Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to another audio in our Invitations of Jesus series.
As today,
We continue on from yesterday's invitation and add a little bit more that Jesus said immediately after,
Take my yoke.
Before we begin,
Let's just take a few moments to become still.
And present and aware.
Just allow yourself to settle into a comfortable position.
Notice your breathing.
And may it be a quiet reminder of the life that's always being given in you and through you.
Feel the chair or the ground beneath you,
Notice that you're being held.
And just allow your thoughts to come and go without needing to hold on to them.
Being fully present to this moment.
And as you become more present,
Just become aware of the presence of Christ.
There's no need to imagine.
Christ arriving in this moment.
They're already here.
Remember that the invitation of prayer is to awaken to the one who's always been nearer than we realise.
Now so far in this series,
Jesus has invited us to come and see.
To follow him,
To trust him in the midst of fear.
To come away and rest.
And to bring your burdens to him.
And today,
This invitation will become even more personal.
He says,
Learn from me.
Notice it's not learn about me,
But learn from me.
And there's an important difference.
So first of all,
Just listen to the words from the Gospel of Matthew.
Chapter 11,
Verses 28,
And 29.
Jesus said,
Come to me.
All you who are weary and heavy burdened,
And I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.
For I am gentle.
And humble of heart.
And you will find rest for your souls.
Now a lot of us spend our lives learning.
We go to school,
We go to university.
Then we get jobs where that learning continues.
We learn new technologies,
If we do a trade we learn on the job and then we have to learn new skills,
New tools,
New technology as it comes about.
There's new information always coming up.
And there's nothing wrong with knowledge per se,
It's a beautiful gift,
But.
.
.
Jesus is speaking here about a different kind of learning,
The kind of learning that changes the person.
Who's doing the learning.
And the ancient world.
Understood this well.
A disciple didn't just simply go around collecting information from their teacher,
The disciple shared life with you.
The teacher.
They walked together,
They ate together.
The student wanted to be wherever the teacher was to observe them,
How they spoke.
How they interacted with people,
How they responded to interruptions,
How they treated strangers.
How I pray.
The learning happens through relationship.
There wasn't a lot of sitting around and getting lectures.
And this relationship learning is the kind of learning that Jesus invites us into.
The word disciple here literally means learner.
Remember a disciple isn't an expert or a graduate.
They're a learner.
And maybe one of the healthiest things we can remember is that we never stop being disciples.
We never stop learning.
And this,
When you think about it,
Should be beautifully freeing.
It means that we don't have to have everything figured out.
Were simply invited to keep.
Learning,
One conversation,
One prayer.
One small act of love at a time.
Jesus says,
Take my yoke upon you.
And to our modern ears,
It's kind of strange language.
The yolk.
Was a wooden beam placed across two animals so that they could walk.
And work together.
It symbolised guidance,
Direction and shared labour.
You might also keep in mind that if you had a new animal that was going to be pulling the plough,
You would yoke together.
With a more experienced animal so that that younger one could learn from the one who had the experience and the More experienced and often stronger animal would bear the load alongside the younger,
Often not as strong.
So when Jesus invites us to take this yoke,
This isn't just another burden that's placed along us.
He's inviting us to walk alongside him.
The work is shared and being the stronger and the more experienced.
Jesus is the one more likely to take the bulk of the load.
The direction also comes from Him.
We're no longer pulling the weight of life by ourselves.
It's the beautiful image that's hidden within there.
I mean,
Imagine walking through your ordinary day yoked to Christ.
Your workplace,
Your classroom,
Your family,
Through moments of joy,
Frustration.
You're never walking.
And then Jesus tells us what kind of teacher.
He's going to be.
He says,
I am gentle.
And humble in heart.
Just think about that for a moment.
If you were designing the perfect teacher.
What words might you choose to describe?
A lot of us would probably go straight for things like powerful or charismatic or persuasive.
But Jesus' words are different,
Gentle.
And humble.
And that's because maybe.
We've forgotten that love.
.
.
Is the deepest wisdom.
The greatest teachers don't just fill minds,
They also form hearts.
And if you think about the teachers who have most impacted you,
You might have missed it,
But you probably will see that this is true.
They didn't just fill your mind.
They also,
In some way,
Help to form your heart.
Jesus teaches us,
Not simply.
.
.
But what he says,
But also by who he is.
