Putting down our burdens and taking up our cross

 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. - Luke 12:13-21

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Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? - Matthew 11:29-30

We always imagine that the sacrifice of the cross means taking up a burden and it is, it’s the burden of love outlined in Matthew 5 

But to carry one thing often means to put another thing down. It’s making a choice. Like Jesus says, we can’t serve two masters.  We are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. The burden of sin is a burden Jesus asks us to lay down. The burden that comes from our own pride, greed, fear, envy and other sins are burdens we were never meant to carry.

Things we carry out of pride, fear and control rather than the sacrifice of love. 

When we lay down the burdens we were never meant to carry: the one’s driven by pride, fear, greed and any other sin, we are better able to pick up and carry that which is inspired by repentance and love. 

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Burdens we may carry that we were never meant to carry:

• To impress others or feel in control. We try to create an external sense of peace. We might organise our home till it is showroom standard yet leave no time to pray and receive peace in the sanctuary of our hearts. 

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. - Luke 10:41-42

• We might act in haste and urgency rather than trust that God is holding all things providentially in His hands. 

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:27-33

• We might get too caught up other people’s sin. Mother Teresa said if we judge others we can’t love them. We must not forget to tend to the most important commandment to love God and our neighbour and to do unto for others as you’d have  them do unto you. - Luke 6:31

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. - Matthew 22:34-40

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? - Matthew 7

‘You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.’ - Matthew 24 

• We might take  on the burden of societal expectations about our appearance and end up spending inordinate amounts of time and money on hair, make-up, clothing, fixating and stressing about how we look. 

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. -1 Peter 3:3-4

• We might take on the burden for our own provision onto our own backs. We might become so career orientated, that what began as a means to contribute our gifts and talents, turns us into a slave to them.  We might build our identity on our personal achievements rather than Christ.

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. - Psalm 127:1

 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. -Matthew 6:24

• We might push and over schedule ourselves and our children out of fear and pride and in so doing plant seeds of materialism, greed and fear in their hearts.

 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. - Ephesians 6-4

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. - Galatians 1:10

• We might try to "save" others by looking at the speck of sawdust in others eyes rather than the log in our own.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast. -Ephesians 2:8-9

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. - John 14:6

• We might be so organised and make our plans, goals and tasks so inflexible we end up scheduling the inspiration of the Holy Spirit right out of our lives.

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” - Luke 12:13

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” - Hebrews 3:7

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Let’s pray for the grace to discern what we should lay down and what we should carry.

meeting with Poor Clare sister who had been a member of the order for 20 years after joining up in her teens.

"She had inexhaustible inner light that would endure through the direst of circumstances. She had come to that light through the ability to say no to everything except the thing most precious to her, an inner focus based on her personal spirituality and the religious life to which she had given herself. Out of those years of saying no, blossomed a magnificent yes; magnificent because she would be nourishing much more than the physical health of those she would care for - a yes that could be followed fully because after all those years gathering her Psyche into one single body of faith, every part of her would be uttering it Yes!"

Extract from poet David Whyte's book "The Heart Aroused"