Matthew 11:16-19 and 25-30/Romans 7:15-25a.

Feeling frustrated is a very human emotion.  I am sure we can all remember feeling frustration at some point with something or someone in the last couple of weeks.  Last Saturday morning, I chose the slowest self-scanning till at the supermarket in the history of the universe, I think I probably could have walked round the store once between each item that registered on the screen!  It was so very tempting to voice my frustration…..

The section of Paul’s letter to the Romans, that we heard read certainly suggests he is becoming frustrated with himself.  Paul knows what is right and good and he deeply desires to keep the law.  However, he finds himself struggling and doing what is sinful instead.  Paul describes the immense internal struggle he experiences and cries out in frustration,

“I do not know what I want….I do the very thing I hate…. But I do agree the law is good.”

The powerful confessional sentences from the Book of Common Prayer echo the internal conflict Paul is expressing.  They remind us of our need to share with God the ways in which we have let him down.

“…we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep, we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts, we have offended against thy holy laws, we have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done”.

Our gospel passage from Matthew begins with Jesus publicly thanking John the Baptist for all he has done to prepare the way for his own teaching.  But the crowd are less than impressed, John is in prison and already yesterday’s news.  They only want hear what Jesus has to say, they have heard he is a compelling speaker and they want to hear the new exciting things he has to say. 

Jesus, unsurprisingly, has them all worked out and tells them a parable.  He describes his contemporaries as children in a market place arguing amongst themselves about which game they should play.  Some want to play weddings and others to wail as if they are in mourning.  One understanding of this parable is that one group of children, those who are joyful, who want to dance and play music represent Jesus.  While the other group who want to wail as if in a funeral procession represent the fiery, disciplined and self-contained figure of John.  Jesus describes the current generation as those who want to dance, shout and sing but they have heard the message John preached, of repentance and retribution.  They are frustrated and confused.  Similarly, John’s followers do not understand the lack of fasting and lament among Jesus’s followers.  But Jesus does not want his disciples to mourn while he is still with them.  He wants them to rejoice and to immerse themselves in the love of the Father.  The argument between the two groups of children leaves both groups feeling isolated, misrepresented and most likely immensely frustrated.

The lectionary then moves us on to the end of the chapter.  Here Jesus tell us not of frustrated and cross children but instead uses imagery suggesting happy, content and well cared for children.  These are children who have been cared for by their Father, who has taken time to explain the things that confuse and trouble them.  These children have not been left to try to sort things out for themselves.  Their Father has been their sharing in their game, teaching, guiding and delighting in all that they are doing.  God has chosen to reveal himself to little children, those who do not think they have it all sorted out and have all the answers.  He has revealed himself to the curious, the seekers and those who have not developed fixed and inflexible opinions.  Jesus thanks God for revealing the truth of his message to the humble rather than the proud.

And then Jesus shares the justifiably famous and often quoted words,

“Come unto me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest”.

To me, these words convey such tender intimacy, love and care.  They are the words I turn to again and again when I am feeling overwhelmed or exhausted.  There is real sense of being given permission to lay down all that we are carrying, leaving it at Jesus’s feet.  It is an amazing gift to know that we are able to truly unburden ourselves, knowing that all we are worried about is held and acknowledged by God.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me”.

Jesus was sent into the world not to pass judgement but as a shepherd who has compassion for each of his sheep.  Jesus reminds us that “his yoke is easy and his burden is light”.

It is so easy to get frustrated, with others and with the injustices of the world.  It is even easier to get frustrated with ourselves, to become self-critical, to dwell on what we have not done and should have done differently.  We can so easily become just as frustrated as Paul in his letter to the Romans.  Instead, Jesus invites us to place our lives in God’s hands, leaving all of our frustrations with him, trusting completely that he knows all that we need and loves us unconditionally. 

At the end of his Spiritual Exercises St Ignatius of Loyola uses a prayer of surrender that invites us to trust God completely and open ourselves to his will.  I would like to end by sharing this beautiful prayer with you.

“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
My memory, my understanding and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me,
To you Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours, do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
That is enough for me”.

Amen