Every encounter in the Gospels reveals something about the character of God.
His compassion towards the sick,
His patience with confused disciples.
His welcome of children,
His forgiveness of sinners.
His tears at the tomb of Lazarus when he washed the disciples' feet every single action.
A lesson.
A lesson in what it means to be truly human and alive to God and the world around us.
The early Christians often described the spiritual life as putting on the mind of Christ.
It's a beautiful phrase.
But it doesn't mean thinking exactly the same thoughts.
It means gradually learning to see the world as Christ sees it,
To notice what he notices,
To value what he values,
To love as he loves.
This takes time,
It's lifelong work.
Or maybe even better.
.
.
Its lifelong grace.
We're slowly being educated into the life of God.
One of the great temptations of the spiritual life is to admire Jesus.
But not imitate Jesus.
We can appreciate his teachings,
Study the gospel.
Even talk and perhaps even teach Christian values.
But Jesus' invitation is way more radical than that.
Learn from me,
He says.
Become like me.
Allow my way of living to become your way of living.
And that transformation.
.
.
It doesn't just happen in the big moments of life,
It happens in those ordinary moments,
Those ordinary choices.
When we choose patience instead of irritation.
When we choose listening instead of interrupting.
When we choose forgiving instead of keeping score.
When we return to prayer when we become distracted.
Beginning again after failure.
This is the curriculum of discipleship.
And so maybe the greatest lesson Jesus teaches us isn't found in any single parable or sermon.
Maybe it's the way that he remains rooted deeply in God's love.
Again and again,
We see Jesus withdrawing to pray,
Returning to silence,
Living from communion and abiding rather than constant activity.
Everything else flows from that relationship.
And this is why learning from Jesus has never.
.
.
Just about behaving differently,
It's about abiding differently,
Living.
From a different center.
The more we learn to rest in God's love,
The more our actions begin to reflect that love naturally.
Fruit grows from healthy roots,
Not from our effort and striving.
Is a saying.
From the early church that captures this beautifully.
Become what you behold.
We become like what we contemplate.
So if we continually contemplate fear,
We become fearful.
We contemplate success alone.
Success begins to define us.
If we contemplate Christ patiently,
Prayerfully,
Consistently,
His life slowly begins to shape ours.
And maybe that's what learning from Jesus truly means.
Not just studying his word or the word,
Whoever you want to put it,
But allowing his presence to transform us from within.
So let's just take a moment.
To be still,
Just allow your attention return to your breathing.
And as you settle into this moment,
Just imagine yourself walking beside Jesus along a quiet country road.
Not rushing anywhere,
There's no listen plan,
No examination.
Just companionship.
And as you walk together,
Just notice how Jesus pays attention.
He notices the flowers growing beside the path.
He greets people with kindness.
He pauses when someone's hurting.
He listens fully.
He's never hurried,
Simply observe him to learn.
And now perhaps ask yourself.
.
.
Jesus,
What are you teaching me in this season of my life?
And just for a moment,
Pause and remain open.
To what might come.
And now imagine walking a little closer behind him.
Notice that the pace is unhurried.
There's nowhere else to be.
There's nothing you need to become first.
You're simply invited to remain near the teacher.
Lord Jesus,
Thank you for inviting us to become your disciples.
Teach us to learn not only from your words,
But from your way of living.
Help us to walk beside you with open hearts.
Form your gentleness within us.
Your humility,
Your compassion,
Your courage.
When we become impatient with ourselves,
Remind us that discipleship is a lifelong journey.
When we stumble,
Help us to begin again.
May we become people whose lives increasingly reflect your love.
For you are our teacher,
Our companion,
And our friend.
And may grace,
Peace,
And love be with us and go with us as we follow closely along the way today and always.
As you go into your day-to-day,
Just keep that question we asked earlier with you,
Jesus,
What are you teaching me right now?
And you may discover that Christ is your teacher,
Not only in the moments of prayer,
But also in those interruptions,
Conversations,
The disappointments.
The acts of kindness.
And the quiet routines of our ordinary everyday life.
Every moment.
Can be a classroom,
Every experience.
Can become part of our formation and every day offers another opportunity to learn from the one who is gentle.
And humbling heart.
So until next time.
May you continue to walk closely with Christ,
Discovering that the greatest lessons are often learned by simply remaining close to Him.
Till next time.
Bye for now.
