Sermon # 2 for Pentecost VI (Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Sunday, 9 July 2023 (10.30 am)
Saint Luke Lutheran Church; Albuquerque, NM
Matthew 11.16-19 [20-24] 25-30 [Greek and English text follows the Sermon]
Easy Yoke, Light Burden!
+ In nomine Domini. Amen.
Today’s Sermon is about words.
According to the Gospel Storyteller, Matthew, Jesus says to those who are following him and to those who are listening in from the edge of things — they are called the crowd in the Gospels — he says to them — and to us!
Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
I spent last week poring over these words, translating them again and again from the Greek. You have to trust me when I say that nearly every single word in these 3 verses at the end of this morning’s Gospel Reading, nearly every single word is so full of meaning and connotation.
The Greek word for come actually is translatable as Come On! The word for weary can be read as toiling under burdensome requirements. The word for heavy burdens is akin to what you would do if you were to overload a pack-horse or mule or maybe your own backpack. And the word for rest can be read as giving someone respite from the cares and challenges of life.
Let’s look at the next verse:
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.
The word for yoke in Greek is ζυγον, we get the biological term zygote from it. A zygote is a fertilized egg, that is the joining together of two things the egg and the sperm. In the text ζυγον is read as yoke, the device that connects two oxen together around the necks so that they may work together. Interestingly, the stole worn by pastors and deacons is often called “the yoke of Christ”, and when we dress for Church and put on that piece of fabric, we realize that we are (in a very real sense) “putting on Christ” this sacred task.
The Greek word for find as in find rest for your souls is εὑρήσετε which in it’s perfect mode in Greek becomes ευρεκα — the word for discovery as in I found it!
And then, the last verse, verse 30, Jesus says to everyone:
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In this verse the Greek word for yoke is changed from before, this word is a synonym. The word used means literally cargo, what you would load into a ship or a wagon or the back of your SUV; but here in this verse the word translates a cargo that is light not heavy. And the word for burden is similar, it translates something that is light to carry.
We have these words in English as we find them in our New Revised Standard Bibles, which were a number of years ago new and updated versions of the famous Revised Standard Bible of the 1950s which were updated versions of the so called King James Version or Authorized Version of the Bible which had been used for a very long time as the primary English Bible both in Europe and America and elsewhere.
An aside, but an important one, the words that we read this morning are nearly word-for-word taken from not just all those versions I mentioned, but from the 1534 English New Testament translated from the Greek by William Tyndale. An historical note or two: Tyndale travelled to Wittenberg Germany and spent time using Martin Luther’s Bible to help him translate. And, he was declared a heretic for translating the Bible into English. He fled to Brussels but tragically and sadly was condemned in August of 1536, just two years after he finished his translation, and on October 6 was strangled and his body burned at the stake — by the Church. All this under the reign of Henry VIII.
Strangely, when the King James Bible came into being some 67% of it came directly word-for-word borrowed from Tyndale’s Bible.
Last year I was given the two volume set (Old and New Testament of the Tyndale Bible in “updated and more readable English”) by one of the women who lives where we do. Her name is Patricia. She came up to me during a lunch and said, “I understand you are a Lutheran Pastor.” I replied, “Yes, I am.” She continued handing me these very large books, “I want to give these to you as a gift.” Seeing that they were the Tyndale Bible, I responded, “You realize you are giving me heretical books!” She laughed and said, “Yes, I know. They were the possession of my late husband who died 3 years ago. He was, by the way, a Tyndale, he was one of the descendants.”
I put a lot of writing that I have been doing on hold and I’ve spent a great deal of time reading in the Tyndale version. It’s delightful.
So last week as is my custom I translated the Greek, read the text in Latin, in French, in the Tyndale version, and also in a new New Testament I acquired last year. It is called the FIRST NATIONS VERSION: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. It was published in 2021 and I highly recommend it to you, if I had a number of copies here this morning I would give them away to you, so important I believe is this version. Let me read to you from the dedication on the frontispiece of the Bible:
This translation of the good story is dedicated to the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island (that is North America) “suffered under the dominance of colonial governments who with the help of churches and missionary organizations often took our land, our languages, our cultures, and even our children. As our Tribal Nations work hard to reclaim what has been stolen, it is our hope that the colonial language that was forced upon us can now serve our people in a good way; by presenting Creator Sets Free (that is Jesus).1
If you will, listen to now the FIRST NATIONS VERSION translates these same verses we have been given on this Sunday this way:
[Creator Sets Free said to the people:]
Come close to my side, you whose hearts are on the ground, you who are pushed down and worn out, and I will refresh you. Follow my teachings and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest from your troubled thoughts. Walk side by side with me and I will share in your heavy load and make it light.
