A light Burden?

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burdenis light”

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Mt. 11:28-30

Photo Credit: Fishywrighter Lyrics: “Fly From the Inside: By: Shinedown.                 

This image sums up so much of what it is like to live life on this earth with all of its fallenness. So many are struggling. So many dealing with depression, loneliness, anxiety, fear… the list goes on and on. All the promises of “modern convenience” and “technological advances” and yet as we walk down the aisles of the supermarket or pump gas into our vehicles do the people around us look full of joy? Do they look well rested and at peace? Do we?

I am not a natural smiler. I mean this seriously. I have often been told I have a very “intense” face and even look angry or like I am about to hurt someone. Usually this is not the case. I am often so deep in thought trying to untangle complex matters in my mind that what people are actually seeing is my “thinking face” 

A couple years ago I worked nights at a local grocery store, the 6pm-12/2am shift. It’s an interesting group of people that come to the supermarket during those later hours. Some were people who just worked late and that was the easiest time to shop. Others looked like a parent who had finally gotten all the kids to bed and were shopping while their spouse held down the fort. But then, as the hours drew on, the people that came in were often those who wouldn’t want to come in during the daylight hours when the store was filled with your ‘everyday’ kind of people. These people looked “heavy”, it was like I could see the burden resting on their shoulders and the pain and emptiness in their eyes broke my heart. One night I clearly heard God tell me I needed to smile at every person I encountered while at work, whether employee or customer, I was to look people in the eyes, acknowledge them, and with my full heart and presence of mind, smile. It was as if God was saying “empty smiles” were not allowed. You know those kind of smiles, the ones that never reach the eyes and are obviously forced. Usually, people can sense, feel, a genuine smile. I noticed a few things after obediently, intentionally, smiling at each person I encountered. First I was drawn to pray for those whom I could see were heavily burdened. Second, it really threw people off balance. Like really off balance. Some looked at me at first with suspicion, then with recognition. Some diverted their eyes unable to accept “being seen”. For others it opened up conversations, some even sharing their “burdens” with me. More than once people, customers and employees, let me pray for them right there in the store and thanked me with tear-stained cheeks. 

I was in awe!

In the beginning I felt silly. I had to intentionally smile. By the time I got in my car to drive home my cheeks would literally be in pain. But it was worth it. 

The world is full of people who are “weary and burdened”. They are carrying a yoke so heavy their muscles shake and their feet stagger. These are the ones Jesus calls. Yet, if we read the whole of the gospel of Matthew it becomes very clear that what Jesus requires is not easy: Turn the other cheek, anger in the heart is equal to murder, lust is equal to adultery, love your enemy, pray for those who persecute you, be perfect! The list goes on and can easily feel both exhausting and impossible. Christ’s yoke doesn’t sound any easier or lighter than the ‘yoke of the world’. 

Oswald Chambers, in his “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount”, says that “Unless Jesus Christ can remake us within, His teaching is the biggest mockery human ears ever heard. (P.46). If we think we can simply carry the yoke of Christ on our own we will likely struggle even more than we did before coming to Christ. So how can Jesus call His yoke easy and His burden light? Craig Keener, in his commentary “The Gospel of Matthew”, gives us the simplest of answers: “Jesus’ yoke is not lighter because he demands less, but because he bears more of the load with the burdened (p.348). A yoke requires two parties. Two oxen are yoked together, and combined they are able to accomplish far more than either could do on their own. When we yoke ourselves with Christ, it is not just that the load  is equally distributed, but that Christ bears all that we cannot while at the same time remaking us from the inside so that we are able to carry the load required of us. If that sounds like work, it’s because it is. BUT the promise is that when we yoke ourselves to Christ, He gives us what need to live out what He has called us to and in the process we will finally find true, real, and lasting rest for our tired, weary souls!