Year A - Proper 9, July 9, 2023
My Yoke is Easy
In the name of the one who said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Amen.
As we continue to lean into the Season after Pentecost, we discover new ways to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. In today’s Gospel reading, it is easy to skim over the confusing section about children, sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, and leap to the section with Jesus’ comforting words, “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
It may seem “nice” to stop there and live an unaltered life, but we would be missing the point of the passage. Let’s take a closer look.
Today’s reading of Matthew’s gospel begins with an odd comparison between Jesus and John the Baptist – and the differences between these two characters are quite entertaining!
The Gospel reads, “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!’ Evidently, darned if you do and darned if you don’t!
John and Jesus certainly were very different from one another.
In Matthew 3, John eats bugs – to be specific, locusts. In contrast, Jesus would stop at a moment’s notice to go enjoy a good meal with pretty much any sinner off the streets.
John called his listeners a “Brood of vipers!”, while Jesus begins his Sermon on the Mount with a long list of those who will receive blessings.
John stood in the wilderness wearing scratchy shirts, while Jesus was willing to invoke the name of God to keep the wine flowing at a wedding party!
But whether you are John the Baptist, preaching repentance in the wilderness, or Jesus, introducing the Kingdom of Heaven to the world, the teachers of the law found reasons to disapprove. Oddly enough, God’s ways can be simultaneously too “conservative” and too “liberal.”
Jesus continues, leaving his listeners with a remarkable invitation: For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
What is this “light” and “easy” work that Jesus offers? That sounds like a far cry from “take up your cross.” Taking the “easy” way of life does not often “set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother.”
However, Jesus is not offering freedom from work, but rather freedom from the burdens of oppressive and mundane labor. Jesus offers freedom from carelessness, hopelessness, and oppressive systemic injustices.
If we accept the yoke – or assignment – of our gentle Creator, we will be drawn to tasks that bring God’s love to those who are hurting, oppressed and forgotten. Amid this work, we will discover the Kingdom of God, and our souls will be at ease.
Here the words of Jesus once again:
Come to me, all you that are weary, and I 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.
Therefore, let us do that work that Jesus has called us to do and prepare for the work that is ahead of us.
How can we at Trinity Cathedral continue to strive to bring God’s healing love to those around us? Jesus isn’t promising that the work itself will be easy, but when we do God’s work, our souls will find rest! We will experience the joy and newness of life that Jesus celebrates with those around him.
My soul is joyful as we work toward so many wonderful opportunities such as Pride Mass, Camp Canterbury, and the Episcopal Migration Ministries’ Rainbow Initiative. Our opportunities here at Trinity are many:
We need Sunday School for our upcoming school year
There are opportunities with music ministry
Hospitality,
Becoming our UTO coordinator,
Delivering eggs to Victory
Caring for our building and resources, and more
Beyond our walls, we have Kingdom work to do every single day. What systemic injustices do we encounter in our daily lives? Who is it that needs an advocate?
In listening to a few episodes of Unfiltered Stories recently, I have been reminded of the horrific imprisonment of human trafficking that some girls and women endure every single day. If we do not stand against such atrocities, are we for them? Yet, we have life-saving resources in our backyard such as Magdalene Omaha who need our support. Speaking of whom, I am excited to hear from Deacon Teresa, who will be preaching at Trinity later this month.
Let us not sit back, but rather take up Jesus’ yoke of bringing God’s healing love to those around us. How are you called to participate? May the Holy Spirit invite you to take on life-giving work today. Amen
I have one final comment on the text before we begin to think about its implications on our lives.
Black American biblical scholar and Episcopal Priest Wilda Gafney points out to her readers that in these verses, human and divine motherhood come together. Just before today’s passage, Jesus remarks, “Among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist.” So when Jesus calls himself, “the Son of Man”, or more literally son of a human, Dr. Gafney holds that a better title, in this context, would be “Son of Woman.” Finally, Gafney writes, “Jesus positions himself as the child of wisdom; her deeds are his deeds.”
As we think about God as our divine mother, calling us to do Kingdom work, how does this affect our understanding of the Kingdom of God?
Mtr. Lisa Aguilar+