worried that someday we will hear Jesus finally say, in complete exasperation, "What am I going to do with you?" then we need to listen – really listen – to the grace-filled invitation he extends to each of us today: "Come ... Take ... Learn ... Find ... Rest."
"My yoke is easy. My burden is light."
Believe the assurance of our Savior. He means it!