‘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.’
Although this line of Jesus is well-loved by many as a promise of rest and release, I’m afraid I think that is mostly wishful thinking. At least, if we think the rest and release are of the put your feet up and have a cup of tea variety. Or even the crawl into bed at the end of a really hard day variety.
This is, after all, the same Jesus who told a would-be follower that following him meant being homeless and another that it meant abandoning his dead father to the ministrations of the dead.
It’s the same Jesus who is about to set off on a focused campaign of pissing off the authorities through acts of religious civil disobedience. It’s the same Jesus who told his disciples that anyone who would be his follower who have to take up their cross.
None of that is a light burden.
Except according to the logic of the kingdom of God
Kingdom logic states that God emptied Godself of power in order to become one of us, beloved but oh-so small.
Kingdom logic states that by means of the cross, the world is saved.
Kingdom logic states that we must lose our lives to save them.
Kingdom logic is nothing if not consistent.
This evening, we are marking the feast day of St. Francis (which actually fell yesterday). Francis understood Kingdom logic.
Francis life should have been straightforward:
Born into wealth and privilege, Francis led a youth of feasting, drinking, and fun. Rather than enter the family textile business, he spent time in the military, including a year-long stint as a prisoner of war. When he was released from service, he should have finally taken over from his father and taken his rightful place as a wealthy, respected member of the society in Assisi.
But something else happened.
Encounters with the poor and with lepers; visions of Jesus; a stirring in his heart that would not be ignored led Francis to lay down the burdens of social and familial expectations, of appropriate behavior, of wealth and privilege in order to take up the burden that Christ was offering – the burden of a life devoted to the Gospel.
One story from early in Francis’ transformation sticks in my mind.
Francis was praying in a broken-down church when he had a vision of Jesus telling him to repair his house. Understandably, Francis concluded the vision was about the church he was kneeling in so he stole some cloth from his father and sold it in order to give the money for the repair for the church. His father was angry and hauled Francis before the bishop. The bishop told Francis to return his father’s things to him. Francis returned the purse of money but he didn’t stop there – he stripped down naked and lay his fine clothes at his father’s feet, relieving himself in a most graphic way of the burdens that were wearying him.
I imagine Francis dancing away, feeling refreshed and renewed even as he took up a different kind of burden, the burden placed upon him by Jesus.
But the burden was still not always easy – in the cup of tea sense of easy.
*Francis tried to make peace and end the Crusades.
*He started an Order which went from being handful of like-minded friars to a large organization quite beyond his capacity to manage.
*And, a few years before he died, it is recorded that he received the marks of Christ – open wounds on his hands, feet, and side. Christ’s burden was made manifest on his flesh.
The point to these stories is not to encourage you to abandon everything in favour or radical poverty and peace making and mystical experiences – unless that is the burden Jesus has for you.
The point is to encourage you to seek your burden, the one that will be light for you because is it of Christ; the one that will give you life as you give your life to it.
And, perhaps more importantly, to encourage you to release those things which keep you from taking up Christ’s burden.
In a few moments, we will be offering prayers of intercession and, at the end, there will be time for you to write your own offerings.
Perhaps you need to offer a burden to God – a problem, a fear, a desire, a person – so that you will be free of it.
Perhaps you need to commit to a burden from God so that you will be freed by it.
Perhaps you are able to do both.
Whatever the case may be, and however tricky the logic, remember that we can trust Jesus.
‘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.’
In trust, let us offer our burdens and those of the world to God in prayer.
