How Heavy is the Yoke?
In our gospel reading Matthew calls us to take up the yoke of Christ, for it is not heavy and in the doing, our burdens will be lifted and be discovered to be light…for it is there that we will find rest for the travails of daily life. Inviting Jesus to walk with us, to hold us when we need support, to let us run when we feel strong, courageous, and wild….yet connected to our source of life…by a yoke of faith…
Matthew also speaks of important things that have been hidden from the wise and learned. These have been offered instead to the little children who had gathered…Matthew explains that it is through Jesus, that the Father, the creator, is revealed.
These passages pose some interesting and important questions to the reader and listener…a direct and most important one being…. Where do you see yourself in this story? Which group do you fall into? Which group do you desire to be in? Are you counted amongst the learned and wise, the ones who were put aside? The ones from Jesus hid things? Or do you find yourself within the favoured group…those names as the little children…If so, what does it mean to move as a little child, even though we are adults?
Do we have the freedom of expression, the joy, the courage to trust and as well the faith of a child? If we do not, are we actively seeking them out? Seeking to build our faith…seeking to learn to trust with the heart and soul of a child.
We must also sort out what we understand is a yoke to be… is it a good thing or a bad thing…how does this metaphor function in 2020? …Does it hold up well and do the heavy lifting that it should? Or are we simply tired and worn out…
In 2020 we surely don’t need anymore burdens…With COVID 19 I suspect we all believe we have had enough, and cannot take one more ounce of stress…especially for those who have lost loved ones…or those who have fallen gravely ill…enough of the burdens and lets have a bit of fun… What might it be to be yokeless in today’s world?
Drop the yoke and do what we please without a thought for anyone else. Move and dance about as if we do not have a care in the world…what does it matter? How we move matters. Our willingness to invite discipline into our lives matters.
The willingness to live a faith filled life helps shapes the world….it opens the doors of care, compassion, peace and love. For these are intentioned actions…. not deeds of chance
We need not look far to see what yokeless behaviour looks like…gaze south of our border…tens of thousands of people dead….so many more ill…even more in imminent danger of becoming ill as a captain less boat rocks too and fro…
This is what happens when the yoke or restraint is removed…all too soon..chaos reigns….people suffer.
So what are some of the ways that we can engage or draw a yoke upon ourselves that may be beneficial or helpful. A yoke is not usually super light, yet it is bearable….it places a modicum of restraint upon the bearer…yet they are still able to move forward.
Perhaps not as fast, or at a slower steadier pace…yet movement is still possible… the relief when the yoke is removed, somewhat joyous.
This I find helpful as we examine what the Christian enterprise is about. It is about restraint and discipline… it is about taking the time to sort out that which guides us on a path of wellness, vs following our emotional whims, doing whatever we want, only to be saddled with an unnecessary weight of suffering as we stray from out intended direction.
Christ calls us to be responsible for our lives, to be responsible for the choices we make, to live into our actions with heart and compassion…and when we fail to do this, we will discover the weight of the yoke. When we rest within the embrace of Christ, much is possible, difficulties and challenges we thought we could not face, become navigable…this is not to say painless…we are human creatures and will feel the emotions of the difficult moments…
Yet the yoke is light when the comforting hand of Jesus rests upon the yoke, lifting some of the weight, that we might see more clearly, that we might take time to set course and choose where we are headed and sort out why we are going where we are going.
The yoke grows light, the burden less heavy, and the grace and mystery that is Spirit begins to move in our life as it has always moved in creation, gently leading us to a more fulsome, faith filled life.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Amen.