2627AFC070326 – It’s so easy to be that difficult. ← PODCAST LINK 🙄

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Zechariah 9:9–
⁹ Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
    Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
    triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

Matthew 11:28-30 – ²⁸ “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Psalm 145:13 ^c -14 –
^{13 c} The Lord is faithful in all his words,
    and gracious in all his deeds.     
¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who are falling,
    and raises up all who are bowed down.

Romans 8:13 (GNT) [1] – ¹³ For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live.

Aloha nui loa, ʻŌmea! May Peace always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved! We are now in our second week of the Newly-Revised MBN presentations. Stay tuned for additional information about future improvements, and possible expansion into other platforms. We are now in the 14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and that’s from lectionary #100. I must confess I had a little back and forth on today’s title. I originally wanted to say “It’s too easy to be that difficult.” I suppose that’s true if you don’t have a way to get out of being difficult. However, if you are a Christian, being difficult is avoidable. Where we seem to have a problem is that we forget that being difficult is avoidable (There it is again, we forgot) I am made aware of this fact very frequently, and fortunately have plenty of people to remind me that I am being difficult. First among them, of course, is my wife, Crucita. She is fully licensed for that role (1 from Bexar County TX, 1 from the USAF, and 1 from the Catholic Church) and the only time that it really gets me in trouble is when I forget that one of the main reasons I married her is that she’s smarter than I am. She can easily tell when I'm being difficult and courageously and lovingly reminds me that being difficult is avoidable. I am reminded of Roger Miller’s lyrics, “All you got to do is put your mind to it, knuckle down, buckle down, and do it, do it, do it!” (as is AGE QUOD AGIS)

Now that I have reached that stage in life where I can reasonably be a stubborn old man, I really do need some help in that endeavor of being less difficult and more docile. And that is what our post is about today. As I am writing this, I hope I am also learning something about how to do better at being less difficult. The first point that I'd like to take notice of, therefore, is our Key Verse from the Gospel of Matthew. All of us would probably agree that it is certainly obvious that if you’re going to live a Christian life it would be a good idea to base it on Christian teaching from Christ himself. Being a natural-born smart aleck is indeed a heavy burden to bear. And I confess that my prayers about it are usually ones in a moment of desperation when I've already gone over the line and made a fool of myself once again. Jesus says that I can go to him and he will help me find rest, which in this case, I conclude would be a way to let loose of my snappish inclination and replace it with genuine discourse between me and other persons. Jesus further reminds me that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Now that contains some language that’s really not all that familiar to us today.

The Yoke’s on us

What is a yoke, anyway? Here's what the Greek word ζυγός (zugos) {dzoo-gos'} means: "a wooden bar placed over the neck of a pair of animals so they can pull together; (figuratively) what unites (joins) two people to move (work) together as one," like this:

So the idea is that two work together as one. Another image is like a balance that has two pans balanced on either side of a fulcrum. Whatever you do to change one side will affect the other.

A yoke can also be worn by one person to do the work of two more easily. One example is carrying a heavy load balanced on a yoke across the shoulders, like this.

A yoke, then, is something that keeps us joined so that we can work together with more control. It is a tool that allows us to share a burden and lighten it. A yoke allows a wider span of control – I can carry two heavy buckets instead of one, control a team of oxen, or even a prisoner. A yoke can be used to force an animal or a person to carry a heavy burden. It can be used as a device of punishment or even torture. We even talk about being "under the yoke of oppression," like this poor guy here.

When Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and my burden is light" what is he telling us? This passage only exists in the Gospel of Matthew. Matthew's community of predominantly Jewish converts to Christianity believed it was only possible to be a true disciple of Jesus if one kept The Law. (See Matthew 5:17-20). Jesus was critical of the heavy burden the Pharisees laid on the people of Israel. Matthew presents him as a second law-giver, a new Moses – just as Paul saw Jesus as a new Adam. Jesus saw hypocrisy in the actions and attitudes of the Pharisees and that hypocrisy imprisoned and oppressed the people who were the nation of Israel. Here's what he said: Matthew 23:4 – They tie up heavy burdens [hard to carry] and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.

Less Difficult Means Better Rest

Jesus is saying that, compared to what the Pharisees taught with their hundreds of nit-picky little rules about every little detail of life, Jesus' "rule" – his yoke – was easy. Here is another word that has a rich depth of meaning. The Greek word translated as easy is χρηστός chréstos (khrase-tos') – and it carries the meaning of fitting well, of being useful, pleasant to use, and even kind/gentle. Jesus commands his disciples to love one another (← Click Link). The Pharisees demand the people to obey the law. 

By comparison, Jesus' yoke – his rule for togetherness – is a better fit, kinder, gentler, more useful that the Pharisees' harsh, judgmental stance. They were “unevenly yoked” with the people because they made the burden of the Law more difficult and did not do anything to help the people carry that burden. In short, it makes it easier to walk and work with Jesus because we are “yoked together” with him, and his yoke is easy, his burden is light. He gave us that invitation, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” (← Music Link) That’s an encouraging thought for me. That leads us to the Key Verse from Romans.

