How often have you just wanted to get away from it all, to escape the burdens of your everyday routine? How often have you felt that life is getting the better of you and had the feeling that you can’t go on any longer? How often have you felt that there simply aren’t enough hours in the day for you to do everything that is expected of you? I know I have, especially since taking over command of Merthyr Tydfil & Aberdare. Or you may have felt that a certain someone in your life is simply expecting too much of you, or that they don’t really appreciate everything that you do for them. I’m sure that everyone here today has felt that way at least once in their lives; some may even be feeling that way now. Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
A yoke was a heavy wooden harness that fitted on the shoulders of oxen, later versions, like the ones my grand-dad would have used on his horses were made of leather, but they all served the same purpose; which was to be attached to a heavy piece of equipment which the ox or horse had to pull. Yokes were intended to ease the discomfort of bearing heavy loads, but they were also used to steer the oxen or horses in the direction the farmer wanted them to go; which is why the term is also used to symbolise obedience and the acceptance of responsibility. The religious leaders in the days Jesus walked the earth, often spoke of taking on the yoke of the law, but the consequences of doing that, often meant that under their direction the burden of the law as they portrayed it became heavy and the yoke ceased to relieve the discomfort. However, Jesus said “my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Was he saying that by following him we would free from obeying the law? He answered that question in his teaching with the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5: 17, we read “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.” He makes it very clear what will happen if we fail to keep any of the commandments, in verses 18 and 19 we read “I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others
to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
Perhaps he was saying that by following him, our lives would become easier, in Luke 21: 12 we read “...they will lay hands on you and persecute you.” And in verses 16 and17 “You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. All men will hate you because of me...” I don’t know about you, but these words don’t really paint a picture of the ideal recruitment advertisement, why would you want to follow Jesus knowing this could happen? Actually, had I read the passage from Luke within the context it was written; it would have given an entirely different perspective. I used the words out of context to suit my purposes, which is what the religious leaders had done with the Law, by distorting the original meaning of the Law to suit their own devices, they were placing heavy burdens and restrictions on the people, in effect they were using the Law in direct contradiction to its original purpose, which was to show people how to live in order to have a relationship with God. The yoke which they had placed on the shoulders of the people had itself become a burden, and was actually preventing people from drawing near to God.
What Jesus was actually saying was that because of the special relationship he has with the Father as he says in verse 27 of Matthew 11. “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No- one knows the Son except the Father, and no- one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” All that is required to have a relationship with the Father is to accept the invitation of the Son, nothing else is needed. He was freeing them from legalistic burdens placed on them by the religious leaders, who had placed so much emphasis on rituals and sacrifice to release the people from the burdens of their sins. He was inviting them to come to God the Father in true repentance by removing the rituals that the religious leaders had turned into nothing more than empty offerings. The rest Jesus was speaking about wasn’t an invitation to remain idle, this was rest for the soul, rest from their weariness in their search for God, because only by accepting his invitation would they experience God in his fullness.
So how do we translate that into the twenty first century? How do we apply the words of Jesus in Matthew 11: 27- 30 to our lives today? In the two thousand or so years since Jesus walked the earth and spoke those words, have we learned anything at all? Do we know how to rest?
We live in a pressure filled society, school teachers are under pressure to meet education targets, this passes down into our school age children who are under ever increasing pressure to excel so that
schools meet those targets. When school is over, our children are under pressure to find college or university places to gain the qualifications they will need to find work in employment that will pay
enough money for them to pay the debts amassed during university and meet the pressures of survival in a world of ever increasing financial pressure, then they have the pressure of meeting the material needs of their families, if amongst all the pressures put on them by society to perform, they actually find time to meet someone and start a family. The more successful they become, the more pressurised their lives become in order to maintain their lifestyles.
Then there is the other end of the scale, the not so successful, the members of our society living on state handouts, because they have had to settle for the jobs no- one else wants because they don’t have the qualifications needed to fill the higher paid jobs. The pressures associated with life in the twenty first century, apply in different ways to them, but they still apply. They take the work they can and have to work extra hours just to keep their heads above water, for many that includes working on a Sunday. Life is stressful, and it’s a sad fact that stressed related illnesses are the major causes of premature death in the western world especially in Britain and the United States, but Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The trouble is the weary and burdened don’t go to him, they don’t admit their need of him, they don’t accept his invitation. They look for answers to their problems elsewhere, fill their lives with so many things that they forget how to rest.
I don’t know about you, but whenever I go on holiday I always seem to miss the point of going on holiday. A holiday is supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation away from the everyday rigours of work and life in general. It never seems to turn out that way though does it? First of all there’s the stress of packing, although I have to admit I don’t actually get stressed by packing, mainly because Lorraine does it all. Then there’s the loading of the car, we usually have a check list of everything we need to take (Why is it that if the idea of going on holiday is to get away from it all, we take most of it with us?) The check list is the easy part, fitting it into the car is another story altogether.
