| The yoke of faith |
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| Written by David Charlton | ||
The Pharisees burdened people with a ‘yoke of law’. They claimed that we must perfectly obey the law in order to have a relationship with God. This yoke was extremely burdensome and heavy-laden because no one can perfectly obey the law. At some point, our sinful nature will get the best of us. Jesus, however, offers us a different yoke. His yoke is the ‘yoke of faith’. With this yoke, we learn from Jesus and the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Jesus. We are empowered to live up to the summation of the Law, which is to love God and neighbor. This is why Jesus’ yoke is light and easy. Which yoke will you choose? SERMON OUTLINE Scripture Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Summation and Purpose Summation: The Pharisees burdened people with a ‘yoke of law’. They claimed that we must perfectly obey the law in order to have a relationship with God. This yoke was extremely burdensome and heavy-laden because no one can perfectly obey the law. At some point, our sinful nature will get the best of us. Jesus, however, offers us a different yoke. His yoke is the ‘yoke of faith’. With this yoke, we learn from Jesus and the Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Jesus. We are empowered to live up to the summation of the Law, which is to love God and neighbor. This is why Jesus’ yoke is light and easy. Which yoke will you choose? Purpose: To encourage the congregation to simply trust Jesus to enable them to be his disciples. The Sermon
I. Introduction: Carrying the heavy burden on a Boy Scout Backpacking trip A. When I was 11 years old, I went on the ‘Mountain Trip’ with my Boy Scout troop. We backpacked on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina. B. This was my first big backpacking trip and I was just a little guy. The backpack was almost as big as I was and weighed as much as I did. From the rear, it looked like the backpack had little legs growing from it. It was a rather heavy burden for me to bear. C. Every day, I was the lone straggler. I was way behind the rest of the troop. One of the adult men would have to stay behind just to make sure I was ok. I was always the last one to complete the day’s hike. The load I was bearing was simply overwhelming for me. D. We all have an overbearing load to carry from time to time. II. Our overbearing loads A. The overbearing load of oppression · Religious persecution · Political oppression · Mental, physical and sexual abuse B. The overbearing load of the Law · In Jesus’ day, this was forced upon people by the Scribes and Pharisees · Today, many religious leaders still force it upon people · It’s the idea that we must perfectly follow the Law in order to have a relationship with God. This is extremely burdensome and heavy-laden because no one can perfectly obey the law. At some point, our sinful nature will get the best of us. C. Our overbearing load of sin · We all create this load for ourselves · This load creates guilt and we begin to believe that we are no good. We forget that God loves us and we become separated from God. This separation creates a multitude of evil manifestations such as selfishness, greed, anger, hatred, racism. III. Jesus frees us from these overbearing loads A. Jesus refers to these overbearing loads as yokes. He states that we can replace the yokes of oppression, Law and sin with his yoke. B. Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." C. A yoke is a farming instrument. It’s a heavy wooden harness that fits over the shoulders of oxen. It’s then attached to a plow or some other type of equipment the oxen are to pull. D. We can either… · Continue to toil under the heavy yoke of oppression, Law and sin or… · Allow Jesus to walk beside us as Savior, Lord and friend and put on his easy and light yoke E. When we allow Jesus to walk with us as Savior, Lord and friend and put on his yoke… · We learn from Jesus. He guides us. Through the written word, Jesus teaches us how to live a Godly life that is characterized by love. · The Holy Spirit changes and empowers us to fulfill the summation of the Law, which is to love God and neighbor · This gives us peace, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27) · It also gives us joy, “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) IV. Conclusion: If you are tired of being burdened by sin and guilt, then give your life to Jesus. Put on his yoke. Allow him to teach and transform you. You’ll find yourselves loving God and neighbor more and more and sinning less and less. |
