My Burden is Light

This is the text of a talk I gave on Sunday, April 24, 2016.

Let’s start with Matthew 11:28-30.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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.”

Now I know these verses are well known, and are pretty self-explanatory. But, if you indulge me for a moment, let me propose this.

I’d like to put forth to you a different idea about what these verses might mean.

Let’s look at the first part of that phrase, “For my yoke is easy…..” .  The Greek word used here is phortion which means burden, but also translates as load or cargo.  Are you familiar with yokes? My understanding is they usually deal with something that brings two animals together in order to make the work being done easier, or at least a shared effort. So, if I’m reading this correctly, Jesus is offering us a spot in his yoke, his team, his involvement in our lives. But, what I have come to realize is if we are yoked to Jesus, the Son of God, then it’s likely he’ll take on the lion’s share of effort. He asks that we allow Him to carry our concerns and worries.

Our cargo, what we carry, are the cares of this world, our human trappings, our attitudes, our stuff, our dwelling in the darkness that surrounds us……… everything that weighs us down, and causes us to stumble. There has been plenty of this in my life. I’ve been stubborn, selfish, egotistical, foolish, impulsive….. you, know, human, or, if you will, a guy.  We all can make our own lists. Jesus asks us to join Him, and He will take all of that on Himself, transforming it, and giving us a lightness.

There a song about a son trying to patch things up with his father that sums up this relationship Christ want with us. Here’s the first part of it:

"Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own"

Tough, you think you've got the stuff
You're telling me and anyone
You're hard enough

You don't have to put up a fight
You don't have to always be right
Let me take some of the punches
For you tonight

Listen to me now
I need to let you know
You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror
And it's you when I don't pick up the phone
Sometimes you can't make it on your own – U2

Let me tell you a story. I have a tendency to walk around my house at night and not turn on any lights. I figure I’ve been living here a while, so I pretty much know where things are, so no problems. Well, as you can probably guess, things happen which cause other things which cause other things, and so on and so on. Well, one of these happened when we had kids. Growing up, we wanted to give our boys toys which were not only fun, but also fired their imagination. That’s when the first LEGOs came into the house. Now, everything was fine as long as they were all picked up and put away before the boys went to bed. But, it always seemed some rogue LEGOs hid themselves in the carpeting in the living room, and search as we may, never were found when it was time to be put away. Well, that’s where my walking around the house at night without lights brought about the problems. Seems I was always able to find one or two of the strays as I navigated the house. And they weren’t the bigger one, NOOOOO! It was always the smallest and sharpest that booby-trapped my path. If only I’d been smart enough to turn a light on so I could at least stand a better chance of avoiding these pitfalls. If only I’d not been so arrogant, and just turned on the lights. What harm would that do? Funny how we all stumble around in the darkness of our lives, hardly aware of any hidden dangers, when all we would have to do is turn on the Light.

Let’s look at our verses again. ²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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.”

Consider this: Jesus carried the burden of bringing Light into the world. So, we need not only to think of a light burden as one which isn’t as heavy as it could be or once was, but we can also think about the Light as something to be carried into the world, an observable, compassionate Light meant to change us all. Not only was Jesus the Light, He bore the Light, and also gave us the ability and responsibility to carry the Light to those around us.

Let me give you a couple of examples from Scripture to further show you how Christ brings Light into our world.

From Matthew 17:1-5 - 17 “Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and his brother John and led them up a high mountain, by themselves. ² And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. ³ Suddenly there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. ⁴ Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you wish, I will make three dwellings here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁵ While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud a voice said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!”

Who is the bearer of the light in this scene? Jesus, of course, and His appearance at this time could be seen as a prelude to the Light found in the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation. (The Greek word for this light is phos, which translates daylight or firelight, something which dispels the darkness around it). You have to admit, this is a pretty impressive, persuasive display, not meant to show off Jesus’ power, but to give the disciples the idea of the purpose of His life, and the Presence of our Creator in him.

