Zechariah 9.9-12
Romans 7.15-25a
Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30
Sometimes we can be shocked when our reality does not fit
with our expectation. There's a story of a man who bought a Persian rug online
for a great deal, but didn't read the details carefully... so was shocked to
receive a rug that was 9x12 - inches, not feet. It was a Persian rug for a doll
house.
Amusing, annoying, and important to learn that the fine
print matters. We mustn't get so caught up in the expectation that the reality
is disappointing.
For, when it comes to being faithful to God, we tend to
come to God with our very earthy, very earthly expectations; and so often the
reality is so completely different.
This is not new - the scriptures today provide several
examples of where God's people have an expectation, and God intervenes is
astonishing ways.
So let's consider the soap opera from Genesis. We're just
getting the highlights: Isaac needs a wife, sends a servant to find the best
one, just go to the well where all the single girls hang out. Hmm. Awkward!
Rebekeh’s brother conspires with the servant, and sends her
to the well. There she sees the servant, offers to water him AND his camels. Sidenote:
each of these 10 camels will drink some 20-30 gallons at a time. That's a lot
of drawing and carrying water by herself.
Yet she does it, and the servant finds her beautiful, freakishly strong,
and makes sure she happens to be wearing some snazzy jewelry. She agrees to
leave her family and homeland to go be with some dude she's never met. Then, -
I did mention soap opera drama, yes? - she sees Isaac, and is so smitten by
this biblical dreamboat that she falls off her camel.
Fun storytelling aside, the text is clear. Isaac knows he
needs a wife to provide legitimate heirs, but is so grief-stricken he sends his
servant to find someone. Anyone. His expectation is low: any girl to be a
mother for his children.
The reality, however, is so much more: he finds love and
comfort and care, in a woman that is faithful and generous and compassionate.
The reality far exceeds the expectation.
In our canticle, we have the Israelites' expecting the same
old same old they've had in their 16-year exile. They're feeling defeated -
it's been one hit after another.
But God is not 'same old' and never has been. So to this heavy-hearted
community, Zechariah encourages a renewed energy and commitment to one another
through faith.
He tells
them not to expect a warhorse of a leader, but a gentle true King on a donkey.
He tells
them not to expect a great bloody war to end all wars, but a persistent and
prevalent dispersion of peace.
He
reminds them that the people imprisoned in jail and those caught in despair
will be set free - going so far as to call them "prisoners of hope" -
what a great thing to be known for, for having a complete hope in God's
covenant and the promise of salvation.
The expectation of the people is that they will be evermore
defeated; the reality is a restoration of faith and community.
Again, The reality far exceeded the expectation.
Romans is a rich text, with Paul struggling over his
identity as a beloved child of God. The expectation on earth is that one's life
is one's own, and each individual is responsible with their body, their person,
to answer to the law. We like the law, it's a good set of reasonable and
time-tested expectations.
Yet Paul realises that the spiritual reality is bigger; that
sin - not a breaking of the law, but a sin - is evil, and should be avoided,
and can in fact cause eternal damage to the soul. The body, through sin, is
condemned to eternal death.
Then, how wonderful for Paul in this letter to also
recognise that God is bigger than the human law. God is bigger than sin. God's
mercy and grace is so much more than can be asked or imagined, it is so much
more than any of the sins we commit in our bodies. So with our minds, our true
selves, we come to God and are welcomed and received with the promise of
salvation and redemption.
Again, THAT reality far exceeds the limited bodily
expectation.
And in the Gospel this morning, we hear how the expectation
and the reality don't quite match up. Jesus is challenging the folks about
their commitment and faith. They've dismissed John the baptist because he
didn't eat and drink, therefore he must be a demon. They've rejected and
insulted Jesus because of the company he kept (of whom the upper echelon did
NOT approve.
"Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."
Indeed - that continues with Jesus' prayer. "Thanks
dad," he says, "that you've given heavenly knowledge to the simple
folks, and kept it from those who would connive to use it for personal
gain."
Hmm. Definitely not the expectation of the people. But it
is the reality of God in their midst.
Jesus continues with that beautiful passage that we hear so
often: "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."
And here I invite us to
delve deeper into what Jesus is saying - because if we have the expectation
that this means that *POOF* Jesus will automatically make our lives perfect -
well, then we've missed the point. The reality is even more beautiful and profound
than that.
In this promise, Jesus
offers us a community of love and support. Jesus invites us to come to him with
our challenges: all of them, and to receive help. For the tortured soul, there
can be no better assurance.
And the reality of this 'rest
for the soul' is the sharing of the burden. The yoke is an agrarian tool that
connects animals and requires them to walk in sync with one another. Right
foot, left foot, repeat. And it is through this synchronicity that the burden
of hoeing the line is lessened. Together, we can do it; alone, we struggle in
pain.
"Learn from me,"
Jesus says: not as an individual who is isolated from others as a result of
your burdens, but come and walk with me, and with all the others on this
journey. Be a disciple that builds community. Take extra weight from another of
the beloved so that they too can thrive; know that when you struggle your
companions will ease your burden.
Jesus never promises to
make things magically perfect for us - the burden is light but not gone. Jesus does
promise that he will be gentle with us, and work with us. But we have to choose
to also walk with Him, to do the hard stuff of being his followers: to love God
with all we have, even when it means self-denial in this life. To love our
neighbours as we want to be loved, moving beyond our own judgements and
prejudices to embrace the beloved child of God in our midst.
It's a powerful message
for us all.
Love God; Love one
another. Help one another, under the yoke of the Lord. Journey side by side, doing whatever we can to help make the shared burden
lighter.
Don't expect it to be easy; but do it anyway.
And be delightfully
shocked to discover that the reality of God's love for us far exceeds anything
we ever expected.
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