Howdy. Man, we managed to get through the 4th
of July and you're actually here at church on
a Sunday. All right. Congratulations. All right.
Oh, man. Dino told me I had to come today. So
there you go. But apparently some of the mold
spores decided to bloom this week. So it's a
lot of fun. But you know, we gather today on
a weekend when our nation pauses to celebrate
the 4th of July. And in moments like this, it's
fitting to slow down. and to name what we're
grateful for. We are grateful for the gift of
living in a country where there's freedom of
worship, where we can gather openly as God's
people without fear. We are grateful for freedom
of speech, where voices can be heard and ideas
can be exchanged. We're grateful for the freedom
to gather, where communities can form, churches
can congregate, and neighbors can serve one another.
We're grateful for the opportunity to work, to
build. To study to contribute not just to the
common good but also to our families and the
lives that we've been given We're grateful for
baseball football American football and The other
one's good too, but hot dogs barbecue Buc -E's
giant roadside attractions like balls of twine
and mirrors fireworks and backyard cook -ups
and pickup trucks rock and roll, state fairs,
s'mores, funnel cakes, and, of course, apple
pie. We're grateful for so many things that we
end up taking for granted, but also especially
for the men and women who've served in the military,
for those whose sacrifice has helped preserve
a measure of peace and stability that we also
take for granted. There's so much to give thanks
for, and many of us, as we do so, we might think
to ourselves, About our national anthem, but
you see when I was a kid I was never able to
remember which song was actually the national
anthem So for me, I would always switch back
to Lee Greenwood's God bless the USA and I'd
be like, okay now we're gonna sing God bless
USA I'm like wait, what's this? Oh say can you
see I have no idea and There's that line that
it has where it says I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free and It captures
something real in the human heart. Belonging,
gratitude, affection for home and people. And
in fact, with all this is there is actually a
distinction that I think we actually do need
to make. Because when we use the word proud,
sometimes it gets confused because proud oftentimes
describes what can be like an achievement. But
you see, being an American, it's not something
that any single one of us has ever achieved on
our own. It's not something that we can earn.
It's not something other than what we receive.
It is a gift that either we were born or welcomed
into, shaped by generations of sacrifice, struggle,
providence far beyond any one single person's
efforts. And that means the more honest posture
is not as much pride as gratitude. Gratitude
that receives what it did not create. Gratitude
that can hold together both the blessings of
freedom and the struggles that our lives still
experience. Yes, life is hard, but gratitude
says I am thankful to be part of this story.
And I am called to live faithfully within it
however God allows me that opportunity. And from
that place, we can give honor where it is due.
For those who have had courage and sacrifice
in our armed forces But also acknowledging that
there are countless others that in our society
in our cities and states throughout our nation
There are those who quietly and faithfully carry
out their tasks so that our nation can be who
it is And you know this nation is carried along
by millions of unseen acts every single day generations
where The blessings of God are lived out by those
who have given so much. So today, we give thanks
not as much about pride, because it's not about
trying to lift us above others, as if somehow
we're inherently better than other people, but
rather with gratitude that opens our heart to
what God has been doing among us. To see that
we're thinking about that opening line If we
were really seeing this from God's perspective,
we might have to say, and I'm humbled to be an
American. It doesn't flow quite as well. And
nobody waves a flag when you're saying how humble
you are. But humility though, that is what helps
us receive life as a gift rather than an achievement.
In the same posture, this is something throughout
American history. There have been seasons where
life was defined by relentless labor and the
pressure to perform. Where people were just treated
like what their worth was in output, productivity.
This isn't just the things that we sometimes
tell ourselves is so difficult. Where we constantly
say, oh, that email could have just been a text
and that meeting could have been an email. But
those who had to be in factories and coal mines
and... on farmlands and ranches and those who
struggled at times rather than experiencing the
nature and joy that we have. There are societies
where we recognize that times when order and
stability was being created, but it oftentimes
would not be for all people. And so this is not
about trying to say whether we have ever intended
to do what is wrong, but rather to acknowledge
that humans typically mess things up when our
pride is involved. And that's why humility matters
so much in our scriptures for today. There's
a quote for you. Humility must always be the
portion of any man who receives a claim earned
in the blood of his followers and the sacrifices
of his friends. Eisenhower spoke these words
during the Guildhall speech in London in 1945.
As supreme allied commander, he had just overseen
the defeat of Nazi Germany. Having sent millions
of men into combat, he used this moment of monumental
victory to reflect solemnly on the devastating
cost of war, rejecting personal pride in favor
of the sacrifices of his troops. Sorry y 'all
Abraham Lincoln known for guiding the nation
through the Civil War promoting generals who
had criticized him and in even admitting when
the military strategies had failed There's a
quote associated with him I have been driven
many times upon my knees by the overwhelming
conviction that I had nowhere else to go My own
wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient
for the day That posture of humility is not only
helpful for understanding civic life But it also
parallels something deeper that we need to think
about with our gospel reading Not because Christ
came to make us American that is not what the
cross is about But rather because the freedom
that we experience here can help us understand
something about how God works Because the freedom
that allows us to hear to receive and to respond
to Christ It's about something not being forced.
