WHEN CAN I GIVE UP?
Matthew 11: 28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Church, some of you have been asking me, when can I set my burden down? When can I give up?
That’s 2 different questions. They are related, but not the same.
Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden light.
I know your burdens, Church. I’ve been there with you. I’ve seen you take your burdens to the altar and present them to the Lord. Because you know on your own you can’t carry those burdens alone. I know. I’ve been there.
And, I know those burdens are heavy. Lord, knows.
But those burdens we carry weren’t put there by Jesus. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart and we find rest in our souls from Jesus. And if we have trouble with Jesus, we can talk to him, and ask for forgiveness and there is no sweeter lightness than that. The lightness of forgiveness.
No, church. Our real burdens come from the world. They come from family. They come from work. They come from our limitations. Sometimes those burdens seem too heavy to carry.
So, it’s fair to ask. When can I set my burden down? And when, oh Lord, do I just say I quit. I can’t carry it. I can’t lift it. I can’t do it. When can I give up?
Let’s look at it church.
Sunday. Let’s start right here. It’s a day of rest. Now, for some of you I know Sunday is a working day. But you know your Sunday. You know the day when you have a little bit less work. You have a chance to rest a little.
So, let’s talk about Sunday. If you give up on Sunday, guess what? That’s more work! The day your supposed to be resting you are letting somebody down. You are letting yourself down. And you are gonna have to explain. You’re going to have to say you couldn’t do it. Your gonna have to express those excuses you’ve been thinking about. Your gonna have to put somebody else on the spot cause you gave up. Now, we are not gonna do that on our rest day are we? Tell me you won’t give up on Sunday Church. Not today. Not today. Not today.
Now, Monday. Now, we’re talking about a workday. The first day of the week. Now we’re not gonna give up on the first day! Not on the day when things might be working out our way. We just had a rest on Sunday. We are ready for anything! Monday’s a new beginning! A new chance. Tell me we are not going give up Monday Church. Amen?
Tuesday. Hey, we all know nothing gets done on Monday. So, Tuesday might be the day. It might be the day you take one of those burdens off your shoulder and get the job done. And when you do Church, when you do get something done, you can celebrate a little bit. You can rest a minute and say, yes, Lord, we did it! That is one time you can set your burden down for a minute.
And what a privilege. What a privilege to be able to do the work of the Lord: We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
But, just because your burden is lighter, doesn’t mean the journey is over. So, we’re gonna get something done on Tuesday and pick up that load and carry on.
And with a lighter burden, guess what? We can help somebody out with their burden. With a smile. With a helping hand. With the light we have inside. We can shine for somebody else and light the way.
Now, let’s say we strike out on Tuesday. Are we giving up on Wednesday? The middle of the week? No! We’re halfway there! We’re in the fight now! Maybe by Wednesday we are a little beaten down. Maybe a little bloody. But we are still moving forward. We’re not giving up halfway through are we Church? We are not giving up on Wednesday. Are you with me?
Now, Thursday. Is there any good reason not to give up on Thursday? Lord knows we’ve been at it now all week. Maybe those burdens aren’t getting lighter. Maybe by Thursday those rocks in our backpacks are just getting piled higher and higher. What are we going to do?
Well, Thursday is the Day of Thanksgiving. Maybe we can’t make a lot of progress. Maybe we’ve been thrown back a step or two. But we can say thank you. We are alive. There’s life. There’s hope. We got sunshine. We got rain. Give up? We not even going to think about it. We’re just going to be thankful.
All the Lord asks is this: That we do justly, that we love mercy, and that we walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8) Who is going to stop walking with the Lord? Not you! Not me.
We are not going to give up on Thursday, Church. We are going to be thankful. Win or lose. We are going walk humbly with our Lord. For nothing is impossible with God. We’re going to hold on to that candle of hope. We are not giving up on Thursday.
We made it to Friday, Church. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it. You can’t help but rejoice a little bit on Friday. Maybe this week we didn’t shed all our burdens, but we made it to Friday! Next week is another chance. And until close of business Friday, some of those things we’re hoping for just might happen. We ain’t giving up on Friday. No, we’re rejoicing. It’s human nature.
There’s just Saturday left. Have we got the energy to keep going? It’s been a long week, Church. Maybe Saturday is the day you reach out for help. You’ve helped others. You’ve prayed for others. You’ve walked humbly with your God. And now, maybe somebody in your family has some time to listen. Maybe a neighbor can help you with that problem in your home. Maybe you can find help in a book. We’re going look for help on Saturday and we are not going to give up. We are not going to give up. We’ve come too far Church.
We’ve looked at every day of the week. There are times when you can put your burdens down. There are times when you can rest. There are times when you can be thankful. There are time when you can rejoice. But, we are always going to pick that burden back up. Put it squarely on our shoulders. Look left and right and see who’s traveling with us and keep walking. We’re not giving up.
There’s only one time when we can put our burden down for good.
There will come a day when the Lord calls his faithful servants home.
For some during this pandemic that last day came in a hospital away from loved ones. But, the faithful were never alone.
And thank God for those nurses and doctors and attendants who held hands, and prayed, and were there for people who needed them. Whether Christian or Buddhist or Muslim, they were there and provided the smile, the comfort, and the presence that people needed. Thank God for them.
We find the truth through Jesus. But the Universe is big. And the truth shines through in many cultures and religions and although I’ve found truth through Jesus, I don’t have have all of the truth. But, I’ll keep search for it. And I won’t give up. And I won’t turn away from people who found or are searching for their own truth.
For those who ran the race to the end. They had the Lord with them. And they could whisper to themselves. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. (2 Timothy 4:7)
Together Church. We are never going to give up. We are going to keep marching. We are going to keep our heads up. We are going to live, and laugh, and cry together. WE ARE NEVER GOING TO GIVE UP. Never. And never. And never.
Together we will go out into the world in peace. Be Brave. We will keep hold of what is good. We won’t pay back wrong for wrong. We will encourage the faint hearted. Support the weak and distressed. Give due honor to everyone. Be always joyful. Pray continually. And give thanks whatever happens.
(The Book of Common Prayer)
Whatever happens. We are going to keep on. Until that final day. When the race is run and the work is done.
