The scriptures – God’s perfect Word trapped within imperfect human word – are the direct source of our faith and the most important rule of our living. The written Word teaches you how to glorify God.
One of our fallen world’s more-wicked displays of sin emerges when a crafty person finds a tricky way to turn another person’s integrity into a liability. The bad actor zeroes in on a good character trait that someone clearly and undeniably embodies, then turns that virtue into something that lands the other in hot water.
Take, for example, some of the current conversation around the practice of empathy, the willing ability to understand and share the feelings and experiences of friend, neighbor, or stranger. Certain circles view empathy as a weakness – a vulnerability that leaves the heart and mind open to manipulation, biased decision-making, poor stewardship of resources, and emotional exhaustion. And they’re not entirely wrong.
Yet, when properly managed, empathy actually is a crucial strength for building relationships, gaining understanding, and effective problem-solving. When borne of the Holy Spirit and nourished in prayer, empathy is a sacred virtue quite-in-keeping with the Christian Gospel and similar beliefs held by the world’s great religions. Even so, supposed adherents to faith still shun the practice of empathy and turn the tables of debate against the empathetic.
The dishonest trick comes from a well-worn playbook. During the 1948 campaign for a Texas seat in the U.S. Senate, then-Congressman Lyndon B. Johnson ran against a highly popular former governor of Texas, Coke Stevenson.
Mr. Johnson knew that Mr. Stevenson held high regard for human intelligence. Mr. Stevenson believed that intelligent people recognized a blatant lie when they saw one, such that he felt no need to refute a falsehood publicly. The good folks of Texas will figure it out for themselves. Turning that belief against Mr. Stevenson, LBJ put out a blatant lie about his opponent’s stance on a trade issue. Mr. Johnson knew that Mr. Stevenson would never lower himself to refute the charge, confidently believing in the electorate’s ability to sift and winnow its way to the truth.
Problem was that, after LBJ hammered away at the lie long enough, folks started to believe it, and by the time Mr. Stevenson finally realized that and spoke up publicly, it was too late. Mr. Johnson pounced on Mr. Stevenson for his feeble, too-little-too-late defense. Mr. Stevenson stood tall as a man of integrity who believed in the integrity of others. And LBJ took those virtues and made them liabilities for Mr. Stevenson.
Peering back even farther in human history, that same skullduggery rears its ugly head in this morning’s Scripture lesson from the Gospel of Matthew. In the moment, nefarious players are taking the good and virtuous examples of Jesus and John the Baptist and turning them into accusatory millstones. By twisting words and misinterpreting action, political and theological critics of John and Jesus are turning actual asset into alleged liability. And that’s a pretty evil thing to do.
Sola scriptura! Scripture alone! Listen to the Word that God has spoken:
“To what will I compare this generation?” Jesus asks.
“It is like children sitting in the marketplaces 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.”
Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you! Woe to you!! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in more faithful communities, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the repentant than for you.
And you, Capernaum, [where I healed a man on the Sabbath], will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to hell. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in [the wickedly inhospitable city of Sodom], it would remain today. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.” (Matthew 11:16-24)
The Lord pretty much says that it is great theological folly to look at who he is and what he does then choose to deride him for those words and actions.
“The problem with you people,” Jesus proclaims, “is that you want to call all the shots, force every prophet into your own pre-conceived mold. If you don’t like the message, you pick up on some aspect of the messenger as an excuse to reject him or her entirely. John never eats, and you say that’s just bananas. I do enjoy eating and drinking, and you say I’m a liberal gourmet. It’s high time you listen to what God’s prophets say and stop looking for excuses for the fingers you keep sticking in your ears to block out God’s truth.”
The people’s stiff-necked stubbornness clearly frustrates Jesus. Like a whiny Goldilocks judging spiritual lifestyles, the people claim that John’s way is “too hard” and Jesus’s way “too soft.” The grumblers are still searching for their “just right,” so they refuse to accept anything that either of God’s messengers is offering.
Look around, and you’ll see so many of Jesus’s followers – working for good, following the wisdom of God, and accepting God’s will – who are then punished for that holy work because it does not toe a particular line. It is to these faithful-but-exhausted disciples that Jesus extends an invitation to join him in prayerful pause. Returning to Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus then 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 who are weary and 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.” (Matthew 11:25-30)
The Lord’s talk of “easy” yokes and “light” burdens is among the New Testament’s most familiar, yet, as is often the case, something gets lost in translation.
“Easy” refers not to something simple or relaxed but instead bears a ring of kindness and benevolence, something morally upright and suitably pleasant; that which is superior, that which well-equips the yoke’s wearer to fulfill a particular holy purpose. And that oftentimes heavy-lifting becoming lightweight for those abiding in the love of God, the grace and peace of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Apparently Jesus’s yoke is the polar opposite of what a body usually associates with such encumbrance. At first blush, a yoke appears like something you impose by force upon another, something you’d just as soon not have laid upon your shoulders to begin with. Yet Jesus’s yoke is a kind and pleasant phenomenon, not to be despised but welcomed, as when someone you love lays a hand of encouragement upon you, a hand of gentle navigation to those places where you can flourish.
“Exchange your heavy burdens of expectation, anger, and prejudice and instead take my yoke of humble, compassionate service to another,” commands the Lord. Grow further and deeper in heaven’s wisdom by learning from God’s Word both living and written precisely how to rise above a world that rejects you – a world that rejects truth, rejects beauty, rejects goodness; a world that rejects empathy and mercy. Learn from Jesus: The One so wise, so emotionally and spiritually mature, that he remains gentle and humble in heart no matter what a broken and fearful world throws his way in feeble attempt to block his path.
And Jesus promises what he knows will result: True rest for weary souls. The burden just happens to be light and the yoke easy in comparison to the tortured existence you suffer when you obsess over living up to the malicious pressures and evil demands of this world and the hateful and spiteful mongrels who occupy it. What Jesus envisions is the freedom borne of standing out from the hypocritical crowd as a soul and spirit of faithful integrity who fully knows that what matters most is what the Triune God invites of you and me.
In the grace-filled wisdom of God, you and I may trust like hungry infants being fed in the arms of a loving, benevolent parent who only desires our goodness – and the redemption of all Creation from the trap of all its wicked displays of sinfulness.
Sola Scriptura! Scripture alone!
The Word of the Lord! Thanks be to God!
Pastor Grant M. VanderVelden shared this message during worship on Reformation Sunday, October 26, 2025, at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon, Iowa. Scholarship, commentary, and reflection by Chelsey Harmon and Scott Hoezee inform the message.