Sermon for July 5
Yokefellows in Training
Message for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost
by Pastor Dale Henderson
You can't win for losin'. That's a funny way of putting it, but you all know what it means. It's a way of describing the annoying predicament we sometimes get ourselves into when, no matter what we do or how hard we try, we just can't please someone.
When I served in my first parish down in southern Indiana, fresh out of the seminary, I quickly learned to watch my p's and q's. You see, there was a story often told in that congregation about a pastor who served there before me. He was a friendly fellow, but he could never win the approval the women of the congregation. It seems he spent just a little too much time visiting with their husbands in McClanahan's Saloon (Definitely a case of displaced aggression). When he retired, the next pastor was immediately put wise to why his predecessor was so unpopular with the women. He vowed that the women had no reason for concern... His shadow would never darken the doorstep of McClanahan's Saloon. And, for that reason, the men didn't like him very much.
You can't win for losin'. That's just what Jesus was telling the crowd when he compared his critics to children playing games in the marketplace (the town square). One group complains because the others won't play their game. Jesus said of scribes and Pharisees who opposed him, they're like those spoiled children whom you'll never please. God sent two messengers—John the Baptist and Himself—and they rejected both of them. They rejected John the Baptist because he was a HERMIT. He lived alone out in the wilderness, and they called him a mad man...a demon possessed wierdo. God sent Jesus, and they rejected HIM because he WASN'T a hermit. No, they said he mingled TOO MUCH with the people. Because of his fellowship with the people, they called him a party boy... a glutton and a drunkard.
But Jesus concluded, wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. Whatever does that mean? It means that true wisdom—God's wisdom—isn't dependent on whether or not people like it. God's wisdom stands for itself, and it's proven by its results in the transformation of people's lives.
Then Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven, and he thanked the Father in heaven for hiding the truth from the wise and revealing it to babies. What an amazing way to describe the kingdom of grace! Jesus described his opponents of that day as know-it-alls...so full of themselves...so convinced of their own intelligence that they cannot even HEAR God's gracious invitation, let alone embrace it. But blessed are the poor in spirit...the simple folk who know their need for God...for THEIRS is the kingdom of heaven.
So hear his invitation, you inheritors of heaven. Hear his invitation, you who know your need for God:
“Come to me, you who are weary...come to me, all who are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me...”
If you were to take a little ride this afternoon, drive up to Grabill, and, if you're lucky, you may get to see a living example of what it means to be a true yokefellow. It's a beautiful thing to see, out in the field of an Amish farm, a team of horses standing side by side. But, look closely. You'll see that they're not actually tied together in any way. Their work is finished for the day, and they've been relieved of their yoke. The yoke and the double-tree have been taken off and put away in the barn. Yet, there they stand grazing in the field, side by side, as if the farmer had never removed the yoke. They're obviously true yokefellows... yokefellows AT HEART.
Jesus invites you to be his yokefellow, to take his yoke upon yourself. And in so doing, you will LEARN FROM HIM. When a farmer has a new animal to deal with, he doesn't have to train it himself to do its work. He yokes it in a team together with older, more experienced animals. And it learns from THEM what to do.
That new beast may not do very much of the work. It's not as strong as the others. After all, it's just a beginner...in training. In time, it will pull its share of the load, but for now, it's learning to be on the team.
Jesus is inviting you to let him be your yokefellow. He says that, as we allow him to guide us, we will learn from him.
And we will learn as we go along, his yoke is easy...his burden is light. There isn't one of us who's not capable of it, as long as Jesus is our yokefellow, because the yoke of our Savior is love. Amen.
Dale Henderson, Pastor
