Be Still And Know That You Are Loved: Identity, Rest, and Reconciliation - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

SummaryMother Nan Doerr draws on Matthew's invitation — "Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest" — to remind us that Jesus calls us into partnership with him, sharing the weight of whatever burdens we carry. Like two oxen yoked together, we are not meant to shoulder life's struggles alone, but to trust God to bear the greater portion of the load. Through prayer, stillness, and a willingness to return to God, we find the rest and renewal that only he can give.A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew                              Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30Jesus said to the crowd, “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.’For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.“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.” Artwork:  The Burden, Honore Daumier (1853)