Sunday Sermon - July 5, 2026

What does it mean to take Jesus' yoke upon ourselves? 

Learn more about St. John Lutheran Church at stjohnchurchmars.org or follow us on Facebook.

Scripture quotations from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

The Holy Gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus spoke to the crowd, saying, To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another. We played the flute for you and you did not dance. We wailed 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, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds. At that time, Jesus said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants. 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 you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. The Gospel of the Lord. When my husband and I are working on something together, and something proves particularly heavy or challenging, I will frequently declare in a voice of stubborn persistence, I am a strong, independent woman. As I continue to wrestle with whatever task with which I refuse to accept help. And if you've noticed, children do the same thing. How many times have you heard a child declare, I can do it myself? Or, however, being honest, how many times have you declined help, priding yourself on your own independence? For whatever reason, we are enamored with the idea of independence. We prize independence, we prize pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We are strong, independent people. But then, as I continue to wrestle with something that is frankly too cumbersome for me to handle by myself, there comes a moment when I have to admit, much to my chagrin, that I am very much in over my head and I will sheepishly look at my husband and go, Woody. And suddenly we realize independence is an illusion. Just yesterday, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of the composition of the Declaration of Independence. And even in this document, named for independence, pure independent individualism is not the primary driver. Instead, throughout the document, and indeed throughout human history, we see interdependence at the heart of revolution. Two hundred and fifty years ago, people came together for the common purpose of fighting against tyranny and the concentration of power, sharing in sacrifices and supporting one another in times of need, leaning on voices of ages past as they composed the now famous document that comes from not individuals, but from the collective, we the people, represented by the mixed bag of men representing the different colonies bonded together in interdependence, not independence. Interdependence requires that each party claim a personal agency and responsibility. Interdependence acknowledges our need for mutual aid, collective problem solving. We need to be able to rely on one another. We need to work together toward shared goals. We are not designed to be independent individuals. We are designed to be an interdependent community. To try and resist this design, to try and stubbornly, pridefully insist that I am a strong, independent woman can be frankly exhausting. To focus on ourselves, on gaining and keeping power and money, it can be heavy and draining. So Jesus calls to us come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Think about how yokes work. A yoke couples things together. If you yoke two animals together, they both work to pull the weight behind them. Both animals must participate in the work. Both animals must work in harmony with the other, and both animals must be obedient to the yoke. And in today's reading, Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon us, to couple with him, to partner with him, to be bonded to him now and forever, in work, in obedience, and in love. We don't have to have it all figured out before we take his yoke upon us. For in the invitation to take the yoke is an invitation to learn from him. As we work with Jesus, as our hands partner in doing God's work in the world, as we learn more and more about what God's work is, what God is up to in the world, and how we can more and more live into our identity as people coupled with Jesus in our baptism. We learn from Jesus how to be, how to think, how to feel. We learn what it means to have Jesus yoke on our shoulders and be obedient to God's law of life. Conveniently summarized in ten easy to follow commandments, which are conveniently summarized in two, which to remind you again: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Good job, just checking. So when we look at that, at first, it sure seems like Jesus' yoke is anything but easy. Taking Jesus' yoke upon our shoulders gives us a greater sense of obligation and accountability. It opens our eyes to see the way see the world the way God might, with all of our shortcomings, with the pervasive infection of sin, with our stubborn insistence that I am a strong, independent woman. But as we take Jesus' yoke, as we follow in the way of Christ, imitating Jesus' life of love and grace, we realize that Jesus will never call us to do anything he won't. Jesus will never send us where he himself is not. We, of course, meet Jesus in the grace of the meal of bread and cup we will share in a moment, but we also meet Jesus out in the world, as introduced in Scripture, as he shares meals with surprising people, as he cares for the least of these and lifts them up, as he offers welcome, dignity, and community to the pushed down and pushed aside, as he cries and shares in grief, as he declares blessing on the poor, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, and the peacemakers, offering food and nourishment for mind, body, and soul. And we, the people of God, the followers of Christ, are coupled to Jesus, not as independent individuals, but as an interdependent community, yoked together, sharing in struggle and joy, working together for a common purpose, offering mutual aid and carrying responsibility not just for ourselves, but for the care and dignity of one another. Together, we are yoked with Christ, sharing in God's mission and ministry in the world, of nourishing all people in mind, body, and soul, participating in God's work with our hands, by helping and caring for all of our neighbors, proclaiming God's good news of justice and mercy, love and grace for all with our voices, our hearts, and our very lives. Just as the animals yoked together are each responsible, we are each responsible for our own part in this work. But we are never alone in this work. We live in the gift of the law of God, the law of love and justice and mercy and grace. We move together toward a shared goal of a world where everyone knows God's love is for them, where God's peace reigns and creation lives in harmony, and we learn from Jesus how to live, how to be an interdependent community, leaning on God's grace and ongoing redemption for us. And that makes the yoke a whole lot easier, the burden a whole lot lighter, when we leave behind our stubborn insistence on independence and doing it ourselves, and instead find our identity yoked to Christ, our purpose in God's work, our life in God's ongoing redemptive work as a community of interdependent, beautiful and broken people, named and claimed, beloved by God. I am a strong member of an interdependent community. It doesn't roll off the tongue as easily, but it's more true. Amen.