Let me read it again.
Come close to my side, you whose hearts are on the ground, you who are pushed down and worn out, and I will refresh you. Follow my teachings and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest from your troubled thoughts. Walk side by side with me and I will share in your heavy load and make it light.
Rarely have I found a translation that not only does justice to the words of Jesus which were written down by the Gospel Storytellers, but also speaks so clearly to us, especially when our hearts are on the ground and we are pushed down and worn out.
I hope this morning that by looking at and listening to the words of Jesus as presented by the Gospel Storyteller Matthew, that these words might come close to you, might speak to you, might heal you. I hope that you can carry them in your heart this week. I hope that you will find solace and rest and some ease in carrying heavy loads by knowing and understanding and feeling, sensing Jesus our Brother, walking next to you in every moment sharing those cares and concerns and bringing them into the Light.
Amen.
Deo Gratias (+)
The Rev. Benjamin Larzelere III
Retired
1FIRST NATIONS VERSION: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL. 2021
Matthew 11.16-19, 25-30
16Τίνι δὲ ὁμοιώσω τὴν γενεὰν ταύτην; ὁμοία ἐστὶν παιδίοις καθημένοις ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς ἃ προσφωνοῦντα τοῖς ἑτέροις 17λέγουσιν, Ηὐλήσαμεν ὑμῖν καὶ οὐκ ὠρχήσασθε: ἐθρηνήσαμεν καὶ οὐκ ἐκόψασθε. 18ἦλθεν γὰρ Ἰωάννης μήτε ἐσθίων μήτε πίνων, καὶ λέγουσιν, Δαιμόνιον ἔχει: 19ἦλθεν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐσθίων καὶ πίνων, καὶ λέγουσιν, Ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος φάγος καὶ οἰνοπότης, τελωνῶν φίλος καὶ ἁμαρτωλῶν. καὶ ἐδικαιώθη ἡ σοφία ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῆς.
The omitted verses:
20Τότε ἤρξατο ὀνειδίζειν τὰς πόλεις ἐν αἷς ἐγένοντο αἱ πλεῖσται δυνάμεις αὐτοῦ, ὅτι οὐ μετενόησαν: 21Οὐαί σοι, Χοραζίν: οὐαί σοι, Βηθσαϊδά: ὅτι εἰ ἐν Τύρῳ καὶ Σιδῶνι ἐγένοντο αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν ὑμῖν, πάλαι ἂν ἐν σάκκῳ καὶ σποδῷ μετενόησαν. 22πλὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, Τύρῳ καὶ Σιδῶνι ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ ὑμῖν. 23καὶ σύ, Καφαρναούμ, μὴ ἕως οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθήσῃ; ἕως ἅ|δου καταβήσῃ. ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγενήθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν σοί, ἔμεινεν ἂν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον. 24πλὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι γῇ Σοδόμων ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ σοί.
25Ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ καιρῷ ἀποκριθεὶς ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Ἐξομολογοῦμαί σοι, πάτερ, κύριε τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἔκρυψας ταῦτα ἀπὸ σοφῶν καὶ συνετῶν καὶ ἀπεκάλυψας αὐτὰ νηπίοις: 26ναί, ὁ πατήρ, ὅτι οὕτως εὐδοκία ἐγένετο ἔμπροσθέν σου. 27Πάντα μοι παρεδόθη ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐπιγινώσκει τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατήρ, οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα τις ἐπιγινώσκει εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱὸς καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν βούληται ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψαι. 28Δεῦτε πρός με πάντες οἱ κοπιῶντες καὶ πεφορτισμένοι, κἀγὼ ἀναπαύσω ὑμᾶς. 29ἄρατε τὸν ζυγόν μου ἐφ’ ὑμᾶς καὶ μάθετε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ὅτι πραΰς εἰμι καὶ ταπεινὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ εὑρήσετε ἀνάπαυσιν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ὑμῶν: 30ὁ γὰρ ζυγός μου χρηστὸς καὶ τὸ φορτίον μου ἐλαφρόν ἐστιν.
16 [Jesus said to the crowd] ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,
17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.”
18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’
[Verses 20-24 omitted in the Lectionary. See Sermon this day at 8.15 am.]
25 At that time Jesus said, ‘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; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27All 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 that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’
Nota(ble) Be(n)e 