Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
"But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
“For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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.”
Jesus asked, to what should we compare this generation? It is like a bunch of petulant, peevish, irritable, huffy, sullen, sulky, testy and touchy students hurling artless, idiotic, unimaginative, hackneyed, tedious, sluggish and moronic insults across the playground of the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic.
THAT is what Jesus’ generation was like! In Jesus’ generation the rulers probably took Cicero’s parable of the Sword of Damocles and renamed it the Sword of Dumocles thinking they were clever… oblivious to the irony! They probably explained that they just took out the “a” and replaced it with a “u” because people who listen to Greek parables are dumb… get it? They’re dumb!
Fortunately for you and me… OUR generation has evolved… is wiser… more sophisticated… more mature… better educated… honorable and well mannered. NOT! On the contrary, our generation seems to have the smarts of the Bony-eared Assfish, a real deep-sea fish which is often listed as nature’s top contender for the least intelligent vertebrate on the planet.
And you know what? Living in a world where so many people and our country's leadership make the Bony-eared Assfish look like a Mensa candidate, leaves a person… WEARY. Continuously and repeatedly working to rise above the schoolyard antics of the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic is physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausting. It is a HEAVY burden.
So how are we supposed to do this? Our country continues to punch itself in the face… and, by the way, when you Google “punching yourself in the face” the first search result you get back is “Help is Available” with a link to a self-harm hotline! And how I WISH calling that number would help!
So preacher man! What IS the answer? For that, I’m going to need to defer to my Boss. And I’m not talking about Kelly, or my mom. Not a bishop either… moving diagonally, sadly won’t help any of this! No. For this… we need Jesus. The way to live among THIS completely Wack-A-Doo generation… led by the very bottom of the class of students from the Remedial School for the Terminally Imbecilic, and not be drown in an American Flag Blue colored pool of despair, is to yoke ourselves to Jesus.
The lesson tells ALL who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens to come to Jesus, and Jesus will give us rest. The lesson today reminds us to BIND OURSELVES to Jesus who is gentle, humble, instructive and comforting rather than continuing to bind ourselves any longer to our phones, to doom-scrolling or to swimming laps in a pool which reflects only the chartreuse hues of malpractice and gross neglect.
Okay then preacher man, what does THAT look like? Well, binding ourselves to Jesus… yoking ourselves to Jesus… can look like a number of things but UNBINDING ourselves from the phone probably IS the best place to start. After that, sitting outside and letting the breeze blow through your hair (or around the place your hair used to be) and remembering that the breeze IS the Holy Spirit, which Jesus himself sent to be with us always… That’s not a bad way to yoke yourself to Jesus. Prayer and meditation are millennial favorites of many of the most Jesus-connected folks from history. Those who sport outfits like this would remind you that the Sacraments are also an excellent way to connect with Jesus… having the Body and Blood of Christ running around inside you is, after all, pretty connected!
But, if you are looking for relief from this unhinged, unglued, unbalanced, unzipped, nutty as a fruitcake, sophomorically malignant world… the best thing I can recommend… the best thing Jesus himself recommends… is to hook yourself one notch more closely… to this bunch... to this community. To the people gathered right here… to the folks sitting all around you today… who are together… in some mystical way… the living, breathing, loving Body of Christ.
I know, I know… you personally don’t feel much like the Body of Christ yourself and to be honest… you're not! None of us are by ourselves. But somehow… TOGETHER… WE REALLY ARE the Body of Christ… and together… in some mysterious, wonder-filled way… hooking more deeply into this compassionate, genuinely loving, kindness-giving community of people will, I truly believe, give your soul the rest that all of our souls so desperately need in these most troubling times.
Are you weary? I am. Are the burdens of this world too heavy? They are for me! Then let's go to Jesus. Let's sit and be still in his presence. Let's unload our worries on him in prayer. Let's commune with him in the sacraments and scooch just a little bit closer to the loving folks sitting all around us in the place, and the Body of Christ WILL give our souls some very much needed rest. Amen.
