8 Pentecost Yr A

Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all who truly turn to him. Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Some may recognize these as the “comfortable words” from the 1928 prayer book. These words connect us in a timeless way to all those before us who held in their hands their beloved prayer books, and they connect us in some mystical way to all those who will come after us, probably reading the prayers projected on a flat screen. These “comfortable” words are from the gospel of Matthew as we have just heard. In the 1928 prayer book, they are accompanied by the words from the gospel of John, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that all who believe in him will have eternal life. In the 1928 prayer book, these comfortable words follow the words of absolution, they remind us just as they have reminded all those faithful people that came before us, that in the midst of our humanity, in the midst of our failings and sinfulness, Christ is with us.

For me, these are much more uncomfortable words than comfortable words. These are not words that are meant to conjure up visions of your favorite easy chair, or your well-worn and favorite sweatshirt or tee shirt. They are not comfortable in a way that assures us that we have some sort of corner on the market for the right way to do Christianity. Their comfort is derived from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the “comforter” that Jesus Christ left with us. These are words meant to strengthen us, and to give us hope, not to make us complacent.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

This is indeed good news. God wants to make things easier for us, not harder. It’s as simple as that. Why do we complicate it so? Jesus offers to us something amazing. The offer is that we no longer have to be held hostage to the pressure of perfection that our culture feeds us, and instead, we can live as freed people. The burden of perfection is intolerable; the freedom that Jesus offers is life giving.

The pressure of perfection that our culture feeds us leads us to build bigger houses, spend more of what we don’t have. Somehow we are convinced that what we have becomes important. This is not unlike the people Jesus encountered. The Jews of his time were quite concerned with acquiring wealth and status; they were quite concerned to hob nob with the important people, the people who could confer honor and status on them. Jesus was accused of gluttony and drunkenness because he spent time with those who had no honor and status, the tax collectors and sinners.

The pursuit of perfection, the pursuit of status, is rewarded by stressed out people and stressed out families. Of course I’m preaching to the proverbial choir, but that’s exactly why families seem to have so much trouble getting to church. I don’t think it’s because we’re not cool enough, I think it’s because at the top of a family’s list of things to do is achieving, and that takes so much energy and time, that worship looses out. It’s because if worth is measured by what we have, who we know, how big and expensive our toys are, then worship, rest, slowing down, giving thanks, being forgiven, all loose out.

And yet, just like those who are so busy earning status and respect they don’t have time to get here, there are some of you here today, for whom Jesus’ message of freedom is yet to be realized. You must always remember, you are chosen and marked by God’s love, and the delight of God’s life. You do not need to earn God’s love; you need only to be loved by God. This is exactly the burden that is to be laid down; the burden is the need to work at earning honor and status, the need to earn love by achieving perfection.

It is God’s amazing and abundant love that resulted in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the new life that is achieved with each and every one of us that results in the freedom Matthew speaks of in this passage. The good news is this freedom. We are new creations, no longer enslaved by the snares of greed, power, status, but instead we are free to be loved absolutely and unconditionally by our creator God.

And, we are free to respond to God’s love. Without that burden, we are free to love one another as God first loves us; we are free to serve one another without expectation of payment or reciprocity. We are free to pay it forward.

Last week we were at the Niobrara Convocation. It was on the Cheyenne River Reservation, at Eagle Butte. It was a beautiful place, the weather cooperated. Our Presiding Bishop was in attendance. She was brilliant and so very graceful. But the story I want to tell is about a group Rick and Willie and I accompanied from our home parish in Minneapolis, St. Luke’s. I’d suggested to the youth minister at St. Luke’s since we came here to St. Andrew’s, that they come to South Dakota, to Rapid, City, to the Black Hills, to Convocation, for their mission trip. Well, this year the youth minister took me up on the idea.

I told Marion Rectinwald, the priest on the Cheyenne River Mission, that this group wanted to come to convocation, and serve in whatever capacity was needed. Marion was somewhat concerned, she has had some difficultly with mission trips from churches just showing up unannounced, and expecting attention and being totally uninterested in actually being engaged with people. I assured her that I would prepare them, and be the go between.

The Thursday morning we left Minneapolis the group was sent off with a nice service of Holy Communion. It was so much fun for us because this was a group of many we had know since they were very young, and two of the chaperones were friends of ours, one of the chaperones we had never met. The adults of the group spoke about paying it forward, about serving others because God had first loved them.

When we arrived at Eagle Butte on Thursday night, nothing was as they had expected it. I had come prepared with the tent and sleeping bags, because I didn’t really know what to expect, so I probably over prepared. With all the rain, the dormitories that had been available to stay in had been damaged,
so some of the group would have to stay in the common building that would also be used for eating and some gathering, not private, and hard floors. Some of the group would stay in the tent.

The wall was immediately put up, the environment was foreign for them to begin with, and with the added snafu, they got scared. These people were unlike them, and they were obviously in the minority. They had been prepared to serve as they were instructed, but not knowing exactly what they were to do added to their discomfort. Both the kids and the adults were experiencing culture shock. They were experiencing loss of control. This service was definitely not going to be on their terms, terms that allowed them to remain aloof and disengaged. Jason, their youth minister gathered them together, listened to their fears, and let them know how important it was for them to listen to the people around them, their work there and their place there would become evident as they encountered one another.

With their initial fears addressed, they began to see the possibilities of how they could serve. They began to be free to serve others, they were free to let go of the outcome and really be engaged in what they were called to do. They were free to respond to God’s love. Without the burden of needing to control, of needing to have status, we are free to love one another as God first loves us; we are free to serve one another without expectation of payment or reciprocity. We are free to pay it forward.

The group spent most of their time in two ways. They engaged the kids who had come with family and parents; they played games, worked on making banners, and generally had a good time. They also helped prepare meals, serve, and clean up, and ended up having a lot of fun doing it.

After all the fears on both sides of this project, the mission group from St. Luke’s was honored for their service and their presence with a star quilt. They were deeply affected by the giving of star quilts, and when one was given to them, they were deeply moved.

"Come to me, all you that are weary and 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Alleluia. The Spirit of the Lord renews the face of the earth:
Come let us adore him. Alleluia.