How are you doing with your yoke?

Date: July 3, 2011

Liturgical Sunday: Third Sunday after Pentecost

RCL Scripture: Psalm 45:10-17; Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67; Romans 7:15-25a; Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Sermon Title: How are you doing with your yoke?

Knox Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110703_-_knox.mp3|titles=How are you doing with your yoke?]

St. Mark’s Presbyterian [audio:https://wordsfromthemiddle.ca/wp-content/uploads/110703_-_St_Marks.mp3|titles=How are you doing with your yoke?]

I’ll begin by apologizing to anyone who may be moderately miffed that today’s sermons do not address Canada Day. I could say that it is only because the date is July 3, not July 1, but really, the actual reason is that the lectionary texts did not lend themselves to a sermon about Canada as much as they did to a sermon about yokes and burdens.

As I mentioned in at least one of the sermons, even with such a wealth of opportunity, these lectionary selections (properly called lections) in the end boiled down to just the last few verses in the Gospel reading. The point I was aiming toward was that when people react negatively to Jesus call to take up his yoke and burden it is usually due to a misunderstanding about their current “yoke and burden” status, i.e. rather than understanding the invitation as one to trade their hard yokes and heavy burdens for easy and light ones, they seem to think they are currently yoke- and burden-less . . . which is absurd. We all have yokes; we all have burdens.

As is so often the case, each sermon seems to have at least slightly different emphases, in this case, the second sermon, is an ad hoc theology of work as much as anything. As is also often the case, I found myself learning new things even as I was preaching, what a gift from God.

Be well in these days of summer,

Barry