Sermon for Sunday July 6th

Today, Jesus says come to me all who labor or are burdened.

 It is an interesting thing as it really seems foreign to what we experience in our lives. The successful person today is seen as one who works tirelessly to move ahead to work towards leadership and control and thus find riches and comfort. Jesus’ way is not like this. We know he didn’t seek power or control or impose demands on others that he would not put on himself. To him, the leader was the one who served, the one who looked out for others, who loved and genuinely cared for others. He led by doing, by loving, not command or control. God instilled all of us with the freedom to choose and go or own way. Over the centuries, humans have taken freedom to the extreme. How often do we assert our independence and control, even to the point that it is a desired and admired trait of being a success. We even find someone weak when that person reaches out for help or support. Even before God we sometimes feel we can do it alone. Christ came because we can’t do it alone. What have we wrought in this world? Recall the tower of Babel. The men and women had just one language and culture and were split apart with a multiplicity of languages to go out and fill the earth rather than stay in one place. All through history the hand of God knew when to reach out, even if humanity didn’t realize it.

The filling of the earth and the formation of multiple tribes and nations certainly has not engendered peace and calm in the world. Violence, killings, wars, the constant seeking of control and power by different individuals, tribes or nations continues fueling troubled world. If we look back just to the last century, was there a time the whole world was at peace?

The assets of the world and its beauty has certainly been altered throughout the march of history. We have altered many things in the name of progress, oftentimes not seeing all the consequences of what we do. With all the progress the world sees and enjoys, it sometimes doesn’t know or expect the results it gets.

Yes, there are reasons we labor and most of us bear one burden or another. Labor is good. but as believers, as Christians it is good to ask for help and relief. Jesus said come to me. We should and must do this. I realize the hardest thing for many of us to do is to ask for help. Yet Jesus is there. His Spirit is within us and his Body and Blood is at this table. If we place ourselves in his embrace, we will find rest. His hand, his guidance in prayer gives a peace and rest that allows us to know we are in the right place. In serving we really become a beacon and a light for others. Jesus in his time criticized and ignored those who led by serving themselves. He ignored their rules that they ignored for themselves. Humanity hasn’t changed and there are many types of people in the world. But the point is we can change, we can be true Christians. Jesus said come and I will give you rest. What more can we ask from Jesus who is the way to life?