—Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.—
Today’s readings and the words of the Holy Gospel point us to one thing: In Christ everything is changed.
The prophet Zechariah points to the one who will come, the Savior, Who is meek, Who comes riding an ass. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, who comes to us as a very ordinary man in the humblest of circumstances. The babe from the stable comes not in triumphant array, but rather as one like us, a simple, meek, and humble man riding into town in the simplest of ways. God begins by showing us actual change. He sets our common understanding of how things should be, of what’s important, on its head.
How extraordinarily common and how perfectly clear the revelation of our Lord and Savior. The prophet Isaiah went so far as to say that the Savior:
had no form or comeliness that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
So in fact there was noting about Jesus that was attractive as man counts “attractive.” People didn’t follow Him because He was good looking or because He “had it all” as the world counts —having it all.— Rather, people followed and have been following Him for 2,000 years simnply because He changes everything.
Building on this theme St. Paul tells us
You are not in the flesh;
on the contrary, you are in the spirit,
if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. —¨
In other words there is nothing in or of the world, no beauty, no magnificence, no power, no weapon, no worry, no burden, no concern, nothing of the flesh at all that matters if our focus is properly on God, and our relationship with Him in spirit and in truth. That is how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ has changed things. Jesus’ clear message is that He offers us the way that is true and eternal. He has shown us the way of God and the love of God. He changed everything including the way we as His followers value everything.
The problems we face, the cares and burdens we so carefully count, the many troubles we face are taken away when we live in Him. He wipes it all out. He takes our cares and burdens away. We are assured that God looks at things differently and that He counts differently. We recognize this best when we make an act of trust – complete trust in God.
St. Paul reminds us of this when he says:
we are not debtors to the flesh,
to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh, you will die
Those things we thought were oh so important are not so important. The worries that trouble us are only symbols of death and decay. So Paul tells us: but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Brothers and sisters,
This past Friday’s commemoration of independence should remind us that freedom, true freedom, is only found in following Jesus’ way. True independence, true freedom, is found in the way of the Lord. That is how things are changed. Our reliance is different. We place our trust elsewhere. We live in freedom that surpasses the freedom the world and the world’s laws can offer.
Now is the time for us, as a parish, and as Christian men and women to put those things we once counted as important to death so that we can live in Christ and live forever. It is time for us to accept the change we were asked to accept on the day of our baptism.
Do we sit here and fret over burdens and cares? Do we feel the weight of labors that bind us to counting the things that only matter to the flesh? Do we look at the Holy Church’s motto – truth, work, and struggle, and see it only in relation to the truth of worldly work and worldly struggle? It is not so.
Jesus has revealed God to us. Because of this we count ourselves among the chosen, the select. Because we share in God’s revelation we are set free from those things we used to count, but only if we choose to accept the change Jesus Christ brings. When we think of truth we must think of God’s truth. When we think of work and struggle we must look to Bishop Hodur’s message that man’s true work and struggle is aimed at entry into eternal life, to being regenerated and born into a life lived according to God’s way.
All that is required is that we take up the Lord’s yoke, His way, and follow in His footsteps. Then we will leave behind the things we used to count. We will leave behind what we thought was true and focus rather on Jesus’ truth. We will trust in God. We will put our focus on faithfulness to Him which begins and ends right here, before this very altar. In doing this we will be changed because Christ came to bring that change.
The ability to change is here. Jesus is offering it to you and to me. Jesus tells us that making this change will make like sweet. We will find rest in Him, if only, if only we change. Amen.