Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 “How
can I account for this generation? The people have been like spoiled children
whining to their parents, ‘We wanted to skip rope, and you were always too
tired; we wanted to talk, but you were always too busy.’ John came fasting and
they called him crazy. I came feasting and they called me a lush, a friend of
the riffraff. Opinion polls don’t count for much, do they? The proof of the
pudding is in the eating.”
Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:
“Thank you, Maker of heaven and earth. You’ve concealed your ways from
know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people. That’s the way
you like to work.” Jesus spoke to the people, but now tenderly.
“I have been given all these things to do and say. This is a unique
relationship, parent and child intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the child
quite the way the parent does, nor the other way around. For me, it’s a special
father-son relationship; but I’m not keeping it to myself; I’m ready to go over
it line by line with anyone willing to listen.
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to
me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a
real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced
rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep
company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
**************************************************************************
This week I found myself smiling at news about the
appropriate dress code for sitting in Congress. Women cannot wear bare arms or
shoulders, or open-toed shoes. Not even reporters in the o utside rooms. Now,
to be fair, there’s a bit of a dress code for men too. Ties and suit jackets at
all times even in the hot summer. There’s also a bit of irony in it too.
We bemoan the decline of organized religion, and perhaps don’t stop to think how
old-fashioned ‘rules’ can affect people. Cultures change, expectations change.
I
was reading a comment yesterday from a friend who discovered her congregation felt they wanted someone who would bring in
new younger people, without doing anything which might upset the way their
current membership liked to do things. Reading behind that, those existing
members probably wanted to keep everything the way it was – they had their
rules and expectations – and newcomers were supposed to adapt to the old ways.
I
remember going to the church at a former pastoral charge, to help with
preparation for the dinner fundraiser that night. A new member of the
congregation was also helping. He poured out milk into the jugs to go on the
tables – and was roundly scolded by one of the long-time members because he was
pouring milk into the wrong jugs. To his credit, he responded “You’re kidding,
right?” Yet once again – behind this is a need to be in control – and no matter
how much new people may be desired, the rules are there. We do it this way.
Think
back when most of us were younger – new clothes, hats, gloves and shoes every
Easter Sunday. It was our culture then, to dress for church – but where did
that come from? Women especially, as far back as the Roman occupations, always
covered their heads in public. Bodies were not to be seen so much. And just as
cultures developed – in the Orthodox and Catholic cultures, women who became
religious covered everything except the face – so did Muslims.
Here’s a few simple rules from
awhile back:.
-
Wearing formal clothes to Church
-
Certain seats (and offices) are
reserved for faithful donors
-
No applause during the church
service
And further back but still within
our remembered history:
-
No going to the movies – when my
father was young, movies were considered satanic and sinful. My father, whose
family was Christian and Missionary Alliance, sneaked off to movies behind his
parents back.
-
No watching TV
-
No wearing of pants for women – not
even in school in the middle of the winter.
-
No makeup - certainly not in parts of my family.
-
No pastoral role for women – no
ordination or leadership roles – which is funny because women took leadership
and ministry roles in the early church.
-
Tithing – 10% of income to the
church. Years ago when I was going through old minutes in a church office, for
archiving, I came across a book from about 1930 – in which the names of all who
did not tithe were published in the Board minutes for everyone to read. If
people continued not to be able to tithe, they were shunned and banned from the
congregation. Didn’t matter what their personal circumstances were, and there
were names of two banned families.
Back in first-century Israelite culture, the Purity Laws included
the 600+ Laws of Moses, as well as hundreds more added by the religious
leaders. Think about that. The Pharisees, especially, would load their
followers down with commandments, rules and expectations to a point where
people couldn’t possibly keep up with them. Remember Jesus’
arguments with the religious leaders when some women went into the fields on
the Sabbath to pick corn left behind; or the man born blind, shunned because he
was not pure, and it was believed his parents had sinned. Jesus consistently
went after the Pharisees and Sadducees. And remember his comment – the Sabbath
was made for people, not people for the Sabbath.
Can you imagine trying to follow all those rules? Can you imagine
the guilt people would have dragged around, always somehow falling short of
something. And it’s my personal observation that the very people who are
insisting on rules for everything are the ones who are least like Jesus – yet
he is the one we claim to follow.
Jesus advocated for a very different kind of spirituality, one
that was based on fulfilling the law, grounded in God’s love and compassion. Jesus emphasises forgiveness, love and
compassion are recurring words in sermons, while the Pharisees emphasized
theological words such as: obedience, duty, sin, punishment, and condemnation. Which
words have been the basis of so much religious “rule making” through the years?
Jesus was once asked about law and the greatest commandment: his
response was from the Hebrew prayer ‘Shema Yisrael’ – ‘For you shall love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
might.” And then he said “The second is like the first – you shall love your
neighbour as you love yourself.” He didn’t negate the law in any way – he said
the religious leaders had got caught up in useless rules and laws, when in fact
it could all be distilled into those two. Instead, says Jesus, the law was
created for us, to be a benefit, to guide us as we work to live a merciful,
compassionate life.
So Jesus says “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.”
Jesus
audience was familiar with spiritual yokes, as their religious leaders
oppressed them with heavy burdens. And the religious leaders opposed Jesus,
because their carefully built authority was being challenged.
Have
you ever seen oxen teamed in a yoke? The craftsman would carefully measure their
height, width, the gap between the two animals, the heights of their shoulders.
After the yoke was made, it would be placed over the shoulders of the oxen; he
would check thoroughly for rough spots which might rub, and he would smooth the
yoke until it fit perfectly. For the oxen, the yoke was easy to bear. Oxen, by
the way, are bovines – in the same family as regular cattle – who have been
taught – who have learned – how to work with and carry the yoke.
The
spiritual yoke Jesus speaks of is one that fits, that doesn’t weigh in the
tasks of life. Jesus was directly
saying that the yoke should be helpful to us, it should be guiding us and
helping us live life, NOT become a burden in addition to the hardships of life.
The ‘yoke’ teaches us how to follow Jesus. And Jesus teaches us that man-made
rules often stifle growth.
So
if church has rules – it should be the simple law – love God, love your
neighbour. Love. Even people who you personally cannot stand to be around. They
are still people. On one of my sermon discussion lists when we get gnashing our
teeth and gnarly about someone, another person will comment – “Another beloved
child of God.”
In
The Message, Eugene Peterson’s translation of the Bible, Matthew11:28-30 comes
out this way:
"Are
you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and
you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me
and work with me - watch
how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or
ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and
lightly."
Rev. Randy Quinn writes this: “In
his book, The Secular Squeeze (p 138-140), John Alexander reminded me
that Jesus said "by this all people will know you are my disciples: if you
have love for one another" He didn't say, "by this all people will
know you are my disciples: if you have the right beliefs."
If you have love. Love has
recognizable deeds. Love is commitment to the other person. Love is giving to
and for the other person. Love is entering into a relationship with the other
person, a relationship in which both parties are affected. Love is not a set of
rules, even though the law given is “Love”.
Sources:
1. Religion the Way it Was Intended based on Matthew 11: 28-30
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
2. The Proof of the Pudding a
sermon based on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn
by Rev. Randy L. Quinn
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