The Eighth Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 9a) July 6, 2008
The Reverend Robert W. Cowperthwaite
Sometimes it is the small things that end up making a difference in life. Rebekah did not set out to nail a husband when she went to the well that day. (I’m not going to get into the nose ring thing!) She didn’t even know to whom she was talking, or that Abraham’s servant was there in order to find a wife for his son. The man simply asked for water, and she responded with simple hospitality, a welcome offer of kindness.
We all know about Murphy's Law, "If something can go wrong, it will go wrong." (And some people have said Murphy was an optimist!) We laugh about it, but call it a “law,” because it fits our own experience. Well, St. Paul came up with a "law" of his own, which also rings true in our experience. He wrote to the Christians in Rome, "So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand." Even though we know what we should do, and we really want to do that, all too often we end up doing something else - something we shouldn't. It is the simple things we have trouble with.
In today's Gospel, Jesus invites all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens to come to him - whereupon he will give us his yoke and his burden! This is another place in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus is actually condemning the Pharisees and others of his day who have piled so many rules and expectations onto the Law, that instead of being life-giving, it had become burdensome.
There are two types of yokes Jesus may have had in mind. One is the kind that goes across a person's shoulders and makes it possible to carry two buckets or burdens balanced on each side. A straight board could be uncomfortable, and as a carpenter's son, Jesus had probably helped Joseph carve and smooth yokes to "custom fit" people's shoulders, making it easier and more comfortable to carry their load. Perhaps that is what Jesus meant, but using someone else's yoke could be uncomfortable too, unless we see Jesus as a “0ne-size-fits-all” yoke, and then the image works, since Jesus is there for any and all who come to him.
The other kind of yoke is the type that is used to tie together two oxen. It fit across the shoulders of both, and enabled them to pull a plow or a wagon together. I think this is a more powerful metaphor in terms of what Jesus is offering. "Take my yoke upon you..." Jesus refers to it as his yoke, as if he is offering to "share" the load. Even though our burdens may seem unbearable, when Jesus bears them with us, when we share his yoke, we find that he doesn't add any more to the load, but the load becomes "light."
A yoke such as this requires two bearers. One ox, one person, cannot make it work. It would be like trying to row a boat with one oar in the oarlock - all you would do is go in circles. So in a yoke, it takes two to make it work, otherwise it just twists and pulls, but goes nowhere. Nor can only one of the two do all the work. If one is pulling and the other is not, it becomes obvious right away. Both have to pull together.
It is the small things that surprise us. Rebekah simply offering water. Jesus offering his yoke.
We not only need to seek Jesus out to help bear our burdens, but we need to be Christ for one another, offering ourselves as the other ox in the yoke. Today's collect reminded us that we keep the commandments by loving God and one another. We prayed that we might be united to one another with pure affection. There is not a day that goes by that there are not opportunities for us to help, in some small way, bear someone's burden - at least for part of their journey. Nor is there a day that goes by, that by offering to be clung to, we couldn't help someone else - as well as ourselves, soar above the pettiness and pain and loneliness of life.
Paul says that we are all slaves. We can decide if we want to be slaves to sin and death, or to life and Christ. Jesus knows our burdens, and is waiting only for us to take his yoke, where we will find him pulling right there beside us, and our burden will become remarkably light.
This is what faith is all about, joyfully expecting our king to come in an unexpected, perhaps even small and simple way. Faith is the willingness to trust God to transform us, to free us, so that what seems most impossible becomes real and actually makes sense. "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." Sometimes it is the small things that really make a difference.
