Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 6, 2008 - Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Zechariah 9:9-10; Romans 8:9, 11-13; Matthew 11:25-30]Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
Much of the audience for Jesus' preaching consisted of poor tenant farmers or share-croppers. They labored under considerable tax burdens from local or regional secular and religious authorities. They were also pushed by the Pharisees to observe the religious law. Keeping the 613 commandments of the Mosaic Law was called "the yoke of the law." Jesus offered them a much easier "yoke" even if he couldn't offer much tax relief! Indeed, some have criticized Christianity for offering "pie in the sky, by and by" because it does not always result in the immediate destruction of harmful economic, political and social structures. There is no question that the Sermon on the Mount makes demands that go beyond the Mosaic Law of external conduct to the internal motivations of the person. Yet, it is from a widespread corruption of the internal that external oppression arises. A peaceful heart and mind that comes from acceptance of Jesus' "yoke" should lead to a desire to do anything BUT oppress others. Violence and oppression are not part of the Christian message, despite the terrible examples of religious violence and oppression perpetrated in the name of Christianity through the centuries. We should even be careful how we govern our own church to avoid making people's lives more miserable by unnecessary rules or structures which are designed more to promote power than to offer a gentle (but challenging) way of life. Even if we did away with all church structures, the Sermon on the Mount would still be difficult not because it is harsh but because our human natue is rebellious. Accepting Jesus' "yoke" may initially seem difficult but the long term alternatives are much more oppressive as history shows time and again. AMEN
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