Tis the season of invitations, right? There have been graduation parties and weddings and perhaps you’ve had an invite to a 4th of July celebration. IF you haven’t gotten an invite in a while – take heart because today’s your day with our Gospel! Jesus really has three invitations for us today.
We have a lovely passage from Matthew’s Gospel… where he shares that he will share his wisdom with ‘the little ones’ or the children and then the one many of us have heard for years..
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle (meek) and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I am guessing if you are like me, that when you come home from a shopping trip or a vacation and you’re unloading the car that you want to take EVERYTHING in ONE Trip!... Right? Whose with me… (I pretend to pile things up as I talk)
And then the best part is that when someone comes to help you say, “Oh, I’m good, but thanks!” We usually look pretty ridiculous. Jesus says to us, “ Hey , how’s that working for you?!” See Jesus is saying LEARN from ME… Yoke was meant literally as something that is on an ox to more evenly distribute the weight, and it also meant at this time in history, the law that the Pharisees and Jewish people guarded rigidly. Remember the Pharisees kept challenging Jesus about following the law and complaining about the apostles not following it correctly? And the Roman Empire certainly didn’t want Jesus to challenge their wealth and power. So the Jews and Romans were very suspicious of Jesus’ new yoke….
You see people were getting too caught up in the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law. Because they got attached to the details they forgot that the “law’ is really about love and forgiveness. That was at the heart of the yoke of Jesus which was a very different approach at the time. And that happens now as well, right? Sometimes we can get so caught up in “doing” all of the church things like Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation, Marriage, Eucharistic Adoration and the rosary And while they are all good invitations, sometimes we neglect the one most important invitation of all which is being in relationship with Jesus Christ.
But Jesus turned the tables upside down. His yoke brought FREEDOM and LIFE and JOY!
And following Jesus means that we must surrender ourselves. Surrender has such a negative connotation in our lives. For so many it means losing and yet if we watch kids – who Jesus speaks of today – we see them constantly surrendering. They trust so easily. I was reminded of this on vacation last week with my 21 month old nephew Patrick . He had no fear of jumping off the boat or the deck into my arms. We were awed by his trust. But what a great image of the spiritual life. Jesus is there to catch us.
One of my favorite quotes that I had forgotten about is “Jump and the net will follow.” TRUST. Jesus is there with arms wide open to catch us.
And of course we aren’t all ready at the same time… my niece Ella had to keep saying, “ I need a little bit more time to think about it.” Oooohhhhh. We all wanted to just push her and knew we couldn’t. I think Jesus is standing behind us sometimes wanting to push us too.
He wants to push us to seek out counseling when our marriages are not thriving. He pushes us to apply for that new job because the one we have now is not challenging or life giving.
He pushes us to be truthful with someone we love about a secret we’ve been keeping.
He pushes us to finally seek treatment for our addiction.
He pushes all of you youth to try new things and to reach out to people who need your friendship.
And how do we trust?
We trust with meekness, gentleness and humility.
Pope Francis recently shared in a TED Talk – remember these are happening each Wednesday here in the morning and at North in the evening. But Pope Francis said, ““Please, allow me to say it loud and clear: the more powerful you are, the more your actions will have an impact on people, the more responsible you are to act humbly,” he told them. “If you don’t, your power will ruin you, and you will ruin the other.”
He went on to share that he hoped to see a “Revolution of Tenderness” evolve. Think about how prophetic that is in our world right now. In the midst of ISIS and terrorism and the negative voices that lash out at each other for control and prime time and show utter disrespect - and Francis says, be tender…
So, what’s our response going to be to Jesus’ invitation this week? Could you share one of your burdens with someone else or perhaps let one go ?
Could you TRUST that there will be a net if you go beyond your comfort zone?
Could you not be in control and ask for someone else’s idea ?
There are many ways to respond. Choose one. We can’t keep walking through these church doors and returning to the world without deciding to make a difference. There’s just too much work to do. Our hearts must be transformed by what happens at the table, what we hear in scripture and how we relate to each other. Jesus says there will be freedom and life and JOY . May we jump and trust.