Rest for the Heavy Laden

Text: Matthew 11:25-30

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Fourth of July reminds us that we’re in the midst of summer. Another reminder of that reality was the temperatures we faced this past week. I love summer, but when the temperature soars past 90 degrees the only place really to be is inside in the air conditioning. Which is where I was on Tuesday morning, watching from Memorial Hall as the crew poured hot asphalt to replace the parking lot on the back side of church and then came around to seal the front parking lot. The thought of that kind of heavy, manual labor on a day like that reminds us of the weight that sort of work can place on our bodies. I’ve spent a little time mowing lawns and landscaping over the summer, but that sort of hard, physical, sweaty work is quite a burden to bear. Many of you, I know, have spent time in the fields, driving tractors, herding animals, bailing hay, and know far better than I do the joys, and burdens of hard, manual labor. The fact is that these jobs are quite burdensome. And we know that the burdens that we carry each day of our lives aren’t only physical. They’re mental and emotional as well. Yet, we hear the promise from our scripture reading today that

JESUS GIVES REST TO THE HEAVY LADEN.

          Matthew’s audience today’s lesson is of course us, but originally it was written to a group of people who are carrying a heavy load. Right before we pick up in verse 25, Jesus denounces the cities of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, “For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.” These cities were hearing the word of God and, more specifically, they were seeing the mighty acts that were being done. So why wouldn’t they repent? It’s pretty simple actually. They didn’t see themselves as carrying a load that was a burden to them. They believed that they could handle the weight that they carried on their own. They believed that they were fine without Jesus. Not only is Jesus offering to carry their load, but to bear their burdens as well, and yet they couldn’t see their deep need for this weight to be lifted from them and transferred to the One who is willing to, and capable of bearing it for them.

“At that time Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;” We’re all carrying loads similar to those in the cities that Jesus denounces. And certainly, we have our own burdens that those in the first century couldn’t have possibly imagined. But it’s all the same thing. The burdens we carry are simply a result of our sinful nature. And most of all, like those cities, we consider ourselves wise and understanding. Without need for the rest that Jesus offers from our troubles. If that’s our mindset then what would we need this place for. I see it all the time. When the weight of sin and the burdens of the world are crushing people, that’s when they find the need to be here. That’s when the church and their faith become a benefit as opposed to a burden. The problem is that the burden is always there, even when we think that we can bear it on our own. And when we think that we can bear it on our own, where do we end up? Walking alone. Without the support of brothers and sisters and without the gifts God so freely gives to strengthen us on that walk.

Self-sufficiency is a virtue in our culture. In our world. On a weekend when we celebrate the independence of the nation we’re privileged to live in, it’s easy to look at where we’ve been and think that we built all of this on our own. Many would say that this is the American way and that reliance on someone or something else is considered weakness. Yet Jesus turns this thinking around and condemns those who are unwilling to seek out rest from their burdens. Those who are praised are the children, the ones who know and acknowledge their reliance and dependence and are willing to lay their burdens down at the feet of Jesus. Because they know that He’s able to take them and lighten their load.

“Yes, Father, for such is your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and 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.” God’s good and gracious will is that all would understand and know Him through His Son. Are we too wise and understanding, like those in Bethsaida, to see His gracious will? Are we, like Capernaum, too busy to see the mighty deeds He’s doing in our midst? Do we, as Chorazin did, think that we don’t need the rest offered by Jesus? If we do, we just might find ourselves in the same boat as those places. Unrepentant. Denounced by Jesus. Missing out on the good and gracious will of the Father that His Son, Jesus, is trying to show to us.

Jesus has chosen to reveal the Father to us. It’s His loving kindness that He desires that we know His Father and the good and gracious will he has for us. And it’s this task that’s paramount in Jesus mission. To reveal the Father to His children. And He does it marvelously through His preaching and teaching and through His mighty acts. Though many choose to close their eyes, bearing their own burdens instead of laying them at the feet of Jesus, who came for the very purpose of taking our load of sin upon Himself. For those of us who don’t consider ourselves capable of carrying this weight on our own and who are willing to allow Jesus to take our burden, we’re assured that Jesus was fully able to carry all that we could ever lay upon Him. He took it to the cross with Him out of His great love for us and His desire for us to know His Father, who sent Him to accomplish this very task.

Jesus gives rest to the heavy laden, and what sweet rest that is! “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” For those who know they’re heavily burdened, they also know that they’re in need of rest. As Psalm 121 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come?” And we know that that help, that rest from the burden of our sin can only come in the faith we have in the work that Jesus accomplished for us as he eased that burden by taking our sin upon Himself.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” This promise from Jesus always seemed a little odd to me. What is a yoke? A yoke is the piece of equipment that binds two animals together for the purpose of sharing the burden of work, such as pulling a plow through a field. Certainly, the concept of having someone else share our burden and carry part of the load is appealing. Some of the load is coming off of us, right? Well, not exactly. The purpose of binding two animals together is so that together, they might do the work that neither of them could do on their own. To pull a plow that’s twice as heavy as either of them could drag by themselves. So bound together in that yoke, each of them is still carrying as great a burden as they would be on their own. The work is not shared but doubled and then split between two. And that doesn’t even account for the weight of the yoke itself. My uncle has an old wooden ox yoke hanging on the wall in his living room right above the couch. He’s got it well secured to the wall, but even so, I know that thing weighs almost 40 pounds, so wouldn’t want to be underneath it if it ever came down. How is all this comforting to us who seek, and are called to Jesus, to be yoked to Him?

It’s comforting simply because Jesus is not offering to share our load, along with all the other loads He’s already bearing. If He were, we would also be taking on part of all the other burdens He’s already taken on. No, in fact, here is where Jesus presents to us the true promise of our text for today. “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” We’re not taking on an additional burden with His yoke, but allowing Him to bear our burden fully, through His yoke. Our burden becomes light, even as His becomes greater. What sweet relief to know that, in our burdens, we’re not alone. We have One, who for our sake, is willing to relieve us of the burdens that weigh so heavily on us. One, who for our sake, took them all to the cross and paid the price that was rightfully ours to pay.

So today we have heard that Jesus gives rest to the heavy laden in three separate and distinct ways. He helps us to see how unwise it is to think that we might be able to carry the load on our own. He reveals to us everything that we need to know about our heavenly Father. And he promises that he has, and will continue, to give us rest from these burdens. We need to be open to Him showing us His wisdom. We need to be willing see the Father through him, as He reveals Him to us. And we absolutely must take His yoke upon ourselves, allowing Him to take our burdens upon Himself. As we struggle each day with the burdens of this world, let us remember the One who for our sake, took upon Himself the ultimate burden of our sin and failings, so that we might rejoice in the promise that our burden would be light. Amen.

The peace of God with surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.