Thought for Today
Deuteronomy 22:10 You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
1 Kings 12:4 "Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke that he placed on us, and we will serve you."
Matthew 11:29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—
Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, I include those words above from Jesus about easy yokes and light burdens. I especially love Jesus’ phrase “you will find rest for your souls.” I can only speak authoritatively for myself, but some days my soul needs to find that rest.
I am neither a carpenter nor a farmer. I only know about yokes from seeing pictures, seeing them in antique stores or reading about them. I know the story from the Bible about the successors to King Soloman and how those words above played out for Rehoboam. The United Kingdom created by David ultimately proved about as successful as trying to plow with a donkey yoked to an ox.
Jesus calls Christians to take his yoke upon us. Literally, being a Christian means being yoked to Jesus, pulling in tandem with Jesus to plow the fields of God’s Creation. Ironically, I find that taking on that yoke Jesus offers does find rest for my soul, but it doesn’t necessarily find rest for my mind or my body.
I like to joke that the word Christian is not a noun, it is a verb. Verbs are words that express an action, indicate a state of being or make a statement. Verbs have tense, voice and mood. If Christian is a verb, it is always in the active voice
The apostle Paul reminded the Ephesians and us that our salvation is a gift given us by God through our faith in Jesus, the Christ. My favorite definition of faith is “Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
We don’t talk much about the topic today, but one of the primary ‘battle cries’ of the Reformation was Sola Gratia, Latin for “by grace alone.” Certainly those Protestant Reformers had that verse from Paul in mind as they coined that sound bite. By grace alone. Those leaders and we, as their descendants, believe that there is nothing we can do to ‘earn’ our salvation. We have salvation as a gift from God, by the grace of God. We have salvation because we have our faith.
That is all well and good. I do have faith; I do have hope and conviction. I do my utmost to be yoked in tandem with Jesus, to tend God’s garden and plow those metaphorical fields of Creation. That word ‘yoke,’ however, implies action, work. It is not enough to say, “I believe.” I have also read the Epistle of James. “2:18 But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. . . 26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.”
Faith and works are 2 sides of the same coin. Both are integral to Christians being yoked with Jesus, plowing God’s fields together. Christians certainly demonstrate our faith in corporate worship. Each Sunday, our congregation, the family of faith I serve, comes together to share our faith, to worship our Creator God, to thank our Creator God. We are comforted and strengthened in our faith as we do so. We find that promised rest for our souls.
Each minute of each day, we each express and confirm our faith in the way we live our lives in God’s Creation. We show that our faith is alive, by how we love our neighbors as much as we love our selves. "Mark 3:33 Who are my mother and my brothers?" 34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." Jesus was not limiting the idea to biological family. The key words are “Whoever does the will of God.”
When Jesus calls for us to love our neighbors, that includes everyone who does the will of God. Everyone. Christians are called to yoke ourselves to Jesus. Christians are called to demonstrate our faith through the lives we live, through our love for everyone who does the will of God. Irrespective of whether they agree with us on everything or on anything, we are called to love everyone who does the will of God. Just like that all-inclusive word “all,” everyone always means everyone.
Stay safe, believe and do, trust God,
Pastor Ray