Pentecost 3A
Matthew 11:16-30
July 3, 2011
On July 3, 1776, John Adams wrote a letter to his wife Abigail in regards to the proceedings that took place on July 2nd. It was on the 2nd of July, 1776, that the Second Continental Congress voted on a resolution that legally separated the thirteen American colonies from British control. In the letter to his wife, John Adams wrote: “The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.” Mr. Adams was two days off in his guess at when the birthday of the United States would be celebrated…however, for the most part, the majority of what else he wrote to Abigail has happened and continues to occur when we celebrate our nation’s birthday.
Last Sunday, our Gospel reading came from the end of a speech that Jesus gave the disciples before sending them out into the mission field. If you take a look back at chapter 10 of Matthew you would hear about the mission Jesus was sending them on and how that mission would not without its hardships. Jesus says the disciples are being sent out like sheep into the midst of wolves, they will be persecuted for spreading the gospel. They are told that anyone one who is willing to follow should love Jesus more than their family and should be willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel. After Jesus had finished giving his instructions to the disciples and he has sent them out. And Jesus himself continues to travel to different cities preaching to and teaching the people. And it appears that instead of receiving welcome and hospitality, Jesus was met with apathy. We hear, in our text today, the part which is not printed in your bulletin but should not be ignored, Jesus reproaching the cities who had not received his teaching or deeds of power with a welcome attitude…and it would seem that they hadn’t cared for John the Baptist’s message either.
In a moment of frustration, Jesus asks “to what shall I compare this generation?” This is a statement used in God’s lawsuits (if you will) against the people of the Old Testament…and not in a good way. “You are like children in the marketplace!” he continues, comparing the people to children who don’t play well with one another. He says “John didn’t eat or drink and you said he had a demon! Now the Son of Man comes eating and drinking and you say ‘Look! a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” What do I have to I do to please you??
It seems that the people didn’t want to listen to someone who departed from social norms, like John…and they certainly didn’t want to listen to someone who ate with the sinners.
So Jesus turns to the one he can trust most than anything and says “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.” In other words, I thank you that you have hidden these things from those who rely on themselves, the priests, religious leaders and others who had power, and have revealed them to those who rely on you, the poor, the downtrodden, the outcast.
The wise and intelligent people were those who believed their righteous deeds made them better that those who didn’t always do what they were supposed to. They were so dependant on themselves, so Independent from anyone else that they began to think that it was up to them to secure their own salvation. Why would they need an ascetic who lived in the wilderness and acted like a crazy man or someone who hung out with the outcast of society to teach them the word of God… these men were irrelevant in their eyes…just keep fishing and doing the right things and you’re fine.
Fast forward about 2000 years…what would happen if John and Jesus came to us now, on the eve of our nations 235th birthday and appeared walking down Mass Street? Would we take notice? Or, in the midst of all the ways that we have tried to become independent from a whole lot of things and self-reliant for a whole lot of other things, would we just walk on by?
Personal independence and personal freedoms are something that we value in this nation. We’re a “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself,” a “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” culture. We want independence from any number of things…we look up to so-called self-made entrepreneurs… we value anonymity over community, especially since the advent of social media. And as much as we as Lutherans profess that our salvation has been achieved by the Grace of God alone through our faith, it’s still really tempting to think that maybe, just maybe we can get ourselves on the road to salvation faster on our own. It can become so tempting for us to make a list of all the good things that we’ve done and compare notes with our friends and family members to see who deserves salvation more.
It is so tempting for us to think that if we do enough good deeds and righteous acts, we can speed up our way to salvation. And when this happens, we end up looking only to ourselves for our salvation…and we start getting worn down. Scholar Barbara Brown Taylor said it best when she wrote “I may believe that I live by God’s grace, but I act like a scout collecting merit badges. I have a list of things to do that is a mile long, and…the majority of them are things I think I ought to do…that I have better do or God will not love me anymore…I thought that the way to find rest for my soul was to finish my list of things to do and present it to God like a full book of savings stamps, but as it turned out that was not the ticket at all.” When we start running around collecting merit badges to present to God, those “badges” become a heavy burden on top of the other burdens that we already carry because of the sin that we live in…and we get worn down and tired. We get worried, frustrated and sometimes angry. The weight of the burdens keeps piling on and soon no amount of rest can relieve our weary souls.
But, we are blessed…blessed that in almost the same breath, Jesus both scolds us and offers us words of comfort. And so we hear “Woe to you!” but then, “come unto me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” I’m sure that if Jesus and John walked down main street USA this morning, the “woe to yous!” would be flying everywhere…but there would still be the offer to come and rest.
Our savior Jesus Christ knows the burdens of being human…he knows what it is like to carry those burdens because he carries our burdens just like he carried the cross on his way to Golgotha …and though Jesus was crucified almost two thousand years ago, that offer still applies…to take off the yoke of our burdens and put on his yoke…one that is light and allows us to truly be free…free from sin, death and the powers of evil…free from worrying if we did every thing right. When we go to the cross and exchange our yokes for the yoke of Christ, we are taking on the role of servants…servants who are free to go out into the world and serve God in thanksgiving for the salvation that we have received through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And it is here that we have rest…rest for our souls…sacred rest.
So let us on this independence day weekend declare our dependence on the one who calls us to himself and takes our burdens on his shoulders and gives our souls sacred rest. Amen
