Of Weeds and Wheat

Sixth Sunday of Pentecost – Proper 11 – Year A

July 20, 2014

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'"

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!"

Over the last few years, Melissa and I have been trying to downsize our stuff, or should I say our junk. Over the years, we have both accumulated a fair amount of stuff. When we were single, and when it was just the two of us it wasn't too bad. Now that there are four of us, and the kids seem to never stop growing and getting more stuff of their own, we are rapidly approaching the point where something needs to give. So, we have been giving. A load here and there to Goodwill or St. Vincent's, a dumpster load (or two) to the landfill, selling things here and there.

There's something that feels wonderful about cleaning things out, getting rid of things you don't need to keep around. All of us likely have shirts in our closets we haven't worn in the last few years, shoes that haven't seen the light of day in a long time, pants that we haven't been able to fit into since the last millennium. I know I have books on my shelf that I haven't glanced at in ages, and they just sit there year in and year out. We have a couple of end tables just sitting in our basement – one of these days we'll actually get around to selling them. I have stacks of sheet music from my days in college that I should probably sort through and then get rid of the stuff I'll never ever play.

I know when I clean a room, and am able to fill up a garbage bag with trash – papers, magazines, it feels amazing; like you actually accomplished something. You look at a room that's been picked up, and you feel good. There's nothing like a clean, picked up house that makes you just feel calm and at ease. There's something to be said for how a messy and cluttered home makes your whole demeanor and spirit a little messy and cluttered. An organized and cleaned up house can make even the worst chaotic day feel a little bit more controlled.

Cleaning up and disposing of things isn't just about houses and rooms though. It's also about other parts of our lives. Many of us have habits that we cling to that we would be better off disposing of. Sometimes it's doing things we know aren't good for us, sometimes it's not doing things we know are good for us. Do we really need that meal super-sized? How many smokes have you had today? When was the last time you went for a walk? What about having a nice salad for dinner tonight?

One of the things I have come to learn in life is that it's important who you surround yourself with. If you surround yourself with positive people, with people who are gracious and kind, people who challenge you to be better, you will likely be happier. But, when you surround yourself with people who are negative, with people who are overly negative, with people who don't inspire you, you aren't really going to get anywhere and the life you are living may not be all that fulfilling. Sometimes, it's necessary to do the painful thing and slowly move away from friends and associates that rub you the wrong way, that make you see life more negatively, that hold you back rather than challenging you to move forward. Sometimes, it seems like you have to clear out your friend list to make space for more positive things in your life.

All of us know the damage that can occur in an organization or group when there is a problem person present. You know who I mean, the person that is always complaining, the person who can find fault with everything and everyone, the person who you avoid sitting next to at meetings. This is the person about whom you honestly have to wonder what they are doing as part of the group most of the time. If they really hate it as much as they seem to, why don't they just leave? Maybe we've been in that situation, and done what was necessary to get them to change their behavior, or maybe we've even forced them out, fired them or made them quit.

Last week, our text was about the sowing of the gospel seed everywhere without regard to if we think the seed will grow or not. This week, our text seems to be about what can happen when you do that. You've been out sowing seeds everywhere, and growth is beginning to happen. New faces are showing up, lives are being impacted, everything seems to be going awesome. Then, something happens. In the midst of the wonderful grain that is sprouting, a weed appears. A growth appears that is deemed far from desirable, taking of the nutrients of the soil and water, stealing light. What to do?

