[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 9A

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Jul 2, 2011 10:41 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 9A


Dear Friends,

Tomorrow’s sermon is entitled “Take My Yoke and Apprentice from Me” or
“Give Your Problems to God- He’ll Be Up All Night Anyway!” and deals
with the Gospel (Matthew 11:25-30). Here it is:

Are you tired?  Are you on overload?  Do you sometimes feel like one
more thing will be the straw that breaks the camel’s back- and you’re
the camel?  If you are, you know you’re not alone.  From the
advertisements on television and the spam I get in my email on my
computer, half the population must be tired and the rest must have
heartburn or bad breath or need Viagra (but maybe that’s just a
symptom of being tired!).  If you’re tired, or maybe sick and tired,
the Serta counting sheep won’t cut it, but this Gospel lesson will-
it’s for you!

Did you hear Jesus proclaim, “If you’re tired from carrying heavy
burdens, come to me and I’ll give you rest.  Take the yoke I give
you.  Put it on your shoulders and learn from me.  I’m gentle and
humble, and you will find rest.  This yoke is easy to bear and this
burden is light” (Matthew 11: 28-30).  What burdens are simply too
much right now?  I’d bet something on this list will touch you.  How
about money- not enough of it, or too much work, or endless
responsibilities?  How about a job you hate or no job at all?  Maybe
it’s sin- a habit you simply haven’t been able to break or friends who
lead you down the wrong path.  Maybe friends or family have been
disloyal- walked out on you or chosen someone else.  Maybe people you
love are ensnared in some of the things I’ve mentioned, and it’s
breaking your heart.  Maybe some mistake you made years ago is still
haunting you, making your life miserable.  Perhaps it’s illness- yours
or the illness of someone you love.  Maybe you’ve lost someone very
dear to you. Those burdens can really get to you!  They can get to
me!  If this is your situation this morning, Jesus has relief!  It’s
called his yoke.  His what?  You heard me right- his yoke!  Let me
tell you about it.

A yoke is that solid harness, usually made of wood.  It fastens over
the shoulders of two oxen or other working animals, so together they
can pull a heavy load better than either could separately.  Joseph
probably taught Jesus how to make yokes in their carpenter shop at
Nazareth.  Making them takes a lot of skill- not just anyone can do
it.  The animal must be measured, and the yoke must fit exactly
correctly.  Just like a shoe that fits wrong will wear a blister on
your foot and even sometimes cause an infection, the same is true of a
yoke.  It can’t rub or have a sharp piece jutting out even just a bit.

Why did farmers in Jesus time hook up animals using a yoke?  The
benefit of yoking is that it shares the load.  Two animals yoked
together pull evenly, so they can manage a much heavier load than both
could just in a harness.  Another benefit- you can yoke a strong
animal with a weaker animal to help out the weaker animal and still
allow the load to be pulled.  Sometimes farmers would yoke a wise old
animal with a young, untrained animal so the inexperienced one could
learn from his or her elder.  Now that you know a little more about
yokes and how they were used, especially in Jesus’ day, you can see
what Jesus is offering.

When Jesus said to take his yoke, what he is offering is to be your
yoke-mate; to shoulder the load with you.  And now that you know how
yokes were used, you can see the wonderful blessings this yoking
offers.  When we have a heavy load, yoked with Jesus- he’ll carry the
heaviest part.  When we are in a confusing situation, yoked with
Jesus, he’ll be the wiser one to teach us.  When Paul said, “I can do
all things through Christ, who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13),
this is what he meant.

The nice thing about yoking is: we are not only yoked with Jesus; we
are also yoked with each other.  Remember how Paul says (1st
Corinthians 12) “You are the body of Christ and individually members
of it.”  Yoking is a technique used, not only by farmers in Jesus’
day, but used by God today.  Look how God teaches us to support each
other.  Look how often God arranges a stronger person’s life to
interact with a weaker person- just at the perfect time- the time when
that weaker person most needs a friend.  Have you noticed how often
the weaker person gets stronger, and before you know it- God has that
person befriending someone else?  That’s what Jesus meant when he
said, “Learn from me.”  The Aramaic word “learn” really means “be
apprenticed” to me.  The purpose of being an apprentice is so the
inexperienced person can eventually do the same job as the master.  An
apprentice plumber doesn’t just learn about plumbing; he or she learns
to be a plumber.  When we are yoked to Jesus, often through a
stronger, more experienced Christian friend, we don’t just learn about
Christianity; we learn how to be a Christian.

Finally, this stole.  Do you know what it represents?  It stands for
the yoke of Christ.  As your priest when I put on my stole- I am
representing you; and we are all putting on the yoke of Christ.  My
friends- we’re all in this Christian walk together, but yoked to
Christ and each other- we shall overcome!  Amen.

For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updated African-American
wisdom statements are posted on our parish web site. The address is:
http://www.stpaulsepisag.com .

Blessed preaching.
Judy Boli
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Saginaw, Michigan

 
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