Year A

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

Let the Celebration Continue

With sky rockets and aerial displays fresh in our minds, the texts today remind us that the celebration we experienced on Independence Day is not over. There is still room today for loud and joyful celebration as we hear Zechariah announce the coming of a king for the people of Jerusalem. They are called to rejoice in the knowledge that her king is on his way. And Paul today celebrates new life in Christ when he says to the church in Rome: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” who rescues us.  And Jesus today calls his followers to a new way of being in God where newness of heart and life, and celebration are intertwined and welcomed. So let the celebration continue because we are God’s people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood through our King Jesus who reigns over all that God has made.

The “chosen or holy nation” was one that the prophet Zechariah prophesied to generations ago. He was one of the last prophets mentioned by name in the Old Testament, and one who played an important role in encouraging the Israelites after they returned from exile. He called his people to celebration for the king whose coming would announce the end of war and the beginning of a universal peace under his rule. His announcement of the coming king who rides into Jerusalem on a colt not only plays an important role in the expectation of a messiah in Judaism, although they are still waiting for their Messiah, but this also plays an important role in our Christian understanding of Jesus as the Messiah.

As Christians when we read this text from the prophet Zechariah, we can’t help but experience a flash of recognition regarding the identity of this “king” and the setting of his momentous “coming.” Many generations later, Jesus by riding into Jerusalem on a colt just before his crucifixion, announces that he is the Messiah, and also invites us to look back into a rich tradition that helps us understand what it is that the Messiah does. Zechariah says this king is like no other king. He will rule in righteousness and justice; he will hold within him the hope of an oppressed people. He will rule with God’s help and is gentle and humble. A king who will bring God’s peace instead of war and this is the God who is announced by Jesus’ actions.

His actions provide us with a code to live by: a code of peace rather than war, and a promise of hope rather than despair. For those who are suffering, it is a promise of wholeness and a promise that they can trust God will follow through on trusted promises of old. It is a wonderful promise, a comforting promise and in this morning’s gospel reading we hear Jesus remind us of this promise in one of the greatest consolation passages of all time. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

This promise is one that we can celebrate and turn to when burdens seem impossible to bear and when our best efforts to cope with them have failed. Barbara Brown Taylor, priest and author, writes in her book ‘The Seeds of Heaven” this promise offers hope of help. She says, “This promise offers hope of a God who will lift the sweaty loads off our backs and replace them with a lighter yoke, lighter because it yokes us with one who is greater than we are, and with whose strong help we can bear any burden.” Having Jesus in our lives helps to make our burdens light and it is only through having him in our lives that we can really know God and know God’s strength to help and God’s love for us.

This is good news for us but when Jesus first spoke the words in this passage which follows his commissioning and sending out of the disciples, the response they got was anything but warm. Many of the people in the towns visited by the disciples were not looking for help from Jesus or anyone else. They had a strong economy and had everything they needed possession wise. Many refused to believe the “deeds of power” Jesus had performed in them, just as many rejected the mission of John the Baptist. After some powerful reproaches for not welcoming him, he turns away from the people gathered and offers a prayer to God. He thanks God for showing things to simple people that wise and intelligent people cannot see.

Some of us may get our feelings hurt after hearing his prayer, but Jesus was attempting to explain why some people could accept him and others could not. Those who know God do not arrive at such knowledge by their own natural intelligence or efforts. They know God because they have been open to having God in their lives through their belief in Jesus as their Messiah and have sought God’s will for their lives. Jesus offers to lighten the load for all who come to him because the road ahead that he calls us to, not only offers us rest but also guarantees us persecution. The rest Jesus offers is not freedom from work. It is embracing the worthy task that puts your soul at ease and the easy yoke means having something to do: a purpose that demands your all and summons forth your best. It means work that is motivated by a passionate desire to see God’s way of life realized.            

Jesus made it possible for those who came to him to experience the freedom and rest of knowing that their lives were in the hands of God. How this is all worked out for us happens at our baptism Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans in which we drown sin and death and are brought into the fullness of life with God. But we all know how difficult the road we are to walk with God is for all who carry the heavy burdens associated with life. We certainly see Paul’s struggle with this in today’s epistle. This struggle arises from our inherently sinful nature as we desire to live faithfully within Christ’s law of love. He laments the fact that sin has made him a stranger to himself and undermines his desire to do good but he also points to the remedy for the struggle.

“Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Through embracing Jesus we can celebrate the rescue Christ offers. We can take his hand and let him lift us out of the mud, always trusting that we are loved by God who always offers us new beginnings. This is our hope; a promise of forgiveness and wholeness, and we can trust that God will follow through on trusted promises of old. For on the cross, Jesus takes away the sins of the world and in the power of the resurrection, he remains with all who love God, offering guidance and help when the burdens of life are heavy. What a wonderful promise, a comforting promise. For as the psalmist says, “For the Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. The Lord is good to all, and his compassion endures forever!” So let the celebration continue….