His Yoke is Easy: Kaylee Hibbard

This homily was delivered at our Sunday Evening Eucharist Service on 7/9/23.

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 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 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 11:25-30)

I always find it incredibly humbling to have to write a homily, because it never fails that whenever I write one, I realize some flawed idea I had in my head about what the scripture reading is saying. For example, this week I kept getting hung up on all of the talk about Jesus’ yoke. One thing that will always keep me grounded and help me to realize that I am never as smart as I actually think I am is homophones. I was racking my brain trying to figure out the hidden significance and meaning for why Jesus would speak about the yellow center of an egg. Come to find out, yoke and yolk have two entirely separate meanings. Yoke, the biblical one not the egg, is a wooden cross piece that is fastened over the neck of an animal and then attached to whatever the animal is supposed to be pulling. Usually, the yoke is made for two animals to pull together. I think there’s something significant about why there is often room for two, and I think that this plays a part in the heavy theme of humility that is embedded in our Gospel reading today.

What is a greater reminder of our need for humility than being reminded that we aren’t intended to pick up His yoke alone, that Jesus will teach us, alongside us, how to bear our own burdens? Part of the reason that Jesus tells us His burden is light is because we were never intended, or capable, of bearing that load by ourselves. With His help, it is light. When we are told to take His yoke upon us, this is God telling us to yield to Him by surrendering the part of ourselves that still holds onto the hope that we can do anything alone. I never thought I struggled to be humble in my own life, but I find it incredibly difficult to let go of the part of me that wants to do everything myself. I have always been the person that hates group work, because I just know someone in my group will screw everything up. I love the company of other people, but I will always opt to run errands or perform tasks alone so that I can be in control of the outcome and pace. The fact that I am unable to solve my own problems or be reliant on myself is really challenging for me. The irony of it all is that, even if humans were capable of shouldering all of their own burdens, no one can do it as well as God can.

Earlier in Matthew 11, there is a passage about John the Baptist where Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, of all who have ever lived, none is greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least person in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he is!” I’m definitely not a terrible person, I’m alright, but even still, Jesus isn’t going around saying I’m the best person to ever exist. And if I can’t even be as good as the greatest person, who am I to think that I could ever possibly do anything as good alone as I could with God’s provision? Despite my natural tendency to want to have control over my life, if I was ever the sole contributor to my life, it would crash and burn. To be yoked is to be in submission, and so if I am not allowing myself to submit to God’s guidance and control of my life, what am I submitting to?

Any moments of peace or joy in my life have all been moments where I stopped hopelessly resisting submission to God, and took up the yoke of Jesus, instead. The longer we are held by the yoke of this world, the farther we are from being able to accept the free gift of rest for our souls and the freely offered peace that has satisfied entire nations before us. If there were ever an occasion to truly be humble and realize we cannot endure this life alone, it is here at the table, where Jesus alone made it possible for us to know you, Lord, and have eternal life. When we take Communion today, I pray that we may all view it as a reminder of the righteous, victorious, and compassionate God we are submitting to when we take up the yoke of Jesus. Amen.

Kaylee is an incredible servant of Christ. We are blessed here at Wesley by her joy, love, dedication, and friendship which she pours out in full measure to anyone she meets. Now a senior Kinesiology major at LA Tech, she is our worship leader at Wesley, as well as a member of our Discipleship Team. We’re so thankful for her leadership!