Faith cannot be forced. It must be received.
It must be opened by God Himself. And that is
where Jesus is beginning. He's speaking into
a world that was deeply religious, deeply serious
about God. But they were often missing what God
was actually doing right in front of them. Instead
of receiving what God was giving, many had become
focused on trying to maintain control. protecting
their own interpretations, guarding traditions,
and building systems that made their life feel
secure, but also allowed them to resist ever
being corrected. And that showed up in very real
ways. The Sabbath, for example, it was meant
as a gift of rest and trusting in God that He
would take care of you for this one day of the
week. But over time, it became surrounded by
detailed expectations. What counted as work?
How far were you allowed to walk? What could
you or could you not do? Could you help your
friend who was injured? Or would that be considered
work? You'd have to hope he lives until the next
day. Could you walk to see your family, or were
they just a few feet too far away? And that would
be considered breaking the Sabbath. Could you
light a fire? at a time when maybe you'd be at
risk of freezing to death. Something meant to
be a gift of freedom, freedom to rest and to
know God, slowly began to feel like something
that you had to manage correctly just to prove
yourself to other people. Or the purity laws
at the time. They were meant to shape people
that they would show themselves as belonging
to God, but they could be interpreted as ways
to keep a distance. from those who are struggling
or treated as unclean. You could say, I don't
trust you, so therefore, I'm going to keep my
distance from you. And instead of finding a way
to form a community that was merciful, instead,
they use this as an excuse to separate from compassion.
And even devotion and giving could be about correctness
and precision instead of justice. mercy and faithfulness.
It doesn't matter how tight things may be for
you, I give more than you, so therefore, I must
be better in God's eyes. Over time, faith can
sometimes shift from a trust in God to confidence
in believing we are right before God. And even
now, there are echoes of this in our own world.
Whether in work or society, people will oftentimes
measure what they can produce rather than the
dignity of every human being. But there are categories
where we put people into a box instead of trying
to build a relationship with them. Because human
pride always has a way of narrowing down what
we see. And that's the world that Jesus speaks
into. Because Jesus says the Father reveals truth
Not to the ones who are assured of themselves,
but to the humble. Not to those who assume that
they can already see everything clearly, but
to those who are willing to receive like children.
You know that one person in your life who never
is able to be told anything? That one person
where whatever you're discussing, they know the
right answer and you don't really have something
you can correct them on? That one person where
no matter what, even if they are somehow wrong,
it was still all a part of their argument. See,
it's not ever a question of being less intelligent.
It's about being willing to be taught. Something
that we never should outgrow. Because the real
barrier in our lives is not a lack of information.
It's the refusal to let God form us. and it shows
up so often. Sometimes we hear the Scriptures.
We assume we already know what they mean, so
we kind of tune ourselves out and we're trying
to think through what our plans are for later
that day. We stop listening until it's time that
we think we can speak again. Or sometimes we
filter everything through what we already believe
about ourselves. Rather than letting God say,
I see you how you really are, and I'm going to
reshape you. And sometimes whenever we hear correction,
either through a person that we know or maybe
the occasional sermon, our first instinct is
to protect ourselves rather than receive what
we're hearing. We rarely say, I'm being prideful.
We usually say, that just doesn't apply to me.
Because if we're honest, admitting that we're
wrong is scary. It feels like losing something.
We worry that if we let go of the things that
we've always believed, or we admit that we've
failed, then somehow we will lose ourselves.
But Jesus, He never humbles us because He's trying
to shame us. He humbles us so that He can heal
us. Because instead of letting us do things in
our way, He's bringing us back to Himself. Sometimes
life moves so fast that if you don't slow down
long enough, then you can't actually be changed
by what you hear. And all of that is another
form of the same thing. The quiet assumption
that we are already good enough. And that is
why Jesus goes even deeper. And He says no one
knows the Father except the Son. And that is
the turning point. Because Jesus is not just
trying to correct our misunderstandings about
God. He's actually saying that true knowledge
of God That's not something where you climb toward
it with learning enough and praying hard enough
and serving hard enough and then you finally
are at that point. True knowledge of God is something
by being brought into Christ Jesus each and every
day. In other words, humility is not just being
open to being corrected. It is being open to
the relationship that we always need to have.
When I was in college, my mom always wanted me
to give her a call back, but she would never
use an answering machine. Answering machines
were these things that existed before voicemail
and texts. There were tapes, these things that
would scroll and you'd record on these things.
Cassette tapes. I know it's weird. You could
actually put verbs on there. But these answering
machines, my mom would never get one because
she said, I don't want you to leave a message
for me. I want you to keep trying until you get
me. Okay, Mom. Call five minutes later. But you
know, that's the thing about it is because it
was not as much the information as much as making
sure that there was still the relationship. See,
we don't reach God by effort either. We're brought
to Him by the Son who reveals the Father to us.
