This message was originally given on Memorial Day weekend. Since it was preached, I've been to Annual Conference and all that comes with working things out in the larger church right now. What I've written below still holds, most especially in light of what we are working through as a church. Take a look at this message from Memorial Day in 2019.
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Now that we’re officially on Memorial Day weekend, I think we can say that we are in Summer….even if the rest of the weather says that we’re in a new season appropriately called “Noah”Like many people in the Summers, I like to do things outside. Some of the things that I like, that I haven’t done nearly enough of, are hiking and camping. There’s also, when I was a lot younger (and lighter) backpacking. I’d love to be able to get back to that some day, but it will be a while still.
I always loved the experience and the exercise that would come with those things. The thing about backpacking, and the thing you have to watch for is that you have to think through everything that you bring. Everything has to have a place, and you have to be willing to carry it.
(editorial note: this is a very true statement for organizations like churches as well)
If you aren’t careful, you’ll carry to much and be dragging all along the trail, or you’ll pack it badly so you might hike in a big circle because you’re constantly leaning to one side. More likely, you’ll put more pressure on certain parts of your body, and they will wear you out faster and possibly cause you more issues down the road.
The longest trip I’ve been on was to Philmont Scout ranch. Before we ever left base camp, our guide for the first couple of days who was called Gimpy, took us through a pack shakedown. We emptied everything out of our packs, we dumped out a bunch of things we didn’t need, and then we repacked everything.
This made our packs lighter, before we added water and food, and also helped us to make sure that our packs would be comfortable as we carried them so that we could actually carry heavier weights if we needed to, and do so without adding much more burden to ourselves.
It’s all about finding that right balance.
In previous messages for this series (which may get posted at a later time) I was talking about Mercy and Sacrifice. Jesus calls on us to let go of unneeded sacrifices. One of the ways that that happens (and we’ll talk about another one here in a bit) is that other people expect things out of us that aren’t necessary, needed, or, important.
But they want us to do it anyway. That is a sacrifice.
We can’t often do much about those expectations, and we can try to not do those sacrifices, but it can be hard. Something we can do is that we can stop putting them on other people. To do that, Jesus calls on us to show mercy, and learn what it means.
The easy place to start is with the 3 rules that John Wesley set out.
That’s a good starting place.
But mercy isn’t just about our interactions with other people, how we show them mercy, or how we try to live that mercy out in a relationship with them.
Mercy is also about how we do the same thing for ourselves. To often, we are our own worst critics. We can expect ridiculous sacrifices from ourselves that are unreasonable and cause ourselves more pain and hardship.
Jesus makes a statement in vs. 28-30
"Come to me, all you who are struggling hard and carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Put on my yoke, and learn from me. I’m gentle and humble. And you will find rest for yourselves. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light."--Matthew 11:28-30
There’s this weird thing in here. Jesus says, come to me and I’ll give you rest. But he says in order to find rest you have to put on his yoke, take up this weight that he is going to give us, and then we’ll find rest.
This is hard. How does he take away a burden and give us rest by giving us another burden?
This is what makes verse 30 so important. My yoke is easy to bear, and my burden is light.
This is the essence of mercy.
It was mercy from our ranger to do that pack shakedown before we got onto the trail.
It was mercy from Jesus when he gives us these words, and then helps us to live by them.
Even in those times when it feels like things are good, we’re going well, and we don’t have a lot of worries at all…things can be a little off. Even when we’re doing well, there can be things that we still struggle with and that we need mercy for.
The more that we struggle, the more that things are off.
The more that things are off, the harder they are to deal with, and the worse that we get.
The worse things get, the more that they get off.
It becomes this cycle that if we don’t break out of it, then we won’t ever get through anything.
There are some folks that would say, and you’ve probably heard some variation of this, “suck it up buttercup”
Think about that for a second. We’re told, that when things are off, that in essence we’re supposed to bury all the bad things and just get on with life. And if we don’t do that we’re like some sort soft, weak person who is obviously just not good enough to do anything.
Which, sometimes, I’ll admit is true when I’m whining and don’t really want to do something.
But there are a lot of times when that gets used against folks who really are hurting and struggling, carrying to much, and can’t get out of what they’re in. We can be in that place, and we all have at some point in our lives. The last thing that we want to hear in that moment is to “get over it” and what we want is help to get through it.
Here’s what Jesus tells us, and what he gives us permission to do, and this works because we can know that he’s there with us when we get to it.
First thing is to rest. If Matthew were writing what Jesus was saying today, he might catch Jesus saying, “Have you tried turning it off and then back on again?”
Have you rested?
Then, take everything a piece at a time….but this means everything.
(editorial note: this means us church. Have we taken up the pieces?)
Take those pieces, they could be relationships, jobs, things, beliefs, people, anything really, and really consider each of them.
Do you need them?
This is the place Jesus gives us to ask that hard question. Then he tells us to let go of the things we don’t need. This is where we need his help the most.
Everything else gets rearranged because some struggles aren’t really struggles, they’re just packed badly and now we have the space to rearrange them.
Then Jesus reminds us that he goes on the journey with us, and he helps us to carry that load.
This is the mercy that Jesus wants us to show ourselves, because that can be some of the hardest to do. But then he also wants us to remember to share that same mercy with others and help them to do the same.
Go out this week and practice that kind of mercy, and help others to do the same.
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