Sermon, Pentecost +5 (A)

         It's not uncommon for us to be shocked at times when our reality does not fit with our expectation. For example: a man was so excited to find a hand-made 9x12 Persian carpet for only a few hundred dollars online, that he missed reading the fine print... the measurement was inches, not feet: it was a rug for a doll house. 

            But there's another lesson for us here for our faith journey: 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.

          Let's start with the soap-opera-style passage of highlights from Genesis. Isaac needs a wife, sends a servant to the well where the single girls hang out and find the best one. Umm. Awkward!

          Yet Rebekeh’s brother conspires with the servant, and sends her to the well, where she 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 water.  So, aside from being freakishly strong, the servant thinks she's gorgeous, slaps some snazzy jewelry on her, and she agrees to leave her family and homeland to marry some dude she's never met. Then, with appropriate drama, she sees Isaac, and is so smitten by this biblical dreamboat that she falls off her camel.

          All drama aside: for heirs, Isaac needs a wife; but his grief makes his expectation LOW - any womb - I mean woman - will do. The reality, however, is so much more: he finds love and comfort and care, from a woman who is faithful and generous and compassionate.

          The reality far exceeds the expectation.

 

            The Psalm passage for today serves to highlight the reality of God, while only alluding to the human expectations... because everything that is mentioned here is true! God is gracious - compassionate - kind - sovereign - faithful - merciful - etc.

            The expectation here is that humans are not always living with these wonderful characteristics. Humans, we know are not always slow to anger - praising God - loving everyone - making known God's dominion - etc.

            So the psalmist delights that the reality of God exceeds the expectation of his fellow humans.

 

          Paul's letter shows he's having some serious issues with his self-identity as a beloved child of God. Roman society dictates individualism (my life is my own! I don't need a mask!), that makes everyone responsible for their own bodies and actions to answer to the law - a good set of reasonable and time-tested expectations.

          Yet Paul realises that the spiritual reality is bigger; that sin is not about law but about disconnecting from God - and thus to be avoided, as it can in fact cause eternal damage to the soul.

          Then, how wonderful for Paul in this letter to also recognise that God is bigger than the human law. God's mercy and grace is bigger than sin. 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.

 

          In today's Gospel, Jesus is challenging the folks about their faith, as nothing seems good enough for them. John the Baptist is called a demon because of his fasting Jesus is insulted because he didn't fast (and scandalously ate and drank with people who were not the Whose Who of society.).

          "Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds."

          And so Jesus prays - aloud for us all to hear and heed. "Thanks dad," he says, "for giving 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 - of society - of the way things WERE. 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.

            And I know that many prayers are being raised asking for such miracles - for physical cures, for an end to COVID, for sudden economic growth, for relationship healing, for... well, we can all imagine.

            But what we get is even better - because the reality of God is not limited to our earthly circumstances and timelines. The reality of God is eternal; it is life.

            Jesus is promising us a community of love and support; that we come to him with all that weighs us down to receive help. For the tortured soul, there can be no better assurance.

          The sharing of the load - the rest for our souls - is a powerful promise. 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 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."

         It's also helpful to remember that Jesus never promises to make things magically perfect - 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: in a time and space where we can easily feel isolated, and alone, and that the burdens are too heavy to bear. It's 2020: it's become a year of low expectations.

          And yet: we are not alone; we are not unsupported, we are not without hope. Together: we live, and love, and delight in the presence of God.

            So let us 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 joyously shocked to discover that the reality of God's love for us far exceeds anything we ever expected.