This is the situation that Jesus is addressing. Well, it's probably more likely that this is the situation that Matthew is addressing. Most scholars and theologians think the writer of Matthew has put words into Jesus' mouth to speak to a growing situation in the early church. One of the realities of the early church was that it was full of disagreements (so, it's a lot like the church today!) People went back and forth arguing about how much of a role Judaism was to have, whether or not Jesus was God incarnate, was Jesus coming back tomorrow or was he already here. There were arguments about how people were supposed to live their lives – balancing the whole in the world but not of the world thing. And when there were disagreements, people often took sides. And in taking sides, they declared one side as being correct and the other side as being false. There was one perspective that was good wheat, and the other side a noxious weed, one planted by Jesus and the other obviously planted by the enemy. What to do? Obviously, you get rid the weeds! Except, that isn't what Jesus says.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could easily divide the world into good and evil, saints and sinners, wheat and weeds. But it's not that simple, the world isn't that simple, and neither are each of us. We are all a mix of saint and sinner, as Paul says striving to do what we know we should do, yet so often failing and doing what we know we shouldn't. Saved from sin, yet not saved from sinning. That's the reality that we all know and live. We know the difficulty that would come if we were asked to divide up the good and bad, wheat and weeds around us.

The reality is that it is difficult, if not impossible to truly judge another persons actions and motifs. We cannot know what is within their hearts. This parable is a word of caution to all of us that we should not be too quick to divide up the world into categories; into “us” and “them”. We should be aware of our tendency to gather together and label as “weeds” the “them” around us, assuming they are destined for being burned up and destroyed. Just as in the parable, we can far too easily label and gather up good wheat in our desire to clean up, to remove the weeds. And once you have removed, it can be very difficult to replant.

This is the reality that is found in many churches and worshiping communities. There are multitudes of people who have been chased from churches by well-meaning folk who have determined they are weeds that need to be removed. They speak of being burned by the church, not God, but the church. They speak of the hypocrisy and treatment they received by the “good Christian” folk, who probably felt they were doing God's will. Yet, in their actions they have turned a fellow child of God away, casting them out into the refuse pile, treating them as worthless and without purpose.

So what are we supposed to do? What are we to do when we encounter someone who we disagree with, someone who we are tempted to label as a “them” to our “us” in the church? First, seek not to judge, seek not to divide. And then come together with them in conversation. In the eighteenth chapter of Matthew we find some words of advice, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” (Matthew 18:15-17)

So, the thing we have to reflect on is how Jesus treated the gentile and the tax collector. Did he exclude them, did he run them out of town? Of course not, one of his disciples was a tax collector – Matthew wasn't it? One of the things that is missed in most English translations is the way in which Jesus speaks of the weeds and wheat growing together. Just about every single translation tells us to allow, to let, to permit the weeds and wheat to grow together, but the Greek word is aphete, a word that is usually translated as forgive. Forgive them to grow together.

A few centuries ago, in the late 1700's there was a plant feared for it's poison, for it's ability to kill those who ate it. The juicy red fruit was avoided at all cost, and in fact it was rumored that an attempt was made to kill George Washington by secretly including it in his food. Today that fruit has become a treasured part of our diet, something that almost everyone who has a garden has in their garden. What is this killer fruit? The tomato! What gave the tomato such a horrible reputation? Well, it was observed that when wealthy people ate it, they soon became sick and died. Why? Well, the acidity of the tomato was high enough to pull the lead out of the pewter plates that many people ate off. The wealthy were poisoned, they died of lead poisoning, and the tomato was blamed.

It took years for the reputation to disappear, for the worth and value of the tomato to be seen. The tomato didn't change, it was our perception of it, our treatment of it, the way we thought about it that changed. I think all of us can agree that a beautiful part of our diet would have been lost if our ancestors had simply cast it off as a worthless weed, if they had not found a way to forgive the reputation the tomato had.

The Bible tells us that God sends both sun and rain on the righteous and the unrighteous alike. If God shows such generosity of spirit, can we do any less? Can we find it within ourselves to let God be the gardener who is in control, and not try to make the decisions of the gardener our selves? There are without doubt times when cleaning house, removing the unnecessary, the garbage in our lives is beneficial. But, is doing that within the church the right thing to do, even if it might be beneficial to us, to the church? Is it God's desire that we pull out the weeds amongst us? Or is God's desire that we forgive, find ways to love them in? I'm pretty sure I know what the answer is. May God give us the ears to listen, and the depth of love necessary to respond. Amen.

