Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 (NRSV)
Jesus said, “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the 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.” 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; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All 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. 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.”
… Homily…
"Hear the Word of God to all who truly
turn to him: Come unto me, all ye that
travail and are heavy laden, and I will
refresh you."
Today's Gospel is the source of these words in the Rite 1 Liturgy that follow the general absolution. We call these "the comfortable words." What a fitting description for these words of Jesus from the Gospel.
These are also necessary words. I say that because we all know that there are many around us who are carrying heavy burdens on their shoulders and who feel as if they are being crushed under that weight.
Near the end of June I celebrated the 14th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. For these last 8 years, I have served as a chaplain as well as a priest. When you spend 40+ hours weekly in a hospital, you simply cannot miss the burdens people carry. There are days when by association I walk out of the hospital feeling those burdens. Often I know that there simply are not words for such burdens.
I am tempted to give my usual disclaimer here in your midst and say that this is an area where I am scarred by what I do in between Sundays. Only I'm not sure that fits here. We might try to deny this fact, but the simple truth is that we all see profound suffering in those who surround us in our daily lives. At times these ones are persons whose paths cross our own only for a fleeting moment, and we observe them as strangers. But on other occasions these are people whom we know well, whom we love dearly, whose suffering becomes our suffering because of the affection we bear for them.
What makes these moments even more difficult for us all is that we have experienced suffering ourselves. Oftentimes we are very selective with whom we allow see that we have such experiences in either our past or our present. But no matter how hard we may try to mask these moments, we have all had them.
My purpose in reminding us of this shared human experience is not to drive us back into those moments and leave us to wallow helplessly in them. On the contrary, my friends, it is when we feel these burdens both in ourselves and in those around us, both in strangers unknown to us and in family and friends dearly loved by us, that our souls are the most in need of the comfortable words and the Christ who speaks this comfort. I am reminded here of the words of the late Patriarch of Moscow, Alexei II, who said once: "Unless there's thunder, no one makes the sign of the cross."
Clearly there is thunder among us, if we have ears to hear. But again, if we have ears to hear, today this Gospel reminds us that we are not alone. Jesus gives a gracious invitation to us to come to him. His promise to us is that he will ease our burden and take the weight from us in order that we would not be crushed under that weight. And when Jesus does so, he walks with us and provides for us moment by moment.
Does this mean our experience is easy? Of course not! Remember that not once did Jesus ever promise us that life or faith would be easy. What he did promise us is that he would never leave us or forsake us; that he would be with us always as our comfort, our strength, and our help.
This promise should not be kept as a great secret by us as Christians. Confident in Christ's enduring presence and unchangeable promises, today and each day we all need to bring others to the knowledge of Christ and his comforting invitation to give our burdens and sorrows to him. I know that is a challenge for us, especially as our society and generation try so hard to convince us that faith is a private matter not fit for decent conversation. Let's be bold enough to call that what it is; a lie.
Why is our sharing with others so vital? When we share our experiences, we are reminded again and again that these experiences and the emotions that arise from them are not unique to us or foreign to others. These are things we hold in common. And when we find common ground, we are less likely to lose hope and be crushed by the burdens we carry. We are also much more likely to lay these burdens at Christ's feet, and then do the one thing that is even more difficult than simply laying our needs, concerns, fears and sorrows at the feet of Christ in the knowledge that he longs to carry these burdens with us and for us.
Do you know what I'm speaking of as that more difficult thing? It's the temptation we face when we have shared our burdens with Christ to pick them back up again and try to carry them alone and in isolation from our God and our neighbors. And how does that work out for us? We know the answer to that question. It doesn't work at all! And yet time and time again we do the thing we know we shouldn't even as we resist doing what we know we should. We succumb to that temptation again and again, forgetting that definition of insanity that describes such behavior as doing the same thing again and again, expecting a different outcome.
Today the Gospel challenges us to leave our burdens in Christ's hands, and to challenge others to do likewise. When we do this, we can and will with St. Paul express our thanks for Jesus Christ who saves us from our burdens, and often even from ourselves.
Therefore, friends, again and again:
"Hear the Word of God to all who truly
turn to him: Come unto me, all ye that
travail and are heavy laden, and I will
refresh you."
Father Timothy Alleman, Rector
The Church of the Holy Cross
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