God has not abandoned us.

Sunday July 5 Proper 9, Year A, RCL, Track 1

Romans 7:15-25aMatthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Are we and the world around us divided by the good and the profane? Can we say that our bodies are sin while our spirits are holy? Paul’s writings often lead us in this dualistic direction. Paul says,

“For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now, if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.” He says this, as if he has no self-control, as if his body does what it wants in all things, regardless of his mind. This dualistic illustration is purely an analogy of how he perceived living under the Jewish Law. He felt the Law to be a burden. Something with rules that were impossible to follow all the time. In some ways, we may know what this is like. How many of us intentionally drive a few miles an hour over the speed limit? Or walk across the street where we are instead of going to the corner? We know what we are doing is against the rules, but for whatever reason we do it anyway.

Clearly, Paul feels the pleasure of following the Law; after all, he was a Pharisee. People would look to him as an example. His little group tried to hold to the laws at all costs, for this is where they thought they would find righteousness and salvation. Paul says, he found a better way. A way that offers more freedom. A way that allows us to break the rules, when necessary, such as driving excessively fast to get your injured spouse to the Hospital or healing on the Sabbath.

Paul doesn’t denounce the Law, for he says he delights in the Law in his innermost self. Yet it feels like an impossible burden. This is Paul’s perspective. There were and are plenty of Jewish people who find freedom in the Law. But if we get wrapped up in the minutiae, it will be just as difficult as following Jesus’s example to the nth degree. In doing so, would also find it a burden, and we sometimes do.

There is something to be said about a dualistic view of the world. Having a dualistic nature can mean we focus on the Good, hoping to separate ourselves from the Evil. While for some this thought can be helpful in self-control, in practice such dualism will often lead us astray. For example, imagine a stay-at-home mom who feels she should be serving more at the church and spending more time in the presence of God; yet she doesn’t have the time or energy to do so. Would Paul say that this is her giving in to the sins of the flesh? Her spirit wants to be with God or at least be closer to God, but her physical being won’t allow it.

I don’t think so. We can be called to a vocation in which we feel isolated, even at times separated from God, but God has not abandoned us. If this woman stays at home and offers her children boundless love and care, God would not think that she is slacking. She does not need to give up some of her time to chase knowledge and intimacy with God, for she is doing exactly what God wants her to do. Her love and nurturing of her children are exactly the example of God’s love for us, especially when we are doing our most mundane work: cooking, cleaning, driving to work, eating lunch. We could also think of a young Christian student at a Christian college who feels compelled to learn about youth programming or becoming a pastor, not out of a sense of call but because they think it will bring them closer to God or forgive them of past sins. If she desires to become a lawyer, then she should follow that desire and seek God’s blessings along the way. Chasing the unknown, discovering the secret message hidden in our sacred text. Doing things to bring us closer to God does not always accomplish this. Sometimes it only increases our self-righteousness.

Jesus compares this generation to children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another. “We play the flute for you, and you do not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.” He is not telling us that we should be like these children, but that we are like those who ignore them. Instead of dancing to their music or encouraging them, we ignore them or tell them to be quiet. When they are injured and crying, you do not go to assist them. Jesus says you go on by as if you do not see them. The average person couldn’t care less about what goes on around them unless it directly affects them.

We have a hypocrisy about our neighbors. Instead of getting to know them, we make presumptions, tell stories, even gossip about them. People say John the Baptist has a demon. He is not living extravagantly. He is eating locusts and wild honey. Then they say Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard because he eats and drinks with his undesirable friends. In our day and age, we call this a catch twenty-two. No matter what you do, you are to be blamed. If you try hard yet are unsuccessful, you are to blame. If you don’t try at all, you are to blame. Others, often popular people, can do whatever they want, and no one bats an eye. I know I’m painting with broad brush strokes, but I think it illustrates the point.

Jesus says, it is those whom the world does not see; those who try but are seen as failures; those who the world says can do no good; those who work so hard that they cannot serve the lord in the ways they wish. To these Jesus says, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

This is the Good News for all of us. None of us can follow the law to the Tee. None of us can love our neighbors as ourselves, let alone as much as God loves us. Yet with proper perspective and the love of Christ in our hearts, minds, and souls, we can find redemption. We can be set free to live the life God has called each of us to live.