Greetings friends,
This is Mark Ludman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks.
Welcome to this next session in our series looking at the invitations of Jesus.
As we begin,
Just take a moment to become aware of your breathing.
Don't change it at all,
Just notice the breath as it comes.
And as it goes.
Notice the sounds around you.
And just slowly allow yourself to settle fully and present.
Into this moment.
And become aware of this space and this time as the gift that it is.
And as we continue this journey through the invitations of Jesus,
Let's just stop and notice how each invitation has taken us a little bit deeper.
That first invitation.
In session one,
Jesus invited us to come and see.
And then he invited us to.
.
.
Follow him.
And then in session three.
He met us in our fears.
With the words,
Do not be afraid.
And then He led us away from the constant activity.
With that invitation,
Come away.
And rest.
And today we arrive at what might be perhaps one of the most tender invitations in all the Gospels,
An invitation that's brought comfort to countless of people.
Down through the centuries.
Jesus says.
.
.
Come to me.
And so listen.
To these words from Matthew's Gospel.
Chapter 11,
Verses 28 to 30.
Jesus said.
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.
Now what's interesting about this invitation is it doesn't begin with Jesus asking us what we believe.
Whether we're prayed enough,
Or forgiven enough,
Or understood enough.
He begins with weariness.
Are you tired?
Are you carrying too much?
Then come.
How beautiful and deeply human is that?
How compassionate.
Jesus speaks to people who know what it is to be exhausted,
People carrying responsibilities.
Living with grief.
Weighed down with disappointment,
Burdened by expectations,
Some placed on them by themselves.
And some placed on them by others,
And 2,
000 years later.
This invitation has lost absolutely none.
Of its relevance.
Many people today aren't just physically tired,
They're soul weary.
And there's a difference between being physically tired and being weary in soul.
A good night's sleep might restore the body,
But it can't always restore the heart.
Soul weariness.
Is what we experience when life has become heavy,
When we have been strong for too long.
When we've carried responsibilities that no one else sees.
When disappointment accumulates quietly over months.
Or years when we begin living from obligation.
Instead of joy.
And maybe you know something about that kind of weariness.
Maybe you've arrived at this reflection.
Carrying more than anyone else realizes,
And if so,
Friend,
These words are spoken especially for you.
Come to me.
And notice what he offers.
What does Jesus promise here?
There's no immediate solution.
He promises himself.
I will give you rest.
And this is a risk that's more.
Than just relaxing.
The word that's used here by Jesus points towards a deeper meaning.
Restoration,
The kind of rest that reaches beneath our circumstances into the deepest part of who we are,
The place that scripture calls the soul.
The soul isn't one part.
Of among many in us.
It's the integrating center of our lives.
So when the soul becomes exhausted,
Everything else begins to feel fragmented.
But when the soul rests in God,
Something begins to come back together,
Even if the circumstances around us.
Haven't changed yet.
And I think it's interesting that Jesus speaks these words in a culture where many people experienced religion.
As a burden.
Rules upon rules,
Obligations upon obligations.
The weight of trying to become acceptable before God,
Jesus offers.
Something that's radically different here.
He reveals a God who invites rather than oppresses,
A God who meets people with mercy.
Before expectation.
A God whose first movement towards humanity.
Is grace.
That doesn't mean discipleship's easy.
Love's always going to ask something of us.
What Jesus offers is never crushing.
His way leads us towards freedom.
Towards liberation,
Towards life.
There's a beautiful phrase hidden in this passage.
I am gentle and humble in heart.
Only one time in all the Gospels does Jesus describe his own heart and these are the words he chooses,
Gentle,
Not distant,
Not impatient,
Not easily disappointed.
Gentle.
A lot of us go through life carrying images of God that have been shaped more by fear.
And by the Gospels.
We imagine God Waiting for us to file,
Keeping score.
Maybe even withholding affection until we improve.
But when Jesus reveals his own heart,
He reveals something deeply different.
The heart of God is gentle.
And doesn't make God weak.
Gentleness isn't weakness.
Gentleness is strength expressed It's not through love,
It's power that refuses to dominate,
Mercy.
That refuses to abandon its compassion.
That continues welcoming us home.
And so maybe this is why Jesus begins with an invitation rather than a demand.
Because love can't be forced.
It can just be received.
And so.
.
.
Spiritual life in the Christian tradition begins and continues.
By allowing ourselves to receive what God is already giving.
And what are those things?
Grace,
Mercy,
Forgiveness,
Presence,
Rest.
Many of us find giving easier than receiving,
But receiving is itself an act of humility.
To come to Christ empty-handed.
Is to admit that we can't save ourselves.
And it's also to admit that we don't have to.
Because Christ already comes towards us with open hands.
One more thing worth noticing.
Jesus doesn't say,
Come to my teaching,
Or come to my religion,
Or even come to my church.
He says,
Come to me.
Christianity is ultimately centered on relationships.
Just as ideas or practices,
All of those have their place.
But they exist to lead us into communion.
With the living Christ,
The goal of the spiritual life.
Isn't just to become more religious,
But to become more deeply united with the one who loves us.
And so the place of our religious and spiritual practice.
Isn't the practice itself.
Is how it brings us deeply into the presence of and relationship with the divine.
And so the invitation today is beautifully simple.
Stop carrying alone what was never yours to carry.
Come.
And come.
Just as you are.
I invite you now just to pause.
To notice your breathing.
And to imagine yourself walking.
Along a quiet path,
You've been carrying a heavy backpack.
And you hadn't realized how heavy it's become until now.
Feel its weight on your shoulders and notice how tired you are.
And ahead of you,
You see Jesus waiting.
He smiles.
He smiles because he's been waiting with love.
And as you come closer,
You hear him say,
Come to me.
And now become aware of the burdens that you've been carrying.
Maybe they have names,
A relationship,
A responsibility,
A grief,
A fear.
A disappointment.
And just imagine removing each burden from the backpack one by one and place each into the hands of Christ.
And as you do,
Notice that it receives each one without surprise.
Or without judgment.
Just with quiet.
Compassion.
And then hear him say,
I will give you rest.
And allow yourself simply to be held in the gentleness of Christ.
Lord Jesus,
Thank you for inviting us to come exactly as we are.
Thank you that we don't need to pretend or perform or prove ourselves before you.
You know every burden.
We carry,
You know,
Every hidden sorrow,
Every quiet anxiety.
Every longing that we struggle to express.
Teach us to trust.
Your gentle heart.
Help us place our lives more fully into your hands.
When we've become weary,
Remind us that your presence is our deepest rest.
When we begin carrying burdens that aren't ours to bear,
Just draw us back to yourself.
May we discover again and again that your grace is always greater than our striving.
And may that same grace,
Along with peace and love,
Be with us and remain with us,
Today and always.
And as you go through your day,
Just return often to those simple words,
Come.
To me.
You don't need the white tool.
Tonight's prayers or until Sunday until life becomes easier at any moment in any place.
You can quietly turn your heart towards Christ.
That movement,
However small,
Is prayer.
And each time you make that movement,
You're responding to an invitation that has never ceased to be spoken.
Until next time,
May you rest in the gentle and humble heart of Christ.
Bye for now.
