Proper 9A (Pentecost 6) 2023

Matthew 11:28-30 “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.””

Today we might very well go back to the question that was the center of the message last Sunday, as well: “What did you sign up for?” Except we might phrase it slightly differently: “What did you come her for?”

In our text, Jesus extends the invitation: “28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). If I were to ask you to list specific words that you associate with being a Christian— words that describe what it’s like to be a Christian— how far down the list would you get before you listed the word ‘rest’? Are ‘peace’ and ‘rest’ words that you associate with coming to worship, for example? Is that what you come away feeling when you leave here?

Let’s go a step deeper. It’s certainly true that we live in a world that is more and more antagonistic to what the Bible teaches about sexuality and about marriage and about the sanctity of life— and what we, therefore, believe, teach, and confess. But let’s leave that aside for a moment. Let’s ignore the topic of persecution for a moment. Are ‘peace’ and ‘rest’ words that you associate with your faith? Deep down in your heart, would you say that your faith gives you ‘peace’ and ‘rest’?

The pious, ‘churchy’ answer is a quick “Yes!” But let’s go for the honest answer today. Because there are many who have found that the answer is no. C.S. Lewis, for example, famously wrote “I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” Perhaps he had in mind something similar to what St. Paul expressed in our Epistle reading— “24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). These two men are some of the most famous, revered Christians who have ever lived. And they don’t sound like they have found ‘peace’ or ‘rest’ in Him. And, if you’re honest, I suspect that you can relate to their sentiment.

Rather than bringing peace, Christianity creates a battle. “23 I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members,” St. Paul wrote (Romans 7:23). The first thing God’s Word does is hold up a spiritual mirror in front of you and shows you what you really look like according to God’s standards. You quickly find God’s Word and your own conscience teaming up against you. You know the good and right thing to do. “[You] have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. [You] do not do the good you want, but the evil [you] do not want is what [you] keep on doing” (Romans 7:18-19).

This world callously insists “I was born that way” as if that makes anything ok. But you understand, the full extent of the way you were born: the greed, the selfishness, the hate, the lust, you were born with all of them. And none of it is ok.

And then you turn to Christ, perhaps hoping that He will show you how to do a better job of loving those around you. Perhaps if you listen to Him long enough, perhaps if you learn from Him long enough, then you’ll find it easier to do the good and to stop the evil. But it never gets easy. Instead, what you find is that a new burden has been put on your back— like a yoke put across an animal’s shoulders. On account of Jesus, you see what Good really looks like. And, rather than being empowered to live like Him, you just see more and more clearly that you’re not Him. You can’t live up to His standard.

It doesn’t matter who you are or when or where. There is always some good that you have the desire to do but not the ability. And some evil to avoid that you cannot keep from doing. “[You are never] totally free from the yoke and captivity of sin. That bitter root lurking in [you] always strives to shoot forth (Hebrews 12:15). The law of sin that rages in [your] flesh fights to capture [you]. [Even in the moments that you do the good you desire, you find that what you truly desire is your] own honor”

(Gerhard, Johann. “The Seriousness of Original Sin,” Meditations on Divine Mercy. Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis.)

As if that weren’t enough, you also have the growing list of ways that you’ve hurt people through the years. Because sin is not an arbitrary list of things that God just wants to keep you from doing. As another pastor puts it, “Sin breaks stuff.” Sin hurts people. Both the evil that you could not keep from doing and the good that you could not find the ability to do. And that list of people you’ve failed in some way, the list of people you’ve hurt in some way, only grows and grows over time. Like they say, “A clean conscience is the sign of a poor memory.”

“God’s holy will demands that [you] in no way cheat [your] neighbor in matters of business, but that [you] seek my neighbor’s advantage. [You are] in no way to ridicule [your] neighbor’s faults; instead, [you are] to cover them with the mantle of love. [You are] not to accuse my neighbor with a quick and rash judgment. But how often [you] seek [your] own advantage through unjust means. How often [your] make a rash judgment concerning my neighbor. [God’s] holy will demands that [your] spirit, mind, and soul be free from every depraved desire. But how often [your] flesh incites [you] to sin and how often perverse desires pollute [your] spirit” (Gerhard, “Life Contemplated According to the Second Table of the Law.”).

