July 3, 2005

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Rev. David M. Hammett, guest pastor

Get the Lead Out!

     A lot of you know I like old boats, but I like old cars too, especially hot rods from the 1950’s and 60’s.  I do like the high-tech show-quality hot rods that you can see around here on nice summer days, but I actually prefer the low-dollar, home-built kinds of cars that are more in my price range.  They might be a little rough around the edges and have primer paint jobs, but I like them like that!

     Believe it or not, there’s a web site on the Internet catering to these cars and fools like me who like tinkering around with them.  I occasionally drop in to see what’s going on and sometimes join in discussions on the forum.  We mostly talk nuts and bolts type things - welding and fabrication, painting, engines and suspension.  Exciting stuff.  There’s also a fair amount of garage-level humor in there.  It can be a pretty gritty place, a rough crowd.

     At least that’s the way it appears on the surface.  The other day, I got to see what the group is really made of.  A young man posted a message on the site, a desperate plea for help.  His best friend and brother-in-law had just been killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.  His message on the forum said he wasn’t a person of faith and didn’t know where to turn and didn’t now what to do with his grief.  You should have seen the response from this group of tough guys, these hot rod mechanics – there were prayers offered and messages of support and hope.  People began talking about the love of family and friends and how God will help him get through.  They talked about their own loved ones, their children and spouses and did about as good a job of saying the right things to a troubled young man as I have ever seen.  It was good to see.

     With nowhere to turn, the young man laid his burden in front of people on an Internet web site of all places.  What he found, of course, was that no one could do a single thing about the fact that his brother-in-law had died.  We couldn’t remove the burden, but with words of faith and friendship, even long-distance, we could help him carry it. 

     Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

     What burdens are you carrying this morning?  What is laying heavy upon your heart?  Are you bearing grief?  Are you struggling with financial problems or trouble at work?  Do you have a dependency problem, a health issue?  Are you carrying guilt in your heart for something you have said or done?  Are you in conflict with someone in your family?  Are you overcome with worry?  Jesus offers rest.  Trust him.  Come and lay down your burdens before him.

     Trust is the theme that runs throughout the scripture lessons this morning.  Abraham had to trust that his servant would find a proper wife for Isaac and Rebekah’s parents had to trust this man with their daughter’s welfare and Rebekah had to trust that it was God’s will that she marry Isaac.  In Romans, the Apostle Paul lays bare his personal struggle with sin, lamenting that his spirit is willing to live a righteous life but that his flesh is weak, “Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  And then this word of complete trust in the One who can accomplish what we cannot, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  From the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus beckons us, “Come, with all your burdens and I will give you rest.  Trust me.”

     Rest comes when we stop trying to carry all the load ourselves, when we come to the Lord as Paul did with our plea for help, “Lord, I can’t do this on my own.”  Rest comes with trusting the Lord to accept us as we are, burdens and all.  Rest comes with trusting him to bear us up, to give us forgiveness if that’s what’s needed and it often is, and a renewed and right spirit. 

     Jesus also says, “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.”  He says nothing about miraculously taking our burdens away, but sharing them.  A yoke is designed for two and Jesus says it is his yoke that is being offered.  He shoulders the load with us and that gives us rest, makes the work easier and lighter.  We don’t have to bear it all alone.

     When the prophet Isaiah spoke of a coming Messiah, he spoke of One called Emmanuel, a name that means, “God with us.”  When Jesus came, he constantly reminded people that God wasn’t off on some distant cloud but as close as flesh and blood.  God was with them in Jesus Christ.  And when the Lord ascended into heaven he promised that God’s Spirit would remain and be ever-present for us.  God is with us  now, as close as a prayer, the next breath we take, the caring touch of the first person who offers to help us carry our load.  Knowing this, appreciating this, is a matter of faith and trust.

     This morning we received the Sacrament of Holy Communion.  Perhaps we should first say that before we receive, we lay our burdens at the Savior’s feet, even at the foot of the cross.  This is why a prayer of confession precedes Communion.  It is a plea for help and an act of trust.  Then we receive Christ’s forgiveness and strength.  Communion is Christ slipping into the yoke with us and shouldering our burdens.

     This means that the burdens we bear today, the troubles that are on our minds, we don’t have to bear alone.  There is hope in Christ Jesus and there is help in the community of Christ’s people.  Things get easier, the load gets lighter and life gets better.

     I know I want the good life.  So, trusting Jesus and trusting you, I will ask for help with one of my biggest burdens.  I was called to be the Pastor of First Church about 3 3/4 years ago, a church that had come through troubled times but was ready to move forward in some significant ways.  This has been happening, thanks be to God.  Now we have come to this place in our journey with Christ and one another.  We have come close to you, the members of Second Congregational Church, so close that we are worshipping together and talking about merger.  My burden is this – I’m not sure what the future will bring and I don’t want to mislead the people I have been called to serve.  I believe Rev. Lee is carrying a similar burden in her heart.  We want the best for the churches and when we look forward we can imagine great possibilities for a growing ministry of a merged church, but we know only God knows what will really happen.   

     So when I came to the Lord’s table today, I placed my burden here with yours and asked the Lord to help me carry it.  I am asking you to help me carry it too, and to help Rev. Lee carry her burden.  Perhaps with the Lords’ help we can all help each other, listening to one another, being patient and understanding, bearing one another up to be of good purpose together, to be about the task before us.  May God grant us wisdom, faith and trust. 

     And the Good News is this – in this, we are not alone.  Trusting God and one another we will find the right path and the yoke will be easy and the burden will be light and we shall go forth with joy.