Have you ever felt like saying, “Y’know, God, if you’d just show it all to me, I’d be okay. At least I’d know what coming and what it’s all about”? Just think about that for a moment. Do you think your head could handle all that, and the implications of that sort of knowledge? Have you ever been presented with too much to think about or information beyond what you could comprehend at the time? So, look at what the disciples had shown to them. Could you go through a Transfiguration moment? If your spiritual leader started to glow in front of you, what would you do? They offered to build tents to worship. But Jesus wanted to give them a glimpse of His glory. How different would have things been if He walked around like that all the time. But, He didn’t. He gave people what they could deal with and understand.

Let’s look in Revelation for another example of this.

At beginning of Revelation, in  1:12-16, John recorded this: “¹² Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force.”

So, then what happens? We continue in the passage with the next couple of verses: “¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” John fell down in front of this display.

 I mean, this freaked John the Apostle out, so you can only imagine how we’d handle it. (I can, however, see Jesus telling John not to be afraid as sort of a wink and a “Hey, it’s me. You’ve seen this before). The image used here is akin to us staring into the sun, or an extremely bright explosion. Not only is it dangerous, but our minds would have a difficult time processing what was happening.  Again, this supports why God doesn’t show everything to us. He knows we would be overwhelmed and confused to the point of not knowing what to do. Instead of doing that, Jesus reveals the light we need when we need it, in the doses and amounts we can handle, even giving us clues as to understanding it. Having experienced humanity, He well understands us and our limitations, but He also gets our capacity to learn and reason.

I’m not advocating that we just sit around and wait for God to give us a peek into what is in store for us. Those little moments, when they happen, are priceless, but should not be the only source of the Light. No, we are to pursue the Light, searching for it in our daily lives. The simplest way is to dive into Scripture. A morning or evening devotional time is a good start. In these times, we can read our Bible, then reread the passage, working on unpacking what we find in there. A good commentary, or even a devotional guide like Daily Bread, Guideposts, or Men of Integrity can be useful in establishing the groundwork for reflection.  Through this discipline, we can center on how God’s Word can be applied to our lives, and we can gain comfort knowing we are not alone, and also wisdom through our own thinking, and by reading what others have to say about the passage.

It’s a very worthwhile habit to develop.

Story number two: Memorial Day, 2013………… the day I died……………. I had people asking me all sorts of questions, like if I saw certain people over there, or did I get a glimpse of the “list”……. But the most common questions was, “Did you see the “light”? We have made this light into some sort of proof of having died, but coming back. I’m sure there are those who had this experience, but I’m not one of them.

But then I started thinking, maybe the “light” seen at times like that comes at different times for different people. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to have the “cookie cutter” near death experiences popularized by books, magazines, and movies. I guess that shows I don’t do things according to what’s normal.

Maybe, my seeing of the light is supposed to be after I was brought back. If that’s true, then I needed to look and recognize where the Light was to be found, and ask how has this experience changed me?

Looking back, the series of events that kept me here is truly amazing. From the cardiologist whose house I happened to go down in front of, to the quick response of the EMTs and ambulance, through the lifeflight to Cleveland Clinic, and the skills of those doctors.  All worked together, and I see them now as God’s Light in my life. I am a whole lot more relaxed and laid back now. My priorities have been realigned. I still get upset, but not over petty, trivial things. There was been a lifting of a darkness, and a wanting to walk in the light as much as possible, with a heavy load lifted from me. I see this as the work of Jesus in my environment, and in my heart. But, it also changed my attitude about how I treat other people. If I’ve received this great light, then it’s up to me not to hog it all, but to pass it around to as many as I can. Outwardly, I’m pretty much the same, but without the edge and negative stuff. That doesn’t mean I succeed all the time. Some days are darker than others, but overall, I take this seriously. We all can use a little more light in our lives. I can’t explain why it was me, but I do accept it was another chance that was given to me, and I am inspired to live this beautiful game to the best of my ability. I rely of Jesus to help me through, because God knows I can’t do this on my own.

