By Thomas Moll
Director of Content & Innovation
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 ESV
In Matthew 11, we learn, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened.” This last phrase is not a restriction of the “all,” but is its explanation. Who would want to say: “It doesn’t really concern me” when Jesus makes this appeal? Who would want to say: “I really don’t know what it means to be weary and burdened”?
When we read Jesus’ words about those who labor and are heavy laden, He’s talking about you. And if He’s talking about you, He’s also talking about anyone you’re close to. The person you keep seeing at the coffee house. The neighbor who keeps running his 2 million decibel leaf blower. The person who you stand next to in your workout session. They all are weary and/or burdened in one way or another.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian who cared about community so much that he directed an illegal seminary during World War II for the “Confessing Church” in Germany before being shut down by the Gestapo. In a sermon titled, “The One Who Thinks and Lives for Others,” Bonhoeffer calls us all to recognize our burdens and writes beautifully about the gift that community is to the Christian.
So, what are we to do to live in community? We can confidently say that we are called to love our neighbor (neighbor meaning everyone, not just the leaf blower guy). Bonhoeffer gives us a couple options.
“There are two possible ways to help persons who are oppressed by a burden,” he said. “Either you take the whole load off of them so that in the future they have nothing more to carry. Or you help them to carry it by making the carrying easier for them.”
This is why being in community is such a blessing! In order to be encouraged in our faith, we must be able to see and help others who are weary and burdened. If you can’t help someone because you’re currently carrying a heavy burden, someone else in the community can. Once you’re through your current struggle, you’re that much stronger to help someone else.
Sometimes community is a struggle. I encourage you to be creative. If you’re able to get out, search online for groups in your area that do something you’re interested in, or even a support group, like Rock Steady, that could help you with your struggles. (Read more about Rock Steady here). Find a walking, sewing, bird watching, boxing group, or whatever and get connected. These are now your people. It may take a long time to get to the point where you can talk about burdens, but this all comes over time.
If you’re not able to get out, do your best to find community in those that can visit you, those you can call or write to. This can actually be a quicker way to be able to develop relationships where you can care for one another by sharing burdens.
You may be thinking, “I’m not a caregiver, I’m not a counselor, and sometimes I don’t want to talk at all. How can I help someone else with a burden?”
You have a wonderful gift! You have the very words of Jesus!
We have the promise from Jesus that when we take His yoke, we will find rest for our weary souls. That doesn’t mean that our burden is gone. We still have a yoke to bear, but with Jesus, it’s light. And, we have the promise that Jesus walks with us every day, bearing our burdens with us. And one day, our burden will be no more.