Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric October 19, 2021
The “Unforced Rhythms of Grace”
Matthew 11:27-30, NIV - “All things have been
committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no
one 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.”
Probably the best way to begin
saying something about this familiar saying of Jesus is to make it sound a
little less familiar. Eugene Peterson
has done this in his translation of this passage in the Message:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to
me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a
real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced
rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep
company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
I think a lot of people never really get what Jesus is
saying here. I feel like I have been one
of them until fairly recently and even now, I am only beginning to get it. I’ve got a long way to go. Knowing that I have a long way to go could
prompt me to stress about how unspiritual and undisciplined I am. I know and have known that stress. But that stress is the opposite of the
“unforced rhythms of grace” that Jesus speaks of here. Jesus does give us a “burden,” but it is not
supposed to burn us out. The yoke is an
instrument put on a horse to guide and allow the horse to follow the driver and
keep step with the other horses. Jesus’s
yoke for us is what we call a “calling” or ministry. It is a calling that might in fact cause us
to work very hard, but the work energizes us in a way that keeps us going and
wanting to do more. If following the
lead of God in our life is wearing us out or grinding us down, something is wrong. I love being a pastor, but I have let it wear
me down at times and I’m still prone to do so.
Returning to the unforced rhythms is a regular correction for me.
Another thought that occurs to me
about this verse is that Jesus identifies the burden he gives us as “my
burden.” It is Jesus’s burden. He allows us to share in it, but when we take
ownership of it, it sets us up for a fall.
Some of the biggest hurts in my life have come when I had taken
ownership of a burden I was never intended to carry and one that didn’t belong
to me. Knowing this and living it are
often worlds apart though. A yoke does
require us to carry some weight, but the direction is always determined by the
driver, the one who uses the yoke. A
good driver knows the right direction and is always careful not to let the load
get too heavy. Animals who trust the
Good Driver’s guidance are always safe.
They learn to “live freely and lightly.”
I tend to believe that I need to
control way more than I ever could or should.
I’m going to be so bold as to say that you have that problem too. It’s all too human an affliction. It’s here that we could gain wisdom from
animals who are yoked and don’t seem to mind it too much, for they have
confidence and a sense of safety in trusting the Good Driver.
Prayer: God help us
to know clearly the calling you have for each of us, but help us to not grasp
it so tightly as if it were ours. Help us to trust your guidance and direction
implicitly. Amen.
Prayer Focus – Pray for the deep divisions in our country
right now.
No Song Today (although If there were, it would be “Hold On
Loosely,” by 38 Special, but I digress) – Instead, I share a video of some of
my favorite animals, the Clydesdales.
This demonstration and the accompanying explanation illustrates how
these magnificent and powerful animals trust the instruction and guidance of
their Driver.
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