And, He will replace our heavy darkness with His Light! It is the carrying of that Light into the world that forms the basis of our final instruction from Christ in the book of Matthew. Chapter 28:19-20.

^“19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Simply put, we are be reflections of His Light, extensions of His Light, and as long a we are partnered with Him, as brothers and sisters, we are called and compelled to shine. If we believe, the yoke goes from being His to becoming ours, and His cargo of Light expands and fills us to overflowing, so that we can’t help but to take it into the fallen world.

So, let’s revisit our key scripture for today, hear these words once again.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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.”

Looking Ahead

To set up a list of goals is an admirable venture, but those should not be the standard by which the success of the year should be measured.  They are mere guidelines and wishes to be considered until whatever life throws your way comes along. Such serendipitous occurrences are to be embraced as learning moments, quickly assimilated into our experiences. Once there, they can be pondered, mulled over, and decisions can be made as to how great an influence each will be on us and our relationships. Let us not be afraid to discard any which have a negative effect, however. Whatever you use to fill your mind and heart will spill over into all aspects of your life. So strive for positivity. Reach out and live in the Light.

Yes, It's Been a While

For over a year, I've been sitting back and watching, listening, reading, and pretty much not wanting to react to a lot of what's been going on. That doesn't mean I'm not aware of it, or that some of it has me concerned. It just that, as in my last post, I've felt becoming upset and lashing out doesn't seem to be productive. So, let me preface this post with that statement.
It seems to me that we seek out new ways to perpetuate our anger, our outrage, our sense of injustice in this world, so much so, that many small things seem to stoke our ire, making us do and/or say things we may later regret. That being said, may I propose that it's possible we turn a blind eye to the greatest injustice of them all - our destruction by our God of justice, brought about by our almost constant turning away from Him, our disobedience to His ways, and our blatant disregard for His feelings towards us (many times done "in His Name", although it's hard in retrospect to see how that was true).
We get all indignant when someone who thinks they are important says or does something they think matters, when, in the big picture, both are insignificant, as transient as a morning frost. As Scripture says, we strain at gnat while we swallow camels. Time to stop getting upset over trivialities and start living for our Creator by building up and rescuing His creation, sometimes one person at a time.
It has been said you can catch more flies (bees, bugs...) with honey than vinegar. It's time to step up to the plate, determined to send on out of the park (or at least get on base), than to argue with the officials over every call. We are the chief determining factor as to the impact our lives will make on others.
Imagine if God reacted as we do over small slights, puny human reasoning, slips of the tongue. Where would we be? But, fortunately, He does NOT! Instead, He corrects us, He disciplines us with love, mercy, and grace. This includes times when God allows us to go off half-cocked, because He knows full well of our ability to figure it out in the end, if we just trust Him. This plays well into all things working for good.
So, remember the words found in Philippians 4:4-8:
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 

Peace, my friends, build one another up. Live what is good. Embrace what is divine. Love God. Love people. Serve the world. 

Not to Be Taken Lightly

          I have come to the point where with everything that is going on in the world. I sit back and say, "What could getting upset solve?" We live in a country divided, where each side takes delight in pointing fingers, making mountains out of molehills, turning trivial matters and offhand comments into life and death situations, and pouring their energy into making sure the opposition gains no ground at any cost. We see it in our government, we see it in our traffic and other interpersonal relationships, and we even see it in our churches. The attitude is, "I may be wrong, but I'll do my damnedest to find anyone who is more in error. I may sin, but I'll search high and low to fins someone else whose sins are darker than mine, just to make myself look not as bad."
          I realize this is nothing new, but has seemed to have intensified lately. I've searched Scripture to see where it says we should undermine. discredit, and work to destroy those with whom we disagree, or don't even like.
          I follow a God of love AND justice, a Savior for all who claim Him, and a Spirit available to anyone who believes. Joshua 24:14-15 states: "Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and faithfulness; put away the gods your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. Now, if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your ancestors served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."

