An Invitation

Matthew 11:28-30

An Invitation  

“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 11:28-30  

It’s not very often that someone comes along and says things like, “Come to me, all of you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest (28).” As well, the offer of “rest for our souls (29)” sounds rather appealing too.  

But it is just the kind of invitation that comes from Jesus in this passage. As a matter of fact it is one of the stained glass panels in the front of our sanctuary. In this invitation, Jesus acknowledges that there are going to be times where the weight of our responsibilities or our actions or pasts will be so much that it will be like carrying a piano on our back. Been there.  

Sometimes it is grief or anger. Sometimes it is just years of hopelessness. Sometimes it is becoming aware of the damage of some of our decisions – guilt. There is that Beatles’ song “Carry That Weight” with the lyrics, “Boy, you’re going to carry that weight, carry that weight a long time.” It can be like a map – if we trace back from where we are with all the burdens – along the route are many of the crashes and wrong turns we have made ourselves.  

And doesn’t it often feel like we are carrying something on our back? There is nothing literally there, but if you look carefully, sometimes you can see people hunching over from the weight. We think of the quote, “weight of the world on his/her shoulders.”  So we have Jesus saying to people then and still today – that when you feel like this – come to him for relief and rest and release. So often this Scripture is used at funerals and that is fine. But this passage is about being alive and doing something about letting go of weight while we are living.  

See, here is the thing. Jesus puts the invitation out there and that is his way. But the key as to how the weight will be relieved is in this part, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart…For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (29-30).” As many of you know, the word “yoke” in those times was usually a big piece of wood used to steer oxen and other large animals when they doing jobs like plowing fields. And as you might know, it went across their shoulders.

Now, true, it was quite restrictive and felt very heavy. But it was also very effective in keeping them following the lines.  I know that isn’t too popular today – staying within the lines. But when the lines are God’s ways instead of lines in the field – that makes a big difference. On top of that, all the weight that we feel right here and now is often because of when we have gone off-line so to speak. Often another reason we feel the weight is because we are owning or carrying weight that is neither ours to carry nor for us to bear alone. 

So now, when Jesus says to come to him and he wants to give us rest by exchanging the burdens we are carrying for his yoke and burden, which is light (30) – one could say, well there is no change. NOT. Remember what Jesus’ burden is – to do God’s will. That is why he can say that it is light. He is not burdened with all the manufactured weights that we throw on ourselves.

When he is saying come to me and get rest and take on his yoke (ways), it is going to require a change of perspective – a focus on doing God’s will as well as transformation from doing so. 

Which leaves us with a choice. We can keep carrying the heavy burdens and the weariness as we have for many years. Or we can come to Jesus and find rest for our souls through leaving our ways behind and taking on Jesus’ ways in all parts of our lives.  

It’s time.  

Amen.  

Discussion Questions

1. What are some of the heavy burdens you are carrying today? How long has it been?
2. What would rest for your soul look or feel like? Do you ever think about it in this way? Why or why not?
3. Does taking Jesus’ yoke upon you sound negative or restricting (even though he means it would bring rest and relief from our ways of doing things)? If yes, why?
4. What is one way you can start to let go of your burdens today through taking on the ways of Jesus?