Exhausted and Overmatched
It's fun to listen to Jesus and his way of cutting through all the religious junk that gets in the way of a person from experiencing the God-life people were designed to have. He challenged the accepted order of things, whether from preachers or profiteers, and reached into the heart of any of his beloved with the offer of relief and pardon and purpose and rest.
Take a well-known couple of verses as an example. These are found in Matthew 11 and Jesus is neck-deep in ministry activity. Toward the end of the chapter he stops to pray, and then explains a bit of his relationship with the Father as well as a healthy slice of why he came. Take a listen.
Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden I give you is light.”
One way to look at this (but certainly not the only way) is that he addresses two different sets of needy people: Those weary and those carrying burdens.
First, there are the "weary" among us. These can be well-intentioned women and men who study the bible and listen to the sermons and read helpful books, then set to work trying to do all they have learned and are...exhausted. Feeling they will answer for their lives, these folks attempt labor to live good moral lives, and do the best they can to drive in their lane only occasionally a bit over the speed limit. Weariness comes in when all this effort to make God love them becomes just dull, hard, unending work. It is to these good people that Jesus invites to "come."
Then there are those who live "burdened" lives. Burdens are as individual as people. Some will have carried family trauma and deep disappointment. Others have climbed ladders and experienced adventures and who have drunk the drink to the dregs and found it wanting. Still more look over the landscape of their life and see more wreckage than structure. Feelings of being over-matched easily weigh a person down. Whatever the burden is, Jesus says, "Come unto me and I will give you rest." Another translation of that phrase can be "I will relieve you" as he lifts your burden.
Then, after removal, comes replacement.
As we fold our life into his and bow to his lordship, accepting his relentless love, we find ourselves in a place to "learn from (him)" and experience relief from the exhaustion and burdens of life. Under his instruction, done quietly in each heart by the Spirit's prompting, we slowly replace what wore us out with his view on the world that frees a person up. Jesus becomes our teacher for every bit of life.
His description of himself as “gentle and humble of heart” turns our Jesus-classroom into a Socratic dialogue where he takes what we already know and leads us to discover new ways to live. Jesus will not demand and act as just the next taskmaster, but tenderly remove a harsh yoke and offer us his in its place. Bob Dylan got it right when he sang, "You gonna serve somebody." That's the idea of a yoke. We will be under some kind of authority, even if it is our own.
Jesus says "Come unto me" and follow. What an invitation. Simple. Open. Loving. And not exclusive when he follows up with “all” that is a technical term that means...anyone who will come. That's you and me and any BillyBob down the street. In time, we will all get exhausted and over-extended and seek relief.
The promised outcome? "You will find rest for your souls." Not just a nap on the couch but soul rest. A place where the mind, emotions, and one's will will settle and not be anxious or worried or even feel like one's world is out of control. This is a rest that touches all parts of a person and flows out to home and work and social interactions and to every corner of life. As we exchange our yoke, one of duty and drudgery, for his, we discover that under his care his yoke is "easy and (his) burden is light."
How does that sound? It looks like so much more than an even trade...it's a trade UP! Soul rest. Just what we need.
Our faith life is not about "doing" more, doing it all better, flogging yourself and others along, but simply "being" with Jesus. Pour out your heart to him and ask him to gently and humbly lead you through your life that can be so wearisome and burden-filled. We all need to slip, once again, out of our harsh yoke and into his. Over and over is just fine. It's all a journey and you are not alone.
Music for the week
Keith Green brings a message and then a song
Now... one lame but relatable joke
Swell Casserole
(To the tune of It Is Well with My Soul)
VERSE 1
When peas, rice, and liver
Are blended on my plate
Alongside a burnt dinner roll,
Whatever folks brought
I've been taught I must say,
"This is swell, really swell casserole."
CHORUS
It is swell (it is swell)
Casserole (Casserole)
It is swell, it is swell casserole.
VERSE 2
Some smart aleck kid
Scooped up all the deviled eggs,
Some things are beyond my control
He left green jell-o salad
And cream-style creamed corn
And of course, that unknown casserole.
CHORUS
VERSE 3
I grin, 'though the gristle's impossible to chew,
I grin and I swallow it whole.
It sticks in my throat
And I gag 'til I'm blue,
But it's swell, really swell casserole.
CHORUS
VERSE 4
Oh. Lord, haste the day
When I've taken my last bite
Of tuna surprise five days old.
Let them bring Yankee pot-roast
Or, southern fried bird,
And forget all those swell casseroles.