Sowing Seeds

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 10 – Year A

July 13, 2014

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Let anyone with ears listen!

"Hear then the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty."

One of the things we are doing in our family, that doesn't make our lives easier, but we hope is teaching our girls a lesson is recycling as much as we can. We collect all our plastic, our cardboard, our tin, and our glass together in a central location in our house. Now, in Cedar Falls, they don't have curbside pickup of recycling, so we have to load up all our stuff in the car and drive it to one of the local recycling drop-off points. Teaching our girls that it's important to take care of our world isn't just a political or cultural thing, at the core of why we do it is a theological understanding.

In the beginning, when Adam and Eve were still wandering around in the garden of Eden, they were given the responsibility of caring for the garden, for all creation. God didn't take away that calling when the garden was taken away. We are still called to care for all the things that God has created for us to live with and in. Without a doubt there are things we use from the world, we use the water, the wood, the oil and natural gas. But, we are called not just to use it, we are called to be stewards of it. Being a steward means we are to also care for it, and ensure that we are using all the things God has given to us in the best way possible; for ourselves and for the generations that will follow us here.

The concept that we are supposed to care for the things we have, that a great majority of the things we have will not last forever is important. It's a lesson that impacts many different parts of our lives. We tell our kids not to waste things. Not to waste the food on their plate; like at a buffet, you only take what you know you are going to eat. Even so, “In the United States, 31 percent—or 133 billion pounds—of the 430 billion pounds of the available food supply at the retail and consumer levels in 2010 went uneaten!”¹ I'm not sure how many people that could feed, but if you do the math that means that if we assume there are 8 billion people in the world that the United States could have provided an additional almost 7 pounds of food to every person on the planet, just from the food we waste.

We are careful about the things we do. For pretty much all of us, we know that there is a limit to the amount of money we can spend. We have to have budgets, and follow them. We have to be careful. As much as we might love our sweets, our pies and cakes, our candies, we know that there is a limit to how much we can eat. There is a price to be paid if we aren't careful with our diet – either in exercise, or in additional holes in our belts. We give our kids a treat, and tell them they need to be careful, because that's all they get; once it's gone they aren't getting any more for a long time.

Stewardship of our resources, conservation, caring for the things we have or receive is important. Understanding the necessity to plan for what we have is necessary. When you are going to cook something, you want to make sure you have enough of the ingredients. When you are going to build something, you want to make sure you have all the supplies; enough to finish the project. We know how much we need, how much we will likely have leftover. We've done all the work ahead of time. We've done all the preparation. If you are going to have a garden, you plan. You have to think about how big it's going to be, what you are going to grow. You have to purchase the right seeds and plants, you have to prepare the ground – make sure it will let things grow. Only after you have done all the prep work will you actually get to planting the seeds and plants; to have not prepared for it is to essentially waste the seeds and plants you have invested in. If you are going to do something, you want to do all you can to make sure it succeeds.

In recent years, one of the things that has become common in the church is the necessity to do a whole lot of groundwork and planning before embarking on a new venture. If you are starting a new mission outreach, a new church, a membership drive, it's not uncommon to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars and hours doing research and planning. What is the demographic you want to reach? Where does that demographic live? What is the best way to reach them? How many other people have tried and failed? How has that demographic group grown or shrunk in previous years, and what is it expected to do in the coming years? What form of marketing will be most effective, have the desired result? Only after all those questions, and many more have been answered do you move forward with the plan. If you are going to invest all the time, money and energy into something, you want to make sure you are going to get the result you are looking for.

Which brings us to our text. I think most of the time when we think about this parable, we focus on the different types of ground. We look at the various ways in which the seed of the gospel is received or rejected. We then try to recognize those same groups of people around us. We may even think about how we can go out and do different things to change the ground, to impact those who would normally reject; do some preparation so that the gospel can more easily take root. There is a great deal to think about there. But, today, I want us to think about the sower and the seed that is being sown.