How much good do you need to do to make up for that biting word that you spoke in anger, or the careless word that cut someone close to you to the heart, or even the loving, caring word that you failed to speak? How much suffering would it take to make up for being so quick to judge others rather than covering their faults with the mantle of love? What would it take to actually, truly cleanse your conscience?

“24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). We focus a lot on being delivered from persecution by the world, being saved from the devil’s attacks. But an equally important question is: Who will save you from yourself?

“Who will deliver [you] from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). In a word, Jesus.

“28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Every other hour of every other day of every other week of your life, you are battling against your sinful flesh. Jesus invites you here, though, to receive His victory over your sinful flesh.

There is no getting around it, you were born with every conceivable form of sin in your heart. So Jesus was born for you, sinless and holy.

How much good do you need to make up for all the ways you have hurt others? How much suffering would pay for your guilt? Whatever the answer is, the fact is that Jesus paid it. He did all the good. All of it. Every moment of every day. Without fail. Perfectly. “In His mouth was found no deceit (Isaiah 53:9; 1 Peter 2:22). He did not deviate from [God’s] Law in His words or deeds. There was no corruption in His nature” (Gerhard, “Life Contemplated According to the Second Table of the Law”).

He paid for your guilt with His suffering and death on the cross. He suffered an eternity in hell for you. Your sins are paid for in full. His precious blood was poured out on the altar of the cross to cleanse you from the sins you commit every day of your life. His blood cleanses you from all your transgressions.

“Your sins [would] hold [you] captive and [they] are powerful enemies, but ...[the] most perfect, full, and holy ransom of Christ [has earned for you] the forgiveness of [your] transgressions” (Gerhard, “The Daily Lapse Into Sin).

That, by the way, is the true “sabbath rest.” It has nothing to do with whether or not you can buy alcohol on Sundays. It has nothing to do with what sort of work you can or can not do. When Jesus invites you to ‘come’, it isn’t in some vague, spiritual sense. Come here to the worship that He has instituted where His peace is given to you.

Yes, you were born in sin. He gives you, here, a new birth in Holy Baptism. You have been born again, in Jesus Christ, to a new and holy life. He, the only one who was born sinless and holy, has joined Himself to you there in baptism. “27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Galatians 3:27).

Not only are your sins forgiven, His perfect life is now credited to you. He did all the good. Every moment of every day. Without fail. Perfectly. “In His mouth was found no deceit (Isaiah 53:9; 1 Peter 2:22). He did not deviate from [God’s] Law in His words or deeds. There was no corruption in His nature” (Gerhard, “Life Contemplated According to the Second Table of the Law”). That, now, is the record by which you will be judged on the last day.

That is the yoke that He places upon you. That is the burden you now carry. And it could not be any lighter. Jesus has carried the heavy part. He has borne your sins to the cross. You may never be free from the memories of your sins, but God has blotted them out with the blood of His Son and He remembers your sins no more (Isaiah 43:25). And, in order to help you leave those painful memories of your sins behind, He gives you the opportunity to confess your sins privately and have those, specific sins forgiven so that, perhaps you might remember them no more, either.

As long as you are in this life, the battle against your sinful flesh will continue. But, through that battle, Jesus will cause you to learn gentleness. By His mercy and long-suffering patience, He gives you a spirit of patience and gentleness toward others, as well. He frees you from slavery to anger when your neighbor offends you. “[He teaches you] control of [your] mouth and wisdom in governing the actions of [your] life....” He yokes Himself to you so that you walk in the footsteps of His gentleness and love those around you with a sincere heart (Gerhard, “Prayer for the Gift and Increase of Gentleness.”).

In this way, by the power of His Word, through the daily reminder of the new birth He gave you in baptism, by a thousand absolutions from your pastor, by feeding you with His body and blood in, with, and under bread and wine, you do learn from Him to be disgusted by your sins and to genuinely love what is good and true and beautiful.

Come to Jesus, all who labor and are heavy laden, and He will give you rest. Come to Him in repentance and faith. Take His yoke upon you and learn from Him, the gentle and lowly one. Although the battle against sin will rage on, here you will find rest for your souls. Whatever you’re here for, that is what Jesus offers you today.