`But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting
in the market-places 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.'
The Gospel of the Lord
All: Praise to you, Lord Christ
Address (Zach Jeffers)
Good morning, my name is Zachary Jeffers, and I am the intern working here
with the Mission to Seafarers, working through the Young Adult Service Corps
that is based out of The Episcopal Church in America.
I would say these few lines from Matthew are probably some of the best
known and most quoted lines Jesus says in the Gospel:
"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."
Often we hear it by itself, out of context. We don't hear the things that were
said before it, and we just get the nice message, "I will give you rest". We forget
the first part we heard in the Gospel reading today, the part where Jesus scolds
an entire generation of people for acting like spoiled children. Children who cry
when they don't get what they want, children that are upset when someone
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