Date: July 9, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Scripture Reader: Sofia Rodriguez
Sermon Title: “Come to Christ”
Preacher: Rev. Dr. Bob Jon
You can also listen on Podcast from iTunes and Spotify. Search for “Podcasting from Rev. Bob Jon.”
When you choose a company for work, I wonder what you consider the most important factor in your decisions. Is it salary? Health insurance with dental cover? Pension? Here is a story about Michelle Warren. After Michelle and her husband Jeremy earned their master’s degree, they wanted to celebrate it. So, when Michelle and her family, including her husband, father, and stepmother, went to the Galapagos Island for 10 days, her bosses helped pay for the vacation, giving $7,000 toward the cost. Michelle says, “It’s about that true reenergizing, resting, and relaxing that then helps them come back in a positive way and continue all that work.”[1] Her company understands how it can help employees engage more by helping them disengage well with a paid vacation.
When we hear the words of Jesus this morning, we might think that is what Jesus is offering to us. “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Jesus does not say, “Are you stressed out? Do you need some rest? Come on. If you follow me, I will send you to the Galapagos Island for 10 days.” However, at least, that is the impression we get from his words. After 3 years of the pandemic that brought so much change in our lives, coupled with global inflation and the war, there is no one who is not stressed out. Again, I have been dealing with shingles for the past month. When I was surprised to be diagnosed with shingles, the ER doctor told me, “Well, it is not uncommon these days that those under 50s are coming down with shingles because of stress.”
So, we come to Christ, hoping for some comfort and rest in God, as he says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” I had a parishioner who often went out mountain hiking or kayaking during the weekend. He would say, “Bob, when I go up to the mountain or paddle in my kayak, I just find such immense peace in my heart. I am not against the church. But this is often the way I connect with God.” So, he took me out to kayaking because I also wanted to acquire such peace. And it was peaceful, quietly rowing in a kayak, listening to the sounds of frogs, passing by a crane sitting on a tree. It was peaceful until an hour later, a bolt of lightning started striking with a rumble of thunder, and I was rowing for my life. When we moved to Chelmsford, I got a couple of kayaks and plan to go out with Daniel this summer.
So, we come to Christ hoping to get some rest, relieve stress, and seek a trouble-free life. But Jesus continues and says, “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.” We might raise our hands in objection and say, “Oh, no. Jesus. I am not seeking any yoke in my life. I do not want any burden in my life. I already got my own troubles. I already got enough burden with my work, my family, and my health. So, if you cannot relieve me of any of the existing burdens in my life, I am not willing to take your yoke and your burden. I just want to live my life of freedom, doing whatever I want to do. After all, didn’t Paul also say in Galatians, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free?” (5:1)
In Wesley’s time, he had to deal with a group called antinomianism which believed that if you accept Christ as your Lord, you are completely free from any moral obligation. In 1742, there was a Methodist itinerant preacher named James Wheatley. At first, Wesley regarded him highly because of his strong personality and persuasive rhetoric. However, Wesley condemned him later as Wheatley spread the thoughts of antinomianism. I guess he lived what he preached. In 1759, Wheatley was found guilty by the court of being adulterous with seven women. Wesley took action and kicked him out of the Methodist circle. In his sermon, Wesley argues, “Indeed, their use of the term liberty to mean freedom from obedience or holiness immediately shows that their judgment is perverted.”[2]
If our marriage vow is a yoke, Bishop William Willimon says that this burden is actually a blessing to us, as it helps us to move in the right direction. A young man came to Willimon and shared, “When I got married, I thought that the biggest struggle in marriage would be fidelity, being faithful to one person, intimate with only one person, and not with every person I might be attracted to. I found daunting the burden that marriage would place on my back. The heavy load would be the burden of faithfulness.” He took a breath and continued, “But now, a decade into the marriage, I have found that I was not made for infidelity. I was made for fidelity. I really am faithful. That which I thought was a burden has become a great source of blessing and security. Fidelity makes you happy.”
One way or another, we all carry a certain yoke ourselves. You cannot be completely free from the yoke that you carry in this world. If you work for your company, you have a yoke that you need to act in accordance with the rule and direction of your company. You live in the U.S., and you are yoked to fulfill certain civic duties and responsibilities. In my former church, I had a man who was drafted into the Vietnam War. During the war, he was injured and had to deal with brain damage for the rest of his life. He was frustrated as the VA would not recognize his injury as military duty related. While he struggled with the VA to be medically treated, he never complained about serving his country because we have a certain responsibility. And think about other yokes that you carry for your roles in your family, community, and country.
But the question is what kind of yoke we are willing be bear. And Jesus says, “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.” If we have children, we are yoked to them as their parents. We have the responsibility to love them, care for them, find a great joy in watching them grow. Of course, I know that it is not easy from time to time. I have my moments of trials when my two boys do not behave or speak some words that hurt my feelings. But our relationship is deeper than that. It is not out of obligation or legal duty that I raise my children. I just love them as my children. I willingly give my time, my energy, and even myself because I love them as their father.
And Christ’s yoke is different from the yokes this world gives. Christ’s yoke, in its essence, gives life. It gives salvation that we are born as children of God, redeemed for the purpose of God in this world. A couple of weeks ago, I got word that Rebecca in our church took a fall and she was home-bound. I called her to check on her. Everytime I see her or call her, she sounds so cheerful. “I am ok. Don’t worry, pastor. Besides, I have several women from our church who are coming to see me later today.” I just felt full in my heart when I heard that. These women were coming to see her not because someone told them to do so. But it is out of their love for her that led them to take their time and visit her, spend time with her, and pray for her.
I stand before you as your pastor this morning. And I am yoked to you as your pastor. It is not out of obligation or appointment that forces me to be here with you. But it is meant to be about love that God has given us together. We witness our love for God and neighbors grow together. And my love for you, Aldersgate, also deepens as I care for you all individually. My clergy stole is the symbol of my yoke to you. For the past years, I have seen all kinds of clergy stoles, even some crazy ones like stoles with sharks and Star Wars characters. But the essential meaning of the clergy stole is a yoke. It is said that the stole originated as a napkin that Jesus used to wash the feet of his disciples. In other words, this stole indicates the yoke of Christ who served his disciples and my yoke to you as your pastor.
And Jesus also tells us, “Take my yoke upon you.” As we, as disciples of Jesus, take the yoke of Christ, we witness that we are empowered to change our family, our community, and our world, as we are called to love one another as God loves us, even loving our enemies. Jesus says, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:44-45). But here is why I believe that Jesus tells us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. It is because he is the One who not only shows how to bear our yokes but also bears our yokes and burdens.
There is a story of how a young bullock is trained to plow. In some parts of the world, the farmer has the young bullock harnessed to the same yoke as a mature ox. However, dwarfed by the other animal, the bullock does not pull any of the weight. It is just learning to walk in a field under control and with a yoke around its neck, while it is the ox that pulls all the weight. Are you feeling weary and heavy-burdened? I pray that you will be able to witness Christ who stands next to you. “I will never leave you orphaned. I am coming to you.” It is Christ who took our cross, carried it to the hill, and died on it for our redemption. So, come to Christ, who is risen from death, as he is the one who walks with us today and even finds us and carries us in his arms when we are lost.
Amen.
[1] Michelle Fox, “These 10 Companies Help Pay for Their Employees’ Vacations” CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/20/these-10-companies-help-pay-for-their-employees-vacations.html (accessed on July 7, 2023)
[2] John Wesley, “the Law Established through Faith, Discourse 1” in John Wesley on Christian Practice (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 44.
RAIN OF GRACE 