Roman 7:15-25a/ Psalm 45/ Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Lean On Me

Weary and Traumatized

This is a rhetorical question, but do you ever feel tired but not physically? There are a lot of things in life and in the world that make us feel weary and stressed out. The biggest cause of my weariness is bigotry. For me, a queer woman of colour, there are so many encounters or stories that stress me out, and even traumatize me.

When I was living in Kimberley and didn’t have a family doctor, there was a time I needed some medical care. I went to the medical clinic and asked if I could be assigned a doctor. The first thing the receptionist said was, “the medical services are for residents of this town only.” I felt like someone wacked me on the head. I replied, “I am a resident of this town.” Then, and only then, did she tell me that, due to the shortage of doctors and one having recently retired, they are not able to accept new patient at the moment. Why couldn’t she have started with that? In fact, that was the only information she had to give me. I was shaking inside.

Microaggression like this is quite common when you live as a minority and it can traumatize us. But that is not the end of the story. Thanks to a man I knew from the Kimberley Refugee Resettlement Group whose wife was one of our doctors, I was able to get the medical test I needed. I posted the traumatic racism experience on Facebook, and someone told the doctor that I was vilifying our medical system on Facebook. I felt like someone knocked me down and then kicked me while I was still down. I explained to her that I was sharing my experience of racism, not criticizing the medical system.

I am also traumatized by how homophobes attack queer people, especially in Korea. It stresses me out and I am traumatized. Our experiences are all different, but I’m sure you can think of what makes you weary and stressed out in your lives.

“Wretched Man That I Am!”

In today’s reading of Romans chapter 7, we are reminded of another cause for our weariness as Christians. We have decided to follow Jesus and received the Holy Spirit, yet, in spite of our will to live faithfully as Christians, a lot of time, we fail. It was normal for Christians to feel frustrated and discouraged whenever that happens. We want to live like Jesus but it is difficult because we are only human. Paul, who seems like the perfect apostle, was not an exception. He must have been so distressed that he said, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” We can relate to him.

World Full of Negativity

Our reading from Matthew identifies another cause for our distress. John came fasting and people said, “He has a demon.” The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and people said, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”

Don’t you want to scream, “What do you want?” People acting like this is quite familiar to us. I think it is human nature to love criticizing more than accepting and being generous towards other. We seem to love negative stories more on media too. There are people who are never satisfied, as we can learn from how the crowd reacted to John and Jesus. Jesus must have been so tired of having to deal with so many negative people.

“Come To Me, and I Will Give You Rest.”

In this human condition of being mentally tired from all the negativity, Jesus offers us comfort. “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.”

Is there anything better when we are weary than someone saying, “I am here for you?” How comforting is our Jesus? “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” indeed. We can find comfort and rest in Jesus. We can listen to Jesus say, to us, “It is okay to not be perfect or struggle with stuff. You will be okay even if you get constantly attacked by so much negativity. I’ll be there for you. You can lean on me.”

Putting Our Trust in God

This is why we can find hope in Jesus. This is how Paul can say, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord,” right after calling himself wretched. This is how the psalmist can utter a song and confess that God is the fairest who blessed him. This is why we can give praise and thanksgiving to God even in the midst of stress and trauma. We can praise God even before help comes our way because we have faith.

Knowing how stressful our life and this society can be, as we put our trust in God and lay our burdens down at the feet of Jesus, let us look around us to find those who are suffering different problems. We can relate to them because we know what it is like to be weary and stressed out.

Let us be God’s hands and feet to bring comfort and rest as God is there for us. Let us lessen their burdens and provide them with our comforting arms and shoulders. Let us give them the message, “It’s okay to not be perfect. It’s okay to struggle. I am here for you. You can lean on me. I will share your burdens.” As we meditate on today’s message, let us listen to the song “Lean On Me.”