All we’ve heard this past month from Jesus through Matthew comes to fruition today in Jesus’ promise to give you all the strength and guidance you need to be faithful.
Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 14 A
Texts: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30; Romans 7:15-25a; Zechariah 9:9-12
Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
The Gospel readings this past month have led us on a strange journey.
You can’t accuse Jesus of a bait and switch, the way these weeks have gone walking through Matthew 9, 10, and now 11. It’s the opposite: we heard the hardest things first, and now are hearing of hope and relief. Jesus started with the call to go out and heal, bring life, drive out the demonic, proclaim the reign of God, massive, difficult jobs, followed by warnings of rejection, families splitting, and other difficulties when we do the work of Christ’s love. But then, last week Jesus simplified it all to doing kindness and empathy. And now today, it’s even more good news. Don’t worry about this work I need you for, Jesus says. I’m here to help you.
And our readings from Scripture today beautifully take us through the emotional journey we’ve just been on, so that by the time we get to the Gospel we’re ready for the relief and hope Jesus offers.
Zechariah speaks first today, of joy.
Zechariah says, “rejoice greatly” – God has come to you, will end war and suffering, bring peace, and will reign over all. You’ll be freed from what binds you, and restored to the fullness of your life.
And that’s why these women and men followed Jesus in the first place. Not because of what we’ve heard the past month, the sending. They followed because they saw in him the sign of God’s coming into the world, fulfilling not only Zechariah’s promise, but many others in Scripture. Their joy was full as they met Jesus, were blessed by him, followed him. Some, like Mary Magdalene, were healed of possession themselves. Some, like Matthew, who were treated as pariahs, were told they were worthy of God, too. All saw in Jesus God’s coming reign of peace justice and mercy and wholeness for all.
So, if you can remember why you ever loved Jesus, ever came here hoping to hear from him, if you remember why you trust that God in Christ loves you and all things and is promising to make this world new, even ending death’s power, you’ll recognize that joy.
It is from that joyful following that Jesus then sends people out to be Christ.
But no matter where the sending originates, it’s a hard path.
Jesus himself was overwhelmed by it, and needed fellow workers. All of the difficulties and risks Jesus talked about are real. And today the apostle Paul opens his heart and says, “it’s really hard for me, too.”
This section of his letter is so personal, but you can immediately recognize in yourself what Paul is saying. He wants to do the law of God, delights in it, wants to do good. He wants to live in the Spirit and be the Christ he’s called to be, the loving Christ he urges all his congregations to be.
But he struggles. The good he wants to do, he says, he doesn’t always do. The bad he wants to avoid, he ends up doing. He’s trapped in his old habits, patterns, ways, even when he desperately wants to live in new ways. When he tries to break free, he falls back.
There’s your gift: whatever anxiety you had over your inadequacy or possible failure when listening to Jesus’ call to you these past weeks, Paul says, “I know exactly what you’re going through.” You’re not alone in your fear of failure, in your frustration at your stuck-ness, in your confusion about why it’s so hard to walk a new way, even if it’s a way of love and mercy. Thank God Paul says, “me, too.”
And yet, Paul’s real gift is at the end of this section. “Who will rescue me?” he cries. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” he answers. So Paul takes you by the hand and leads you to today’s Gospel, to Jesus.
And Jesus gives you the best news of all: I’m here to help you.
After filling you with hope that in Christ God will heal all things, and calling you to follow with your life and love; after sending you anointed as Christ to be God’s love in the world, and telling you it’s going to be hard and risky; after asking you to be Christ’s compassion, kindness, and empathy, now Jesus says this: Just come to me if you’re burdened with all this, and I’ll help you.
I’ll do all this work with you, yoked at your side. I’ll pull along with you, guide you, support you. Even give you rest. I’ll make the work almost feel easy.
When you’re exhausted at your struggles with your old ways and habits, frustrated that you forgot yet again, or failed in your love, or missed a chance to make a difference, whenever you feel like Paul feels, remember: you’re not pulling the weight alone. Christ bears that weight with and for you. You have all you need right at your side, if you look for Christ and listen for the Spirit’s voice. You’ll find that strength, that partner, that work-sharer.
But there is one important warning.
None of this matters if you don’t want to follow, if you refuse to be sent. There is no joy Zechariah can give you in God’s coming, no relief and hope Paul can give you in your struggles, no shared strength Christ can give you in your work, if you don’t want God to come, don’t want to struggle to be Christ, don’t want to work in God’s reign.
If you want to live your life as you choose, on your terms, doing things your way, God will let you. If you don’t want to be changed, don’t want to learn compassion and kindness and empathy, don’t want to love enemies or pray for people you don’t like, don’t want to risk loving your neighbor, don’t want to work to change the world, God won’t force you.
Lots of people come to crossroads in life and know the right way to turn, the way of life and good, and don’t choose that way, because it’s too hard. That’s your choice. Just remember you can’t take two different paths at the same time. It’s not possible.
But if you want what God is doing, it is yours.
If you want to take the right turn, if you want what God is offering in Christ, all these gifts are yours. You’ll find Zechariah’s joy, Paul’s commiseration, Jesus’ relief.
So come to Christ with all your burdens about how you are living as Christ, all your anxieties about not being good enough or faithful enough. All of us carry the same burdens, even Paul himself.
And all of us are here to remember we are yoked with Christ in this life, in this ministry, and with that guidance and strength, anything is possible. Even you becoming someone who changes the world, if only your little part of it, with God’s love and mercy.
In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
