The "burden" of being a Christian

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth (1 John 5:1-6).

How do you know whether or not you really love God? How do you know that you truly love your fellow Christians? In today’s Epistle lesson, St. John tells us how we can find out the answer. John tells us to look at how we are living our lives from day to day. The words that we speak, the actions that we take: are they words and deeds that conform to our Lord’s teachings? John writes, This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.

And what are those commands, exactly? What are we to be doing every day which gives proof of our love for God and our brothers and sisters in the faith? Jesus summarized what God expects of us in Mark chapter 12: One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: `Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

These are the commands of God--Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength...Love your neighbor as yourself. But we must not understand our Lord to only be speaking about warm emotions in the heart; earlier in 1st John the epistle writer tells us, This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:16-18).

So the command of God, then, is to love our Lord and our fellow Christians with actions, not just with words. We are to give to God our time and our attention in worship and study. We are to support the mission of the church through our gifts and our personal witness of our faith. We are to show respect for our parents and all who have been given authority. We are to give aid to the poor, care to the sick, time to the lonely. We are to stand up for those who cannot defend themselves. When we do these things without holding back, we love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, mind and strength; in doing these things, we love our neighbor as ourselves.
John tells us, his commands are not burdensome. They are not burdensome, because everyone born of God overcomes the world. When we love God, we are assured of victory over the world. This victory is three-fold.

First of all, when we are in a love relationship with God, the problems of daily life are brought under control. In Romans 8:28, Paul tells us we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. This means that no matter what kinds of aggravations the world puts in our way, God has the power and the concern for us to make sure that every dark cloud in our lives will eventually reveal a silver lining.

Second, when we are living in union with God, we are assured of His defense against the assaults of the devil. The devil attacks us by trying to make us afraid; he tries to make us fear that we are unlovable, that we are unforgivable, that we are all alone with our problems. But John tells us, there is no fear in love (1 John 4:18). Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. Jesus died so that we do not have to be afraid. Jesus’ love drives out all fear. The fact that Jesus was willing to endure the terrible anger of God to spare you from punishment for your sins is proof that you are lovable, you are forgivable, that God has not left you alone with your problems. Jesus’ love for you drives out fear, and so protects you from the devil’s most devastating weapon.

Third, when we are walking in our Lord’s ways, we are in Him and He is in us. Jesus said, Remain in me, and I will remain in you (John 15:4). This means that we have Jesus within us to help us resist temptation—the desire to use our time and money to make ourselves comfortable, when God is calling for our attention and our fellow Christians are suffering in need. Our evil human nature wants us to be Number One, while the command of God tells us to make God Number One, and our brothers and sisters in the faith our equals in the Number Two position. It is only through the presence of Jesus in our hearts that we can get our priorities straight. It is only with Jesus’ help that we can avoid ruining our relationships with others by being selfish, inflexible, and unforgiving.

But even though God’s ways give us victory over the world, the devil, and our own weak human nature, the sinfulness within us still sees God’s commands as burdensome. There are times in our lives when we don’t want to get out of bed to go to a church activity. There are times when we would rather spend money on a trip to a casino or a night in a bar instead of putting it in the offering plate. There are times when we really don’t want to forgive someone who has wronged us, we don’t want to feel guilty about cheating, we don’t want to say we are sorry for breaking a few rules while we were having a good time. When the pleasures of sin are foremost in our minds, the commands of God do appear burdensome.

It is because of this problem that Jesus came into our world to suffer and die on Good Friday, and rise again on Easter morning. Through His crucifixion, Jesus accepted all of His heavenly Father’s angry punishment for our selfish disobedience. Through His resurrection from death, Jesus proved that He is greater than our sins, which He left defeated in His grave. With the power of sin brought to heel, Jesus proves that He can change our lives.

Our sins hang across our shoulders like bags of wet sand, making every step through life a struggle. People tell lies to get what they want from others, but then they have to continually remember their lies in precise detail, lest they get found out. Loved ones get into bitter fights and end up not speaking to each other for years, because neither one wants to admit that he or she was wrong. Some become addicted to alcohol or pills to relieve stress, and bring eventual ruin to their health and their pocketbooks. Others make a habit of using people to achieve their own ends, then casting them aside when they are no longer useful; such people spend years wondering why they can never build a relationship of lasting trust with another person.

These are the kinds of burdens the world gives us to bear—burdens of lies, bitterness, compulsive behavior, and betrayal. These are heavy loads to bear, and every year that we struggle through, the burden gets only worse as we add even more sins to the load. How sweet, then, to hear Jesus say, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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" (Matthew 11:28-30).

Jesus’ burden is light, when you compare it to the burdens of the world. Which is more burdensome? Knowing the truth, even though it is a truth that many in the world cannot accept? Or living your life making sure that you don’t accidentally damage your web of lies? Which is more burdensome? Forgiving loved ones for hurting you, or letting them go to their grave without ever again having the chance to share words of love and tenderness, in order to protect your pride? Which is more burdensome? To pray to Jesus for help and trust that He will see you through any trouble, or to be a slave to booze or drugs or sex or gambling in order to feel good, even if it sickens your body or leaves you penniless? Which is more burdensome? To make commitments to others and follow through on them, or to face the end of your life alone, with no one you can trust, no one you can turn to for help? These are the burdens of Christ and the burdens of the world—which are truly more burdensome?

If we are honest with ourselves, we have to admit that even Jesus’ lighter load is impossible for us to carry. But God never asks us to do something that is beyond our means. John writes, This is love for God: to obey his commands. John would not tell us this if such a thing were impossible. And it’s not impossible. When Jesus lives in us, His forgiveness lives in us, His strength lives in us, His wisdom to walk in the paths of God lives in us. When Jesus lives in us we can obey God’s commands, because it is Jesus within us, the Holy One of God, who does what is right and good. Paul writes in Philippians 2:13, it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

When Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light, He meant that the yoke is easy and the burden light because He helps us in carrying them!

How do you know that you truly love God and your fellow Christians? You know it by the evidence of Jesus’ works in your life. When you give instead of take, when you thank instead of complain, when you forgive instead of brooding, when you give God the glory instead of taking the credit for yourself, you demonstrate that Jesus lives in you. And when Jesus lives in you, you live in God, and His love becomes an essential part of your life. It is that love that helps you to see that God’s commands are not burdensome--they are light, because your Lord Jesus is right there with you, helping you to do His will every day.

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever (Hebrews 13:20-21).