Today’s collect is very timely in light of our current situation as a nation. I am not referring to the pandemic that continues to plague us physically, but the divisions that continue to beset us along the lines of race, religion, and politics.
Love God, and love your neighbor are the two elements of the Summary of the Law as taught by Jesus. The other commandments hang on these two. A simple command but one that is extremely difficult to put into practice when we allow human emotions like anger and frustration and prejudicial attitudes to get in the way.
When we do we cannot be “devoted to God with our whole heart,” nor can we be “united to one anther with affection,” as the collect prays. Jesus gave us the Summary of the Law in response to his being asked what was the greatest commandment.
It was a test of his knowledge of the Law (the commandments) that God had given his people to live by. Those of his generation were just as frustrated and even angered by their present situation, as many seem to be today. They were equally divided over race; Jew verses Gentile for example, and over politics, Roman rule verses home rule as well as religion.
“To what will I compare this generation?” Jesus asked. His question follows his just having spoken to the crowds concerning John the Baptist, who was by this time imprisoned. John was important because he introduced the “coming of God’s kingdom.”
But he like Jesus was misunderstood. His words caused divisions among the people and brought ridicule from the mouths of the religious leaders of his day. He was imprisoned by a politician and eventually beheaded for speaking the truth.
Jesus follows his question of the present generation with reference to a Jewish children’s game. The participants would divide into two groups: those who pretended to play musical instruments or singing, and the other responding in a manner opposite of what one would have expected. “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
Of course, Jesus is referring to himself and John as the “we.” Those religious leaders who heard John down by the Jordan preaching repentance and watching him baptize in preparation for the coming of Messiah, did not respond the way one would expect one would who was eagerly looking for God’s promised salvation.
Neither did they respond the way one would expect towards Jesus who in his ministry revealed the deep mystery of God’s kingdom and put God’s love to work in healing, forgiving and bringing new life.
Obviously, Christ realized that other people he met, including the religious leaders of his day, his own followers and the ordinary people, did not have the same awareness of his father that he did. Many had a skewed idea of God and the kingdom concept, many still do today.
Jesus’ preaching and teaching presented a direct challenge to their way of life, their thinking about God, and the commandments. Some resisted him outright; others made excuses for not believing him or following him.
God had chosen to hide the mysteries from those who had rather trust in their own wisdom and judgment rather than God’s. How Jesus must have felt to discover that most of his contemporaries did not want to hear what he was telling them.
Which raises the question how can we continue, as his modern day disciples, to live and teach God’s kingdom in a world that basically does not want to know? To what can we compare this present generation?
Yesterday we celebrated the anniversary of our independence as a nation. The freedoms and rights we enjoy as citizens of this nation were born out of struggle. The rights and privileges we hold so dear have served us well for some two hundred and forty plus years.
However, in just the past few weeks we seem to have lost the vision that the founding fathers created when they established our nation based on Christian principles of freedom and justice, peace and love. Like the game the Jewish children played during the time of Jesus, many in our country today seem to be playing the same game based on race, politics and religion.
We are divided. Some would say into two groups. Those who wish to continue to celebrate and enjoy the freedoms initially won and maintained through the decades at a great cost, and those whose actions are opposite to what one would expect in the use, rather the abuse of those same freedoms.
We are a nation based on laws. During the time of Christ God’s people lived under the Law of Moses, for example, the Ten Commandments. The rabbis of his day spoke of the “yoke of the law” as the glorious obedience to God, which freed man from obligations to the world, and gave rest and peace of mind.
Jesus criticized this yoke as heavy and wrong. He presents his own teaching as an alternative. His yoke is characterized by humility. Zechariah predicted Messiah would come in all humility bringing peace and setting prisoners free. Jesus fulfills the prophecy.
Christ concludes today’s gospel by telling the crowds that he is the one whom God has sent to reveal the kingdom. To come to him is to have one’s burdens lifted and to find rest. “Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Jesus was, and continues to be a window into the living God. Through him, his works and actions, people come to see who the father really is. His life, death and resurrection unveiled the truth about God. It is through Christ we come to know God to be a God of Love, a God who forgives, restores and gives us the Peace that passes all understanding.
Christ’ invitation in today’s gospel passage is still the most welcoming and encouraging ever offered. The welcome he offers, for all who abandon themselves to his mercy, is the welcome God offers through him.
This is the invitation that pulls back the curtain and lets us see who the father really is. It is an invitation to discipleship that unites rather than divides and gives us the means to live and teach God’s kingdom in a world that does not want it, but desperately needs to know it. AMEN+
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