True rest

 ‘…Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Matthew 11:25-30 (Year A: Trinity+3)

This is a very familiar passage from the Gospel of Matthew. Many will know it by heart. It echoes many other passages of scripture including, for example, Psalm 23 (‘The Lord is my Shepherd’).

‘Come to me..’

Coming to a place or person or state of mind is the first step. It means going to something and someone greater than our immediate situation where we can be ourselves.

 ‘.. all who are weary and burdened..’

It means coming as just as we are warts and all, worries and all and wants and all (WWW) Specifically, it could mean putting aside special times and places where we can be still for a few moments. The morning can be a good time. Also the evening. Or, in the middle of the day. Or, any other time depending.

‘..and I will give you rest..’

The rest spoken of here is an inner freedom together with a certain underlying peace and contentedness even in the midst of great anguish, stress and sadness (..peace is never without a price).

‘Take my yoke upon you..’

Taking on the yoke of discipleship means dying/denying/losing in a certain way in regards to our own plans, opinions, terms of reference and ways of framing the world around us and within.  It means following a call to serve others in ways that we never thought of or expected.

‘and learn from me..’

Learning is about changing. Learning is about being open to experience, example and doing with others. It is not to be confused with teaching which may lead to learning. But not all learning (or teaching) are positive. A lot of learning can be about Unlearning.

‘..for I am gentle and humble in heart..’

The most powerful form of learning is that which is associated with the example of a teacher who is gentle, honest and humble because the One who exemplifies is a humble suffering servant foreshadowed in the Old Testament/Hebrew scriptures. (many see this as applicable to Pope Francis).

‘..and you will find rest for your souls.’

Finding rest is the fruit of trust and abandonment to God’s will as it is revealed to each one of on the path of life. How do we know when we find rest for our souls? This question is redundant when we find such rest!

‘..for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.’

Really? Following the high road of lowly service is counter-cultural and always was.  In what sense is the yoke of discipleship ‘easy’ or its burden ‘light’? It is the sense that by putting aside our plans and our wishes we find new plans and new wishes that release new depths and expressions of human creativity that we never imagined or dreamed of. The problem, too often, is that our world view and ‘wish-fors’ are small world shadows.

Life is too short to drink bad wine and coming to Jesus and taking his yoke is much too attractive to turn down. Be reckless. Be open to restfulness you never dreamt of.