July 3, 2005

Laying Your Burdens Down

by Julianne Stokstad

It's the 4th of July weekend, the high point of summer and here you are in church. How wonderful! Summer is vacation time. People make time to get away from the routines of our lives. For some it is a camping trip with the family to the lake or river, for others travel or time with family. Summer is the time to kick back and lay down our burdens and rest and how very much we all need to do that.

Jesus' words "Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest." speak to our need. They are even reminiscent of the words on the Statue of Liberty. Nice as that would be to preach, it isn't the whole scripture, the whole lesson isn't so simple. It is a study of unlikely contrasts and paradox: rest from taking up a yoke? And what about Jesus' burden being light? Last week we heard about the costs of carrying Jesus' cross. We know being a Christian brings us lots of pressure to do more, more, more. Our mission is to transform the world, to bring justice to the oppressed, to preach the good news, to heal the wounded, to stand with those suffering. It is wonderful work, but not generally seen as restful. I say we need to listen carefully to what Jesus is saying here.

First, I want to explore the image of a yoke that Jesus uses. It is a device that fits on the shoulders of beasts of burden, like oxen, connecting them to the plow. The purpose of the yoke is to utilize the power of each animal, binding them together to share the load. While it was a common image for Jesus' hearers, it isn't one we're familiar with or find very appealing. Living in the United States of America, a country proudly founded on principles of justice and freedom for all, to be bound in a yoke is not a liberating image at all.

But we are bound to many things whether we like it or not. Robert Bly came up with an image I find helpful. He sees each of us dragging around behind us a huge heavy bag of our burdens. We all know this weight.

What burdens are we dragging around behind us? You would be surprised how many of us are carrying heavy burdens because few people speak of them. There are burdens of a physical handicap or disease. There are burdens of a mental handicap. I think of all the children with autism or ADD. I think of depression, which probably affects someone in most of our extended families. Life is difficult, lost jobs, difficulties in school.

It is interesting to consider what holds each of us in bondage? Expectations? Is money or perhaps the lack of it or the fear of not having enough? Is it someone or something you have never been able to forgive? How strong are you? How much are you carrying?

Are you weary? Do you even want to lay your burdens down? You know, it is possible we might be so attached to them, so used to pulling them behind us, that we wouldn't know what to do without them. There are plenty of people who have allowed their burdens to define who they are.

If we lay our burdens down, Jesus says he will give us rest, but that isn't going to be how we think it will be. The wisdom of God, which is what he is talking about, is not something to be understood rationally or by intellectual effort. He says it is the infants who get it. Buddhists talk about a beginner's mind. If what he is talking about isn't logical, what is he talking about?

I'm sure you have probably heard the sayings, which summarize Jesus' point---let go and let God or give our troubles to Jesus and he will carry half the load. Truth is that most of us have tried to do that and yet we still have our burdens. They just don't go away. It isn't so easy.

The rest, the comfort that eases our weariness, which Jesus speaks of, can come in an instant. It isn't logical, yet any child knows about this. We've all seen how child can relax into the arms of its mother, letting go of all concerns as though they never existed. And I say, we too, have had experiences where the seemingly smallest thing, a touch, a prayer, a kind word, has lifted our burden.

Let me tell you about such an experience I had. It was in a time of the greatest fear and concern for one of our sons. We didn't and couldn't understand the problem, we only knew something was terribly terribly wrong. Nothing seemed to be able to take away my enormous anxiety. I couldn't even go to church, I just didn't know what to say to people. Finally I did go, I snuck in the back row one Sunday and during the passing of the peace, a woman touched gently my back with her hand and with that simple gesture, I knew she understood and in her understanding, my burden was eased. I learned later she had suffered the same thing our son was suffering. This was a long time ago and yet I have never forgotten that. It didn't take the problems away, they still needed to be dealt with, but somehow I had changed.

It isn't logical. It is a soul thing. We get so focused on the world and our worldly burdens that we forget to our soul's need for refreshment. When Jesus says his yoke is easy, he is referring to his connection to our souls, to our inner person, which will bring us rest and relief.

What Jesus calls for is a revolution of outlook, from our self-centered isolation because of our burdens and concerns, to going beyond ourselves to life with God and neighbor. True rest is found in God's arms. St. Augustine said our souls are restless until they rest in God.

Psalm 145 is an affirmation of God's grace and mercy. God's love and compassion is freely given to everyone and to the whole of creation. I see God as a force field of love, a net holding us all. As Bob and I prepare to go on our trip of perspective to the sisters in Cuernavaca, I pray for our openness. I hope we can lay aside our burdensome attitudes and preconceptions. It is so easy to walk away, to not see suffering in others, to not know what to do, and to be self-absorbed with our own problems.

I pray for us all in this summer time, that we are able to lay our burdens down and as we do this, that we will be open to God's rest and restoring of our souls. I thank God that we are here for each other in community because paradoxically, it is in giving to others the touch of kindness or understanding, that we receive the blessing of God's touch.

"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."