July 9, 2017

Today’s Gospel Reading is pure gospel. It is sweet good news. To millions and millions of Christians, it has given hope and comfort and peace and strength and joy and rest. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Everyone has burdens. Everyone has baggage. Everyone has work or responsibilities. There are worries, over work, sickness, pain, sorrow, regret, fear, sin and guilt, weakness and inferiority, bullies and oppression, conflict—and you can add your own personal labors and heavy burdens. The words of Jesus are an invitation to find rest and peace. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” [NIV]

But the words of Jesus are drowned out by the empty promises of this world. Rather than eternal peace, they offer all sorts of temporary relief or diversion. Not all of those things are sinful. The beauty and good things of this world are gifts of God. Friends and medicine help us in bad times. But sometimes we have so much worry and pain that nothing seems to help. Hopelessness can seem like hell. And it is hell when we give up on Jesus.

The reason the words of Jesus are pure gospel is because Jesus is with us. Jesus takes the responsibility of our burdens. He takes our pain upon on himself. He understands our troubles. It is sweet good news because Jesus took upon himself the sin of the world, the pain of the world, and the burdens of the world when he died on the cross. He had all the burdens upon himself, but when he arose on Easter, he left all those sins behind. They are dead. When he arose on Easter, he had healing and life.

Psalm 23 says the same thing: “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

Jesus also gives us rest from our old burdens by giving us something new.

Jesus said, “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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” We will find rest for our souls when we find the yoke of Jesus. Do you know what a yoke is? A yoke is a type of collar. It is part of a harness. If you want a horse or an ox to pull a plow or a wagon, you have to connect the animal to the cart somehow. This is done with the harness. The yoke goes over the neck and shoulders of the ox so that its whole strength can pull the wagon. The yoke needs to be the right size for the animal, not too big so it slips off, not to small so that chokes the ox, not rough so that it will cut into the skin. If the yoke is just the perfect fit, it will be easy to pull the wagon. That is what Jesus means when he says that his yoke is easy. He makes it easier for us to handle our problems in life. And when he helps us, the burdens become lighter.

His “yoke is easy.” That means it is “easy to bear.” It is the right size for us, it is a comfortable fit. Not all backpacks fit every hiker. You have to try them on and adjust the straps to find a pack that you can carry comfortably up the mountain. Jesus knows our size. He gives us tasks in this life that we can bear. With the help of the Holy Spirit, our burdens becomes light and easy to bear. Even spiritual burdens are controlled by God. I Cor. 10:13 “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

In Handel’s “Messiah” there is a chorus (#21) that says, “His yoke is easy and his burthen is light.” It is a very light and happy melody. I like to imagine that the sopranos should be trying on their new clothes or their new backpack and happily dancing around at how light and comfortable and fashionable it is.

It is true. I have found that prayer makes my problems lighter. When I bring my problems to Jesus in prayer, he helps me. I have found that singing helps. A song is a prayer, and it is reminder of God’s love. That is why we should memorize a verse or two of our favorite hymns. Prayers and songs are like yokes that connect us with Jesus. Worship is great, too. In the confession and absolution, we lay down and get rid of the old sins that burden us. In the Lord’s Supper, we get strength for our faith and daily life with Jesus.

We should point out that the new burden that Jesus gives us is the cross. He said, “Take up your cross and follow me” (cf. Mt.10:38). The only thing that makes the cross a light burden is that it is really Jesus who carried that cross up the hill to Golgotha for us where he was crucified to take away our burden of sin. For Jesus was it was a huge burden, the sin of the whole world. But because Jesus was divine, in his death the burden of sin is forgiven and removed.

St. Paul was a man who took great comfort in this. St. Paul did not complain about the burdens of persecution and bad conditions on the mission front. The big burden he felt was the burden of sin on his conscience. Try as hard as he could, he found that he could not escape sinning. It was like a war in his heart and in his life. He found peace only in the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. He wrote, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” And Paul knew the answer. He said, “Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25a). This is pure Gospel for us, too!

Here is the needed rest for all of us, whether it is the heat of summer or the worries of life. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give your rest.”

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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