This is a parable, and in the parables of Jesus different characters and parts are normally understood to represent something much greater than itself. Sometimes, we are challenged to interpret the hidden meanings within the parable; and sometimes, as in this case, we are given a key to understanding it. The seed being sown is the gospel, the good news, the message of love and salvation and the growth that occurs is the response to the sharing of the gospel – it doesn't take root, it grows quickly then dies, it grows weakly, or it produces abundant growth. Now, the identity of the one sowing the gospel isn't identified – it could be God, it could be Jesus, it could be the disciples. I like to think that it represents each and every one of us in whom the seed has taken root and grown. This parable is about evangelism.

Evangelism in some circles has gotten a bad name. Let's face it, how excited are we when Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, or other well-meaning folks show up on our doorsteps? How do we respond to the people handing out tracts at the entrances to festivals or malls? Even though I love God, I love my faith, I get a little annoyed; and when I have the chance I tend to try and avoid an encounter. But, I often don't just avoid those who are trying to evangelize me, I also avoid sharing my faith with others, and often I'm not even aware of doing it. It goes back to those demographic studies and plans. We carefully do demographic and community studies, we seek out specific types of people, we craft our outreach to be attractive to a specific targeted audience. We do the same thing on a personal level, being (perhaps overly) cautious about who we talk to about our faith, who we reach out to, who we invite to our services. When we carefully choose who we evangelize, we are also carefully excluding others. We are choosing where and when we are going to be spreading the seed of the gospel.

How does that match up with the actions of the sower in our parable? How much prep work did they do? How much time did they spend doing demographic studies, thinking about who would be most likely to respond favorably to the message? Obviously, there is a huge difference. The sower sows, the gospel is spread with apparent disregard for the situations of those who are receiving it. There were no demographic studies made, there seemed to be no thoughts about the type of people they wanted to attract, there were no thoughts about how future members would be able to contribute to the financial or communal life of the group. There were no thoughts about if they would fit, if they would get along with others. The gospel was spread about freely and liberally, there was no conservation of the seed. So, why is there a difference?

I think it comes down to the way we think about our faith. That is to say, we think of faith as being ours, as a possession that we have, something we need to take care of and cultivate. Faith becomes a treasure that we have received. It becomes something we have placed a value on, something that we think we can hold onto, something tangible; and if it is tangible, it must have limits of some kind. Could it run out, do we need to conserve it, be good stewards of it? Do we need to be careful about who we share it with, in case we run out? Obviously not!

How contrary our actions often are to the reality we all know. The seed we have is precious, but it will not run out. We do not need to carefully measure out where we will sow it, we don't need to be worried about running out, having to get more, about wasting the seed. Waste is worrying about the results first and foremost, not trusting in the quality of the product that is being shared. If this parable is about the seed and sower, it declares that God does not predetermine who is worthy of receiving the good news, who is good soil. All soil is worthy, and so the seed is sown. What an image, God sees us all as good soil, (places of potential growth) regardless of how rocky or choked with weeds we may be.

God sees us as good soil, even though we may be choked with weeds, even though we all have places that are far more filled with rocks and stones than good earth. It is because God sees us this way that Jesus came to walk amongst us, and deliver us in the first place. It is because of this love God has for us that the seed is sown so widely. We all know that the love of God is limitless, that it will not run out. So too, the seed of hope that is shared with others. It is not our responsibility to determine who is worth sharing our faith with. It is not our job to determine who has or hasn't heard the gospel message. It is not our responsibility to determine the chances of someone's responding positively to the gospel message.

