The Yoke

Mark Whittall
Oct 4
5 min read

“Come unto me all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

It’s a beautiful promise, a wonderful invitation. When I read the gospel this week, these words made me think of canoe camping. If you want to experience the beauty of creation, canoe camping is a great way to do it. Today we celebrate St. Francis of Assisi, and especially his love of creation. Though I doubt that St. Francis ever saw a canoe in his lifetime, I’m pretty sure he would have loved canoe camping. You load all your stuff into the canoe, your camping equipment and your food and all that, and off you go, paddling across a beautiful lake in some place like Algonquin Park. But there is a hard part to canoe camping and that happens when you make it to the end of the lake and you have to portage the canoe and all your gear in order to get to the next lake. I’d have to say that some of the most tiring and painful moments of my life have been with a canoe on my shoulders on a long, difficult portage. But then on the other hand, finally, one of the best feelings I’ve ever had is that moment when one of my buddies lifts the canoe off my shoulders, and I get to straighten up and rest. It’s the same feeling of relief you get at the end a long day of hiking, when your friend comes up behind you and lifts that heavy pack of your back.

Can you remember, or imagine that feeling? The sense of relief? That’s the moment that I think of, when I hear Jesus speak:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus longs to relieve us of our burdens. To lift the heavy loads off our backs. And we do carry burdens, all sorts of them. What makes it even harder is that many of the burdens we carry are not as easy to see as a canoe or a heavy backpack. No, for the most part our burdens are invisible. Grief, worry, challenging relationships, responsibilities, family troubles, work problems, health concerns and so much more, so often we carry these on our own, invisibly, weighed down yet not wanting to trouble others with the loads we bear. No wonder we get tired and weary.

These burdens can begin when we’re young, not even children are spared. I listened to a webinar this week that looked at the results of a survey this past year of Generation Alpha in Canada, specifically, 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds. It was shocking to see that at this young age, 39% reported that they had experienced loneliness during the past three months, and 32% reported that they experienced high anxiety. Even at a young age, the canoes that we carry are getting pretty heavy.

Which is why I just want to dwell a bit on the promise that Jesus makes in today’s gospel. It’s a promise that to me is familiar. When I was a child, I used to hear it every Sunday, because it was part of the service in the old prayer book:

“Hear what comfortable words our saviour Jesus Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him:

‘Come unto me all that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.’”

We don’t hear this every Sunday anymore, but maybe we should. Because following Jesus isn’t meant to be a burden, it is meant to refresh us. Sometimes we have a tendency to complicate things. We often, I often, talk about the challenges of following Jesus. The scripture texts that we read together sometimes work to push us out of our comfort zones. But following Jesus, turning to him, is not meant to add to our burdens, it is meant to fill us with joy, to relieve us from our heavy burdens and to bring us rest and health and peace, shalom, in the full Hebrew sense of the word. And though it’s certainly true that Jesus sometimes challenges our thinking and urges us to change our lives, it is even more true that Jesus came that we might have life and have it abundantly.

So if you’re weary, if you’re carrying a heavy burden, come to Jesus and he will give you rest.

Now, I expect that some of you are thinking, ‘hey, that’s a great promise, but how does it work?’

And that’s where Jesus gives us the image of the yoke.

Now, I’m not a farmer, and even if I was, our farmers don’t use yokes and oxen these days to plough their fields. So, my first thought when I hear Jesus’ words about taking my yoke is that he wants to put a heavy piece of wood across my shoulders, and isn’t that just going to increase the load I carry?

Well not really. The way a yoke works is that it joins two oxen together, allowing them to pull with synchronized strength, which makes it easier for them, not harder. When Jesus invites us to take his yoke, he’s really saying to us, “why don’t you align yourselves with me? You’ll find it easier than trying to do everything on your own.”

Just think about it. The one who created the universe, the very energy and power that brought all things into being and sustains them, this force is inviting us to get into sync with him. Do you want to live in harmony with the one who created the universe? Do you think that’s a good idea?

To return to the image of canoeing, it’s kind of like the difference between being on a fast river and having the choice of paddling upstream or downstream. Believe me, paddling downstream, going with the flow, is a lot less tiring and you’ll go a lot further. Aligning yourself with your Creator has the same effect.

There’s another thing I learned about this image of yokes and oxen. And that is that the yoke is a way of training and helping a young ox. Often, farmers will yoke a young animal together with an older, more experienced, more powerful animal, to provide the young one with companionship and so that the young ox can learn from the older ox. And, what’s more, the older, stronger ox will actually take the bulk of the load that’s being pulled, relieving the burden on the younger animal.

That’s what Jesus’ invitation is all about. “Take my yoke,” Jesus says, “and learn from me.” Not only will we be together, not only will we be aligned in what we’re doing, but I’ll also take the bulk of the load off your shoulders.”

Do you remember the promise that Jesus made with the very last words that he spoke to his disciples? Because it relates to this image of the yoke.

“Remember,” he said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We are not alone.

In this life, we are often weary, and we bear many burdens, and so often we try to bear them on our own. But that’s not what God wants for us. God wants us to rediscover the joy of walking with Jesus, to align ourselves with him, to let him bear our burdens and to remember that wherever we go, he is with us, always.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”