Happy Columbus Day weekend. Christopher Columbus, for me, symbolizes perseverance. A sailor and explorer, he calculated if the world is round, you can reach the east by sailing west. No one he knew would finance the voyage. But eventually some advisors convinced Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The rest is history. Columbus was a skilled navigator, a man of vision. Most of all, he symbolizes perseverance. He never gave up on his dream. And neither should we give up on our dreams. Not all will come true, but some will if we persevere.
I read a story about a pastor who had to renovate the parish church. Unbelievably a contractor said he would do the renovation free on one condition: that the pastor never interfere until the renovations were done. How could the pastor refuse? When the renovations were complete, the contractor invited the pastor in. He was astounded to see only one pew. But wait! Once the people filled up the pew, up came another pew electronically from the floor. And another! The congregation filled the pews needed. No empty pews!!! And then the pastor went to the pulpit and began practicing his homily, and a few minutes later, the pastor disappeared beneath the floor. He emerged from the basement and asked what happened. The contractor said, “I installed a high tech feature in the pulpit: a trap door opens after eight minutes. After all, enough is enough.”
The word of God carries us back in our imaginations to the 8th century before Jesus (the 700s BC). Isaiah tells an allegory or story about a vineyard. It's a lover's lament. The owner is God; the vineyard is the Jewish people, the bearers of God's revelation; and the wild or bad grapes are their infidelities. God is deeply disappointed with them for their infidelities.
Isaiah may be asking us: How faithful are we to our commitments? How courageous are we in trying to do the right thing?
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Philippi in Greece challenges us not to be anxious about our lives but to make our needs known to God in prayer. Paul then urges us to focus on what is honorable and true and good. Good advice!
In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells a parable similar to Isaiah’s. God is still the owner of the vineyard; the Jewish people are the vineyard; and the tenants are their religious leaders. The message is simple enough: they who try to do the right thing, who live a God-centered life, will inherit the kingdom of God.
Today I would like to take up Paul's challenge, “have no anxiety at all.” Many of us carry the “burden” of worry throughout our lives; most of these worries never materialize. We forget that Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are... burdened, and I will give you rest.” In other words, keep company with Jesus and we’ll be at peace with ourselves.
A book titled “Affluenza” points out that almost a quarter of Britain suffers serious emotional distress, such as depression and anxiety, and another quarter are on the verge thereof. Put bluntly, half of Britain is in a bad way. Are we Americans also in a bad way?
Jesus invites us to commit to him the “burden” of our fears, worries and anxieties. It will make all the difference. Jesus bears our burdens because he cares for us.
We carry other types of burdens as well. Failure can be a burden. The apostle Peter denied knowing Jesus. Peter realized, as most of us do from time to time, that he had failed Jesus. A sense of failure can be a great burden. But later, Jesus met with Peter and reinstated him. With Jesus, failure is never final. Though Peter failed him, Jesus took the burden, forgave him, reinstated him and used him as powerfully as anyone in history.
An injustice done to us can be a burden. One of the many things that Jesus had to bear was a rigged trial. A basic principle of a fair system of justice is that it's up to the prosecution to prove the case:innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Pontius Pilate concluded, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” But the crowd shouted, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Jesus, the innocent, is condemned. Barabbas, the sinful, goes free. The symbolism is clear. Jesus, the innocent, died so that we, the sinful, could be set free from death and have a relationship with God forever. Again, Jesus bore the burden of our sin.
Guilt can be a burden. God has given us a moral sense: a conscience. Often, we feel guilty because we have done something that we know is wrong. However, our conscience is not perfect because we are “fallen creatures.” Sometimes we experience false guilt. We feel guilty about things that are not actually our fault. At other times we don’t feel guilty about things we should feel guilty about: in which case we need the Spirit of God to awaken our conscience.
Yes, Jesus takes on our burdens--fear, worries and anxieties, injustices done to us and guilt--and gives us rest. In Jesus, we find not only rest but purpose in life.
Some people seem to have no purpose or goal in life. Others have goals, but the wrong ones, and they end up chasing something meaningless. Many climb the ladder of “success” only to find that it's leaning against the wrong wall.
You've heard the saying: “You make a living by what you get but you make a life by what you give.” We might begin by trying to be instruments of peace wherever we find division.
It has been said that the greatest days of our life are the day we were born and the day we find out why. God created us with a purpose. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
The purpose and goal of our life is to pursue a right relationship with God and a right relationship with others. Paul's main aim was: “we aspire to please God....For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:9)
But how please God in everything? The prophet Micah centuries ago gave us some good, simple advice. He reminds us that our God is a God of unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness. And what is our response to God's amazing love? The prophet Micah wrote, “only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with our God. (Micah 6:8) This threefold challenge gives us the purpose and goal of our lives: doing the right thing; loving goodness and showing that goodness to as many people as possible; and walking in relationship with God. These three go together.
I close with an African proverb: “If you think you're too small to make a difference, you haven't spent the night with a mosquito.” The mosquito makes a difference in an annoying way, but the principle is the same. One person can stop an injustice. One person can be a voice for truth. One person's kindness can save a life. And each life matters.