Our responsibility is two: to grow, and to sow. We are called to grow in faith, to grow the seed that has been planted within us. To nurture it with prayer, and scripture, to care for it by providing it with others to grow with, to give it moments when it is challenged to grow and respond. And, we are called to sow. We are called to share the gospel message with the world. This need not be terrifying. One of my favorite quotes is, “Share the good news with others at all times, and when necessary use words.” Sharing our faith is best done when we are in loving service to others, when we are modeling the love that we have experienced in acts of love for others.

That is our calling, that is our charge, that is our privilege and our joy. May we come to discover that joy more fully, may we know the unending love of God more deeply, and may we sow the seed with reckless abandon as a sign of that unending love. Amen.

1http://endhunger.org/food_waste.htm

Yokes and Burdens

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost – Proper 9 – Year A

July 6, 2014

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

[Jesus said:] "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places 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 indicated 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."

Over the last few weeks I have been able, because of my knee still being in recovery mode, to indulge in one of my little joys and spend a fair amount of time watching the World Cup. I know that soccer is not the American past-time, and there are many people who just don't get it, but for me there are few sports that rival it for pure athleticism and drama. Both of the girls are getting to an age where they will sometimes sit still for a few minutes with me and watch a bit of a game. Inevitably, that brings about questions. Why this? Why that? What happens when...? Why did he just.....? It's been challenging at times for me to remember all the rules of soccer to explain the game play in way that a child's mind can understand.

You would think that soccer is a pretty simple game: unless you are the goalie, you can't touch the ball, you can't kick the other player before you kick the ball, and you score when the ball goes into the net. If only it were truly that simple. When I was in high school I helped out with our high school girls team, and let me tell you trying to remember all the rules when you are running up and down the field as a referee trying to blow the whistle at the right times, trying to figure out if that really was a foul when she went flying through the air, was that a handball? It was tough. I really wasn't a very good referee; I loved to play the game, but having to focus on all the rules just wasn't my cup of tea.

I love games. Whether it's a simple game of 'HORSE' with a basketball, a game of Monopoly, a card game, or even more complicated board games. I love games. I have a closet full of games. One thing I don't like though is when I have to spend hour upon hour learning all the rules of how to play a game. Give me a game with 3 or 4 pages of instructions, I'm okay. I once played a game whose instruction book was over 20 pages. We spent more time in the game referring to the instructions than playing the game. My friends and I played it a few times, but it wasn't long before we were so annoyed with how complicated it was that we moved on to more easily understood options.

Rules can be crazy sometimes. So often it seems as if people take something really simple, and through a bunch of rules they make it really, really complicated. Sometimes, you seriously have to wonder if all the rules and guidelines actually are counter-productive to the process. Now it seems as if everything in life has rules to it. In order to drive a car, you need to know all the rules of the road for the written and driving tests. Don't pass, and no license. But, how many of us would be able to pass it now, after we've been driving for years? Would you be willing to take a test on the spur of the moment with your license at stake?

And then there are all the different electronic devices and pieces of technology that surround us more and more every day. Thirty years ago the joke was if you wanted to set the time on your VCR, you asked your kids to do it. Nowadays, our kids grow up with cellphones and I-pads in their hands, the internet and computers are their natural playground. And the rest of us wonder how to just heat up our coffee in the microwave without blowing something up! I think it's safe to say that all the technology and electronics, all the rules about how to do things, rather than making life easier have ended up making it more difficult at times. It's become a burden to us.

This is the Fourth of July weekend it's natural for us to look back historically and see how the colonists rebelled against the British Empire because of the rules that were being enforced upon them. Now, to the British, I'm sure all those expectations and requirements made perfect sense. But, to the good people of Boston, it was enough to make them throw all their tea into the harbor; it was enough to prompt a fledgling nation to fight for freedom. Life here is, according to our founding documents, about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. (And, the millions upon millions of pages of laws and legal interpretations do nothing to make things more complicated!)

In recent years there has been a growing cry within the United States to lesson the number of laws and regulations that govern our lives here. The laws that have given us our very freedom, have come to be seen by people as being burdensome and heavy-handed. Whether we feel that way or not, I think we can all agree that it would be nice to be able to fill out our tax forms without having to worry about being audited because we overlooked some obscure statute.

