Matthew 11:25–30

²⁵At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children;

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.

²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

This weekend we celebrate Independence Day in this country. July 4 marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. It was a formal explanation of why Congress had voted two days prior to declare independence from Great Britain. So today the people of this nation give thanks to God for the men and women who have risked their lives and have shed their blood in order to gain and to preserve the blessings of freedom and liberty which we enjoy today. On account of their sacrifices that it is possible to gather here to worship without fear of government agents storming our assembly and dragging us into the streets to beat us and haul us to jail; a fact of life that many Christians face in other parts of the world.

Yet, are we truly free? Is there not a still deeper slavery? A more hideous oppression? A spiritual darkness that enslaves us? Jesus invited all those who "labor and are heavy laden" to come unto him and he would give them rest. But who are these people who labor and are heavy laden?

The vocabulary of "labor" and "heavy laden" is hauntingly familiar. It is the same language that God used to describe the slavery of his people Israel in Egypt. He talked about their "task masters" who afflicted them with "heavy burdens" and ruthlessly made them work as slaves. It is the language of slavery. It is the language of oppression. But what the people said to Jesus then, we also say today: "We have never been slaves to anyone."

Jesus indeed says that they and we are slaves. He saw the burdens of law that the Pharisees placed upon the people. He saw all the many regulations and rules they had imposed and how they demanded obedience. He saw that the people had become slaves to the very laws and ordinances their spiritual leaders imposed. Laws too heavy for them to bear. He sees the same thing today as men make all sorts of rules and tell us how we must live and what we must do in order to become better Christians, to be more spiritual, and to please God more. Today's most popular form of belief tells us that we must accept Jesus into our heart and then work to become better and better Christians by trying to obey all sorts of laws and regulations; by reading all sorts of books, listening only to certain types of music, by watching certain movies and TV programs and avoiding others; by attending conferences and hearing Christian speakers and listening only to Christian comedians, and by setting aside a certain amount of time each day for quiet times and so forth. By doing these good works we are supposed to become better Christians. Even Billy Graham once said of Mother Theresa that he was sure she was in heaven because of all the good she did in the world. But, we are told, if we don't do all these things we supposedly aren't as spiritual as we should be. If we don't do all these things we aren't growing in our faith and becoming mature Christians, but we remain babes in swaddling clothes drinking only milk and never moving on to meat.

This is the first slavery; slavery to law. It is the exact same legalism that the Pharisees used to enslave the people of Jesus' day in their system of laws. They try to please God and become more spiritual, but every time they fall short they are told to "try harder" which only makes the burden even heavier. Today many see Christianity as a way of life, as things we must do and not do, as an effort to be good. In this form of faith, the Ten Commandments take center stage and there is a constant struggle to display them in schools, courtrooms and houses of legislature. Those in favor of displaying them think that by doing so it will make our nation a Christian nation. Those who oppose it are afraid of Christianity being forced upon them. Both sides are wrong: Christianity is not about the Ten Commandments; it's about the cross of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins. It is precisely this form of Christianity, centered on what we must do ourselves over and above what Christ did for us, that St. Paul found among the Galatian Christians when he asked them, "Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" "I am astonished," he says, "that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel." A false gospel, the false message of works and legalism.

But by doing good works we are not made righteous before God. "By works shall no flesh be justified," God tells us. Law and good works do not exterminate sin and death. This is the second slavery: We are enslaved by sin and death, the sin that reigns in our mortal bodies and the death of separation from God. As believers we find, along with St. Paul, that there is a war raging inside us, a struggle between good and evil. "I know that nothing good dwells in me. For I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. It is because of sin that dwells in me." Sin has power over our lives. We are oppressed by our own sinful human nature. Our own selfishness and self-righteousness is our task master. Our anger and resentment toward those who offend us is our lord and master. Our unwillingness to forgive others embitters our souls. We are slaves to our own sinful nature and are forced to work under the heavy load of sin.

