Give Us Rest

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Gospel Reading for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

2020 is just over half over and it has been a lot. I don’t have to list it out for you. You’ve felt it. You’ve experienced it. It is unbelievably overwhelming. Just thinking about the rest of the year can seem daunting.

We don’t know when this pandemic is going to turn in the right direction, but we’ve got to keep trying to do the right thing even as the others do not. We do know that there is a long road we must walk in fighting white supremacy in our country. And who knows what else this year might throw at us? All of which does not even mention all the personal heartaches and sicknesses and fears that each of us face as individuals. It can sometimes seem like too much to bear.

So hear this word from Jesus:

Come to me, all you that 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 wants to give us rest. Not in a way that ignores everything that goes on in the world. We are not called to stick our head in the sand. It is a rest that renews us; that helps us go out into the world and continue to follow Jesus in all the ways that can seem daunting in a time like this. We will find rest for our souls.

I think about those moments when the disquiet within me is calmed when I find the same frequency as Christ. Sometimes it is a place, a song, a scripture passage, a prayer. Sometimes it is someone in my community being Christ to me. Sometimes it is simply the quiet. And sometimes it is just remembering that I don’t have to do this perfectly; that even when I screw up that there is grace for me. Jesus meets me and grants me rest.

In those moments of rest, I find renewal. It reminds me that I am not alone. I honestly do not seek Jesus out for rest as often as I should. I get too busy. I get distracted. But that renewal is out there just waiting for each of us. So may we not let the swirling chaos of this year overwhelm us. And may we not put our heads in the sand because we need to to be acting as Christ would in the world now more than ever. May we find rest. God, give us rest.