Whose Tune Are We Dancing To?

July 9, 2017

Helen Jacobi

Ordinary 14     Zechariah 9:9-12     Psalm 145     Romans 7:15-25     Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Video available on YouTube, Facebook

Do you remember as a child whining to a parent – my brother or my sister won’t play with me... In our household we all refuse to play Monopoly because Miryam always wins.

Jesus is thinking of that kind of situation when he says “But 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.’"

Children playing games or playing instruments – who will join in the game – who will dance to their tune – who gets to decide on the game? The people Jesus is describing are confused by the approach of John the Baptist on the one hand – an ascetic who lived in the desert and certainly did not party; and Jesus on the other hand who eats and drinks with “sinners”.

The people just don’t get it, especially the wise ones, the leaders, the educated. Rather it is the children and those with no education who are prepared to throw their lot in with Jesus. They have less to lose, and so they have eyes to see the truth of who Jesus is.

The Pharisees, the scribes, the powerbrokers, on the other hand, are expecting a Messiah who will conform to their expectations. Who will be the one to overthrow the Roman Empire and confirm the authority of the religious leaders instead. But of course Jesus is not the Messiah they expect. He is rather the one spoken of by the prophet Zechariah who will enter Jerusalem in humility on a donkey, not on a horse of war. He will bring peace and set the prisoners free. It is humility and service that will bring freedom, not power over and against someone else.

This question of who do we follow? to whom do we listen? whose tune do we dance to? that is a daily question for us all. Literally who do we follow on social media? which news outlets do we listen to? which posts? which blogs? In my recent time in the US I was acutely aware of the 24 hour stream of news; with the TV news focused on president Donald Trump – and nothing else – they seem to have abandoned the idea of a selection of news at the top of the hour – it was non stop political commentary. The print media though was experiencing a resurgence – the NY Times and the Washington Post were gaining subscribers.

While I was away I was also following the media back here and in particular the drawn out struggle over what is to be done about Christchurch Cathedral. And then this week when the government increased its offer to the Chch Diocese I wrote a blog reflecting on the issues. [1] I got lots of responses and the Chch Press published it; I was prepared for a lot of negative reaction as this has been such a hot topic. But my questions around the role of the church and society seemed to strike a chord with people.

I talked about the old world of Christendom where society and church were the same things being long gone, and yet here we have the government trying to preserve a Christendom model of church for the sake of the tourists and the heart of the city. And they want to spend over a $100 million to do it. The Christchurch Synod has some tough choices. Imagine if it was us – needing to rebuild our beloved church and the government was offering us the money. It would be hard to say no – how would we discern what to do? We need to keep the members of the Christchurch Synod in our prayers – they have a tough couple of months ahead of them.

In our own lives with smaller decisions than building cathedrals, we still need to make decisions. Who do we follow? who guides us in our choices – our family/ friends/ work colleagues/ politicians? When we have a choice to make at work who guides us? I know while I have been away you have heard three of our parishioners “telling their stories” and they each gave examples of the focus and choices of their lives. If we want to be guided by our faith and by the Spirit how do we make that real? In our reading of scripture and our prayer lives how do we discern the Spirit?

Jesus offers an image to his listeners “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.”

The image of the yoke has many layers to it. First of all it is the yoke of a horse or oxen pulling a load, ploughing a field. Secondly the Torah or the Law so assiduously followed by the Pharisees was called a yoke – the yoke of the Law. The intention was that the law would be a framework to live by, a way to order community and relationships so that people could live in freedom and harmony and in right relationships with each other and God. But the law had become a heavy yoke on the shoulders of the people, it was a burden.

So Jesus invites the ones carrying this heavy burden to come to him. The leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees and the people with them – come to Jesus instead and try on his yoke for size. His yoke is easy – not meaning simple, but a correct fit, a good fit. And how many places are there in the yoke – two – two to carry the burden, one place for you, and one place for the one who walks alongside you. The yoke is shared – who walks beside you? a friend, a lover, family, a spiritual companion, or perhaps Jesus himself.

The yoke fits, the burden is lightened by companionship. And we are to learn from the humble one on the donkey who is gentle and who gives us rest.

So our work of discernment is done with companions, with the Spirit of Jesus walking alongside. Jesus does not say you must dance to this tune or dance to another tune, like the children playing their games; or like the Pharisees laying down the law. There is not one way, not one set of rules. There is a path to find, a way to walk, maybe a dance to dance.

One of the questions I return from my sabbatical with is – how can we better be companions to each other on our faith journey? Today Jesus invites us to walk together and take his yoke, which fits well and is gentle and humble.

[1] https://helenjacobi.com/2017/07/05/christchurch-and-its-cathedral/