Pentecost 3, 07/03/2011

Sermon on Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.' For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds."

...At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." [English Standard Version]

"For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members." [Romans 7.22-23]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

Reviewing some of the conversations from this past week show an impressive amount of complaining. People are complaining about their work or about their supervisors. People are complaining about the mayors or the governors or the presidents they elected. People are complaining about the quality of products purchased in stores. One can even see the complaints surfacing in families or in parish communities.

Before we push these observations too far, however, be assured that this sermon is not going to be a thorough examination of complaining, such as its origins, its history and the possible ways of dealing with it. But today's sermon is going to enter this passage from Matthew through the familiar reality of complaining - behavior that is often triggered because we notice something that does not square with what we expected.

In the prior chapter (10), our Lord has been commissioning and instructing his twelve disciples. Now, in chapter 11, he has gone on to teach and preach in the cities of those disciples. That teaching and preaching, however, has surfaced a number of complaints, ones that not only concern him but also John the Baptizer.

In Jesus' day there were several expectations of the Messiah. They included a wise king

who would be imbedded in the Lord's laws and who would teach others to imitate such

immersion. There was also the hope that the Lord would storm in from the heavens and

rescue them from the countries who were always occupying their own. There was also the expectation that the Messiah would be a warrior-king who would use his power to overwhelm all the Gentile nations and cause the world's people to bring their wealth to Jerusalem.

Clearly, Jesus' teaching and preaching was not squaring with these expectations. That's why he stuns us at the beginning of this passage with the observation that the people around him are a bunch of complainers! He mentions two examples:

We played a flute for you, and you did not dance!

We sang a funeral song, and you did not mourn!

Jesus then notices how that complaining extends to the Baptizer as well as to himself.

John shows up as the preparer for the Messiah, watching carefully how much he eats and drinks...and people conclude that he has a demon! Jesus appears as the Son of Man, the one who is the world's redeemer, the one who eats and drinks...and people tell others to look at him in a derogatory way, describing him as a glutton and a drunkard! The same people go on to comment that Jesus is a friend of tax collectors and sinners!

Jesus responds to such complaining by stating that wisdom is justified by her deeds.

Remember that, in the Old Testament, wisdom is described as a being of the Lord God.

Jesus' point is that in the works (actions) of both the Baptizer and the Son of Man other people can see the Lord God unpacking the world's salvation. The people of his generation, however, do not seek the works leading to that salvation and are huge complainers about the way in which the salvation is being unpacked!

Jesus presses this point home in a prayer to his Father as he thanks him for hiding these things from those people. What are "these things"? They are described earlier in chapter 11. They include:

Blind people receiving their sight

Lame people walking again

Lepers being cleansed

Deaf people hearing

Dead people being raised

Good News being brought to the poor

People being blessed because they are not offended by Jesus

Jesus is thankful that the Father has hidden these things from the people who are wise and understanding. Jesus is thankful that the Father has revealed them, instead, to little children (remember from last Sunday's Gospel that the phrase is not just a reference to young people but also to his followers).

It is striking, too, that Jesus describes the Father as the Lord of heaven and earth. The

Father's Life, despite the pretensions of the world's gods, is most dominant reality there is in this world. It has always been the Father's intention to draw the world's people back

to his Life despite their self-centeredness, their rebellion and their ignorance!

In his prayer Jesus states that everything has been handed over to him by the Father (this

is so the world's rescue can be accomplished). He also states that no one can know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom Jesus chooses to reveal to the Father (this is why Jesus is bringing the Father's Life to the world through his dying and rising).

Jesus then startles us with both an invitation to his Life as well as his description of it!

He invites those who are weary and heavily burdened to come to him so he can give them his rest. Most of us are not familiar with animals that are yoked together. But we can picture draft horses, such as Belgians or Clydesdales. These huge horses are braced or harnessed together in pairs of two, four, six or eight. The yoking joins them together, enabling them to work better with more support and strength. If these horses weren't yoked together, they would not work better. They would go in different ways, their senses and their energies canceling one another out.

The people in this world who are weary and heavily burdened are that way because they insist on living for themselves, on being their own persons! But, if they recognize how ground down they are and let their lives be slid into the Lord's Life, they will be given energy and their burdens lifted!

Key, though, is whether they will be obedient to themselves or to the Lord God who desires to give them his Life. Once we let ourselves be obedient to the Lord God we will see how easy and light it is to be turned into him.

This turning takes people who blindly thought that life was only what is given at birth...now they see the Life given at Baptism!

This turning takes people whose lives wobbled and lurched as they followed their desires and obsessions...now they are striding out as the Lord's sons and daughters!

This turning takes people whose dirtied lives had separated them from others and forced them to live among their own kind...now they have been cleansed by the Lord God and can interact with all kinds of people!

This turning takes people who used to hear only what they were saying...now they can hear the Lord God when he speaks to them!

This turning takes people whose lives had shut down so much they were like dead...now they have been revived by the Lord God and have a Life in front of them with meaning now and completion in eternity!

This turning takes people who used to think they could and had to stand on their own...now they realize how dependent they are on the Lord God and are immensely satisfied!

This turning takes people who used to be turned off by the Lord God when he pushed

into their lives...now they welcome him with open arms and kneel in his presence!

Thankfully, Jesus crossed expectations of the people around him, pressing on with his gift of salvation even though the people were complaining strongly. Thankfully, too, the Holy Trinity hid this salvation from those who are extremely wrapped up in their selves.

Instead, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit chose to reveal their salvation to those people who are wearied and heavily burdened by the demands and realities of this world's life! Instead, the Holy Trinity has chosen to reveal its salvation to those people who are naturally trapped in their complaining because they are imbedded in the world's life!

Today our Lord cuts through all that instinctive complaining by crossing all the expectations people had of him back then as well as all the expectations people have of him now! Through the workings of the Holy Spirit from the Scriptures and the Sacraments of Baptism, Supper and Forgiveness, the world's people are rescued to see the Lord God unpacking their salvation through Jesus' dying and rising!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, SC
E-Mail: cavoges@bellsouth.net

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