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

[joeparrish]

Forwarded:


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-------- Original message --------
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org> 
Date: 07/05/2014  4:23 PM  (GMT-06:00) 
To: propertalk.topic at ecunet.org 
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for Proper 9A 
 
Dear Friends,

 

This Sunday’s sermon is entitled “Take My Yoke and Apprentice from Me” or “Give All Your Problems to God- He’ll Be Up All Night Anyway!” and deals with the gospel (Matthew 11: 28-30).  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’s NEW WEB SITE under “Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org .

 

Blessed preaching,

Judy Boli

St. Paul's Episcopal Church

Saginaw, Michigan

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