Easier

Pastor Kendall Meyer

Sunday, May 21, 2006

“Come to me all you are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

My dear friends in Christ, it didn't happen last Sunday night. I couldn't sleep. It was a night like that where there was just too much. Too much had happened and there was still too much that needed to be done and I was a long ways away from sleep and rest. Too much running through my mind. And there was this voice, this shrieky voice in the back of my mind. It was talking to me and it sounded like this.

(Video scene from The Wizard of Oz .) “It will soon be over now. You see that? That's how much longer you have to be alive and it isn't long, my pretty. It isn't long. I can't wait forever to get those shoes.” Dorothy crying, “I'm frightened. I'm frightened, Auntie Em. I'm frightened.”

Yes, I, too, was frightened. Frightened, Auntie Em. I was frightened and not because my shoes were going to be taken away. No. I was frightened because there I was laying in my bed sleepless and I was frightened because I didn't know if I was going to get everything done. Like Dorothy, I felt like I had only an hour to be alive before the sand would run through the center of that hourglass. In fact, I felt like I was the center of that hourglass with all the sorts of worries and pressures and burdens and responsibilities that were resting on me and all of them were trying to get through at the same time.

The week before, confirmation services had just finished but I couldn't stop thinking about the kids. My work schedule had been going from very early in the morning until very late at night, and I hadn't seen the family very much at all. There had been reports to write, meetings to attend, and bible studies to prepare for. Wednesday, Michaela had her first T-ball game and I couldn't, I wouldn't miss that. And, over the weekend, I found out my brother sold his house to move into a smaller one because he had overextended himself. And I also found out that my stepmother's blood count continues to fall below normal and the doctors don't know why. Then, on Sunday, I looked ahead and I saw more reports that needed to be written, more meetings, family obligations, worship services, a sermon to write, all before Wednesday because I was taking a short trip to St. Louis . I couldn't get any rest. Too much was trying to get through the hourglass, and I was caught in the middle.

And I'm not alone. Talking to different members of this congregation, I heard similar struggles. Students worn out as they are trying to get assignments done by the end of the week. Adults burdened by their heavy workload. There were expressed feelings of frustration for not having enough time for family and for household responsibilities or even not having enough time for themselves. In fact, one person stated to me many people now days experience weakness as they are crushed under the seemingly unbearable load that is placed upon them.

You know what it's like to be in the center of the hourglass with the sands of assignments, responsibilities, worries, pressures, and burdens, all trying to get through at the same time. It's too much. There's no rest.

On confirmation Sunday, I had mentioned Matthew 11 during the sermon. It promised rest. But by the time the next Sunday had rolled around, all I had was sleeplessness and restlessness. And the word I most wanted was this one: easier. I just wanted things to be easier. “My yoke is easy,” Jesus said. “Hold it, Jesus. You just lost me. How could you possibly speak of rest in one breath and then talk about trading my already heavy yoke for yet another yoke? How could that possibly be rest? Look, Jesus, I'm already tired and you want me to shoulder a yoke, an old-fashioned piece of heavy, restricting farm equipment like those I've seen hanging in museums and in antique shops? Thanks but no thanks. You see, Jesus, I just want things to be easier. Make it easier, Lord. If things were just a bit easier, I could get some rest. I could get some sleep and maybe it wouldn't be too much.”

But you've thought and you've prayed along those same lines, too, haven't you? I know you have. We all have when the hourglass of worry and burden squeezes Jesus' breath right out of our lives. “Make it easier, Lord. That would be enough.” But it wouldn't be. That's not the promise in Matthew 11. The promise is in Jesus' description of Himself, not in the word “easier.” He says, “I am gentle and humble in heart.” Gentle. Palm Sunday, crowds lined the road. Cloaks and branches are in place. Shouts and cheers are heard. All this takes place to fulfill the prophet's words. Say to the daughter of Zion , “See your king comes to you.” Gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus saw the weak before Him. He, too, was caught in an hourglass of responsibilities and burdens but His responsibility was to carry our burdens and so, in humility and gentleness, He headed to the cross. But not before a sleepless night, a prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane , arrest, trial, sentence, execution. There's no rest for Him. Only gentleness for us. “Come to me,” He says. “Come to me and I will give you rest for your soul, for I am on the cross of burden.”

And if this weren't enough, Jesus does even more because He knows that it's difficult for us to come to Him in those sleepless nights when our minds are racing over what needs to be done. Prayer is pushed aside, even silenced in the press of anxiety. So He comes to us, risen from the grave He comes. He comes to the weary and to the burdened and to the heavy-ladened. Because Jesus knows what it's like. He offers to all who have nights and days like that where sleep just doesn't come and the days are burdensome. He says, “Take my yoke upon you, an easy yoke.” But do not be misled by that word “easy.” It doesn't mean if you follow Jesus that you will not have any troubles in your life, that there will not be trials and temptations and difficulties, that things will go your way always. No, no. An easy yoke. A better translation would be a tailor-made yoke, a yoke that is well fitting. You see, when farmers made the yoke for their animals, they made sure it fit well on the animal's back. Because, as the animal is working and the rubbing of the yoke on the back, it could, if not fitted well, cause sores to occur. And if the sores occur, then the animal is rendered useless and not able to help the farmer. So the yokes needed to be well-fitted. And the yoke Jesus invites us to take is one that is made exactly for our lives and our hearts. Because our yokes are yokes of burden that contains words like “sin” and “guilt” and “anxiety” and “worry” and “unhappiness” and “regrets.” Jesus takes from us and He gives us His yoke, a yoke that is fitted for us and it has words like “innocence” and “sinless” and “peace of mind” and “forgiveness” and “love” and “resurrection” and “eternal life.” This yoke Jesus invites for us to wear because it fits us well. It does not rub us in the wrong way nor cause us to develop sore spirits but, more importantly, this yoke is designed for two. All of Jesus' yokes are designed for two. And our yoke partner during our difficult and trying times is none other than Christ Himself.

My Friends, Jesus comes to people like us, people who are tired, who are weary, who are ready to throw in the towel, who have had too many of those days and nights where we long for and cry out for that one break that will spell the difference between defeat and victory, between the business going under and the business making it, between a life that is going somewhere and a life that is stuck in a rut. All of us long for a break in the routine, some time away from that which zaps our energy to make things easier. And the resurrected Jesus comes. He gives us His invitation, an invitation to the tired and weary. “Come and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy.” And that's why easier is not enough. It's missing the cross and the tomb. So let me add it to the picture. A simple cross in the middle of easier brings us Easter and that is enough. That is Jesus' gentle and humble heart for us.

Are you tired? Are you exhausted? Are you burned out? Do you need a break? What we really need is not time off or time away. Rather, what we need is time that is filled with meaning and purpose, filled with the grace of God, confident in His forgiveness and love.

It's now five days later for me and things are easier. We arrived safely home from our trip to St. Louis . The reports are done. The deadlines have been met. Michaela's T-ball game was a lot of fun. My brother is doing well, and I'm convinced this is a good move on his part. And my stepmother's blood count is on the rise. Yes, things are a bit easier but they could have been different. They could have been harder and, for many of you, it still is. The responsibilities and pressures don't look like they'll let up in the weeks ahead. The sand of burdens and worries is still there and that's why easier is not enough. Only Easter brings rest for souls. Only Easter brings Jesus and His words are plenty. “I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.” Amen.