Mustard Seeds and Mountains

MUSTARD SEEDS AND MOUNTAINS

“Come to me, all you who are burdened and I will give you rest.” 

(Matt 11-28)

As promises go, this one is actually impossible to resist.  It’s the kind of offer that makes one say, “ What do I have to lose? I’m going for it.”

Let’s say you do go for it.  What happens next? A lot of that depends on what you expect.  If you expect that all your problems will disappear and you will never be burdened again, you will be disappointed.  God does not promise to live our lives for us.  God wants us to be happy in this life, but in order for that to happen, we have to be in control of that life.  We have to make the mistakes, correct the mistakes and make amends for the mistakes so that we are truly living. 

What Jesus promises is to be with us all along the way.  It takes faith to believe that.  Jesus said if you have faith the size of mustard seed you could move mountains.  I don’t want to move mountains; I just want to get through this life without screwing up too much.  Of course, that often seems like moving mountains.

Here Jesus promises to help with the moving.  Certainly he knows life on earth. Every human thing that happened to Jesus can be found in the Gospel stories.  Read them. Put yourself in his place.  See how deeply connected we are to him. 

His boyhood friend and the only person who understood his mission, with the possible exception of his mother, was cruelly murdered by the king, leaving him alone to continue his work.  He was accused of blasphemy against God, while all he was trying to do was show the immense love of God to people whose understanding of that had been buried in law and punishment.  He went home to visit his mother and his neighbors tried to kill him.

Nothing that can happen to you is unknown to him.  All of human promises, like lifetime guarantees and ironclad contracts, come with asterisks.  The promises of Christ do not.  They are real, they are meant specifically for you and you can put your trust in them. You have absolutely nothing to lose except the loneliness of trying to carry your burdens alone. 

“Come to me.  I will give you rest.”

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA