Audio Version
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
What if we follow Jesus, leave our families as He told others, and follow Him. What if we let the dead bury the dead? There are so many “what ifs” that Jesus presents us. Today’s reading in Matthew is no different. What if we recognize the flute being played and we actually dance to it?
Jesus is knocking at our door all the time. The Spirit of God is the one with us today and Jesus is in God and the Spirit, knocking at the door of opportunity, to follow Him. What if I just trust in the Lord that all will be okay, no matter what? That’s the issue isn’t it, trusting in the “what ifs” that Jesus presents in everything that He says. We are always presented with the choice of the “what ifs” of doing and not doing.
As I was preparing this sermon, I was also very occupied with some news that I received through email. My response was to pray and look for a clear answer in how I was to respond. On one hand, I was very upset and I knew just how I wanted to respond. It was full of very very colorful language. On the other hand, that is not who I want to be, nor do I believe this is that how Jesus wants us to be.
Prayer and patience is all I have at my disposal. I found myself with clenched teeth, sore neck and a headache begging to come on. What if I relied upon what I have been given, the ability to speak to God, in prayer?
I so want to respond to the email in another way, I know it is not right. I also know it can hurt others, and possibly me, but boy it sure would feel good! Paul in the Romans letter today, struggles also with this idea of wanting to do what was good, yet at the same time, doing what was wrong. The battle rages in each and every one of us daily. The old-self, the one that wants to lash out and do what is wrong fights against the new-self, centered on Jesus and reaching out to all of God’s children, the new-self wants so badly to do what is right.
What if I allow the temptations of the old-self, the self-gratifying and self-centered win out over the new-self? Just another of the “what ifs” that Jesus presents to us. Jesus sends a warning in the text that we skipped in Matthew. He speaks to the unrepentant people, in this case particular cities but it applies to all people. Jesus says in verse 24, “…But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.” [1]
This is not the first warning people receive in how their choices can have and will affect them later. Last week, when speaking of rewards in Matthew 10:40 , Jesus speaks of welcoming the disciple and therefore Jesus and the Father. However, the inverse is not welcoming the disciples, Jesus and the Father. The consequences of which, was spelled out in the week before in Matthew 10:32-33. To deny Jesus results in Jesus denying us to the father.
All of these choices in the “what ifs” can seem scary, intimidating, even damming! But there is good news in the cross. The cross held the redeeming love of God in Jesus Christ. The resurrected Jesus is our key. The Jesus who is no longer on the cross is our answer to the “what ifs” we face. Romans 7:24-25 says; Wretched man [woman] that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! [2]
If hearing it from Paul in Romans is not good enough, then listen again to what Jesus tells us in the gospel reading for today. “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.” [3] Jesus says that it is not through study of the Torah or anything else that we can study to gain knowledge of the answers to the “what ifs”.
We gain our knowledge through Jesus. He tells us this when he says, “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. “[4] Jesus chooses to reveal the knowledge to us, you and me, His disciples.
Here is the “what if” that we can answer, it applies to each of us. It is one that we cannot refuse if we just recognize the gift in it. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. “[5] Tell me that there is a single person out in the world who has no burdens, who is not weary from the world and I will show you someone in denial.
Jesus does not judge us for who we are. Jesus knows who we are and wants us to lessen the burden and walk in a way of “what ifs” that lighten our load. Jesus says, “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.” [6]
The yoke, used to pull heavy loads, our own burdens, is lightened by Jesus. The yoke, the answer to the “what ifs”, is light, and leads to a rest for our souls because Jesus is both gentle and humble in heart. He takes compassion upon us and stands in front of us before God when the judgment day does come.
The “what ifs” answer is Jesus, the Son of God, who came into this world so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but may have eternal life. The yoke of Jesus is not condemning but saving us from the “what ifs”.
[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 11:24.
[2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Ro 7:24–25.
[3] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 11:25–26.
[4] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 11:27.
[5] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 11:28.
[6] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Mt 11:29–30.