Anyway, an hour or so and several arguments later, the car is loaded and we’re ready for off. Up until recently our holidays have been in Britain, so then we have the pleasures of motorway driving, which can be a real test of your Christian values. Several traffic jams later, you arrive at your destination and unpack, and you can usually be certain you have left something behind. After everything is unpacked, then you can relax, the trouble is you don’t, you spend all week going sightseeing to places you’ve probably seen so many times before, or to places you’ve been before and hated but you go again just to fill the time, because you just don’t know how to relax.
Then the holiday is over and you pack your cases, you load up the car, you don’t use the check list because you left it at home with the thing you forgot to load, and you always end up taking more back with you anyway, then you face the motorways again, and several traffic jams later, you are relieved to get home to the place you couldn’t wait to escape the week before.
A few months before we entered training college, we went abroad to Lanzarote for our main holiday, and I was struck by the complete contrast in lifestyle, and though we were still in the British holiday mentality (fitting in sightseeing) the atmosphere of the place rubbed off and we managed to get some relaxation in. Last year we went back and were able to relax completely. This year, as you know we went camping in Brittany and apart from the driving and putting up the tent, (which is stressful we had an even more relaxing holiday even though we did the whole sightseeing business and we’ve already booked to go back next year.
Of course it doesn’t matter how relaxing a holiday is, it can never replace the rest that Jesus is offering. A holiday only offers a temporary respite from the rigours of this world; it doesn’t do anything to release us from our inner unrest, our dissatisfaction with ourselves and with life, and it should also be pointed out that Jesus is not saying come to me all you who are stressed with everyday life and I’ll free you from that stress. I’m sure most of you would agree that Christians continue to feel the pressures of everyday life, infact I would say that we have additional responsibilities because of the fact we’re Christians. What Jesus is offering is the only real answer to the inner needs we have, the inner pressures we feel, the hole in our lives that can only be filled by having a real relationship with God.
Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Another reason we find it hard to take up Jesus’ invitation is that we find it hard to let go of our burdens, we take our cares to him, but we don’t trust him enough to leave them there. Sometimes we even convince ourselves that we can’t approach him until we are good enough, so we carry the extra burden of trying to be good enough. I read a story once “A driver of a wagon on his way to market, passed an old man carrying a heavy load. The driver stopped and invited the old man to ride with him in the wagon. The old man gratefully accepted the offer, after a few minutes the driver looked back to check on his passenger, and was surprised to see the old man still straining under his heavy load. The old man explained to the driver ‘I knew you would carry me, but I didn’t know if you would carry my burden as well.’” There are many Christians who carry the burden of trying to be good enough to please God, they keep themselves busy by doing work in the church, but they neglect what really matters, spending quiet restful time with God. When I first went into college, I was one of those Christians, I allowed the busy ness of course work to overtake my spiritual life, had I continued I would have probably burned out and be of no use to anyone let alone God who had called me to serve him. I eventually found the rest that Jesus spoke about and this was a valuable lesson that I brought into my Officer-ship. I make a point of praying and living my life including him in the normal things of my day, and the really amazing thing is, he allows me to walk in his presence everyday and allows me to feel his presence close to me.
Jesus offers rest to the weary, not merely the physically weary but the spiritually weary, those who are weary with life as they have learned how to live it, who are buckling under many pressures not least the demands of religion, the striving to do good works to earn favour with God. But Jesus invites us into a personal relationship with himself, a relationship in which we can walk beside him, and one in which he comes alongside us. In accepting his offer of friendship, he opens up to us the chance to share in all his resources, the resources of God himself, and he teaches us how to live life as God intended us to live it. Jesus doesn’t just teach us this; he also supplies the help we need to do that. In relationship with Jesus we can find refreshment, fulfilment and the contentment that all is well between God and ourselves, this is true rest and it’s available to us in every life situation we may face.
In a moment we are going to hear the beautiful words and music of the song “Share my yoke” written by Joy Webb, take time to reflect on both the sermon and the words of the song. There may be one of you here today, who is perhaps feeling that life is just getting too much, but is still finding it difficult to let go of that burden completely and trust Jesus at his word. If that someone is you, and you feel the spirit nudging you to surrender that burden to Christ, don’t fight it, it’s not a sin to admit you can’t do things on your own, but it would be to reject the invitation he extends to you. Our place of prayer is always open; make your response as the Spirit leads you. In doing so it may just give you a fresh pair of eyes to focus on the solution rather than the
burden,
Isaiah 40: 31 says “...those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.”
