“Come
to Me, you 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
I
think this is probably the passage most of us would prefer to “they will
scourge you in their synagogues” (Mt 10:17), or “I did not
come to bring peace but a sword” (Mt 10:34). Yet these
lessons come from the same Blessed Heart and essentially mean the same
thing. Yet we wonder how it could be that the One who would give us
“rest” is also the One who brings “not peace but a sword” or would allow us to
be dragged to a scourging only because we would dare proclaim the Gospel to an
unbelieving world. It’s a good question and one any serious disciple
would be compelled to ask.
The
answer would also be illusive because there is a component of discipleship not
many intentionally sign up for or willingly endure: suffering. This
involves not only the physical abuse we might endure (I just heard on the radio
this morning that a priest was beheaded yesterday in the Middle East) but would
also include being substantially isolated not only from family and friends but
also from associates and others who like to call themselves “saved” but want no
part of discipleship. Suffering is a reality of genuine discipleship, but
this suffering is not by divine will; it is rather divine acknowledgement of a
hard truth in a world that “hated Jesus first”.
Too
many inside and outside the Church want to live their own lives and do their
own thing like Israel during the time of the Judges; for these and many others
the Church is just something they do only on Sunday – if then. They will
call upon the Church when they have need, but they will be unavailable or
unwilling if and when the Church may call upon them. These are not
disciples nor will they endure any suffering in this life for the Gospel
because they are more than willing to go along in order to get along; they want
to be “liked” or be “popular”. They will never receive divine rest
because, frankly, they don’t need it; they take their rest at their leisure and
on their own terms.
The
promise of divine rest is to those who endure, those who suffer not because
they brought suffering upon themselves but because they believed enough in the
Gospel of the Lord to actually live it. For these nothing ever goes
“their way”, but they don’t mind because they believe in the promise that when
they have done all they can do for the Church and for the Gospel, the Lord will
give them rest. They believe this, and they are willing to stake their
lives on it.
We
cannot have it both ways. There are no magic spells or incantations that
make our wishes come true, and the Lord’s will is never aligned with our own
nor can we rub a magic lamp and make the Lord act against His own will and
answer to us. Yet because some segments of the Church are willing to say
anything or do anything to give the people what they want, there are many would-be
disciples who are unprepared when bad things inevitably come. It is no
different than raising our children and teaching them the meaning of the word
“no”, correcting them when they do wrong, and punishing them when they go off
the charts in bad behavior. Why should the Church be different?
Let
us pray for opportunities to not only proclaim the Gospel but to also have the
opportunities to share in the sufferings of the saints who have gone before us;
genuine saints who were NOT “good ol’ boys” whom everyone liked. They
were faithful witnesses to the Truth – and now they have their rest.
Blessings,
Michael
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