Weekly Messenger

Orangethorpe Christian Church

MESSENGER'S MOMENTS

"TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME; FOR I AM GENTLE AND LOWLY IN HEART, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT." (Matthew 11:29-30) YOKE is an almost forgotten term in our modern world. Yet in some places Oxen still toil under the wooden mechanism (yoke) that fastens them to a cart or plow and each other. Somewhere a woman is carrying water to her village from a well miles away, using a yoke around her shoulders to help distribute the weight. In many memories the image is still fresh of a yoke as a symbol of slavery to masters and tasks not of their own choosing. It is a cruel image, full of sweat and strain, of turmoil and pain, of loss instead of gain, of disenfranchisement and loss of identity rather than any glimmer of purpose and hope. A Yoke may be a blinding passion of hatred fueled by years of mistreatment or neglect. It may be a crippling sense of helplessness that keeps one from never trying to change things or break out of stifling patterns of behavior. A Yoke may take the nature of a strangling thirsting for meaning, acceptance and satisfaction that is unassuaged because the wearer has not yet discovered the spiritual water of life. Jesus called people to lay down their yokes and burdens of fear, suspicion, greed, hopelessness and helplessness at his feet; there to receive comfort and mercy in the dosage required by their spiritual, moral and relational ailments. Incredible, isn't it, to be asked to believe that exchanging one set of bondage for another is going to make any positive difference in life, but that's the reality Jesus offers us. For Jesus' Yoke includes escape from self-centeredness. It focuses our attention outward towards other persons who need to be loved and to love just as we do. That Yoke involves being as closely linked to God as breathing, and as full of God's zest for life as we are often full of complaints and woe. The Yoke of Christ may indeed include suffering and challenge beyond our own perceived ability to endure and survive. But it also incorporates a tranquility so profound that nought can destroy those who wear it. It is the magic collar of companionship and commitment born of shared tasks and joys as well as trials faced and obstacles overcome. It is the connecting link of faithfulness to the supremely faithful God. Do frustration, anxiety and depression bind you? Lay them at the feet of Jesus and be bound instead by his love, energy, interest and will, so that you may walk hopefully and unafraid. Shalom, Dwight