It’s the 5th Sunday of Trinity (it’s a long season) and I will be worshipping at Culm Davy Chapel at 9am from the beautiful 1662 Prayer Book, and then at All Saints Church, Culmstock at 10am for a more contemporary service of Holy Communion. You will be very welcome to join us.

I haven’t been around much over the past couple of weeks, but please don’t take that to mean I have been putting my feet up at some luxurious resort. It has been rather a strenuous few days of packing boxes and shifting furniture during a heatwave. We have handed over the keys to our Hampshire home to make Devon our fulltime abode. I did find a day off in which to ‘robe up’ and process along with other priests and bishops in order to support a former parishioner who was ordained deacon. It was an honour, a blessing, a chance to meet up with former colleagues and friends, but you could say it was a bit of a ‘bus-man’s holiday’. There have been multiple road trips to and from Hampshire due to a mix up with the ‘Man and Van’, and even more from one side of Devon to the other thanks to internet issues. Our drains suddenly decided to become blocked at the point we were hoping to be handed back our deposit so that we might book a holiday; and an additional carload of of belongings have had to find temporary storage in a friend’s spare room. Weary? You could say that.

So the final verses from today’s gospel reading speak to my heart and bone-weary soul:

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.

Matthew 11:28-30

When I first read through today’s passages my thoughts immediately went to the agricultural image of a pair of oxen yoked together. The yoke which was fixed across their shoulder enabled the beasts to work together to pull a weight much heavier than they could have carried together. They are literally sharing a load. When Jesus tells us to take his yoke we are reminded that whatever it is we are ‘pulling’ we are doing it together with him. Jesus lightens our load.

But Jesus also says ‘learn from me’. Disciples were ‘yoked’ to their rabbi, their teacher. When Jesus speaks about taking his yoke he is reminding his disciples (including us) that his teaching is one of grace and salvation, not the heavy burdens of religion for religion’s sake: we are not called to a life of religiosity and heavy rule keeping, we are called into a heavenly relationship of love with the Divine, with God.

And then Jesus speaks about rest, and this is where it gets really interesting.

The Greek word translated as rest in the gospel according to Matthew is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament translation of ‘still’ in Psalm 23

He leads me beside still waters

Psalm 23:2

However, the Hebrew word for ‘still’ is the word used in Genesis when order is brought to the pre-creation chaos, it is the word used when the chaos of Noah’s flood water is subdued, and then again it is the same root word Jesus uses to rebuke the storm on the Sea of Galilee:

Peace! Be still!

Mark 4:39

In times of chaos, Jesus brings order; in times of overwhelm, Jesus brings rest; in times of transition, Jesus leads us to a place of stillness; in times of threat, Jesus brings calm.

Jesus says ‘come to me all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’.

I am fascinated by the linguistics, by the depth of meaning beyond the words used in scripture, and the revelation of what the original hearers of those scriptures would have immediately understood; but there is more to it than academic theology. Jesus says come. ‘Come to me’ is an instruction, a command, it is something Jesus tells us we need to do. As weary as we may be, we need to take action.

I am weary and so I turn to my Bible, I close my eyes in prayer, I listen to worship music, I meditate in silence. It’s what you would expect of an ordained priest, a vicar, the Rector. Except I don’t! It is what I need to do, but instead I make myself a cuppa, grab a biscuit and spend time navigating social media.

‘Come to me’ Jesus says, but I don’t. I slump instead, and even so Jesus leads me to the still waters. Still waters in this case being an Instagram post from @dr.tylerrauwolf which opens my eyes to a deeper understanding and a reminder to yoke myself to Jesus, and to do only the things he calls me to do.