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7th Sunday after Pentecost Genesis 24:34-38,42-49,58-67 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Gospel according to Matthew 11:16-19,25-30 "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." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WEDNESDAY MORNING, AT 20 MINUTES OF 8, AS I WAS GETTING BREAKFAST READY FOR THE ANIMALS, THE PHONE RANG. IT WAS BILL, ONE OF MY OLDEST FRIENDS, SAYING “I JUST NEED TO HEAR A FAMILIAR, FRIENDLY VOICE.” “I’M HERE,” I ANSWERED. “WHAT’S UP?” BILL AND I WERE EMPLOYED BY THE CHAPPAQUA SCHOOL SYSTEM, HE AS A GUIDANCE COUNSELOR, I AS A TEACHER. WE MET IN ORIENTATION AND IMMEDIATELY CONNECTED. AND HAVE FOR SOME 35 YEARS SHARED A WONDERFUL FRIENDSHIP. HE LEFT CHAPPAQUA TO GO TO NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY A FEW YEARS BEFORE I LEFT TO COME TO CANDLER. HE BECAME A BAPTIST PASTOR IN PENNSYLVANIA, I STAYED IN ATLANTA AND BECAME AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST. BUT WE SEE EACH OTHER WHEN WE CAN, AND TALK FREQUENTLY. A YEAR OR SO AGO, BILL WAS DIAGNOSED WITH PARKINSON’S DISEASE. IT HAS BEEN A TOUGH ROAD, AND WHAT HE TOLD ME ABOUT THAT MORNING WAS THE TROUBLE HE HAD WITH BALANCE AND FALLING. HE HAD FALLEN OUT OF BED, KNOCKING A BUREAU OVER, WITH ALL THE DRAWERS FALLING ON HIM. HE WAS SCARED. HE WAS WEEPING. AS HE TALKED ON, I SENSED HE HAS BECOME FEARFUL, AFRAID TO GO ANYWHERE, HE FEELS IMPRISONED IN HIS OWN HOME. I COULDN’T DO ANYTHING, I COULDN’T HOLD HIM, I COULDN’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM. I COULD ONLY OFFER COMFORT, PRAYER, AND A FRIENDLY VOICE. COMFORT MAY BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING THAN ANY OF US OFFER. IT’S AN ACT OF LISTENING, OF OPENING UP TO WHAT IS. IT IS A REFUSAL TO IGNORE THE SUFFERING OF A FRIEND. AND IT IS AN ACT OF GOD. WE HAVE JUST HEARD JESUS WORDS IN MATTHEW. “COME TO ME, ALL YOU THAT ARE WEARY AND ARE CARRYING HEAVY BURDENS, AND I WILL GIVE YOUR REST.” WHEN WE ARE IN PAIN, WHEN WE ARE BURDENED, REST IS WHAT WE NEED. AND IT IS COMFORT THAT WILL HELP PROVIDE THAT REST. WE SET THE HEAVY BURDENS DOWN FOR A WHILE. WE BECOME JESUS TO EACH OTHER. THE CHRIST WHICH IS IN EACH OF US REACHES OUT. THEN WE PICK UP THOSE BURDENS AGAIN AND TRY TO MOVE ON. I REMEMBER WHEN I FIRST HEARD THOSE “COMFORTABLE WORDS,” AS WE NAMED THIS INVITATION FROM JESUS IN THE 1928 PRAYER BOOK SERVICE. “COME UNTO ME, ALL YE THAT TRAVAIL AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL REFRESH YOU.“ IT WAS BACK IN THE 60’S. ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS FROM CHILDHOOD, BETTY, MARRIED AN EPISCOPAL PRIEST. THEY LIVED IN GROTON, CONNECTICUT WHICH WAS NEAR ENOUGH SO THAT I COULD SPEND WEEKENDS WITH THEIR FAMILY. IT WAS A WONDERFUL ESCAPE FROM MY VERY DIFFICULT JOB SITUATION, TEACHING 2ND GRADE IN EAST HARLEM WITH UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN. EVERY TIME I HEARD THOSE WORDS READ ON THOSE WEEKENDS, I COULD FEEL THE COMFORT OF THE HEAVY LADEN. AND TODAY I AM CAUGHT IN A NEW WAY BY THE SENTENCES THAT FOLLOW JESUS’ INVITATION. THEY AREN’T QUITE AS COMFORTABLE, ASKING SOMETHING OF US. “TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME.” THAT WORK “YOKE” IS NOT ONE THAT WE USE FREQUENTLY AND IT JUMPS OUT AT ME. I CONJURE UP A PICTURE OF THAT WOODEN FRAME THAT IS PLACED OVER THE NECK OF OXEN TO KEEP THEM IN LINE, MAKING IT EASIER FOR THEM TO PULL A PLOW OR A WAGON. THAT FRAME PUTS THE WEIGHT AGAINST THE ANIMAL’S SHOULDERS, THE STRONG PART OF THEIR BODIES. IT FOCUSES THE ENERGY. IN JESUS’ DAY YOKES WERE MADE OF WOOD SO IT’S POSSIBLE THAT AS A CARPENTER, HE MIGHT HAVE MADE THEM. AND HOPEFULLY THEY WERE TAILORED TO THE INDIVIDUAL ANIMAL TO PREVENT THEM FROM CHAFING. THIS USE OF A YOKE SEEMS HELPFUL. BUT THERE ARE OTHER YOKE PICTURES WHICH COME TO MIND, THAT ARE NOT SO POSITIVE SUCH AS THE OLD TESTAMENT DESCRIPTIONS OF CAPTIVES BEING YOKED TOGETHER TO KEEP THEM FROM ESCAPING, OR SLAVES WHO ARE YOKED TOGETHER TO PULL HEAVY LOADS. AND FROM THERE IT IS BUT A SMALL STEP TO THINKING OF THE WORD YOKE TO MEAN SERVITUDE OR SUBJECTION. BUT WHAT I THINK JESUS IS TALKING ABOUT IS NOT AN INVITATION TO SERVITUDE, BUT RATHER AN INVITATION TO A NEW SENSE OF JOINING WITH HIM. IN THOSE FIRST CENTURY DAYS THE JEWISH LAW WAS SOMETIMES CALLED A YOKE. IT WAS A BURDEN TO THOSE WHERE WERE TRYING TO LIVE UNDER IT. FOR EXAMPLE LATER IN MATTHEW, JESUS SAYS OF THE SCRIBES AND PHARISEES, “THEY TIE UP HEAVY BURDENS AND LAY THEM ON MEN’S SHOULDERS.” POSSIBLY JESUS WAS EXTENDING HIS FOLLOWERS THE VISION OF FREEDOM FROM THE DEMANDS OF THE PHARISAIC LAWS, AND ASKING THEM TO JOIN HIS NEW WAYS. HE SAYS, “ MY YOKE FITS WELL. THE BURDEN I GIVE YOU IS NOT TO WEIGH YOU DOWN. YOUR TASK IS MADE TO MEASURE, TO FIT.” AND THEN HE ADDS THE REQUEST, “LEARN FROM ME.” WHAT A LOVELY INVITATION, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES FROM SOMEONE WHO IS “GENTLE AND HUMBLE IN HEART.” I KNOW THAT TEACHING ANYONE, YOUR CHILDREN AT HOME, YOUR STUDENTS IN AN ACADEMIC SETTING, YOUR PEERS AT WORK, YOUR CLIENT, IS A REAL TEST OF ONE’S GENTLENESS AND HUMBLENESS AT TIMES. A TEACHER IS SUPPOSED TO KNOW MORE THAN HIS OR HER STUDENTS. DOES THAT MAKE US HUMBLE? WHAT ABOUT DISCIPLINE? I RECALL FROM MY TEACHING YEARS THAT IT CAN BE PRETTY HARD TO MAINTAIN ORDER WITH GENTLENESS. BUT IF I THINK BACK TO HOW I LEARN BEST, I AM AWARE THAT I HAVE LEARNED MORE FROM THOSE WHO ARE “LOWLY OF HEART,” AS THEY SAY, THAN FROM THOSE WHO CLAIM WITH AUTHORITY TO HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. AND THAT’S HOW JESUS COMES TO US, HUMBLY, PEACEFULLY, OFFERING TO TEACH US. THE FINAL SENTENCE IN THIS PASSAGE IS, “FOR MY YOKE IS EASY, AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT,” I SUSPECT THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE, WORLD WIDE, WHO RESPOND WITH DISBELIEF WHEN THEY HEAR THOSE WORDS “EASY” AND “LIGHT,” THAN THOSE WHO CAN WHOLEHEARTEDLY SAY THAT THEIR LIVES REFLECT CHRIST’S PROMISE. WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE WORDS. BEING YOKED WITH JESUS IS NOT AN OPTION FOR THE CHRISTIAN. WE MUST BE CONNECTED, CONNECTED WITH EACH OTHER, CONNECTED WITH CHRIST. AND DRIVING THE WAGON, SO TO SPEAK, IS GOD. IN A SENSE WE GIVE OURSELVES OVER TO GOD, SO THAT THE GRACE OF GOD CAN OFFERS US EASE. THERE IS SOMETHING INCONSISTENT IN THINKING THAT A BURDEN CAN BE LIGHT. THE VERY WORD BURDEN IMPLIES SOMETHING HEAVY. I CAN ONLY ENVISION THIS AS POSSIBLE IF WE ARE ABLE TO TURN OUR BURDENS OVER TO GOD AND NOT DEPEND ON OUR SELVES TO FIND THE ANSWER, WHEN WE TRUST COMPLETELY THAT GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF THEM, WE ARE GIVEN HELP WITH THE HEAVINESS OF SUFFERING AND PAIN. I’VE BEEN READING WITH GREAT INTEREST A LENGTHY ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORKER ENTITLED “THE HOME FRONT, A SOLDIER’S FATHER WRESTLES WITH THE AMBIGUITIES OF IRAQ.” THE FATHER, CHRIS, WAS NOT THRILLED WHEN HIS SON KURT ENLISTED IN THE ARMY AFTER DROPPING OUT OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE. IT WASN’T LONG BEFORE KURT FROSHEISER WAS IN IRAQ, AND TRAINING FOR HIS LICENSE AS A HUMVEE DRIVER. AS HE WENT WITH ANOTHER DRIVER TO ASSIST A MISSION AT BY THE COMBAT-SUPPORT HOSPITAL, KURT WAS KILLED BY ENEMY FIRE. THE NEWS WAS BROUGHT TO CHRIS BY A LIEUTENANT-COLONEL AND FROM THAT POINT ON, THE ARTICLE RELATES THE DETAILS OF CHRIS’ ANGUISH AS HE STRUGGLED WITH THE DEATH OF HIS SON.. HE DREAMS THAT HE WAS IN THE ARMY WITH KURT AT TIMES AND IT SEEMS THAT HE WAS COMPELLED TO MAKE SENSE OF THIS DEATH AND THE WAR BY PURSUING EVENTS FROM EVERY ANGLE. HE WANTED TO KNOW EVERY DETAIL OF KURT’S DEATH. AND THEN HE ASKS THE QUESTION, “WE KNOW THAT PEOPLE LIVE ON IN OUR HEARTS, BUT DO THEY LIVE ON ANOTHER WAY?” IT WAS AT THE POINT THAT HE GOT TO TALK WITH THE DRIVER OF KURT’S HUMVEE WHO CALLED FROM GERMANY CONFIRMING THE FACT THAT KURT NEVER HAD A CHANCE, THE DEATH WAS IMMEDIATE. THE COMFORT THIS YOUNG MAN OFFERED ENABLED CHRIS TO LET GO OF THE BURDEN. YES, HE HAD BEEN WEARY AND HEAVY LADEN, AND A WAY HAD COME TO LIGHTEN THE LOAD. GOD HAD PROVIDED A HELPING HAND. THERE ARE TIMES WHEN WE NEED TO LISTEN TO THAT INVITATION FROM JESUS AND ACCEPT IT. The Rev. Ruth T. Healy - Associate Priest
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