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Hi, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Real Faith in the Real World, a ministry of Normal First United Methodist Church in Norma, Illinois. Let's listen to hear what Pastor Kim Burke has to say today.

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So yesterday, I'm gonna name the obvious, was the 4th of July. And I know many people celebrated, whether it was getting together with family or going on picnics or, you know, just kind of a general's more time off. And here we are the next day, the day after the celebration. And I think that that day after the celebration gives us the opportunity to ask an important question. And that question is, now what? You know, we had this celebration of the 250th anniversary, birthday of our nation, and and what is the difference that the celebration makes once all of the fireworks are over, the flags are folded and put away, and we get back to our ordinary lives. You know, we've we've given thanks for the freedoms that we do enjoy. We've remembered the courage of those who dreamed of a new nation, and that gratitude is appropriate. I think Christians should be grateful for the blessings of the places that we call home. But today is Sunday, and Sunday invites us to ask a different question. That question isn't simply, what does it mean to be a free people? But that question is: what kind of freedom does God offer us? Those are certainly related questions, but they're not the same. And the United States was founded on this bold idea of political independence. Our faith, however, begins with a very different confession. We heard as Sue read the words of the Apostle Paul. Neo, he's saying, I don't understand my own actions, for I do not what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. That verse, if we're being honest here, it's a little interesting to read. I sort of end up feeling like I'm reading instructions for filling out an IRS form. I'm like, what what? How does this go together here? But when we we look into it and dig a little bit deeper, there's some honesty in what Paul is saying. He's not pretending to have it all together. He's not trying to polish his image or hide behind religious language. Instead, he's saying out loud what many of us quietly know about ourselves. That when we're honest, we would say, I don't understand myself. Have you ever had that experience? Maybe it's losing your patience with someone you love. And afterward you're thinking, why did I say that? You know, you promise yourself that you're gonna let something go. You know, I'm just not even gonna worry about this. But then days later, you realize that you are still carrying the same resentment. You might decide that you're going to be more generous, more patient, more forgiving. And then life comes along. Life happens, and somehow you find yourself falling back into those same old habits, even though that's not what you wanted or intended. And those are those are, I think, are what Paul is talking about. Steve Garnes Holmes says it this way about sin. He says the tricky thing about sin is that it's almost always an accident. You know, we're we're not setting ourselves out or trying to sin. And in the battle between good and evil, we think we're on the right side, but it doesn't seem to help. And we can never actually be good enough. You know, we mean to be playing for the right team, and then we accidentally keep scoring for the opposition. Sin seems to be more than our own choice. It's almost as if sin lives in us and makes choices for us. We live in a culture, though, that really prizes independence. We can think about for many of us since childhood, we've been taught to stand on our own two feet. There's kind of this cultural myth of how we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, that we never let anyone see us struggle. But again, as life goes on, we learn otherwise. We learn that no one gets through life independently, not when illness comes, or when grief arrives, or when addiction takes hold, or relationships fall apart, or when guilt settles into our hearts. Those are times we realize that we may not have the independence that we think we do. You've probably heard of the image of watching ducks glide across a pond, and on the surface, everything just looks effortless. The ducks seem really calm and graceful, but beneath the water, their feet are paddling furiously, trying to get them where they're going or keep them in line. And I think we may often live like that. We smile and tell people we're fine. We keep working and keep serving. We keep taking care of everyone else. And beneath the surface, we're exhausted. We're paddling as hard as we can and hoping no one notices how tired we really are. Paul understood that feeling. And he finally stopped pretending. And he cries out, Who will rescue me? And if you notice what he doesn't ask, he doesn't ask, how can I try harder? The question is, who will rescue me? Because he understands in that moment that the answer isn't simply more effort. The answer is grace. It is God's grace. In the passage that we heard in Matthew, Jesus has been speaking some hard words to people who have refused to hear God's invitation. And then he says something that's astonishing. He says, Come to me, all you who are weary, all you who are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Let's think for a minute about who it is that is receiving that invitation. It's not the strong or the successful, the people who have it all figured out. The people who are hearing this invitation are the ones who are weary, who are burdened and exhausted. Jesus doesn't tell them, get your life together and then come back. Here's what you do first. You get all of the checklists done, all of those things that you need to do, get yourself organized. Take care of all those problems. Jesus simply says, Come. I think that may be one of the most beautiful words in all of Scripture. Come. It's not because you've earned it or that you're finally good enough. It's not because you've solved all of your problems. Come. Come because you are weary. Come. We may misunderstand Jesus' words about taking his yoke upon us. Because honestly, a yoke sounds like just another burden, something else to carry. But in Jesus' day, a yoke was made for two animals working together. And so in this, Jesus isn't saying, here's another load for you to carry. What he's saying is you don't have to pull this alone anymore. His burden is light because he bears it with us. And this is the difference grace makes. Grace doesn't pretend that life is easy. Grace does tell us that we don't face it alone. And I think that's an important word for us this weekend. As Christians, we do give thanks for our country. We do celebrate the freedoms that we enjoy, and we pray for all of those who are leading us. We reach out and seek the welfare of our communities. But this is an important but, we also remember that our ultimate hope has never rested in any nation. Every nation, including our own, is still becoming. The church has always known how to serve the common good. We feed the hungry. We welcome the stranger. We visit the sick, and we care for the lonely. That we really don't save ourselves, that we don't heal ourselves or make ourselves righteous. We receive grace. In a few moments, we'll come to the communion table. And this table quietly proclaims something that our culture often forgets. No one earns a seat here. No one comes to this table because they have proven themselves worthy or have succeeded at life. We all come to this table because we are hungry. Because we need mercy. We come because Christ has invited us. The bread reminds us that Christ's body was given for us. And the cup reminds us that Christ's blood was poured out for us. Everything about this meal says the same thing. You do not have to save yourself. You never could. And you no longer have to pretend. So perhaps the deepest freedom that we celebrate this weekend isn't political freedom. Important as that is. Perhaps the deepest freedom is the freedom to stop paddling so furiously beneath the surface. The freedom to stop pretending that we have everything under control. It's the freedom to know that through Jesus we are rescued. We are received. And for that we say thanks be to God. It's a freedom that no nation can grant, that no circumstance can take away. It's a freedom that's offered to every weary soul. Come. Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Thanks for joining us for this episode of Real Faith in the Real World. We hope that this message helps you grow in your understanding and sparks new insight on your journey of faith. If you found this episode helpful, don't forget to subscribe and share. And as always, if you have questions and want to dive deeper into today's topic, please feel free to reach out to us by going to normalfumc.org, click about normal first, and click contact to leave us a message. We would love to hear from you. And until next time, keep seeking, keep questioning, and keep growing.