5th Sunday After Pentecost
Zecheriah 9:9-12 Psalm 145:8-14 Romans 7:15-25a Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who offers to teach us another way Amen. Life is full of contradictions, some are as simple as the fact that chocolate cake tastes better than broccoli, but it is far healthier for us to eat broccoli than it is to eat chocolate cake. Other contradictions are more sinister like the fact that those who gain positions of power In order to work on behalf of many people often use that power to work only for themselves. whatever the example it seems that as humans, even if we are aware of the conflict and which is the better part, we almost always seem to choose to do more of the thing that is less beneficial to ourselves and even when we try to regulate our actions with outside rules and laws, we invariably seem to return to that chocolate cake even though we know we need to eat the broccoli. This is what Paul is struggling with in our second reading remarking that even though he logically knows what he should do, and he wants to do it when it comes time to do it, he invariably does the opposite, he says “I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not what is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” Here he names the greatest contradiction we experience, that even as we have free will to act, there is another force working against us, sin, that embeds itself in the fabric of life so even as we try to do what is right, we are led astray. The buzz word for this right now is “systemic” we talk about systemic racism, where racism is so embedded in how we live that as individuals we are unable to extract ourselves because the everyday options available to us within the established way of life have sin woven into the fabric such that it is impossible to separate out the individual threads. Jesus, teaching the disciples points out another contradiction with humans, the inability to make everyone happy, he observes that when John the Baptist came fasting as part of his religious experience people claimed he had a demon and when Jesus himself came eating and drinking and interacting with normal everyday people the people say ‘look a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ These are the two main options for a messianic figure and yet people have rejected them both. Lately, the best example of this has to do with face masks, on the one hand there are people who refuse to go anywhere they are not required, on the other hand there are people who refuse to go anywhere they are required. Confronted with the contradictions within ourselves and humanity, it’s enough to drive us mad, so what are we to do? Paul himself throws up his hands and cries “Wretched man that I am, who will save me from this body of death?” and there is the key, to acknowledge that we need help, and Paul immediately follows with “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord” Jesus is God’s answer to the contradictions of life. Jesus himself is a living contradiction, God and human, who lived among and experienced first hand the contradictions of humanity the reality that it’s impossible to please everyone. Observing the contradictions in the gospel he concludes ‘yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds’ he knows that time will tell who was wise and made the better choice and which was the wrong decision and then he offers to help in making those choices “He says all things have been handed over to me by my father” Jesus has the inside scoop and he offers to share that with everyone, but unlike those get rich quick scheme infomercials Jesus offers this for free: He says “come to me all, you that are weary and 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.” What Jesus is offering is not a quick fix scheme, a magic wand that with a flick of the wrist makes all trouble disappear, what he offers is an invitation to self-reflection and the pursuit of wisdom, he offers to teach us another way to deal with the contradictions of life. The yoke, was a common image in rabbinic literature that referred to obeying the Torah (working preacher), the law that God gave as a gift to help humans live with one another. Jesus is a teacher of the law, and he has said that he’s not come to abolish the law, but he has seen how the pharisees and sadducees have taken to following the law for the sake of following the rules and not for the original intent of the gift of the law, for abundant life of the people. Following the letter of the law has gotten in the way with the spirit of the law and so Jesus offers another way, one that is lighter, that can be summed up as “love the lord your God with all your heart and soul and might, and your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus offers a gentler way, and even then he sees how impossible it is for humans to do the right thing, which is why Jesus goes to the cross for us, to make us right with God, to offer us forgiveness for when despite our best efforts we mess up, when we continually choose the chocolate cake instead of the broccoli. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul has named it, we can’t dig ourselves out of the hole we’ve created, we need help, and Jesus is that help. Now that doesn’t mean that we should keep intentionally digging holes for Jesus to get us out of, but when we invariably do Jesus is gentle with us, and again and again helps us out of the pit and shows us another way, one where burdens are shared and wisdom is revealed. This doesn’t mean that life will be easy or without contradictions, Jesus did after all instruct his disciples to take up the cross and follow him, but what it does mean is that we have a way to navigate the contradictions of life, One where we share one another’s burdens, where we strive to live lives turned toward God and neighbor, where we know that because we live in Christ we are not condemned by our failures no matter how deeply entwined they are. We have been set free, free to live the lighter path of gentleness and humility, of wisdom that carries on through the midst of the contradictions of life. Amen
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AboutPastor Emily Johnson preaches weekly at Christ Lutheran. These are manuscripts of her sermons given at Christ Lutheran. Feel free to engage with them in the comments section of the blog. Archives
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