Broken

Most good discussions or conversations usually begin with a question. Where are you going on vacation this year? What do you think of the new Transformers movie? What is the meaning of life? Why is there air? Does your chewing gum lose its flavor on the bedpost overnight? (Just wanted to see if you were listening, and who might get that obscure reference.) All these questions seem to rattle our minds and get us thinking about stuff. So, let me ask you a question today to get you started.

Have you ever been broken? I hear you saying, “Ron, now do you mean broken physically, emotionally, spiritually, economically….what?” I can only answer, “Yes.”

I’ve had personal experience in the broken department.

About fifteen months ago, I came to know what it means to be truly physically broken. My heart stopped, simple as that. What caused it? Who knows. But, then I found myself in the center of what I call a “perfect storm”. From the cardiologist who just happened to be at the scene, to the various people I knew along the process, to the life flight to Cleveland (they don’t have in-flight movies, by the way), to the speed in which I was put into surgery for stent placement……… all worked towards saving my life, and I’m convinced God made it all happen. Someone once said there are no coincidences, only God incidents. Now, whether God has more for me to do here beyond sharing my story has yet to be seen. But, I’m trying to stay open to any and all suggestions and guidance He sends my way.

But, I’ve also experienced heartbreak at the betrayal of friends, at the thought of the injustice of this world, and at the thought that I might not be able to finish what I have to do here, or even that maybe I already have finished it. In my brokenness, I’ve been angry, sad, frustrated, apathetic,  I’ve flown into rages, shown my contempt through sarcasm, and just about gave up on everything. All because I refused to see just how broken I was at those times.

And, while those times may appear to be sobering, I have found that having to rely on God to get me through them has helped change some of my attitudes and ways of dealing with the brokenness in my life.

To quote Henri Nouwen - “Our life is full of brokenness - broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God's faithful presence in our lives.”

Now, let’s look at some biblical examples of brokenness. Think of your favorite parable. What is it? Sheep and goats…… the widow’s mite…… the fig tree…… lost stuff…….. Mine has to be the prodigal son. It’s the story of two brothers and their dad who happen to be in a broken relationship. Well, really, two relationships. Okay, three. We have the youngest son wanting what he thinks he deserves right now, symbolically wishing his dad dead, and ignoring his older brother’s rights. We have the older brother who is so angry at his kid brother’s life style choices, that even when his sibling returns, he can’t bring himself to join in a party celebrating the younger’s coming home. Sure, he thinks his dad is ridiculous, too, for throwing such a shindig. Do they make up? Is their relationship restored? The story never tells, But the story is used to illustrate how we can be broken and not even realize it. It makes you think about your own selfishness and stubbornness and how it hurts you and others. I look at my own relationships, some I take for granted, some I ignore, and I see there is a certain amount of brokenness in some of them. In the prodigal son story, the father gives the sons a way to reconciliation. It is through including God; turning the process over to Him, and forgiving one another that they might be repaired.

And what about the beatitudes? Look at that list of people there. Can you see the potential for brokenness in each group? As you look at each, try to speculate, try to imagine what happened in their lives to bring about the need Jesus says they have. Then, think about the reward each will get at the hands of our Savior.

Matthew 5:1-12 -  When Jesus^a saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. ² Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

In her book, Brokenness, the Heart God Revives, Nancy Leigh DeMoss states, “Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit" - contrary to what we would expect, brokenness is the pathway to blessing! There are no alternative routes; there are no short-cuts. The very thing we dread and are tempted to resist is actually the means to God's greatest blessings in our lives.”

⁴ “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” How many of us have experienced mourning and then found comfort in our faith, in the love and compassion of Jesus, and in the support of others in our Christian community?

⁵ “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” My thesaurus tells me I can use humble or patient instead of meek. Think of the times you’ve rushed into something, thought you had it all figured out, only to have it blow up and cause pain and discomfort. Patience and humility are valuable assets, but sometimes come at a great price.

