Yoked to Jesus
A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
July 9, 2023
The Rev. Robin Teasley
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 that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.
So I find it to be a law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:15-25a
Jesus said to the crowd, “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.” Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
“Come to me, all you that are weary…for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” These beautiful words are familiar to many of us. Jesus invites us into a relationship that sounds so perfect, so effortless, so easy. It’s a relationship many of us are longing for in these imperfect and troubled times. Yet in our reading from Romans today, Paul honestly admits that being in relationship with God isn’t all that easy. Paul’s words may be familiar to many of us, “I can will what I want but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” My sister who is Lutheran, tells me that the Lutherans, who are well-versed in the epistles of Paul, refer to this as the “doo doo” passage!
How many of us are familiar with the struggle Paul describes? I know I am. Every night around 9 o’clock my flesh says, “Go get some ice cream out of the freezer,” and my mind says, “Absolutely not! Do not do that; it’s not good for you!” I can empathize with Paul, for I do not understand my own actions either! More often than I care to admit, the law of sin that dwells in my members wins the ice cream debate.
Now there are worse sins than eating a bowl of ice cream, to be sure, but the point is that like Paul we all struggle with controlling our thoughts and actions; it’s part of our fleshly human nature. And here’s the thing, if we do not understand our own actions, how can we possibly understand the actions of anyone else? Sin dwells within all of us; it makes our relationships complicated and difficult.
We’ve all had good intentions that we never got around to fulfilling. We can’t make ourselves clean out those closets, we can’t seem to get around to writing that note of encouragement, or we put off calling to check on our distant family members. On a higher level, we complain about things that need doing, things that need changing, forgetting that many hands make light work, and that we must be the change we want to see.
And then, we all have had experience with doing the very thing we hate, that thing we know better than to do. We get angry in traffic, we make a regretful comment on social media, or we just outright refuse to listen to another perspective. We find it all too easy to become judgmental of others. Because sin dwells within us, we selfishly meet our own needs first without pausing to consider how our actions might affect those around us. And when we are at our worst, we do and say things that are harmful to others.
There is always a tension between what we want in the moment and what we know is better for us. As Paul reminded the Romans, this is why God gave us the law. We tend to view the law in a negative way, not realizing that its purpose is to help us know what is good and helpful. And, because it is impossible for us to keep the law all the time, as witnessed by Paul’s struggles and our own, the law shows us that we are in desperate need of grace!
And grace is exactly what we hear in the Gospel today. Jesus invites us to put down our burdens, and to stop struggling with our inmost self, so that we might receive the rest and the grace he longs to give us. We are carrying a lot of burdens right now. We are afraid of many things. Our political divisions are tearing the fabric of our society. Whether we are talking about climate change, immigration, Supreme Court decisions, or individual rights, we are all affected. Evil lies close at hand. Personally, we may struggle with addiction, broken relationships, stressful work environments, unexpected illnesses, and loss of loved ones. We are weary and in need of rest.
These kinds of struggle are burdens in our lives and in our relationships with each other. They can also become burdens that separate us from God. Perhaps we can take our cue from the Apostle Paul. “Who will rescue me?” he asks, and then he gives us the answer, “Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ!”
Jesus calls all who are weary and carrying burdens, no matter what the burden, to come to him. But how exactly does he rescue us? By yoking us. At first, this does not sound like a good thing. We are exhausted and weary, so why would we want to take on a yoke? But this yoke is not one that Jesus forces on us but one he invites us to wear with him.
When oxen are yoked, they share the burden of the load so that one of them does not work too hard. The older, trained ox teaches the younger inexperienced one the way to pull the load and to understand the commands. In being yoked with Jesus we are working with him beside us, being helped to do what is before us, being taught how to live in the tension of life’s challenges and choices.
Just as being yoked provides the oxen a balance to their load, being yoked with Jesus brings balance to our lives. Spending time with Jesus helps us release our struggles, loss, and grief into God’s safekeeping. Letting go of our burdens even for a few minutes each day, or for the evening so that we can rest, will bring us healing and strength to get through each day, each challenge, each hard thing in life.
Being yoked with Jesus teaches us to be more careful about our choices. We can turn off the news, we can put down our phones, we can set a time limit on social media. Instead, we can use that time to practice some spiritual disciplines. We might choose to read scripture daily, start a morning devotional reading, or simply sit still in the silence of God’s presence for a few minutes each day. We could look for ways to help others, such as taking a meal or running errands, for someone who is homebound. Perhaps we are most in need of some self-care and could commit to a walk each day, to get more rest, or to stop buying ice cream! Then again, maybe ice cream is exactly what we need.
To be yoked with Jesus means going along beside the One who prays, teaches, heals, and feeds the hungry; the One who befriends the tax collectors and sinners, and gives rest to the weary. Life is hard and we cannot do this on our own; we are not meant to. Community is everything. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry preached at the Episcopal Youth Event this week. In his sermon he reminded the youth that we are created for life abundant, not here just to consume oxygen, but to do our share to make the world better. Bishop Curry noted that we go to church to be reminded and to get energy to do it! Being in community is where we learn from Jesus and find rest for our souls.
Being yoked with Jesus is not without its own challenges and risks, but it will free us to live life, not under the burden of the law, but in the fullness and joy of God’s grace. When we take the yoke of Christ upon us, we have forgiveness when we cannot do the good we want to do, we have rest when we cannot bear the burden, and we will learn from Jesus how to travel around in this fearful world revealing the good news of God’s redeeming love.
Jesus Feeding the Multitude, Artist Unknown
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