August 4, 2024
On Monday I went for a walk at Tuscarora state park. Some trees had fallen and lay across the trail. At one point, I saw an old, dead tree had fallen and pinned a young tree to the ground. This young tree was in the shape of an upside down “U”! I got the top of it out from under the dead tree and it moved up a little. But it was still caught, so I worked on getting it free. Then there were a few branches from the old tree hanging on it. So, I got those off. And the tree moved off the ground. The tree bent, but didn’t break! I hoped it hadn’t been bent long. Because anything that bends too long is going to break! Something’s got to give!
We’re starting a new sermon series, “Bend, don’t break.” Life can be challenging, and heartbreaking, how do you bend and not break? Next week we’ll talk about how to say no to distraction. The following Sunday is about those times when life throws a curveball and things are far out of our control. Maybe you do break! How do you find hope?
Today, we’re talking about being overwhelmed. Do you feel like you’re just surviving, not thriving? Like life is too hard, something’s got to give? Life can be just draining. There’s so much to do, and it can feel like nothing gets your best effort. There’s never enough time. You’re stressed and worried.
You might say, well, I’m carrying a burden, but I just need to keep it together until this event happens, then everything will be better. When my kids were infants, I remember thinking, things will get better when my baby sleeps through the night. When he slept through the night, I thought, “Things will get better when he stops getting into everything.” When that improved, I thought, things will get better when he’s out of diapers. But it turns out, every stage is a challenge. When I was young, I would say things will be better when I grow up, then I can do what I want! But it turns out that adult life has more than its share of problems! You might say things will be better when this busy season at work is over. Or I just have to hold on till inflation isn’t bad. Then things will be great.
The thing is challenging circumstances are part of life. You feel overwhelmed, because you’re carrying so much. There are people who need you: your kids, people at work, spouse, friends, and family members who are ill or elderly. There’s this Instagram post that says, “Being a mom is like jumping out of an airplane with five other people. None of them knows how to use a parachute so you pull the cord for each of them, but then you don’t have time to pull your own. You hit the ground. But you don’t die. You get up and cook dinner!”
That’s crazy, but it’s so true for many of us. You’re busy and it doesn’t feel ok to stop.
You can also feel overwhelmed from being exposed to too much information and bad news. Today we know instantly what is happening around the world! We know there is a tropical storm headed to Florida that could cause flooding, before it happens. I like to keep up on the news, but sometimes it brings me down. We can carry the weight of the world on our shoulders.)
If you feel this way, that you are living burdened and overwhelmed, what is the answer?
Jesus lived on earth like you and me. He came to save the world! That’s a lot of pressure! But he took breaks and went off to pray often. He spent a lot of time with 12 friends. Frequently, he went to dinner with friends. He took a nap in a boat during a storm! Jesus knew something about lightening the load. He was not busy and overwhelmed all the time.
Jesus can help us. He knew life is tough. He said in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
How did he know we’d feel burdened? Jesus speaks to you and me: he says “I see you; I hear you. I’m here to help.” Back then, the Jews had hundreds of religious laws they had to follow. It was a burden to follow God. It was impossible to live up to all the commands. Jesus came and offered a new way for people to relate to God. Jesus offered a new way, not because the law is bad, but because we’re bad! If you tell me not to do something, part of me thinks “Challenge accepted!” You just made me really want to do what you told me not to do! There’s something in us that is tempted to disobey. It’s a burden to follow the law.
So, Jesus says, “take my yoke on you.” A yoke was a harness, usually for two animals. They were hooked together, and they pulled a load together. Often it was a bigger animal yoked with a smaller one. The bigger animal would shoulder most of the heavy burden. It was easier together than alone.
That’s what Jesus says to you and me, “I’ll shoulder most of the weight. You don’t have to try so hard.” Jesus come to us, offering grace: unearned favor and undeserved forgiveness. Jesus is not offering just a little break. He says, walk with me, follow me, spend time with me. And I will shoulder the weight. If your burden is too heavy, let Jesus help.
Once, I heard parents who had a son with substance abuse disorder speak. They said they got to the point, after trying so hard to fix their son, they finally admitted: they could not fix him. They had to let go of the fantastical idea, that they could save his life and change his path. They realized that he had to be the one who made the decision to go to treatment and work to be sober. They surrendered. They came to terms with reality. They finally understood that their job was just to love their son, not fix him, and to keep excellent boundaries. It was a huge relief. If your burden is too heavy, let Jesus help.
When we carry a heavy burden on our own, we’re trying to do more, be better, and change things that aren’t in our power. We wear ourselves out! But when we let Jesus carry the yoke, we walk with hope and peace. With Jesus’ yoke, we rest from striving, proving ourselves, worrying, and fixing. Yoked to Jesus, no matter what we face, we have strength. We live humbly. We know we can’t do it all. We have Jesus, and the community here in church to help. Then, because we stop trying to do what we can’t, our relationships with the people we love can get better and healthier.
You’ll be yoked to something in life, one way or another. The choice you have is whether you’ll be yoked to impossible expectations, or choose to be yoked to Jesus. Let him do the heavy lifting. Jesus sets a slower pace for you as you share the yoke. Jesus knew you don’t do life alone. He had his 12 friends plus more. He created the church, not the building but the people, because we can’t do life on our own. So if your burden is too heavy, let Jesus help! Will you surrender whatever you’ve been yoked to, and rest in Jesus, yoked to his way, at his pace?
What this means for me, is surrendering the world’s definition of success. I surrender the idea that I have to look like I have my life all together, that my family needs to look good, that I need to get approval and applause for being a good pastor, that my churches need to be growing like crazy. I surrender the idea that I have to be busy, busy, busy!
It doesn’t feel good to carry those expectations. It’s exhausting. When I don’t surrender, my motivations are wrong, I’m not spiritually healthy, I’m rushing around at a frantic pace, and not happy.
Yoked with Jesus, I have nothing to prove. I learn to give family and people around me the most important gift, that I’m present in the moment, paying attention to them. I follow Jesus, and take life slow. I enjoy every moment, not waiting for things to get better. I leave the outcome to Jesus. And, when things go well, I know it came from Jesus, not from me. I give thanks for his gift of grace.
My challenge for you this week is to ask yourself, what burden am I carrying that God wants me to surrender?
We live in a busy, frantic world that we can’t control. You can’t fix the world or other people. But you can surrender burdens that aren’t yours to begin with. If your burden is too heavy, let Jesus help. Bend, don’t break. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 