2026-07-06
Brooke Strong
Rest for the Weary
The Federated Church / Pentecost 6A
Matthew 11:16–19, 25–30/ Communion Sunday
Rev. Michael Anthony Howard
Sunday, July 5, 2026
Please join your heart with mine as we lift them up to God—
Welcoming Creator, Living Word,
Take flesh among us once more.
May the words of my mouth,
and the meditations of all our hearts,
bear witness to your Welcome,
for you are our strength,
our hope,
and our peace.
Amen.
I. A Pillow… or a Yoke?
Good morning.
I imagine a few of us almost didn’t make it this morning.
Maybe you celebrated Independence Day a little too enthusiastically.
Maybe your grandchildren celebrated it…
and you got to recover from their celebration.
Maybe, just for a moment, you considered attending the Church of the Sacred Pillow instead of Federated this morning.
When Jesus says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary…”
I know what I expect him to hand me…
A pillow.
A blanket.
A comfortable chair.
Instead…
he hands me a yoke.
Now wait a minute.
I thought we were resting.
What is a yoke?
A yoke is a tool for the harvest.
It’s a work tool.
So why would Jesus answer weary people with a work tool?
I think Matthew wants us to ask exactly that question.
II. Sent into the Harvest
For the last several weeks
we’ve been reading Matthew together.
Jesus looks at the crowds.
He has compassion on them
because they are harassed and helpless,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he says,
“The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few.”
Pray for workers.
Then he calls the disciples.
Then he sends them.
And notice…
He doesn’t promise them success.
He doesn’t promise everyone will welcome them.
He says,
“I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.”
Some homes will receive you.
Some won’t.
Some people will welcome your peace.
Others will reject it.
And then…
Jesus says,
“Come to me, all you who labor
and are carrying heavy burdens…”
Why here?
One of the great New Testament scholars,
Albert Schweitzer, believed this was the turning point.
Did the mission fail?
The Kingdom didn’t come.
Jesus had to change direction.
I don’t think that’s Matthew’s story.
Why would Jesus be surprised?
He already told them there would be wolves.
The surprise isn’t that the workers became weary.
The surprise is that Jesus already had a place for them to return.
III. The Work that Makes a Life
This week I’ve been praying for our congregation.
I think about a mother sitting beside her daughter
through another round of treatments,
unsure if this time things will finally get better.
She isn’t weary because she lacks faith.
She’s weary because she loves.
I think about people who spend every day trying to make this community better. Teachers. Caregivers. Volunteers.
People who still believe compassion matters.
They’re not weary because they don’t care.
They’re weary because they do.
Maybe that’s who Jesus is talking to.
Not only them.
The invitation to “Come” is for everyone.
But Matthew has just spent two chapters
talking about workers in the harvest.
Jesus’ compassion became the calling of the disciples.
The calling of the disciples became their weariness.
Then Jesus says,
“Take my yoke upon you.”
Not because life has no burdens.
Because not every burden belongs to you.
Some English Bibles says,
“My yoke is easy.”
That is just not the right word.
But the word is “chrestos,”
Much richer than easy.
It means something fitting.
Something kind.
Something that finally fits the life you were created to live.
Jesus isn’t promising us a burden-free life.
He’s inviting us into the life that fits.
IV. A Sabbath People
Then comes the deepest surprise.
We hear “rest” and imagine stopping work.
Jesus doesn’t.
He says,
“Learn from me.”
There is the work that makes a living.
And there is the work that makes a life.
The Sabbath of God is not work-free
Prayer is work.
Forgiveness is work.
Hospitality is work.
Bearing one another’s burdens is work.
Sharing bread is work.
Hope is work.
This is Sabbath work.
Now I wonder if this is where Albert Schweitzer
missed Matthew’s message.
Schweitzer heard Jesus speaking about the end.
What if Matthew hears Jesus
teaching us the Sabbath of God?
Not simply something we wait for.
Something we begin to practice.
Jesus doesn’t simply promise that one day God will give us rest.
He says,
Come.
Take.
Learn.
Begin living God’s future now.
Become a Sabbath people.
A people who know how to gather before they scatter.
A people who know how to return.
A people who remember they are beloved before they are productive.
V. The Table
And that’s why this table matters.
Not because we’ve escaped the harvest.
Not because the work is finished.
But because compassion must always return to its source.
Every week we come back.
We pray, eat, remember.
We forgive. We welcome.
This is Sabbath work.
This table is where Christ teaches us
how to carry the world
without believing we have to save it ourselves.
This table is where weary people
become a Sabbath people.
So in just a few moments…
We’re going to do exactly what Jesus invited his disciples to do.
We’re going to come.
Not because we’ve finished the work.
Not because we’ve earned our place.
Not because we’ve carried every burden well.
We’re going to come because Christ still says,
“Come to me, all you who are weary.”
And here…
around this table…
Christ is still teaching us the rhythm of God’s Sabbath.
So…
Come.
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