⁶ “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Those are the ones who see the injustice in their own lives and in this world, then try to make some sense of it to try to find solutions.

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” They recognize their own hurting and need for forgiveness, extending it to others instead of seeking revenge and restitution.

⁸ “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Ah, the pure in heart. Too often they find themselves as the targets of ridicule and sarcasm, misunderstood as they are seen as being full of themselves, and holier than thou.

⁹ “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” We can only imagine what they have experienced so that they seek out an equitable, just compromise when trouble arises.

¹⁰ “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely^b on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” These are the ones who suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous treatment, slanderous words, and being excluded from society due to their commitment to God and His will.

Again, quoting Nancy Leigh DeMoss - “True brokenness is a lifestyle - a moment-by-moment lifestyle of agreeing with God about the true condition of my heart and life - not as everyone else thinks it is but as He knows it to be.”

“Being broken isn't the worst thing. We can be mended and put together again. We don’t have to be ashamed of our past. We can embrace the history that gives us value, and see our cracks as beautiful.” That comes from Anna White, in her book Mended: Thoughts on Life, Love, and Leaps of Faith

How do you make an omelet? You need eggs, seasoning, and some sort of filling. The only way the eggs can be useful is to break them, to get at the stuff inside, to use it to create something in a different form. This is how God uses us in our brokenness. He takes what we offer, as imperfect as it is, and He uses it for building character through our brokenness.

Vance Havner has this to say about God’s using us. “God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”

Before my heart attack, I was doing 5K races and averaging around 40 minutes. In fact, it was about a mile into one that the heart attack happened. But, that may have delayed my running and walking, but it didn’t stop it completely. Within a couple of months, I was back training, eventually working my way into racing again. But in the “fixing” of my heart, even though I’ve had improved blood flow, I am a bit slower. God is using that to keep me grounded, keep me focused on what a miracle this life is, keep me appreciating each day as a gift. Getting faster is not such a priority now. Finishing each race is. Paul even had something to say about that.

In Hebrews 12:1-2, we find these words:

“12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely,^[a] and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of^[b] the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” We are to keep at it, keep going, even when our brokenness slows us down, even when we get frustrated and start questioning the wisdom of the race, for, as Paul says, it is the race that is set before us. It is part of God’s plan for our lives. You might even say it is our destiny.

It’s okay to be broken, for it is when we are in that state we realize our dependence on God to fill in and help us move on. Just because you’re broken doesn’t mean you have to be fixed. In fact, I think trying to go back to being as good as new can be a source of wasted effort and frustration. You’ll never be “good as new” in this life. One of my favorite authors, Brennan Manning, puts it this way -  “God loves you unconditionally, as you are and not as you should be, because nobody is as they should be.”

In Psalms 34:18, we are given these words of comfort, of encouragement.

“The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” We can find safe haven in His love, knowing that He accepts us, and will work to bring about healing, if we only let Him.

In ancient Roman days, craftsmen used to boast about how fine their work in wood was. In order to fool people into thinking the material was top notch, they would coat the wood with wax, which would fill in any imperfections. The word for wax was “cere”. Customers would look over the products, then ask if the wood was without wax, the word for without being “Sine”. If the craftsman told the truth when he assured the work was sine cere – without wax- he gained the reputation of being honest and worthy of trust. In other words, he was sincere. This is where we get that word, from this practice, and I think it is what God looks for when we sees us. Are we sincere, are we without wax, are we without filler? Do we show ourselves, giving ourselves to Him, imperfections and all, broken people who offer the best we have?

Consider this point. When Christ greets you in the next life, He won’t be looking for your rewards and medals. He’ll be more interested in your scars. They serve as reminders of what has hurt us, what has caused doubt, what has made us feel unworthy. But, they also tell of the healing found in the arms of our Savior, who fully understands what it means to be broken.

It’s okay to be broken.