The Yoke of Love - Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost Year A

 The Yoke of Love

Pentecost 6A

July 9, 2023

Christ, Preston, MN

Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30

I’m not sure why or how, but I grew up thinking I had to do things myself, that I couldn’t ask for help from anybody. Perhaps it was being the middle-oldest of four children or maybe it was my parents' strong work ethic. Regardless, I rarely asked for help. That started to change when I was a pastor in Winona and had surgery on my shoulder. I had to ask my wife for help to do the basics of care. Around the same time, I was discerning whether to enter a doctoral program. With one daughter already at Winona State and another one on the way, it seemed financially impossible. So, I told God that if he wanted me to do the doctoral program then he’d have to provide the funds. God agreed, but told me that I’d have to ask for them. Which I did. And which God did.

I’m guessing that I’m not alone in this affliction of self-sufficiency and apparently people in Jesus’ time suffered from it, too. Last week we finished the Missionary Discourse as Jesus prepared his followers to be sent out to do the work he was doing. He has resumed his teaching and preaching and gets an odd question from John the Baptist, who is in prison. “Are you the one who is to come or should we wait for another.” In essence, Jesus says, “Yes.” Then Jesus turns to the crowds, extolling John the Baptist in his role as the forerunner to his ministry.

Our reading for today picks up there and Jesus turns a bit crankier. He takes a swipe not at the crowds who are following him, but at the religious leaders of the day who can’t seem to be satisfied where he and John are concerned. Using the parables of the flute, a metaphor for the celebratory nature of weddings, and the wailing, a metaphor for the mourning that happens at a funeral, Jesus says that no matter what he or John do or don’t do, whether they drink or don’t drink, the religious leaders are critical. But, he says, they can’t have it both ways. Jesus is cranky because they not only refuse to listen to a word from God,  they also make religious life harder for the people.

As if everyday life weren’t hard enough, especially lived under Roman rule, the religious leaders heaped up additional burdens. And, if we need any more dumped on us, the Apostle Paul exposes our all too human condition: we do those things we hate to do and don’t do the things that we want to do. But then Jesus’ tone softens and he turns back the crowds, inviting them into rest for their souls. It’s at that point that Jesus’ invitation reminds us that we don’t need to go it alone or do life ourselves.

To make his point, Jesus uses the image of the yoke, one which the people would have been familiar with. You all probably know more about yokes than I do, but I understand they distribute the load more evenly. In fact, I believe that two animals yoked together can do more than two individually. Yet, the yoke Jesus offers is not a new law or religious rule, but rather a yoke of love. Remember the two greatest commandments, to love God and love others. As Zechariah shows us, this king doesn’t come proudly on a warhorse but rather in humility.

This need to share burdens is one of many reasons we need to belong in community. Over the last eight months I’ve seen how you have cared for one another in so many ways. You’ve wrestled with how we can strengthen that sense of community post-pandemic. You’ve stepped up, claiming the ministry God has been doing in, with, and through you and found creative ways to deepen your relationships with each other. An African proverb says it well: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” You will be going far because you will be going together. So, whatever burden you’ve brought here today, know that you don’t have to carry it alone. The One who is gentle and humble in heart gives you rest for your soul. Amen.

My sermons often preach a little differently than written and you can find the video here.