Matthew 11:25-30
In our community life we see and know something has changed where we live and work. It is the death of happiness and laughter. We see a weary people. A few years ago, we were visiting in the country of Russia. I noticed that the older adult’s faces were void of smiles. They looked down a lot and seldom looked you in the eye. They were weary people. Now everywhere I look, I see the same look here.
A quickly-rising flood of weariness has covered our land.
In today’s scripture you will find what produces for us a happy place and rest for a weary life. “At that time Jesus prayed this prayer; ‘O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way!
My Father entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear and the burden I give you is light.’”
The floodwaters in today’s world are filled with the stuff robbing us of real happiness. There was a time when the family offered us a place of happiness and rest in those hard times that come in life. When the family worshiped together you had a sense of well-being. When we make fun of the family structure of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson’s TV family, or Leave it to Beaver, we know that the family is empty and void of happiness.
What is in our floodwaters that robs the family life of today of happiness? There are several things that rob us. For instance, sometimes when a family goes out to eat, we see that they are not involved in each other’s lives — each member of the family has their electronic devices connecting them with the world of games, news, and events instead of connecting with each other. The flood of information in their lives leaves little time for each other. This kind of flood in the family structure is empty of the love and care we need to deal with the heavy burdens of the world.
The family structure has lost so much in the rising waves — with many of us just trying to get our stuff. This “getting” has caused many losses: divorce, drug use, and spoiled children who think they are the center of the universe. Many of these children develop an attitude that they are owed a life free of responsibility and accountability. Then they develop the attitude that they should not have to work, that others should work and give them a part of what the workers earn. These spoiled children also grow up and feel that they don’t need God and the church, and when these spoiled adults do not get what they want, you see them filled with anger and hate. They have been told by teachers and parents that they can live their lives without respect for other people’s rights and boundaries. This has produced a family structure that is underwater, weary, and with little happiness.
The attitude that you see in our family structure today is swirling in the floodwaters of the world. At one time you could go to a sporting event and see players that had great ability in their sport: baseball, basketball, football, etc. and see the happiness in their lives being in a very elite group. Team players liked each other for the most part and they were bonded together as a team. Now the fans that go to a sporting event see the spoiled adults play the game for what they can earn for themselves only. It has created divisions robbing both players and fans of the happiness of being entertained. We see our spoiled sports players taking on an attitude that they are gods. If fans don’t treat them as gods, they think the fans are racist. If fans reject their behavior, they are seen as racist. These sports no longer give us entertainment for we must accept their spoiled self-centered attitude or be considered a bad person.
The floodwaters of the world have washed into every aspect of our lives. At one time, movies were made to entertain us with events and things. The movies were funny and usually the right won. But much of what the film industry is giving us today is blood, gore and fear. Films also often portray that you can live your life without any consequence of your life creating pain and hurt for the human family. The attitude is ‘tough luck’.
The floodwaters of the world contain news for us twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. At one time the news was thirty, or sixty minutes and it covered the factual news. We could view the news and think for ourselves. Now we have about twenty-three hours a day of news telling us what we ought to think about the things that are reported.
At one time we were a people that could laugh at ourselves and laugh with each other. One time we could joke and jest about events in life, but the spoiled elite adults don’t want any part of a life that knows true happiness of a life in a weary world.
What can change our unhappy, burden filled lives? What can stem the ever-rising floodwaters? Stop thinking you are god. Meet the God that made us for himself so he would have a family. Listen once again to these words of Jesus. They bear repeating. “Then Jesus said, ‘come to me; all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my burden I give you is light.’”
The hymn “There is a Balm in Gilead” contains the message for the healing of a weary people. “Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain. But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.” God’s gift to us is the Holy Spirit that heals and revives a weary and burden-filled life. This is the happy place for us weary humans. Are you living in this “Happy Place?”
