On the fourth, nothing is more American than mulling over the meaning of independence.  While we are firing up our grills and throwing on the ballpark franks, we must be frank about what Jesus might call “the featherweight burden” of living free.  Seeing that independence is on our minds, maybe this is a good time to spend more time wandering what Jesus means by living free.  

Picture Jesus standing with hands on hips saying, “there’s just no pleasing some people!”  You know these contrarian types whose glory is being grouchy and whose shame is being agreeable!  The noisy town square in this Palestinian village is filled with children playing grown-up with games like “weddings” and “funerals:” These children want to play dress up, but some of their play dates just aren’t in the mood.  Hear the word to the whiners:  We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.

Jesus says, “To what shall I compare this generation?”  Does this generation compare to the passionate flute players and wailers or to the passive bystanders on the town square who did not dance and did not mourn?  Truth be told, the religion of the generation was not so much like the ones dancing and parading in the streets.  It was more like the ones sitting the benches on the Main Street sidewalks watching the parade go by. 

Yes, what a spectacle it must have been to those testy scribes and Pharisees who wore their piety on their sleeves.  All the while Jesus was going to parties with the likes of dice players, tax collectors, and managers of pigeon races; people like the Pharisees were keeping score on the kind of life he lived.

This generation was the ones who were judgmental, non-committal, disinterested, and suspicious even of the free spirited ways of Jesus.  Matthew says melancholy John the Baptist came “neither eating or drinking” and the people said, “He has a demon.”  But John was no more a demon than the free spirited Jesus was a drunk and a glutton.  You see, the problem was not with Jesus or John, the flute players or the wailers.  The problem was with those who heard the wedding music but refused to celebrate; those who heard the mourner’s cries but refused to grieve. 

You’ve heard of modern day wallflowers:  the unsuspecting types who may be full of imagination and surprise, they are the quiet types in the corner of the room who prefer deep conversations to dance floor gyrations.  They can appear awkward and shy, but once you get to know them you find out where their passions lie.  They can be reflective and introspective and deep thinkers.

Seems Matthew’s idea of wallflowers, though, are those who keep their walls up; bound by inhibition and fear that has drained God’s dreams right out of them.  There is something keeping them from trusting the joy of dancing in the streets.  Life without lightheartedness is a heavy burden, indeed. 

It was to these public wallflowers and all others who came with heavy hearts that Jesus offers consolation and friendship:  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.

Now I’ve learned that yokes come in two sizes.  The single yoke is a wooden harness fit upon the shoulders and neck of oxen; made to carry heavy loads across rough terrain.  The single yoke has to be frequently set down to rest the shoulders.  A double yoke is made for two partners, and if it is the perfect fit, two can work all day without stopping.  As a carpenter by trade, Jesus would tailor-make yokes to fit oxen.  It’s kind of like buying custom-fit North Face hiking boots; you want a perfect fit that’s not too tight and will endure the wear and tear of the trail.  Otherwise, you will need some serious spa treatment for those hot spots.

Jesus offers to teach us the way to carry life’s load without collapsing under the weight of our commitments to work, family, and the spiritual life.  He promises a way to work with satisfaction not frustration…to love our families without neglect, and to enjoy our relationship to God rather than making chores of it.   

Matthew’s wallflowers were those weighted down under the single yoke of a thousand rules on how to honor the Sabbath, libraries of books on what to eat and how to eat it. 

They could learn a thing or two from the free spirits of the group: They must first know that being free-spirited is not about shirking responsibilities.  Free spirits are not loose canons living recklessly.  But when our spirits get free, we walk with a lighter foot and a spring in our step.  When our spirits are free, it is after we have let go of our yokes long enough to let Jesus shoulder some of the load, too.

Jesus’ free-spirited nature was targeted by ammo of accusations:  he eats too much, he drinks too much, he has the wrong friends and what really takes our holiday cake…we think he may be having too much fun.  If John was way too serious, Jesus is way too scandalous.  The scandal of free spirits like Jesus is the refusal to sit on the sidewalk with folded arms and scowled faces.  Free spirits learn to let Jesus take the load off and join the dance of life. 

But Jesus’ talk of easy yokes does not mean it makes for an easy life. 

What Jesus invites us to see is that living free may have more to do with interdependence than independence. 

Such talk might make us squeamish; independence after all means growing up and learning to help ourselves.  We are adults, here.  And isn’t it a better option than dependence; having always to rely on someone else? 

Henri Nouwen says there is a 3rd way.  He says, “If we really had to choose between dependence and independence, we would be in trouble.  The choice is really between alienation and interdependence.   Independenceis alienation.  It cuts us off from others.  But mere dependence is alienation too.  For mere dependence is slavery…But interdependence joins us with others through the bond of a joyful give-and-take, a bond of belonging.  Dependence ties us with the ties of slavery.  Independenceties us with the ties of illusion.  But the bonds of interdependence are ties that set us free.(Cited by (Stendl-Rast, David, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer)

Such bonds of interdependence are affirmed through the yoke of truth and justice that prevailed in the free spirit of religious liberty and the separation of church and state.  On this freedom day weekend, we Baptist Christians remember the passion of our ancestors “whose veins in their necks bulged red at the thought of religious discrimination.”(sermon by Walter Shurden, First Freedoms Conference, 14 April 2005) They proclaimed the message that we must carry on:  Religious freedom is for everybody or it is for nobody. 

Baptist Christians in America have a special place in the national conversation on what it means to live free: one way is to take our heritage seriously by re-committing ourselves to uphold both the free exercise and no establishment clauses of the First Amendment.  We must refuse to abuse our religious majority status to use the heavy yoke of religious belief to break the backs of those who don’t agree with us; violating the very freedom of those who Christ came to set free.

Reflective Baptists must learn to be free spirits in the public square who dare to take our place in the marketplace of ideas, values and practices, too.  The rise to prominence of the Christian right in the public square must be met equally by the rise of the Christian left, the Christian middle, and the symphony of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and other religious voices that captures the free spirit of American religious pluralism. 

Taking the yoke of Jesus to that end is learning how to serve the world with the featherweight burden of peace and humility; our souls could use heavy doses of both. 

Personally, we are loaded down with our bundle of burdens and a world of worry:  having enough money, having good health or even worrying about how to live a good and meaningful life.  Yet, we sense something deeper and truer about ourselves; that we are more than breadwinners, moneymakers, and religious robots.

Do you feel more like a spiritual wallflower or a free spirit or sometimes a little bit of both?  Some of us need to learn to celebrate and let our hair down.  Some of us need to learn to grieve and let our guards down.  Jesus takes us to a place where we can do both. Jesus takes us to the place where our hearts are weightless; where the dead weight of fear and dread is lifted from our souls. 

If you are hungry; come and eat.  If you are thirsty; come and drink.  If you are tired; come and rest.

Being in the company of Jesus is being caught up in the Spirit of the Christ who is truly free.  Whether wallflower or free spirit, in the deepest places of our lives, there is a resting place where we can see ourselves dancing in the streets and listening to the laughter of the joy of God.  Amen.