With

With #0

April 28, 2019
Commonwealth Bridge Worship
Matthew 11:25–30
Daniels Run Elementary School, Fairfax, VA

In the effort of not only talking the talk but also walking the walk, I reached out to one of my old friends for a meal together, which is one of the five habits I want us to foster. I had not seen this friend for over a year, so we shared updates and that naturally led to a conversation about church.

This friend had spent a lot of his youth at church. In his words, church used to be his life. But now, he doesn’t attend church anymore; he hasn’t for a while. And some of the things he shared with me really kicked me in the guts. He said something like this:

The church wants us to be like Jesus, sinless and perfect. The church says that’s the only way for us to get to heaven. So, the church always tells us to do more, repent more, pray more, and serve more. But I know whatever I do will never be enough for the church’s standard. I am nothing without my sins.

What he shared with me over our dinner together has been stuck with me ever since. Was I surprised by what he said? Was I shocked by how he felt about the church? Was I troubled by how he viewed himself based on what the church has taught him? The things he shared with me weren’t just theological questions. These were ontological questions concerning who he was as a human being.

Feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, and judged… these feelings he shared with me are common feelings that today’s generation struggles with every day — from work, school, parenting, and even adulting — doing the basic responsibilities of an independent human being, such as taking out the trash and doing the laundry. Everything has become a task written on our to-do list. Everything has become a hassle that requires our hustle. This is our lived reality and we continue to ask ourselves if we are doing right and doing enough.

How Millennials Became The Burnout Generation

Our goal in life is to make our ever-growing to-do list somewhat manageable. If this is the case, then why would anyone want to add yet another task on their to-do list by going to church? Especially, if the church constantly asks you to do more?

Why would people working six days a week come out to church on their only day-off to hear the message that they need to do more for the Lord? Why would people juggling four different jobs to pay off their student debts come out to church to hear that they need to serve more for the Lord? When people are constantly being compared to the pretentious images of social media, why would they also come out to church to be compared to the pretensions of human religion? Why would anyone who struggles to be themselves come out to church to hear that they need to be more than themselves, and be like Jesus — the perfect Son of God? Why would anyone come to church when it seems like yet another space of feeling inadequate, overwhelmed, and judged?

I Will Give You Rest

Jesus said in today’s scripture.

“Come to me, all you that 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.”

The scribes and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time were imposing the burdens of religious obligations on everyday people. The religious leaders were putting heavy burdens on people’s shoulder, as represented by the metaphor “yoke,” a harness that goes around oxen. And these heavy burdens were the yoke of self-righteousness and legalistic law-keeping; something similar to the demand of doing more that my friend received from his church.

Jesus saw how these artificial burdens of human religion had become a barrier to communion with God. And to these people, Jesus invited them to come to him to find rest; for unlike these religious leaders, his yoke is easy, and his burden is light.

Here, Jesus is not inviting people to a life of ease, but rather inviting people to learn a new way of communion with God, a new way of interpreting and understanding God’s will. Jesus is saying that by coming to him, we will learn a new way to live as God’s faithful children, and by learning this we will find rest for our souls. Essentially, Jesus is inviting us to be with God through him, rather than inviting us to do more for God and for Jesus.

I believe the word “with” is the most important word in our Christian faith. And if you have heard from me long enough, you know this “with” is my theological conviction for this new church community called Commonwealth.

The word “with” represents everything that has to do with God’s desire for us. God is with us and God wants us to know that God is with us. The stories in the Bible describe this desire many times and in various ways.

It starts from the Old Testament, where God’s will was communicated through a certain selected and chosen people — whom we call the prophets.

• In Genesis, God says to Isaac, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous” (Gen 26:23);
• God says to Jacob, “Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (28:15);
• It is said about Joseph, “The Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love” (39:21);
• Moses extends God’s messages to the people of Israel, “Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you” (Deut 31:6);
• God says to Joshua, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you” (Josh 1:5);
• God says to David, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth” (2 Sam 7:8–9);
• God says to the people of Israel through Isaiah, “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Is 41:10);
• God says to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations… Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jer 1:5–8);
• God says to Israel through Haggai, “I am with you” (1:13).

Yet, over and over again in the Old Testament, we see that the people of Israel experienced somewhat of a communication failure. The message of “God with us” wasn’t convincing enough for regular folks who simply received messages through their prophets. They wanted to experience “God with us” in a more profound way, a more tangible way, and a more personal way. Isaiah speaks of this longing, “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence.” (64:1).

