Sermon July 6

“Come to me, all who are weary, and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” While every chapter of the Bible has words that bring comfort and peace for daily living, I believe our Gospel for today is one that hits home for many of us. Who isn’t feeling weary by a heavy burden in their lives? We’re all in need of rest, and a place to lay our burdens, aren’t we? I recently read that most adults have experienced insomnia or sleeplessness at one time or another in their lives. An estimated 30-50% of the general population are affected by insomnia, and 10% have chronic insomnia. Our inability to find rest in our lives takes a toll on our health too. Lack of sleep can aggravate health conditions, such as high blood pressure, and obesity and can be downright dangerous—going without sleep for more than 24 hours is as dangerous as driving drunk. Sleep-related accidents were linked to over 23,000 fatalities and as many as 2.5 million disabling injuries a year, along with annual costs of $43 billion to $56 billion. We spend millions on sleep aids, which bring temporary relief, and are certainly needed by many. But, our weariness is often deeply rooted and due to anxiety, tension, and fears, that keep us on edge, day and night, with or without medications. When Jesus said, “come to me, all who are weary, and I will give you rest” I believe He was talking to us. But, sadly, our Biblical counterparts did not listen to Jesus anymore than we do, they too were missing the message.
Our gospel reading begins as Jesus reminds the people of John the Baptist, an eccentric leader who lived in the desert and ate wild honey and locusts. He was sent from God and had a message to tell people—“Prepare the way of the Lord!” Jesus is coming (the one who is to bring us rest). The people thought He had a demon and turned away from him. In fact, if we look in Chapter 11, we read that John the Baptist is in jail, and the people have turned from him. No rest for the people, and no rest for the messenger. Then in verse 19, Jesus reminds the people of the words they spoke against him during His ministry. “A friend of tax collectors and sinners.” They don’t listen to the message of rest offered by Jesus either. How could their rest come from a poor Jewish carpenter, living in Nazareth?
Like us, people in Biblical times had plenty that would keep them from finding comfort and peace. Will I have enough to get by? Will my loved one survive this illness? What should I do about a rift with a family member or friend? Will I always feel this alone? Perhaps we have more in common with those in the Bible than we think. Because, aren’t WE facing these same burdens, and fears? Fear of stability, conflict in our family, addictions, depression….sleepless nights? And, don’t WE, like those in our Gospel reading miss the messages being sent to us from God? It’s easy to think “these people couldn’t find rest? They had Jesus WITH them. If I had Jesus WITH me, I’d find rest too!” But, would we? Right here, today, we have the promise that Jesus is present, through our community of believers, through this bread and wine, yet we still doubt. Those in biblical times wrote John the Baptist off as demon possessed, and Jesus as a friend of sinners. And their weariness lingered. What messages from God do we discredit? In what ways do we contribute to our exhaustion, as we try to do things “our way?” We won’t find rest on our own, and “our way” contributes to all the problems I listed at the beginning: poor health, broken relationships, feelings of abandonment.
But, Jesus CAN NOT and WILL NOT leave us in this place. Even after he tells his followers the ways in which they discredited His message, He stays with Him, and gives them the promise: “come to me, all you that are weary, and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” It doesn’t mean we will be free from problems in our lives, but it does mean that we can find rest. This is a love story. A story of a savior, who will FORGIVE the burdens or sin and of this world. A savior, who promises to be PRESENT in our lives, through community and communion, through doubt, weariness and sin. “Come to me.” He says. “You WILL find rest for your souls.”