Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Matthew 11. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- When we first start out in life it seems fairly simple. I can remember having simple joy in sunshine and fresh air. I can remember the elation of being able to run and jump and play. The only thing we really had to worry about was being back in time for meals.
- Ah, but things change rather quickly. Soon enough there were chores to do. And there were things to learn that were challenging and difficult. We had to learn to tie our own shoes, and to ride a bike, and how to work – trimming grass along the fence line, painting, using a shovel.
- Then we had to start school – and learn things that seemed foreign, like letters and numbers, grammar and math. And we were introduced to pressure – we got grades based on how well we were learning.
- The pressure and the complexity grows as we grow – in High School, in college, and in graduate studies. This pressure prepares us for jobs and tasks that require great discipline, concentration, and aptitude.
- Then there are the interpersonal challenges of life – our relationships with others, conflicts, frustrations, and not really knowing what others are thinking.
- Finally, we have our relationship with God to sort out. Virtually everyone knows that there is a God, and those who become atheists or agnostics have to work hard first to convince themselves, and then to defend their unbelief to others. Much of this is driven by the difficulties we have in understanding God and nature itself.
- All of this leads to introspection – which also seems to come naturally to virtually all people. Why do I struggle? Why do I have problems? Why do I find myself in conflict with others? Why is it that I sense that I am not pleasing God? Why does sin and evil come so easily and naturally to me and other human beings?
- The “burden” of sorting these things out is heavy, extremely heavy! For some it becomes too much – and there are a variety of ways in which people opt out of sentient consideration of these complexities. So, when Jesus speaks to those who “labor and are heavy laden,” and urges us to receive His “rest” and His “light burden,” the invitation is appealing!
- It is not a bad thing to experience the reality that:
I. Life Seems Complicated And Burdensome – And We Think That We Can Sort It All Out And Master It With Wisdom And Education – But It Is Not So
A. We Find Our Inner Dynamics And The Things That Pertain To “Self” To Be Complex And Burdensome
Epistle: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.”
B. We Then Wonder Why Nature Is What It Is
Epistle: “So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.”
C. And We See The Same Dynamics In Others, And Wonder How We Should Deal With Them
D. And We Wonder What God Thinks Of Us – Given The Degree To Which We Are “Sold Under Sin”
Statement: Christians especially are troubled and burdened by these matters, but virtually all human beings are afflicted by such thoughts. Much of human endeavor is a reaction to and an attempt to manage these inner realities. We require laws to restrain the sin that comes naturally to us – and so, government. We require application of these laws – and so, law enforcement. We require judgments of these matters – and so, courts of law, judges and lawyers.
Paradoxically, mankind’s efforts to correct these dynamics is part of the problem. We believe that people can be improved inwardly by mere education and training, and a bit of correction. This is the philosophical assumption behind compulsory education. However, as you can well see from the news, this hasn’t worked that well. Another strategy is to redefine good and evil – so that selfishness, greed, ambition, are turned into virtues. So we lose sight of the good that virtuous living provides for the common good, and we legitimize immorality and promiscuity – under the guise of liberty and freedom.
Application: But as Jesus makes clear, God Himself has hidden the blessings of the Gospel from “the wise and understanding” and has revealed them only to “little children.” In this – by coming to Jesus and learning from Him – the insufferable burden is removed from us and only “A LIGHT BURDEN” is left, a yoke that is “easy.” Paul alludes to this in the Epistle Lesson when he finally declares: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Transition: So we turn to consider what it is that Jesus offers to us. But let us remember that it will not be accessed by human wisdom and understanding. Rather, we must receive these blessings and gifts from God as “little children.” This is God’s gracious will!
II. Jesus Simplifies Things, And Distills Them, So That He Can Reveal The Answers To Us
A. First, He Urges Repentance – Like That Of The Apostle In The Epistle Lesson
Epistle: “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”
B. He Urges Us To Hold To The Gracious Forgiveness And Mercy Of God, And To Trust In God’s Redemption And Love For Us
Matt. 1:21 “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
John 1:17 “Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.”
John 10:14,15 “I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 3:36 “He that believes the Son has everlasting life.”
John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
C. In This Way We Are Delivered From Burden, Frustration, And Futility – We Learn To Trust In Him Rather Than Trusting In Ourselves
Text: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and LEARN from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
D. When We Learn From Jesus We Learn Love From The Inside Out
Matthew 12:33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.”
John 3:5-8 “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.”
Statement: If we come to Jesus and learn of Him, we must learn to acknowledge our sin, our sinful nature, and our inability to “do the good we want to do.” BUT in this we do not despair, for we know Jesus to be our Savior, the One Who has taken away the sin of the world. So as we continue to live in His gracious love, mercy, and forgiveness, we also continue to “learn from Him.” We do not trust in ourselves, our own wisdom and understanding, nor do we trust in the massive efforts of mankind. We understand ourselves, we understand what is in other people, and we understand the nature of things in this fallen world. And as we live in God’s love – in the face of how things are – we learn to also love others even though they are as they are.
Application: This is not easy – for us to give up the huge burden and responsibility that we have assumed we must carry – and to leave it with God, taking up His easy yoke and “LIGHT BURDEN.” But if we do, Jesus will reveal the Father to us, and He will fulfill His promise to ease our burden and give us rest!
Conclusion: It seems that every aspect of human life in the context of the “world” becomes daily more difficult. We can be ground down by this – unless we let it go and “come to Jesus.”
The devil urges the burdens of the world upon us – by speaking of our “responsibility,” our obligations to others, and our “competence” to solve problems. He wants us to trust our own wisdom, understanding, and ability. However, in reality this is futile in correcting or even dealing with the burdens of sin’s prevalence in people and in the world.
Jesus clarifies things for us, and provides us with a simple and beautiful alternative: “Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. . . . For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
God grant such blessedness to each of us, Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.