(Matthew 11:16-19) – Jesus said, "But 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."

"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." Now wait a minute. Two weeks ago I clearly remember Jesus saying "Do not think that I have come to bring peace, ... but a sword...; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me." What's this business about rest and light burdens?¹

Paul seems closer to the mark when he complains I don't understand. I want to do right, but I find myself doing the dumb stuff I know I shouldn't. "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Now that's more like it.

How many times have you said to yourself after some unpleasantness, "I'm never going let them push my buttons again"? And the next week, there you are... -- flying off into a fit over the same old same old. Like Paul, "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me...?" But then Paul stops on a dime, turns around, takes a big breath, opens his eyes and realizes his true situation, smiles and breathes out, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" What happened?

Go back to the "before" Paul. He was like most of us. Swamped. He was stressed and anxious. Most of his anxiety was about trying to be good, trying to be right and to do right. He was pretty good at it too. He followed all 613 commandments of the law. He was hard working and successful. And he went after those who weren't, chasing down those Christians who were threatening his system.

He was like a lot of us. Putting in sixty-hour weeks. Adding the religious stuff on top of a full schedule of tent making. Time on the road commuting to meetings over what to do about these Jesus followers. More conflicts. The synagogue really expects a lot from him. Then more time away from home, on the road to Damascus to clean up some problems. There's the mortgage and the high Roman taxes. Too much to do and not enough time to do it. So many expectations. And it is emotionally draining to try to fix these wrongheaded Christians who are undermining our dearest traditions. As if all those responsibilities weren't enough, he still can't control himself. "When I want to do what is good, ... I do the very thing I hate. ...Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Pause. Light from heaven.) Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

You know the story of Paul's being struck blind by enlightenment. The essence of what he discovered was that he was just fine. He didn't have to do anything to be accepted. He was already accepted, acquitted, and loved as an unqualified gift from God -- "justification by grace" he would later theologize. All he had to do was simply accept the gift. Relax. Rest. He was okay because God regarded him with complete love. This weary man, carrying heavy burdens, found rest. He took a different yoke upon him, the yoke of Jesus. And he learned from Jesus. Jesus was gentle and humble in heart, and Paul found rest for his soul. For this yoke is easy and the burden is light. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You and I are invited into that same yoked relationship. We don't have to run around trying to fix everything, or (even harder) trying to fix other people, or (even harder) trying to fix ourselves. You are already just fine. God loves you. God accepts you. It's free. No strings attached. Grace. So you can relax. Just be. Exist. Rest. Live as best you can and accept yourself at that. No need to try to do more than your best. Most people give their best to most things. You do too. You're just fine. You can freely be responsible, but let go of grading yourself. The credit and blame game is crazy. You really don't need to try to live, just be... immersed in the process of living. Life happens. Watch with awe.

People made fun of Jesus when he taught that stuff. "Look, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!" And they made fun of John the Baptist when he told them soberly to turn around from their self-absorbed lives and go another direction. "He has a demon," they said.

It's like that if you internalize the judgments of the world and its culture. If you let others define you -- whether you are good or successful or right -- you'll be bounced around like a children's game. Other people can't make you happy. But other people can't make you unhappy either. Happiness is an inside game. Each of us decides whether we are happy or sad. That's why it's crazy to think you can fix or control other people. You can't make other people happy. If they want to be mad or miserable, by George they've gonna be mad or miserable no matter what you say or do. And you can't straighten out other people. Why would you try to fix other people when you can't even do the good you want to do. That's crazy life. Just try to control things and fix other people. You'll pull your hair out and scream, "Wretched person that I am! Who will rescue me...?" (Pause. Light from heaven.) "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

So you let go for a while and rest. The light burden and the easy yoke. A yoke is an instrument to allow two oxen to work together as a team. When a younger, smaller ox was yoked to a stronger experienced ox, sometimes the yoke didn't even touch the younger one. The new ox learned how to walk, following the lead of the stronger experienced one, until gradually the young ox could begin to bear a bit of weight.

So you can relax, yoked to Christ, and let him carry the weight of your life. You will learn, and you will grow stronger. But that craziness that Paul escaped is still a temptation even as you learn and grow stronger.

Learning is wonderful fun. But the wise will tell you, the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know. Which is just fine if you can simply accept your ignorance. It's the same way with growing stronger and having power. Having power makes you realize how weak we really are. Which is just fine if you can accept and affirm your weakness. It's the same way with discovering newer and better ways to do things, to fix life. It just shows us how imperfect we are. Which is just fine if only we can love our imperfection.

You don't have to respond to everything. You can just observe. Especially, you don't have to fix everything. Because if you try, you doom yourself to going back to living in that vicious circle Paul described of fixing, being anxious over something that needs to be fixed, and fixing that, only to being anxious over something else that needs fixing. Then we say to ourselves, "one of these days when I've fixed everything, then I can rest." And "one of these days" never comes, and you think "Thank God I'm mortal so that once I die I can at least get a little rest." "Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Pause. Light from heaven.) "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

It's so easy a child could understand. But the wise and intelligent try to make it so much harder. The light from heaven speaks love to you. "I love you" it says. Simple. Childlike. You are just fine. Don't be afraid. You don't have to be fixed. Relax. Rest. Enjoy. But remember, that same light shines on others as well. God loves those others too. Those others are God's children also, and we can love them, understand them, and be with them without felling compelled to fix them either.

This is unanxious life. Being unanxious is not the same as being passive or irresponsible. Paul got accused of teaching "Anything goes." His response to that charge is translated "By no means!" I'm told the Greek original is a bit stronger than that; a bit like Nixon's expletives deleted. When you know yourself to be a child of God, enfolded within God's graceful acceptance, you can look at the situation more simply and see it more clearly as it is and not as a projection of your own sense of security. Then, humbly and gently you can move into that situation. Whatever needs to be done will become apparent. You can simply do what is called for, letting go of the irrelevant "who is to blame" stuff. So much simpler, lighter.

Some people get so natural with this, that when it comes time for them to carry a cross, even that burden seems light. They are yoked to another who knows how to carry crosses. Hear his light voice speaking to you from heaven, speaking to you right there within your very consciousness -- "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."

1  Thanks to Sarah Dylan Brener for the idea for this opening from her Dylan's Lectionary Blog @ www.sarahlaughed.net

Also, kudos to Gerald May whose teaching informs much of the central theme of this sermon, especially his wonderful book Simply Sane

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