For the Weary--June 16, 2020
[Jesus said:] "Come to me, all you that are weary and 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." [Matthew 11:28-30]
The thing is that we're all tired. All of us. Each of us carries something different, most of it hidden away where no one else will see, but we are all carrying something. And I suspect--at least I can say this much for myself--we are all getting kind of tired of being tired. We are weary of the weariness. We are feeling threadbare in a moment in history that just keeps throwing one thing after another at us, and we are feeling the strain of having to catch them all as they come lobbing through the air. We're all aching for rest... for peace.
There's no need to try and play a game of "Who's Carrying More Burdens," or to get defensive when someone else reveals to you a little of what they are going through. We humans are like that, though, aren't we? We turn everything into a competition, and the moment one person breathes a word of what they are struggling with, it seems there's always another who turns it into a game of "Top This!" by rattling off their troubles, as if to prove that they have had pains to bear in life, too. We've all been there, I imagine--we've all been both. But trying to impress each other about the heft of the burdens we are each carrying (or trying to downplay what someone else is carrying because I don't want to think that someone else has had a bigger struggle than I have) doesn't actually do anything to relieve the weight. That's all just posturing, and it's a waste of time and precious energy while we struggle to keep trudging on.
But Jesus cuts past all of that. He insists he is able to bear with us (like two oxen sharing a yoke, side by side) whatever we are carrying... and he says it to all of us. Think about that--there's no need for competition. There's no need for me to get defensive and say to you, "Your burden can't be very bad, because I've never had to deal with that problem!" and there's no need for me to try and top your story of struggle with my own. Jesus isn't just offering his help to one worthy contestant from a sea of applicants. There is no chocolate factory, and Jesus is not Willy Wonka offering fantastic prizes to only a select few lucky golden-ticket-holders. Jesus explicitly says he is offering his strength to "all" who are weary. That means there is no scarcity of peace, no limited supply of rest, for which we must compete. Jesus can bear my burdens (which feel very heavy to me), and also the burdens of my neighbor who carries a different set (and which may, in fact, turn out to be much heavier than mine).
And all of a sudden, I don't need to keep the old habit of comparing hardships. I don't have to make your struggles seem small, or pretend they don't count, just because I haven't faced the same ones, in some kind of attempt to shore up my ego. I just don't have to play that game anymore. When I hear Jesus' words that way, now I can see that my freedom is caught up with yours, and yours is related to mine as well--instead of thinking Jesus only has a spot to carry either your burdens or mind, I realize that my burden is only relieved when yours is lightened as well. Instead of making it a competition, I can see that all of our lives are bound up together, and what relieves your weariness also in turn helps me to be refreshed. Jesus bears it all with us.
I wonder how much of my time and my energy on any given day has been wasted in trying to puff myself up by making my own troubles seem harder than anybody else's, while dismissing and belittling what someone else says they have struggled with because I can't relate to what they have gone through. What a shame--what and honest-to-goodness damned shame. Because in doing that, I've not only wasted time trying to compete for a spot with Jesus when he says he is here for us all... and I've cut myself off from the people around me who are struggling their way through life, too, in their own ways. But it doesn't have to be that way.
To take Jesus' word seriously means I bring whatever I am struggling to carry, while I also let you bring what you are straining to bear, too--and Jesus will carry it all with us. And maybe in that there is the beginning of peace for each of us... for all of us... because right away, it means we are done spending our energy trying to compete for what is freely given to all.
If you are weary today, here: let us both find relief together, naming what we have been given to bear, and lifting it up to Jesus to shoulder alongside each of us.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Receive the gift of peace.
Lord Jesus, we are weary. All of us. Carry what is heavy on our hearts for us today, and give us your peace.
There's no need to try and play a game of "Who's Carrying More Burdens," or to get defensive when someone else reveals to you a little of what they are going through. We humans are like that, though, aren't we? We turn everything into a competition, and the moment one person breathes a word of what they are struggling with, it seems there's always another who turns it into a game of "Top This!" by rattling off their troubles, as if to prove that they have had pains to bear in life, too. We've all been there, I imagine--we've all been both. But trying to impress each other about the heft of the burdens we are each carrying (or trying to downplay what someone else is carrying because I don't want to think that someone else has had a bigger struggle than I have) doesn't actually do anything to relieve the weight. That's all just posturing, and it's a waste of time and precious energy while we struggle to keep trudging on.
But Jesus cuts past all of that. He insists he is able to bear with us (like two oxen sharing a yoke, side by side) whatever we are carrying... and he says it to all of us. Think about that--there's no need for competition. There's no need for me to get defensive and say to you, "Your burden can't be very bad, because I've never had to deal with that problem!" and there's no need for me to try and top your story of struggle with my own. Jesus isn't just offering his help to one worthy contestant from a sea of applicants. There is no chocolate factory, and Jesus is not Willy Wonka offering fantastic prizes to only a select few lucky golden-ticket-holders. Jesus explicitly says he is offering his strength to "all" who are weary. That means there is no scarcity of peace, no limited supply of rest, for which we must compete. Jesus can bear my burdens (which feel very heavy to me), and also the burdens of my neighbor who carries a different set (and which may, in fact, turn out to be much heavier than mine).
And all of a sudden, I don't need to keep the old habit of comparing hardships. I don't have to make your struggles seem small, or pretend they don't count, just because I haven't faced the same ones, in some kind of attempt to shore up my ego. I just don't have to play that game anymore. When I hear Jesus' words that way, now I can see that my freedom is caught up with yours, and yours is related to mine as well--instead of thinking Jesus only has a spot to carry either your burdens or mind, I realize that my burden is only relieved when yours is lightened as well. Instead of making it a competition, I can see that all of our lives are bound up together, and what relieves your weariness also in turn helps me to be refreshed. Jesus bears it all with us.
I wonder how much of my time and my energy on any given day has been wasted in trying to puff myself up by making my own troubles seem harder than anybody else's, while dismissing and belittling what someone else says they have struggled with because I can't relate to what they have gone through. What a shame--what and honest-to-goodness damned shame. Because in doing that, I've not only wasted time trying to compete for a spot with Jesus when he says he is here for us all... and I've cut myself off from the people around me who are struggling their way through life, too, in their own ways. But it doesn't have to be that way.
To take Jesus' word seriously means I bring whatever I am struggling to carry, while I also let you bring what you are straining to bear, too--and Jesus will carry it all with us. And maybe in that there is the beginning of peace for each of us... for all of us... because right away, it means we are done spending our energy trying to compete for what is freely given to all.
If you are weary today, here: let us both find relief together, naming what we have been given to bear, and lifting it up to Jesus to shoulder alongside each of us.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Receive the gift of peace.
Lord Jesus, we are weary. All of us. Carry what is heavy on our hearts for us today, and give us your peace.
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