That relationship is what we need because we're
being led directly into this invitation. Jesus
goes further and says, Come to me, all who labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And Jesus is speaking to people. They are worn
down. It's not just by life, but by the weight
of trying to get everything right. Because trying
to act like a good Jesus follower It gets exhausting.
It can sometimes feel like a lot of pressure.
And for those who are in his community, the ones
who are constantly following their rabbis, it
was just as exhausting then too. See, maybe many
of us experience these things today. Maybe you're
the parent who lies awake and you're wondering
if you've done enough for your children that
day. Every decision feels important and you're
afraid of getting it wrong. Maybe you're caring
for a spouse or a parent and their health is
declining and you keep discovering that love
is exhausting even though you know it's beautiful.
Maybe work has become one deadline after another
and even when you get home, your mind is still
at the office. Maybe a student who feels like
every grade determines the future because maybe
it does. Or maybe you're retired and wondering
why you think that your best years are behind
you. Or maybe carrying grief that no one else
can see. Carrying guilt that you wish you could
forget. Carrying anxiety that greets you even
before your alarm clock does. And perhaps the
heaviest burden of all is the one that we hide
from everyone else. The feeling that if we could
just do a little better, if we could just be
a little stronger, if we could just have a little
more faith, then maybe God would finally be pleased
and bless us. And then he uses a word that his
followers would have immediately understood.
Yoke. Because unlike a yoke on oxen where they're
plowing through the field with it, this keeping
them together and moving at the same pace, a
rabbi's yoke was about his teaching. To take
a rabbi's yoke meant, I am going to learn your
way of life. I'm going to walk the way you walk.
I will shape my life around your instruction."
And every teacher had a yoke, had expectations
and teachings to follow. Every way of life carried
some form of burden. But some burdens were really
heavy. Some rabbis might interpret a high demand
coming from the law in their interpretation.
And so their students would have little rest
and little mercy. even while they may have seen
themselves in a more forgiving light. Instead
of the rabbis bearing the load along with their
students, they might put the weight on the students
alone. But then there's Jesus saying, take my
yoke instead. Not because there's no weight in
following Jesus, but because the weight is different.
It is light because Jesus carries what we cannot
ourselves carry. Jesus strengthens us to do the
things that He commands. Jesus walks with us
rather than standing over us. Jesus bears the
weight we were not meant to carry alone. And
even in our own history, we know the times whenever
life has felt more like self -reliance than it
has ever been on rest. Being in a world where
we may often feel alone. The times of the past
where people were settling wild country sides
or establishing laws and equality to free people
from physical suffering from past labor. History
has not been something where any of us is meant
to do it alone. But in this life that we live,
Jesus steps into that and offers something different
from the world. Not isolation, but a shared life.
And this is the heart of it. is that he is not
the only one who gives burden. He is not only
one who gives burden, but rather, he is one who
then takes it upon himself. So this is not about
saying here is a burden for you, but rather saying
this is the burden that you deserve, but I will
take it on myself. Because my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. And even as one ox was always
going to be stronger than the other, they were
leading that younger ox along so that they could
live the life they were meant to. And that changes
everything. Because the goal is not that we become
people who prove that we're carrying life well
enough. The goal is that we become people who
walk with Christ. Not proud people who assume
that we've gotten everything right for 250 years,
but grateful people who recognize that we have
been given freedoms, opportunities, and mercy
that go beyond anything we deserve. And each
generation is meant to come again and again to
learn, to grow, and to live more faithfully than
the one before. So we don't treat the past as
something that we should be repeating, but rather,
we look to say what is it that we're called to
do with it right now. We live in the present
where Christ is still teaching, still correcting,
still forgiving, and still guiding. And for all
the places where we know that we haven't lived
the way that we should have, His forgiveness
does not erase the future. It opens it. Because
Jesus is not asking us to carry the weight alone.
He's calling us to follow Him. And because He
is not standing at the finish line, with his
arms crossed saying, are you finally going to
get here? Are you finally going to make it? He
comes alongside us for that burden. He places
his shoulder under that weight. He walks with
us. And when we stumble, he doesn't walk away.
He steadies us, forgives us, and keeps leading
us forward. And that's why his yoke is easy and
his burden is light. Not because life suddenly
becomes simple. But because we never carry it
by ourselves ever again and perhaps that is true
of our lives as Americans as well We don't celebrate
because we have to say we've gotten everything
right We celebrate with gratitude because God
has given us blessings and opportunities To call
that he has called us to love him and to love
our neighbors more faithfully Every new day is
another opportunity where we repent for where
we failed Rejoice for where God has been gracious,
and we keep walking with Christ into the future
He's prepared for us. So may we be grateful to
God, the one who leads us into that future that
is not about us, but about the Savior who has
given us everything in His sacrifice. Amen.