Matthew 11:16-20, 25-30                        7-5-26

[Jesus spoke to the crowd saying:] 16 “To what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,
 17 ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
  we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
18 “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.” 20Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done because they did not repent. …
  25 At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.  28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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.”

Your faithful ones shall bless you, O Lord, for it is known that our Lord lifts up those who fall.

Jesus sent out those disciples to the nearby towns to share his healing, compassion, and make known the life-changing love to those who were suffering under the oppressive regime under which they lived. He made known that even a simple cup of water given to the one in need was a valuable gift revealing the Savior’s love. Yet when this message of benevolence was shared by those disciples and even by John the Baptist and Jesus himself, many rejected it. The people in these communities had been hardened by hypocrisy and sin. It was problematic to recognize their own sin or accept the worth of any they felt were beneath them. John was criticized for his ascetic self-discipline and abstinence, yet at the same time they disapproved of Jesus for eating and drinking with the socially unacceptable.  It seemed they did not see how they contradicted themselves. There would be no satisfying them.

Jesus pointed out, without hesitation, that those who mistreated the poor and outcast must repent! Their rituals of worship lost their meaning when they did them for show and when they were not matched by kindness and care. To those who were anxious, worn down, and struggling, Jesus spoke with tenderness. His words became like that cup of cold water in a desert of indifference. He promises here that He will be there with those in need, and with those who struggle to do right, sharing the weight of their burdens with gentleness and humility. The gift of the yoke of Christ is for those who give assistance and for those who are receiving it.

Being humble is not a popular attribute if one judges by our society. It is often regarded as a display of weakness. So much of our approach in dealing with our relationships with others is put into a context of competition. The only goal worth pursuing often seems to be coming out as the ‘winner.’ Here is a great baseball story from ESPN.com.

It was spring and Western Oregon State was playing Central Washington University in women’s softball for the conference championship. An NCAA playoff spot was on the line. With two on base, Western Oregon’s Sara Tucholsky connected to hit a home run clearing the center field fence. It was Sara’s first home run ever.  A part-time starter in the outfield, Sara, then a senior, had only had three hits in 34 times at bat that season. 

But as she began to circle the bases, Sara fell and hurt her knee. The senior lay crumpled in the dirt a few feet beyond first base, still a very long way from home plate. Her teammates started to run to help her, but the coaches stopped them. If any teammate ran on the field, Sara would be called out. That was the rule. The umpires said if Sara could make it back to first base, a pinch runner could be substituted, but that home run would be scored as a single. The coaches or trainers were also banned from helping.

While Western Oregon was deciding its next move, the first baseman for Central Washington asked the chief umpire if she and her teammates could help her. The ump knew of no rule against the opposing team helping the player. So two Central Washington players put their arms under Sara’s legs, Sara put her arms around their shoulders and the three of them headed around the bases, stopping so Sara could touch each base.

Washington’s compassion cost them. They lost the game 4-2, and along with it the playoff berth. But that didn’t seem to faze them. “In the end, it’s not about winning and losing so much," said the first baseman Mallory Holtman, “It was about this girl. She’s a senior; it's her last year. She hit the ball over the fence and was in pain, and she deserved that home run. It was the right thing to do.”  (Connections, July 2008)

How often do we hear about the right thing? We hear about expediency, about supremacy, about taking control. In this act of sportsmanship, we find a generosity of spirit and humility of heart like Jesus asks of us in the Gospel. We are called to embrace a faith that derives from the love and compassion of God. It is a gift that cannot be compromised by self-interest and rationalization. It is not weighed and measured by what we will gain but is simply given completely without reservation. 

I would like to have known how that softball game affected the Oregon players, especially Sara. It is my hope that they were humbled and that moved them to other personal acts of generosity and kindness. We are meant to learn from others, just as Jesus set himself forward as an example, one who is gentle and humble. Humility involves the awareness that we are not the source of all good things, for the good we have and the good we do, is from God. The humble person realizes that they may be the hand that delivers but what they hold and share has merely been passed along. It is to be held in trust to be given away. To realize that we have been blessed, through no merit of our own, and to act from that realization out of gratitude is humility. Those blessings come as a gift from our Lord God, whose love is unlimited. 

In the life of Mother Teresa we have a world figure that, in her life, seemed to portray humility at its height through her service to the poor. Yet here is a story she told that indicates how she saw that trait in those she cared for. She shared this story in a speech before the National Prayer Breakfast in 1994, about her early days of her work with the poor and dying in Calcutta.

“One evening we went out and picked up four people from the street. One of them was in a most terrible condition. I told the sisters, ‘You take care of those three; I will take care of this one who looks worse.’ So I did for her all that my love could do. I put her in bed, and there was such a beautiful smile on her face. She took hold of my hand and said one word only: Thank you. Then she died. 

“I could not help but examine my conscience. I had to ask: What would I say if I had been in her place? My answer was very simple. I would have tried to draw a little attention to myself, I would have said, ‘I am hungry, I am dying, I am in pain’ or something! But she gave me much more: she gave me her grateful love. And she died with a smile on her face.”  (Connections, 2008)

Keep Jesus’ words in your mind and heart:  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,… you will find rest for your souls. Those burdens will lighten up!