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| Image by Valerian Guillot |
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A GREETING
Have mercy on me, God;
have mercy on me
because I have taken refuge in you.
(Psalm 57:1a)
A READING
“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)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I stretch out my hands to you;
my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you. Selah
(Psalm 143:6)
TWO POEMS
Love is rest.
Actually, the only rest humans have.
And nothing is as exhausting.
And it is freedom.
And yet, nothing binds us as securely.
Therein lies love's paradox.
Without love, it is as if one carried a burden
All the time and was prisoner to his loneliness,
No matter how free he is in his aloneness.
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We should say to one another,
Not, sorry, I bumped into you,
But, thank you, for touching me.
- "Love is a Rest," and "We Should Say to One Another,"
by Eeva Kilpi
VERSE OF THE DAY
I lifted the burden off your shoulders;
your hands are free.
(Psalm 81:6)
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| "Hand of God," by Lorenzo Quinn (Shanghai, undated) In this sculpture, a reflective figure sits on a hand which undergirds and supports it. The artist includes underneath an image of the sculpture the full story, "Footprints in the Sand," by Mary Stevenson. The story is about a person reflecting on footprints he sees in the sand, which sometimes seem to become only one set. The narrator interprets this as God having left them, but God replies that the single set of prints represents times when the person was being held by God through hard times. The sculpture represents that time of being held, and like Monday's sculpture, the palm is open, the fingers are spread and curling and there is a sense of an unshakable foundation. |
Today's short reading is one we may have heard many times: the invitation by Jesus to offer up our burdens into his care, while also entering into the "yoke" of living the work of discipleship. A yoke doesn't sound very inviting when we first hear this image. Being strapped into any obligation can feel limiting and frightening. Having to partner with someone means being tied to their decision making as much as our own. It may seem or feel like being forced along a specific path without freedom of choice. It may even sound like increasing a sense of weariness and burden rather than relieving it, especially when we consider that in the ancient world, yokes were used as part of the apparatus of forced labour with enslaved peoples and animals. A yoke can be a part of an economic system built on the backs of those with no voice.
But Jesus promises that being yoked to him will bring rest. How can that be? In the best agricultural practices of the era, yokes were measured and fashioned to fit the specific body of the animal so it would not strain or wound them. These kinds of yokes were also positioned so that the stronger ox or animal would carry the main part of the load. Jesus is suggesting it is this kind of yoke that allows him to partner with us in all that we do. The yoke we have with Jesus "fits" us, and allows a feeling of comfortably sharing the work of discipleship with him.
One burden we may wish to lift up to Jesus is our relationship to our bodies: the size, shape, condition, and other challenges of our bodies and how our bodies impact our daily lives. If some activities are harder than others due to age or changing capacity, if taking care of children has stressed our limits, if elder care or other responsibilities have caused us to feel weary, how might we imagine Jesus on the other side of that yoke? Or, in the spirit of the sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn, how might we feel ourselves held in his hand, as we pause to regather our energy?
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| Image by Matt Binns |
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Scripture passages are taken from the Common English Bible.
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LC† From Dust, Still Holy is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!