Tomorrow morning, our family of five are departing for a two-week Florida vacation. I’m viewing as a “buy low, sell high” moment in trading our recent -40’s for some mid 20’s down along the beach.
In the quest for full-blown rest, blogging and tweeting are being left behind as well. I will eagerly resume them upon returning, but for now…
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For any father who’s ever realized that doing his daughter’s hair was WAY outside his skill set, allow me to introduce you to our new hero…
I’m not a huge Oprah fan, though I do appreciate a number of her efforts. Recently, she hosted Rick Warren, who in turn, brought Nick Vujicic.
Wherever you are today, whatever you feel is limiting your life or outrightly stealing it away from you, this is more than a tad inspiring.
Go in strength, my friends. God is your Maker, Provider, and Companion. And with Him, nothing is impossible.
This invitation is among Jesus’ most famous words (Mt 11:28-30):
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Tillers International put out a document on how to build a yoke (in case you were looking for a wood shop project). They noted that a typical wooden yoke might weigh 50-60 pounds, certainly more than I’d care to carry in a backpack each day but hardly problematic to a team of animals who might weigh a couple tons collectively.
That got me to thinking about the yoke Jesus offers.
He says that it will not feel burdensome. He also says that wearing it will be a form of learning.
Yoke-talk was common-place among first-century rabbis. It spoke of whose rule one was living out, whose Torah-interpretation one was holding, whose “way” one was walking. Typically, potential students might approach a teacher under whom they desired to learn. Some sort of “application” would take place, with testing and gauging of whether this student was suitable for this master. Jesus splits from the standard operating procedures immediately by putting out a call of invitation, particularly to those whose current yokes are crushing them. To the wearied and the worn, a restful yoke awaits.
I mean, Jesus is the same one who called his followers to “be holy, as God is holy”. He told them that they would need to pursue a higher form of righteousness than the minutia-minded Sinai-sticklers of their day, so we can safely conclude that he was not speaking of slack standards or halfway holiness.
Picture it.
See the metaphor: View the farm, hear the livestock, assess the fields to work.
Imagine it.
Place yourself there: Smell the dirt, breathe the air, feel the weight of a yoke.
If there is a yoke and we are wearing it, then it seems easy enough to assess our spot in the sketch. We are the beast of burden, ready to plow under the watch of a master. Simple enough.
That seems easy too.
I mean, if he’s the owner of the yoke, then he is the farmer, intent on training us to be obedient and useful to himself. Every facet of that metaphor works for standard Christian teaching.
However, I cannot help but wonder if we’re missing a key–a very key–detail.
Years ago, my wife and I spent time in southeast Asia. At a number of spots, we encountered elephants: We rode some, we fed some, we visited reserves and protection programs. We also witnessed elephants being used as work-animals. Be assured, you can get some stuff done with an elephant! Who needs horsepower when you’ve got elephant power and a trunk?!
One of the trainers said that when they’re working with a new elephant, they match him up with their best elephant. The rookie gets yoked alongside the expert. He gets mastered; he gets discipled.
And that is what I think we’re missing when we read Matthew 11.
It makes all kinds of sense to see Jesus as the yoke-owning, beast-breaking farmer.
Perhaps it makes all kinds of more sense to see Jesus as the yoke-sharing, way-walking beast beside us.
He straps us to himself and shows us how to walk. Like stubborn elephants, we pull against and jostle with the yoke and the partner. And like the steady guide, he holds the line, graciously allowing us to learn and adjust. When pride breaks and rebellion subsides, we discover that we can sync our strides to this steady companion.
And in that moment of coordination and partnership, we discover that we don’t even notice the yoke upon us. The load is shared, and truth be told, he is bearing the weight so completely that our portion merits no mention. Beyond that, we begin to realize that a life of satisfying fruitfulness has begun.
Welcome to the life of the disciple!
We crave a stillness, a calm where no ripples disrupt. Something inside us says that this is the goal of life, to arrive at this state: Where nothing further needs doing, where no further climbing remains. Labourers dream of retirement, travelers long for arrival, tomorrow’s promise pulls us through today’s pressure.
In 1658, Miguel de Molinos published a piece entitled, “Spiritual Guide Which Disentangles the Soul”. This Spanish priest eloquently expressed a fundamental task awaiting any who desire God:
“You ought to know that your soul is the center, habitation, and the kingdom of God. That therefore, in order that the sovereign King may rest on the throne of your soul, you should take pains to keep it clean, quiet, void, and peaceable; clean from guilt and defects; quiet from fears; void of sinful affections, desires, and thoughts; and peaceable in temptations and tribulations.”
Yet it is critically necessary in any pursuit after spiritual vitality.
However, Molinos was aware of the struggle involved in this pursuit, of the failure that we will all taste in the caring for our souls. To every seeker of God, he goes on to offer these words of comfort:
“Do not be upset or discouraged if you feel fainthearted, for He will return to quiet you, that He may still stir your heart. This divine Lord will fill you and rest in your soul, forming a rich throne of peace. He does this by means of internal recollection and through His heavenly grace, so that within your own heart, you may look for silence in the tumult, solitude in the crowd, light in the darkness, forgetfulness in trials, strength in weakness, courage in fear, resistance in the midst of temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation.”
It is wondrous to consider that God is eager to remain and to reign within our deepest dimensions, spaces which we so struggle to dedicate to Him. Yet He works to grant us some measure of peace. Why? So that He might stir us.
In our lives, the One who stills one storm is often the same One who summons the succeeding tremors. The One who rescues us from the fire ignites within us a greater blaze than any other. The One who frees us from life-stealing, low-level loves goes on to call us to love Him with a consuming affection.
“For he will return to quiet you, that he may still stir your heart.”
Seek peace for your souls today, friends. Pursue it in every god-honouring way you can think of. But do so with an awareness that God will grant it to you with the attached intention of forcefully stirring your heart.
So go ahead and seek it today. But seek peace with an awareness that the God who grants it will undoubtedly still your soul so that He might stir it mightily!
YOUR TURN: How have you pursued a peaceful soul? Have you a story of how God provided the peace you desired? YOUR COMMENTS MAKE THIS POST BETTER.
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