Jesus says, "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'm not sure, but how often do you think of your faith as being easy, the burden being light? Sure, without question there are times when it's easy. The whole: thou shalt not kill is pretty easy. But, umm, honoring your parents, not coveting the new lawnmower your neighbor just bought. Those are a little tougher. And then there are all the other things that our culture seems to have decided go along with our faith – but, not everyone agrees.

For some, drinking alcohol is a sin. For some, a tithe is required at church. For some, divorce isn't an issue. For some, contraception goes against their faith and morals. For some, the clothes you wear are determined by your church. I don't think we've moved very far beyond the many rules and expectations that fill Leviticus and Deuteronomy. All of us have created our own rules for our lives and our faith. And, then we often look around and see who is living up to our standards. We're like the children on the playground Jesus talks about who expect everyone to dance when they play happy music, and wail in grief when they played funeral music. If they don't dance when we want, or don't wail when we think is appropriate, we get mad and often judge them accordingly.

“On one side we see people who are more conservative than we are and we think that they are being too strict. And we may wonder whether they have some kind of mental illness. On the other side we see people who are more progressive and we think they are being too lax. And we may condemn them for having loose morals.” “On the surface of things, it can seem that we’re incredibly ambiguous about spiritual matters, first condemning those who are too conservative, then condemning those who are too liberal. But in reality, we’re like children who can’t make up their minds what they want, because what they really want is just to dictate your actions. When we make religion a matter of following rigid rules, we essentially make ourselves the measure of all things spiritual. That’s an incredible burden to bear. It’s bad enough when we define religion by rigid rules; but when we make ourselves the measure of godliness, that’s a heavy burden indeed.”¹

Jesus calls out to us, asks us, to take his yoke, and that the yoke is not a burden, that it is light. Now, a yoke is an instrument placed upon the neck and shoulders of an animal to allow the animal to be used and guided. It can't be too light, or the animal won't recognize it's there. It can't be too heavy either, or the animal will be burdened by the weight of the yoke and unable to work. A light yet strong yoke is desired. Now, a yoke isn't just used for guiding an animal, it also makes it possible for the animal to do its task. Without a proper yoke, the oxen could not pull the cart, could not plow the field. A yoke not only serves as a controlling guide, but it's also a tool to allow a task to be completed.

Jesus, in our text, points out that the very people he was talking to had created their own standards of what was right and wrong, John the Baptist didn't fit their image, and neither did Jesus. One was too rigid, one was too loose. The people were all about their own expectations, they had become ruled by the rules that guided their faith. Rather than faith being a source of life for them, life was being defined by the rules they followed.

Jesus, though, doesn't want this for his disciples. He doesn't want us to be obsessed and controlled with worrying about what is right or wrong, about deciphering laws and expectations regarding the way we live – what we can drink, whether we can smoke, how we understand the role of marriage and family. That would be a heavy burden to bare, constantly having to check with the latest interpretation of what is and what is not allowed. Jesus declares his burden is light, his yoke is light.

His yoke is love. Love is to be our guiding force, love is to be the thing that enables us to do what we are called to do. We are called to love others as we ourselves would like to be loved. We are called to serve others in their need, as we ourselves would desire to be served if we were in need. It's not a long list of rules. It's not about a liberal or a conservative understanding of the Bible or theology. It's about love. It's about allowing the one who took the weight of the cross upon his back in love to empower us to take love out into the world in his name. It's not about worrying whether we measure up to another person's standards, or if they measure up to ours. It's about letting go of that burden, and allowing the burden that Jesus carried to the cross free us to love. It's about worrying less about how we actually love, and allowing ourselves to just love. In that is freedom, in that is release, in that is life. Amen.

1http://thewakingdreamer.blogspot.com/2011/07/lay-down-your-burden-mt.html