As Jesus saw the people burdened under this legalistic system he knew their desolation and despair because they were laboring under a burden of guilt for failure to live up to the laws that were imposed upon them. This is the third slavery; slavery to feelings of guilt. Faithful believers today are likewise burdened and feel the same guilt as they try hard to fulfill all that is required of them but never quite live up to it. So they invent still more things to do to try to be good enough. But we are slaves to our feelings and emotions. Because of our sinful nature we never to achieve the spiritual level we seek. We then feel sinful. We feel guilty but such feelings do not comprehend forgiveness. Feelings are not reliable to tell us about what Christ has done for us on the cross and cannot be trusted. They only enslave us more in guilt and fear.

So, who are the real slaves? Are they not you and me? We are the ones who labor to be free from sin and to do what is good and right and find ourselves under an increasingly heavy burden of law and guilt. It is to us that Jesus gives his most gracious invitation: "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I shall give you rest." Here he is talking about repentance and faith. Those who feel the burden of sin and guilt, those who have a weak faith and are troubled and terrified because of the great number of their sins, those who think that in their great impurity they are not worthy of this precious treasure and Christ's benefit, those who are truly contrite and have the anxiety and terrors of sin and death are the truly penitent. By the words, "Come to me and I will give you rest," he speaks of those having faith that their sins are forgiven by the suffering and death of Christ. These are the ones who find rest from their guilty conscious, rest from their unending labor under the law that they never live up to. This is an evangelical word and the sweetest comfort in every way for miserable sinners. God says, "I desire not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn and live." "For I am merciful." Therefore, "Come unto me all you who labor and I will give you rest."

God does not will that we be burdened with sin and guilt and law. Instead God burdened himself with us. This is the God of our salvation. The God who burdened himself with us, carrying the load of us, our sin, our guilt and our slavery on his shoulders. He is the God who daily bears us up and burdens himself with us. That is a gracious God! That is a veritable God of salvation and succor. The Law, good works, feelings do not exterminate death and sin. This was done when Christ took upon himself both sin and death and destroyed them within himself. He carried our burden of sin and guilt and death and nailed them to the cross to exterminate them. He thus became the God of our salvation, a God who saves us. A God who liberates us from the Law and from sin and now places his easy yoke and light burden on our shoulders.

He gives us his rest; rest from guilt and sin and bondage of law. God promised the Israelites a Sabbath rest. But they did not receive this rest in the Promised Land. There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. That promise of entering his rest still stands. That promise is fulfilled in Christ who gives us that rest by bearing our heavy burden for us.

Then Jesus says to us, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He frees us from the yoke of slavery to sin and unrighteousness. In our baptism we are set free from guilt and sin. In our baptism we died to our old, sinful nature and the one who has died has been set free from sin. Therefore we are no longer slaves to sin and unrighteousness but are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in our mortal bodies to make you obey their passions, but present your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace. Having been set free from sin we have become slaves of righteousness. For just as once you presented ourselves to impurity and lawlessness leading to death, so now present yourselves to Christ as slaves of righteousness leading to sanctification and life. This is the easy yoke and light burden which Christ places on us. We have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. The fruit we bear leads to sanctification and eternal life.

Being a slave of Christ is true freedom. It frees us from the oppressive slavery of sin and death. It frees us to bear the fruit of righteousness. It frees us to love our neighbor and forgive his offenses. It frees us to go to the neighbor we have offended and ask forgiveness. It frees us from self-righteousness and self-centeredness. It frees us from the bitterness and anger and hatred that fills our souls when we don't forgive others. It frees us to serve our neighbor in love rather than spending all our efforts trying to be good ourselves and do our own good works. Slavery to Christ frees us to offer our sacrifices of thanksgiving to God; to return to God in accord with the blessings he has given to us; to give back to him a part of the riches and treasures he has give to us in thanksgiving for his salvation. Being slaves to Christ means we are free from the burdens of good works so that we can spread the Gospel of Jesus to all nations, doing the work of evangelists and missions, making disciples by baptizing and teaching his word. It means we are free to do unto our neighbor as we would have him do unto us.

Being slaves of Christ means we are truly free. If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and the truth shall make you free.

Amen.