This is the context into which Jesus emerges.[1] He is called Immanuel, which means God with us. God came to be with us in a human form, to live with us and to walk with us and to eat with us. Now the message of God-with-us is received not through the words of prophets, but through our relationship with Christ, the Son of God (cf. Heb 1:1–2). Today’s scripture points to this new reality:

“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.”

God-with-us

There is a famous story told by philosopher Søren Kierkegaard: a story of a king who has fallen in love with a lowly maiden. The king has everything, while the maiden has nothing. The king wants to declare his love for the maiden, perhaps using his money, influence, and power. But the king realizes the power dynamic, that she has no agency, no say in the question. How could she say no to the king? Then, how would the king ever know that she would truly love him back? So, the king thinks of another idea, which was to elevate her social level and to make her his equal. But then, he realizes that all she would know of him is his wealth and grandeur, and not so much of his heart. If she came to love him, he would never really know why. So, the king comes with a final idea, which is to remove himself from his position and be her equal; become like the one he loves. Then she would truly be choosing him for the right reasons — a true love without power pressures and without ulterior motives.[2]

This story gives us an idea of what kind of love is behind God-with-us (cf. Phil 2:1–11). God became fully human to be with us, not so that we can be like God through this relationship, not so that we can elevate ourselves to a greater status, not so that we can enjoy ourselves a special privilege and prosperity, but so that we can truly enjoy and delight in the presence of God through Christ as ourselves, just as we are.

Jesus says in today’s scripture:

“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; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

The so-called wise and the intelligent in this scripture are those who always look to gain something for themselves, whether knowledge, wisdom, power, or affluence. While the so-called infants are those who don’t know any better — those unpretentious ones who just want to enjoy and delight in the arms of their mothers (cf. Psalm 131). God’s will is revealed to those who simply enjoy the presence of God, who simply delight in the communion with God, who simply partake in the fellowship with God’s people.

This call to be “with” is not a call to do more, but to find rest. This call to be “with” is not a call to serve more or to be more, but to be who we truly are. This call to be “with” is not a call to burden, but a call to the freedom of being.

In essence, to be “with” means to be human.

What does it mean to be human? It means we are more than our to-do lists. It means we have stories, we have callings, and we have longings. And what this call to be “with” does is that it gives new meaning to our stories, it gives new breath to our callings, and gives new possibilities to our longings.

This is the kind of community we seek to be here at Commonwealth. Where people come and find rest, so that we may turn our attention to what really matters.

What does it mean to be “With”?

In the next five weeks, I am going to go over what it means to be “with.”

1. What does it mean to be with God?
2. What does it mean to be with one another?
3. What does it mean to be with oneself?
4. What does it mean to be with the community (our neighbors)?
5. What does it mean to be with Commonwealth?

As I dig into these questions in the coming weeks, my prayer for this sermon series is that we may truly be able to have this nature of being with as the foundation of our community. So that we may able to share Jesus’ invitation faithfully, “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.”

And this does not mean that we are going to be a church with an easy journey, a church that requires no work and no responsibility. Just as Jesus’ invitation was a call to learn a new way of being God’s children, our invitation is also a call to learn a new way of being church.

The truth is we are living in a society where it is really difficult for us to be fully human. We are constantly reduced to our daily to-do list, to our resume and our job title, and to the labels that our society provided for us. We are living in a society that constantly sucks the life out of us, and constantly flattens the things that should be enjoyable into the mere chores. We are living in a society where we constantly feel inadequate, overwhelmed, and judged; and where we constantly feel the need to prove our worthiness beyond our pure humanness.

So, naturally, and especially in the beginning, it will feel like work when we try to undo the damage and when we try to cast out the lies and counter the narrative of the enemy. What Jesus asks of us is our humility and gentleness, what I ask of us is our dedication, patience, and willingness to be with this endeavor of creating a space where we find new meanings, new breaths, and new possibilities. Let us be with together, let us be humans together, humans who are in love with Christ, humans who faithfully share his invitation, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Let us pray.

[1] Samuel Wells, Incarnational Ministry: Being With the Church (Wm B. Eerdmans, 2017), 11.

[2] Samuel Wells, A Nazareth Manifesto: Being With God (John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2015), 160.