5th Sunday after Trinity 2023 St Andrew’s Milngavie
Today we celebrated the fifth Sunday after Trinity accompanied by Abigail .
We continue to pray for the repose of the soul of Gordon and to give thanks for his life including his huge contribution to St Andrew’s over many years.
Pamela, Clare, Steve and all the Rutherford family remain very much in our prayers at this sad time.
This Week
Tuesday – 10am Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House
Wednesday 19th July – 2pm Gordon’s funeral St Andrew’s
Readings for next Sunday – 6th Sunday after Trinity – Isaiah 55:10-15 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
Today’s readings – Zechariah 9:9-12, Romans 7:15-25, Matthew 11:16-19,25-30
“For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matt 11:30
I find it almost impossible to say those words without wanting to break into song as I recall memories of Milngavie choir trying to sing that glorious bit of music from Handel’s Messiah.
Its actually quite a tricky piece and I’m not sure any of us choir members were finding our yoke easy and our burden light as we struggled through it, but it is a great piece of music illustrating those wonderful words of scripture.
They are wonderful words because they do really speak to us. During a lifetime we all in different ways carry burdens and there are invariably times when we feel weighed down by the complexities and demands of life. We may look at certain people and think they have a charmed life, but all of us, in our different ways, have our crosses to bear in some shape or form.
Jesus seems to understand this as he talks about rest this morning. Not just physical rest. Not just mental rest. He is talking about a more important rest, a deeper rest. He is talking about spiritual rest – rest for your soul.
We are by nature a restless people. Our lives are often filled with more commitments than we either want or desire, modern IT and communications means our minds are constantly bombarded by information and our minds can so often harbour hurts and regrets. But none of this channels or cures the restlessness in our souls. None of it can make us whole again.
St. Augustine once prayed, “O Lord, you have formed us for yourself, and our souls are restless until they find their rest in you.” This morning Jesus offers us that rest, as he says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
In this passage Jesus talks about how we may find our rest in God through him, through Jesus alone. Jesus invites us to come to him and learn from him. So, he prays the following in verse 25:
“I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (Matthew 11:25-26)
I think we can deduce here when Jesus says that God has hidden these things from the wise and the learned, he is not talking about our intelligence or I.Q., rather he is referring to those who rely on their own wisdom and understanding instead of God’s.
And when Jesus says that God has revealed these things to “little children,” he is not talking about infants or babies. This is similar to what he said in Matthew 18: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)
Jesus is speaking here of humility and trust. God has hidden these things from the people who think they know it all, but he has revealed them to those who humbly trust God and his word rather than their own wisdom or strength.
The people Jesus was talking to were burdened under the law. Some people may think that’s what Christianity is about. They think it is nothing but a bunch of rules and laws to follow, but that is not how Jesus describes it here when he says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
As we know being a Christian is not about following the law. It is about following a person. It is about following Christ. It is about taking Jesus’ yoke upon you. And Jesus’ yoke is easy, because he is there through the power of the Holy Spirit to help us live the Christian life. He is there to forgive us when we fail, he is there to pick us up when we fall, and he is there to strengthen us for the journey ahead. He is there to give you rest for your soul.
‘The Bible says there is no rest for the wicked.’ (Isaiah 57:20) There is also no rest for those without God. We can only find rest for our souls when we come to God.
Through Jesus the invitation is open to all, all who will humble themselves before God and trust in the words of his Son.