To get into the spirit of the 250th birthday of the republic I have been watching shows which tell something of the history of those foundational days. In one show the delegates to the second Continental Congress are shown approaching the desk of the president to sign the Declaration of Independence. It must have caught their eye, it certainly caught mine, that the last words which Thomas Jefferson wrote right above their signatures was this line: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.” The pledged their lives because they were committing an act of treason—a crime punishable by being hung, drawn, and quartered; their fortunes because they were putting all of their personal wealth, property, businesses, and livelihoods on the line; their Sacred Honor because this was a pledge of their reputation, integrity, and good name. They were risking everything because the siren call of liberty was beckoning them.
Of course, this sermon is not a history lesson but a window to help us understand the gospel for today. Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened.” Like patriots yearning for freedom, we as believers are yearning for meaning, purpose, significance, value, hope, truth, love. Jesus says, come to me and I will give you what you want, what you truly need. I will give you infinite worth as a child of God. I will give you an eternal destiny as heirs to the promise. I will give you the freedom to be who you were made to be. We who are gathered here today have answered that call of Jesus, have, as it were, put our names on the dotted line. At our baptism we came to Jesus and basked in his promised refreshment.
However, following Jesus is not like joining a club, a matter of getting your name on the rolls. Rather, Jesus says if you want the blessing you must, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” Taking on a yoke – the image is of getting ready to do the work of pulling a load. “Learn from me.” Learn the way of Jesus, the way of sacrifice, of forgiveness, of compassion, of love. Just as those long ago patriots discovered that supporting the declaration was going to be costly, was going to make demands upon them, so our following of Christ comes with a set of expectations. The signers of the declaration thought the risk was worth it, that securing the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity would make all of the efforts necessary worthwhile. In a similar way, Jesus mentions the pay off – you will find rest for yourselves – as the enticement, as the allure in asking us to follow where he leads. We might even find an analogy to the commitments made for the nation of lives, fortunes and sacred honor in our commitments in discipleship to Jesus.
Lives: following Jesus is about turning our lives over to the plan of God for us. One of the natural questions we ask a child is “what do you want to be when you grow up.” When a student enters college, she must decide on a major for that will determine a career path. When a couple are getting married they plan for their life together. These are all normal and expected ways of operating in the world. But taking on the yoke of Jesus requires that we ask a different set of questions: what does God want me to be in life? How can I use my gifts and talents in a way that serves the kingdom of God? Am I willing to see the richer and the poorer, the sickness and the health of life together as part of the will of God for me? Offering our life to God requires a particular kind of freedom – we must be free ourselves of our desires and fears and instead ask for always and only what God wants for us.
Fortune: since none of us here has any fortune to surrender to God this might not seem too heavy a yoke to bear. But the real challenge is to overcome the way the world looks at what is valuable and see how God values things. Not the highest salary but the highest service. The poor, the immigrant, the earthquake victims all have a claim on us. There is a wonderful scene in the play A Man for All Seasons where Thomas More is urging a young man who is a social climber to become a teacher. “But if I am, who will know it.” “You. Your pupils. Your friends. God. Not a bad public, that,” More answers. We need to learn to look at how God values things and let that determine our choices more that social media.
And Sacred Honor: when one of my classmates from college was named the ambassador to Paraguay, he became “the honorable.” We call judges “your honor.” When a service man or woman does something extraordinary, they are given a Medal of Honor. While we are used to the term honor it really isn’t part of our normal speech and, certainly, sacred honor even less. Taking on the yoke of Jesus requires that we understand that simply in ourselves, before we do anything, before anyone recognizes us, before we have a long list of accomplishments, we are worthy of being honored…. as is every other person we meet because all of us together are sacred, children of God, made in God’s image and likeness. We must at all cost avoid anything which would besmirch the honor God bestows upon every one of us in naming us beloved children.
Yes, taking on the yoke of Jesus makes demands upon us. Yes, we must learn to conform our lives to his. But the promise is that risking it all for God is easy and light compared with trying to create our own happiness. God is where true freedom lies
