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A Sermon Delivered at First Christian
Church Stockton When I was a teenager we
use to play this game where you and a partner tossed an egg back and
forth, and each time you succeeded in not breaking the egg you moved
farther back. The goal was to
be the last pair to break the egg. There
must have been some moral to the game, but I never figured out what it
was. It was probably just
another competitive game with lots of losers and only a couple of winners.
That’s how we like to structure our society; lots of losers, and
a few elite winners. We program our children
from birth to be winners, not losers.
But what do you do if your child is not the top of her class, or
he’s not an athlete, or she doesn’t play a musical instrument, or
he’s not popular, she’s not the prom queen?
You know, they are just mediocre like you and me.
Nobody wants to be mediocre, average, second rate, middle of the
pack or in last place, but reality is that most people are not winners. It doesn’t help that we
live in a hyper critical world where we are always being judged and
scrutinized by others. Did
you ever pour your heart and soul into something and others shrugged it
off or dismissed it? What we do is often criticized by others, whether it is a
teacher, parent, or employer. Yet
most of us have the intestinal fortitude to getup every morning, put our
best foot forward, and we try again and again to do our best, yet our best
is never quite good enough for those whom we want to please. Have you ever been shot
down by others even though you have given your best?
As a minister I know that my work is always being scrutinized by
someone who does not like me or my work.
It is a rather painful reality, especially when you leave yourself
wide open for criticism. I’ll
never forget my first sermon at the age of 15.
Nearly everyone was upset, but no one more than Ike Loomis, my
Sunday School teacher and an elder in our church.
Ike pulled me aside after the sermon and said “Mike, you will
never amount to a hill of beans.” Even
though I didn’t know what a hill of beans was, it still hurt. One is especially
vulnerable to criticism and a judgmental eye when they try to be change
agents in the church. If one
upsets the status quo or does something out of the ordinary they are
likely to hear about it, though sometimes behind their
back. We want to be
nice and not hurt their feelings, so we talk about them behind their back.
Eventually, the words make their way, and they stick in the back
like a knife. Doing our best is what we
all strive to do, and when you devote yourself to doing your best, there
is always some naysayer sitting there with too much time on their hands
jotting down everything we do wrong.
Someone is always evaluating us, from the trivial to that which is
near and dear to us: Our
hair, weight, clothes, grammar, the behavior of our children, how we spend
our money, who we are friends with, and our politics. And so what do we do when
we are under the microscope of criticism?
We usually try harder to impress those who are critical of us. We rationalize to ourselves, “If I were more perfect, then
they will like me”. So we
work harder at achieving perfection.
So we do all that we can to please those around us, and yet they
still find something, some flaw, some imperfection.
So we go to work on that piece, hoping that if we can just get it
right they will accept us. Even Jesus went through the
constant criticism of others. “He
doesn’t wash his hands properly, he drinks too much wine, he eats too
much, he doesn’t fast, he eats with the wrong crowd.”
Jesus himself could not live up to the expectations of church
people! Sometimes the loudest voice
of criticism is my own. “I
really shouldn’t be taking a day off.
I have work to do. I
need to go by and visit so and so. I
need to work on my sermon. I
need to read that book I bought a month ago that will make me a better
preacher.” O maybe it is
something like, “You know, they’ll like me more if I pick the old
songs everyone knows, and maybe I shouldn’t step on any toes in my
sermons. Just say something
nice, warm and fuzzy, keep it short, don’t challenge anyone, and visit
everyone and then they’ll be happy.”
It is all a juggling act
isn’t it. We try and do our
best, make everyone happy, including ourselves, but we just can’t be
perfect and do it all. I want
to be perfect, I try and to be perfect, but no matter how hard I try, I
fail, not only in your eyes, but mine as well.
You know what I am talking about don’t you.
It is like trying to juggle a dozen eggs at once, and they all end
up hitting you in the face. Maybe what we need to do,
what I need to do, is to quit trying this unending balancing game of
making others happy, being perfect, being accomplished, and let all of the
eggs drop. Yes, that’s it,
just let all of the eggs drop to the ground.
I think that is what Jesus
is inviting us to do in this text, and it has nothing to do with egg
yolks. Jesus says to his
followers “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy
burdens, and I will give you rest”.
We all carry heavy burdens, we all have a tough row to hoe. And
Jesus knows that the world wants to add more and more burdens to us, and
our own pursuit for perfection and holiness is another burden we are
unable to carry. We cannot
meet the expectations of those around us, nor are we likely to be able to
bear our own expectations for ourselves.
Christ is offering to be with us in carrying our burdens, willing
to be yoked with us, and his burdens are not nearly as heavy as our own.
Rather than listening to
dozens of voices telling us what to do and how to do it, Jesus becomes the
one voice for us to listen to, and it is not a hyper critical voice. It is a voice of love, a voice of hope, a voice calling us to
a certain direction with meaning and purpose.
When we are yoked to Christ, we are on the right track, no matter
what others are saying. When
we are yoked to Christ, we are right where we are supposed to be, doing
just what we are supposed to be doing, no matter what others are saying.
We have no need to achieve perfection, for the one we are yoked to
as already achieved perfection for us.
The yolk Christ is offering
is not an egg yolk. It is a
yolk of love, harnessed to our shoulders and his, and the journey leads us
to the cross where our sins are forgiven, and we are made whole and
complete. Michael Malone
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