Rest - 6th Sunday after Pentecost
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
July 05, 2026
It would be wrong to think of Jesus
as only a wise teacher. He was
and is the Son of God; fully divine and fully human; the Savior of all creation;
the conqueror of sin, death, and the devil; the author of our forgiveness; and
the gracious giver of resurrection and eternal life. But it would likewise be wrong to confine Jesus’s
role to matters of Heaven and Hell. He
also has something of great worth to say about our lives here and now. And so even as we remain mindful of Christ as
our Savior, today we consider some counsel he offers to shape and bless our daily
lives.
Jesus says, “Come to me, all you
who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my
yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” This is holy medicine. But before we can fully appreciate it, we
must honestly admit our illness.
So let’s travel back to September
15, 1952. It’s Monday night, 9 PM, and
everyone’s gathered around their big black and white console TVs because CBS is
about to broadcast a new episode of “I Love Lucy.” Even if you weren’t watching TV that night,
and even if you weren’t alive in 1952, I bet you’ve at least seen a clip of
this episode, because it’s ranked one of the greatest television comedy moments
of all time.
The key scene features Lucy and her
best friend Ethel at a candy factory. They’re
trying to prove to their friends and families that they are trustworthy workers. But it hasn’t gone well, and they’re now down
to their last chance, working a conveyor belt assembly line. The boss warns them: wrap each piece of
chocolate in paper as it comes down the belt. If even one piece makes it past you unwrapped, you’re both fired!
You can guess what happens… Lucy
and Ethel keep up for a minute or two, but then the candy starts coming down
the line faster and faster and they fall farther and farther behind. So they start stuffing the chocolates in
their mouths, in their dresses, and even in their hats, trying to hide the fact
that they are overwhelmed and everything is falling apart. By the time the boss comes to inspect things,
Lucy and Ethel have hidden or eaten just enough chocolate to temporarily
conceal their failure. So what does the
boss do? She cranks up the conveyer belt
even faster. What a mess.
Isn’t that
how our lives so often feel? The
conveyor belt of tasks, responsibilities, demands, and distractions is unending,
and seems to speed up every year. Sometimes we are to blame for the unyielding pace. Sometimes others are speeding it up for us. And sometimes we’re the ones whose
expectations and impatience are cranking up the pace for others. As a result, we’re all perpetually weary and
worn in body, mind, and spirit. Sure, we
can deny and hide the chaotic mess for a bit, but eventually everything
falls to pieces. In our hearts, we want
a better way of living, a more human way to live. But we wonder: is that really possible?
Jesus says “yes” and calls us to a new way of being, which is really an ancient way of being, the way Jesus created us to be. It’s a way centered first on him. Quite simply, if we order our lives around
Christ, all of life’s other responsibilities and demands then take their proper
place. Otherwise, that unrelenting
conveyor belt of life will chew us to shreds.
How did we end up here? One reason is technology. It has accelerated life’s pace and pushed us
beyond human limits. That’s not a new thing;
it started in the 18th century with the Industrial Revolution. Too often we define our worth and the
worth of others based on how much we can do, produce, and earn. We’ve idolized computers and machines to the
point that they’ve become the standard for how we evaluate humans. That’s why we say a smart person has “a mind
like a computer,” and praise a productive person by comparing them to a
“well-oiled machine.” Is it any wonder
then that our lives have become as cold and impersonal as the machines and
technologies we’ve anointed as our new gods? I fear we’ve lost sight of our true identity. We are not walking dollar signs. Our core identity, formed in the waters of
baptism, is that of beloved children of God.
Another reason we are so frenzied
and thus so spiritually and physically worn out can be blamed on an abundance
of fear, and a scarcity of trust that Jesus is enough. We are afraid we won’t have enough money,
resources, or material goods, so we work ourselves to the bone day and night. We also fear we won’t be noticed, so we
endlessly seek attention and acclaim. Before long, material goods and worldly praise become our idols. It all leaves us living in gilded cages, used
up, worn out, with lives empty of real purpose, and the best of our humanity
drained from our souls.
And so Jesus
says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I
will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is
easy, and my burden is light.” These
aren’t just words Jesus delivered to his followers. These are words he took to heart personally. The Gospels are full of stories where Jesus,
as fully human as he was divine, reached his emotional, spiritual, and physical
limit. So he would retreat from the
crowds and his disciples, away from the noise and distractions of the world,
into a blessed desert of silence, where he could be refilled in prayer and
contemplation. If Jesus needed respites
like this, how much more do we? Look,
I know we’re all busy, but if Jesus could clear time on his calendar for
spiritual refueling, why can’t we?
Please don’t hear this as yet another
demand or weight atop your already burdened shoulders. Hear Jesus’s words as a blessing, a gift,
an opportunity to be renewed, refreshed, and remade in his image. Hear these words as an invitation to
become truly human again. But how do we
move from theory to practice?
Look, in all the time I’ve spent on
retreat in monasteries, I’ve noticed something. Despite how busy those monks are with hard manual labor, high level
academic endeavors, and the stress of running businesses to fund their
ministries, they possess a little secret that makes all the difference. They don’t cram prayer and worship into
whatever little scraps of the day remain after every other task is
complete. No, each day has designated prayer and worship times and the rest of the day fits around those things. They reorder their days, which
reorders their lives. Put Jesus
first, and the rest comes together in its proper place.
So begin there. Set a time to pray, and to read and
contemplate scripture. Turn off the
world’s noise. Embrace silence. Look up from your phones and see the beauty
of creation. Slow your pace and simplify
your life, so you make intentional time and space for Jesus. Oh sure, your burdens will still be waiting
for you when you reemerge. But now
you’ll see them in proper proportion. You’ll
see they aren’t bigger than Jesus. Reorder your life around Jesus, and the rest of your life will be
reordered.
Friends, we have the power to walk
away from this inhuman conveyor belt of rushing, stressing, and doing. Maybe that sounds daunting, but we’re not on
our own! Jesus offers us his yoke, which
means he will help us shoulder the weights of life we carry. He knows how exhausted we’ve become. No amount of worldly work, acclaim, or
earthly rewards will ever fill us. Jesus
says, “come to me,” because he is the one and only place we can find true rest
and refreshment for our minds, bodies, and souls. Amen.
© 2026 Rev. Scott E. Schul, all rights reserved
Gospel
Text: Matthew 11:25-30
[Jesus
spoke to the crowd and said,] 25 “I thank you, Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the
intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father,
for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed
over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one
knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal
him.
28 “Come
to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give
you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
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