You Didn't Do Everything

Sermon-3 Pentecost-Proper 9-July 3, 2011
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ask people their favorite Bible verses and on most folks short list will be: 11:28 "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."
John Stott, The famous preacher and chaplain to the Queen tells the story of going to “South Georgia [Island], eight hundred miles east of the Falkland Islands. [They] landed at Grytyiken, which is an old abandoned Norwegian whaling station, the place where Ernest Shackleton, the famous Antarctic explorer, is buried. Here behind the disused and rusty buildings is a lovely little Lutheran church that has recently been restored. When I approached it, it was surrounded by elephant seals and king penguins. What do you think I found on the east wall of this lovely church inscribed in Norwegian? "Come unto me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."
Go to the ends of the earth and you will hear these verses.
On any given Sunday, you have to figure that a fair number of people sitting in a congregation, you all, are carrying heavy burdens, and tired of a heavy soul. And then we hear this gospel, it is a comfort and a strength. Life can be overwhelming. The losses, failures, and fears -they can add up, and they can hold us down. I remember talking to a woman once who had just gone through a whole boatload of pain, and she angrily asked me, “where is God? How come my life isn’t better!”
I remember sitting in the hospital once and it was about the 10th day of an 18 day stay and I told Deborah that I felt like I was just barely hanging on. There are times like that. Kids, jobs, finances, money, health, family, pain-life.
For this passage to make more sense to you, you have to know something more. It’s the 11th chapter of Matthew and according to Matthew the gospel writer, Jesus has just experienced the first real rejections in his ministry. As Kate Huey writes Jesus had been :”healing the sick, raising the dead, and bringing good news to the poor. And [several] cities, we know from the edited verses (11:20-24), closed their hearts and minds to him.” Jesus is being rebuffed by the people he came to save. He came to set people free-and they didn’t want him-or his message. And then follows this wonderful passage of encouragement and hope. "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."
28Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

David Holwerda in The Lectionary Commentary “ tells us that a yoke "both restrains and enables. It is simultaneously a burden and a possibility. The question confronting humanity is, whose yoke or what yoke does one put on? No one lives without a yoke… the demands of this yoke are to love God above all and one's neighbor as oneself. Love is a gentle yoke, not burdensome or wearying, but light, easy, pleasant…. one thing more is necessary: to learn from Jesus himself how to walk the ancient paths that lead to the peace and rest of the kingdom of God and to inheriting the earth" (The Lectionary Commentary). Does love of God, and love of neighbor, feel like a "gentle yoke" to you?" or as Kate Huey (again) says, "Everyone gives their heart to something; be sure that what you give your heart to is worthy of it."
It is not easy for us to accept this blessing. We are a people who throw off yokes and demand choices, options, freedom. What are we going to celebrate tomorrow but Independence Day! It was not easy for the people of 1st century Israel to embrace the yoke of Jesus. It is not easy for us. Accepting the yoke of faith can be overwhelming to a people raised on independence and self-reliance. This morning, Jesus talks to us, you and I, right after he has been pushed away, rejected, “dissed” in the towns of Israel. And he says, “come to me, all of you, and I will help you with life, with pain, with hope.” It was not easy for the people of Israel to hear or accept. It is not any easier for us. Some here this morning are feeling overwhelmed, burdened, tired of the battle. God knows. Listen to this.
The Rev. Dr. Amy Richter tells this story of when she was a young parish priest: she was already late for the meeting. Rushing past the sexton who was putting the recycling out, she had her own arms full as she tried to get the back door of the church open. Juggling her lunch bag, laptop bag, and pocketbook, she tried to pull the door open. She knew that in the humidity the door would often stick, but this time, it just wouldn’t budge. Not wanting to set anything down, she just pulled as hard as she could, hoping the door would open and she could still make it in time. No such luck. She gave up and noticed the sexton was watching.
“Did you pull as hard as you could?” he asked. “Yes, I gave it everything I’ve got.” The sexton smiled and said, “No, you didn’t. You didn’t ask me to help you.” He walked over, took her bags off her shoulder and said, “Now try it.” The door came open on the first try.
Give it everything you’ve got. Then, when you realize that that will never open all of life’s doors for you, ask for help.
"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."
"Everyone gives their heart to something; be sure that what you give your heart to is worthy of it."