From The Manse Window
From the manse window
WHEN I go shopping in town on a Friday, I inevitably end up carrying heavy bags as I buy a lot of fruit in the market, treats for the dog and a couple of odds and ends.
Then I have to walk quite a way back to the free car park. It would be nice to be able to stroll around the shops unencumbered, but then I would come home without the things I need, so it’s a trade-off.
Some people use a trolley on wheels, but I don’t think I have quite reached that stage yet.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
That sounds good – rest, easy, light; these are the words we tend to focus on when we read this passage.
Yet let’s not forget that Jesus spoke about a yoke and a burden. The Scribes and Pharisees put unattainable burdens on the people – rules and regulations, laws and rituals.
Jesus came to set people free from all that, but he did not say, “Go and do what you like.” He said, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.”
He is talking about holiness. Not the phoney kind, inspired by human ideas which say that if you complete a particular ritual or do a certain thing then you will be acceptable.
He’s talking about being generous and kind and compassionate, tender, full of faith and joy, a blessing to others.
We might protest that nobody can be perfect like God, but when we take the yoke of Jesus upon us, he begins to fashion us into his likeness and we learn true holiness, not the human version of it.
What is the yoke and the burden? It’s the willingness not to count the cost, to take up the cross and follow Jesus, to lose our life in order to find it. In short, we choose to be disciples.
How important this is in an increasingly selfish and narcissistic society which often says, “I only have one life and I’ve got to do what’s best for me.”
I have known some very holy Christians, and there is something beautifully attractive about them – they are shining with the light of Jesus.
Such people draw you into their presence because they seem to have something special about them. It’s because they have taken on the yoke and are learning from Jesus.
The first lesson they have learned is that they cannot change themselves – God has to do it from the inside out.
Jesus said that it is not what goes into a man that makes him unclean, but what comes out. The heart needs to be right and no amount of ritual can make that happen.
Jesus promises that we will find rest for our souls. It does not come without commitment and obedience – taking on the yoke.
In contrast to the image that conjures up, the yoke is easy, the burden is light, and the reward is holiness. Next week:
Rev. Andrew Watson is on top of the world!