The Restoration and Rest that the Lord Promises

Homily – Sunday, the 9th July 2023

Reading: Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

There was an auction going on for antique pieces and a small crowd was around to find if something interests them. One by one old pieces were being auctioned and some fetching good returns too.

The next on the list was an old broken violin. No one seemed to want it since it was “too broken”. When that was being set aside an elderly gentleman walked in and said- could you give this to me for a couple of days and they happily agreed and said you could bring it back next week for the next auction day.

He was a violin maestro and he worked on that broken piece and restored it to its prime beauty and brought it back as promised.

This time before it was auctioned, he said I would play a piece and it was celestial music.

The violin was sold at a huge price.

What made the difference- In the brokenness there was the master’s touch.

However broken you are, a Master’s touch can make you a masterpiece again.

The key call of the Gospel Lesson today is

Come Unto Me All who are weak and heavy laden- I will give you rest.

However tired you are, However hard the burdens you bear seem to be, the Master Craftsman is assuring you

REST, REJUVENATION, RESTORATION, REFRESHING and RECOVERY

This is what we sang in our gradual

I heard the voice of Jesus say,

‘Come unto Me and rest;

Lay down, O weary one, lay down

your head upon My breast.’

I came to Jesus as I was,

So weary and worn and sad;

I found in Him a resting place,

And He has made me glad.

Jesus is looking at the people around and is asking a very pertinent question- To what will I compare this generation?

There are a few markers of that generation which could be very true in our lives today too

When we look at our brokenness we could find quite some similarities though millennia has passed since

The Generation with a Communication Breakdown

Jesus said to the crowd, “To what will I compare this generation?

It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

The flute was played with the expectation that the other would dance. But they did not dance

It was expected when wailing is heard there would be mourning,

But there was a strange insensitivity.

Friends there is a communication breakdown!!

This precisely is a crisis point

Communication Shut Down

Two dear hearts to communicate, words are not necessary

But when hearts move apart noises come in and alongside a strange silence that is very disturbing

This could happen between spouses

Between siblings

Within the family

In our neighbourhood

This could happen in our work places

This could happen in parishes

DO we not see that around us

When someone is wailing we are turning insensitive

The pain and the agony of the other does not seem to bother us

We have forgotten to cry for the pain of others

If someone is suffering from war or violence it is their concern

If someone is going through a trauma why should I worry

Wailing does not mean someone else would mourn

A clear communication breakdown

The Generation with Varied expectations

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the 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.”

Inability to define a framework of spirituality.

Expectation Illusions- People fail to see anything good that is left in the God talk and the life of the church.

They keep pointing fingers

They have a hundred complaints to make

They see nothing positive

In many houses we often joke that one of the dishes for lunch on a Sunday is Pastor fry. How boring the service was, the sermon was and the way he or she behaved was.

Hundred reasons for not coming to church

I am busy

I am lazy

I am changing

I am atheist

But some would say NOT me but you but him

You are boring

You are not up to date

You don’t cater to our needs

Yes expectational illusions make us uncomfortable not only with our churches but that permeates into several aspects of life.

A deep sense of dissatisfaction is making us Complaint Boxes.

Sometimes it is not that expectations are unrealistic but the reality and expectation are in two sides of an unbridged lake

Yes a generation with expectation and reality mis match

The Generation unable to celebrate God’s gracious will

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

If we are worshipping today it is not because of our merit alone but by the Grace of God

The mystery of faith is not revealed to the wise and the intelligent but to the infants.

No one would come to a God contact unless the Son choses to reveal him.

Amidst all of struggles in faith we must thank God

We are a generation of grace chosen by God to worship God

Yesterday, at the end of a wedding three people came to me

One said- I am an Ex-Christian, ages since I went to church, but I tell you I enjoyed the ambience of a worship today.

Another said- I am an atheist, but I enjoyed being at church today

And third said- I am a casual Christian- I normally do not listen to sermons but today thank you I at least listened after a long time

Yes the generation of ex Christians and atheists and casual Christians

We live in a context where God’s will in our lives is not really sought

We are where we are now because God has a plan, a purpose

We must learn to submit to that plan

Otherwise life becomes less meaningful and less purpose filled.

A generation weary and carrying heavy burdens

“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.”

What makes people so weary and tired around us these days?

There are several people who cannot sleep properly and there are valid reasons for the same

There are several people who get tired because they are emotionally drained off- could be through toxic relationships or could be through traumas they go through

Several get tired unable to eat. Not that they cannot but somehow hunger has died off

There are some who live under tremendous stress and gets easily worn out

Several people get tired just because they do not have enough to drink

The reasons for getting tired can be many

But it is a fact- PEOPLE are TIRED

We live in a world where several people around us carry heavy burdens.

What are the burdens people bear around us today?

We are often told Everyone we meet is fighting a battle that we know nothing about. Be kind to them

Some might carry heavy burdens of emotional baggages. For some it could psychological pain and for others physical, Some wounds can be seen and some others cannot be.

The burdens people bear it is hard to understand

If I ask you to pause and think of one burden you bear that others do not seem to understand, what would that be?

And the good news is

A generation invited to find REST

Rest could mean different things for different people. Some would say I am too busy taking rest

But rest is about Restoration, Refreshing, Recovery these are what good Rest gives us.

Rest is a profound theological proposition in the Bible

The Sabaath Day,

The Sabatical Year

The Jubillee all these are focussed around REST and is closely associated with RENEWAL and a RESTART

Jesus says- Come Unto Me All Who are Tired and are carrying heavy burdens I WILL GIVE YOU REST

Come as you are:

That’s how I love you;

Come as you are,

Trust Me again.

Nothing can change

The love that I bear you;

All will be well,

Just come as you are.’

Do we experience this rest in the presence of Jesus?

The assurance that we go back with is this

Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.

Those who seek God shall never go wanting.

Nothing can trouble, nothing can frighten.

God alone fills us. (2x)

Vinod Victor

July 9, 2023