Being difficult is part of our human nature just as being amenable is also a natural facet of our nature. The Apostle Paul tells us For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live. Live in the World, die in the World. Die in the Word, Live in the Word. If we are yoked with Jesus, the only part of us that will die is our difficult and sinful nature. Scroll up and look at those two oxen. Now, imagine one of them is Jesus, and the other is you or me. We would be working together. The yoke is Jesus' Love, and the notion of being difficult ends when by the Spirit you and I put to death your sinful actions. Not only does our Lord make it easier to work together, but also he makes it easier to lighten the load. Still, sometimes we choose the option to work in opposition with him – to be difficult, again.

Difficult is “not-easy”

When we are being sorta-kinda difficult, a quick reminder such as some stink-eye, or a sharp verbal response (HEY! Knock it off!) can restore that peaceful, kind, and comfortable yoke with another person. It is easier to work together. When we are being really difficult, it is not at all easy to work together – or to live together, or even speak together. That word, difficult, is based on the Latin root facilis. A few other words from that root are facilitate (to make easier), facility (a capability to do something easily; a place designed to make work easier), and facile (easily done; or, a superficial character). The prefix di- in the word difficult is a derivative of the prefix dis- which cancels the meaning of the following root word, facilis. Ergo, not-easy. Jesus' yoke is not difficult; it is easy. And the burden we carry together is light. What burden(s) do we share with Jesus when we are yoked together with him?

The simple answer is “everything.” Our works, our prayers, our joys, our sorrows; our victories and our defeats; our thoughts, words, and deeds; our fears and anxieties, our hearts’ desires; everything we do and everything we fail to do; all that we have, and all that we are, and everything we can become. That’s a LOT of stuff!! It certainly doesn’t sound like a “light burden.” There’s a good reason for that. We’re not supposed to be carrying all of that stuff. We are supposed to hand it all over to Jesus, he takes care of it, and replaces it with his (much lighter) burden – his Love. That’s what he said he would do, and – as always – he did what he said. Look at the Key Verse from our Psalm.
The Lord is faithful in all his words,
    and gracious in all his deeds.     
¹⁴ The Lord upholds all who are falling,
    and raises up all who are bowed down. When I don’t want to behave, he helps me get back on duty with him. What he says, he will do. What he does, he has said. No matter how badly I cause difficulties, there is always another second chance (← See also 1438AFC091914 (← Click Link) – My 4,357^th Second Chance) Whenever I backslide or fall down, I receive the help I need from the Holy Spirit. My soul is uplifted, my scraped knees and elbows are cleaned and bandaged, and I'm ready to straighten up and TRY right. (I am smart enough to know I can’t fly right!) All of this happens because I am yoked together with a Living Father, and Forgiving Son, and a Giving Developer. Honestly, Belovéd, that makes me very happy, and when I'm happy I tend to be more agreeable and less difficult. In fact, I get to be so happy that I want to Shout to the Lord! (← Music Link)

That rich feeling of satisfying JOY is reflected in the truly remarkable Prophecy found in Zechariah 9:9  – “Rejoice heartily, O daughter Zion, shout for joy, O daughter Jerusalem!!” In Hebrew “rejoice greatly” is גִּילִ֨י מְאֹ֜ד gî-lî mə-’ōḏ which describes the kind of exuberance that jumps, and whirls, and shouts, and laughs and cries, all at once for sheer and utter JOY. One image that comes to my silly little brain is an Aussie shepherd dog playing Frisbee with her owner. When she sees the Frisbee, she knows the game’s afoot and spins, barks, leaps, then runs out and back in anticipation of that Frisbee gone flying. Now then, why should Zion – and we – rejoice greatly?

Rejoice! Here Comes The King

Because, “Here comes the King! Here comes the King! Here comes the King, the Great and Mighty King who is meek and humble of heart. The Almighty, Magnificent, Omnipotent King of Glory!” Not riding in on a proud warhorse, not in a golden chariot, but “triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” That Prophecy is fulfilled in Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Knowing that inclines my heart toward being less difficult and thereby more cheerful, compliant, and easygoing. It’s like in Psalm 34:6 –
⁶ This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord,
    and was saved from every trouble. Whenever things get difficult, we can count on the Lord to help bring us back to Life’s Ease. Whenever this old man gets difficult, ;I can count on the Lord to bring me back to his meek, humble, Loving Heart. True, “It’s so easy to be that difficult,” but it’s also so easy to “find rest for ourselves. For his yoke is easy, and his burden light.” Belovéd, it just makes sense: If we want to be linked with Jesus in the There-and-Then, we ought to be yoked with him in the here-and-now. See? That’s not difficult at all, is it?

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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