17 “We played the flute for you, and you
did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’*
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’*
25 At that time Jesus said, ‘I thank* you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have
revealed them to infants; 26yes, Father, for such
was your gracious will.* 27All things have been
handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and
no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to
reveal him.
28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and
are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
The scripture passage for today reminds us of Jesus’ humanness as he
expresses his frustration at people’s lack of understanding, and then his grace
as he invites people to rest in him. We
also sometimes fail to understand how to truly emulate Jesus in our lives, and,
yet, he still welcomes us into his waiting embrace.
We each need a regular reminder of Verses
28-30:
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, 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.”
This
isn’t simple platitude to give us a fleeting sweet warm fuzzy. This is a heartfelt invitation to let Christ
be our safe place in the midst of the storms of life, and to let Christ
reorient us when we lose our way. This passage also provides wise counsel for
us to take care of ourselves, to seek rest when we are depleted.
Spend
a few minutes exploring Matthew 11:28-30.
We’ll do this in two stages, first a confession, then a celebration.
Confession
time:
Explore
with your group this question, “When have you resisted resting physically,
spiritually, or emotionally, and how did that go for you?”
Celebration
time:
Explore
with your group this question, “Being weary or burdened, when have you rested
in the Spirit and how did that change your state of being?”
“Come
to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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.”
This
scripture is particularly meaningful to me because there have been times in my
life I was desperately in need of rest.
Probably the most extreme example came when I was trying to recover from
Lyme disease. Until that point in my
life I didn’t really know I had limits.
But then my 30s happened and I found myself fighting for my life.
I
had a complicated case of Lyme that wasn’t diagnosed until I had it for a year
or two. I would improve and then relapse
again. I was exhausted, couldn’t think
straight, and was unable to read for pleasure.
I had terrible joint pain and body aches. At my worst I needed to sleep 16 hours per
day. Eventually, I found myself working
at an integrative medical center in Washington DC. There I ran the practice of one of the
preeminent Lyme doctors in the country.
He figured out why I wasn’t healing and came up with a treatment plan
that worked. The treatment, while it
worked, took its toll on me. I didn’t
use wisdom and failed to rest even through weeks of daily intravenous
antibiotic infusions. I never missed a
day of work. I never took a break. I just kept pushing beyond my limits until
the candle I was burning at both ends melted in the middle.
I
had to quit my job and we moved from DC to co-house with my parents in the
lovely North Georgia Mountains where my family gave me a generous gift of a
year off. After six or seven years of
illness, I gave myself the space to finish healing and God met me in that
space. I rested in the Spirit, sometimes
laying in the woods right on the ground and just soaking up all that
peace. My hymns were birdsong and the
gurgle of cascading streams. The lush
greenery of the mountains spoke to me of the life-giving power of God. I truly let myself rest and my body, mind and
soul responded by healing.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, 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.”
Let
us pray,
Dear
God, Here are your people. Some of us
are weary; and some are burdened with heavy hearts and concerns. Help us turn to you and trust you and listen
to the counsel your still, small voice whispers to our souls. Gather us in to the safety of your embrace
and give us rest. Give us peace that we
may walk with a lighter step and walk even closer with you throughout our
week. In Jesus’ name, Amen
