14th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am [nonviolent] and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is [kind], and my burden is light.
​~Matthew 11:29-30
 
What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded…sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly.
~George Saunders
 
One of the central images for Christian discipleship is that of the yoke Jesus invites his followers to willingly take on. This is, of course, typically understood as an image of burden. But it is the contrast of this burden, traditionally translated as “easy” but, perhaps better as “kind,” to the burdens of other cultural expectations that Jesus seems to be emphasizing here. There is no such thing as an unburdened life. The question is what kind of burdens will we take on. For some lead to life.
 
The novelist and teacher George Saunders had something of a viral moment when, speaking to the 2013 graduate class of Syracuse University’s College of Arts and Sciences, he made a distinction between being kind and being nice. There’s something here that connects closely to the invitation of Jesus to put on his yoke.
 
And it speaks to not only the nature of the Christian life, but the leadership into which we are invited within the church. Apropos to be sure, on a day we welcome new leaders we have called into our ministry.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings:  Zechariah 9:9-12  † Psalm 145 † Romans 7:15-25a † Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
 
About the Art: William Cumming. Worker Lifting a Rock, 1940. Personal photo. Seattle Art Museum, March 2026.
 
About the Artist: Largely self-taught Cumming came into the orbit of other depression-era artists while employed by the WPA. Inspired by Kenneth Callahan, Cumming applied the broad forms and clear delineation of Mexican mural painting to his pictures of workers. Highly skilled as a draftsman, Cumming specialized in capturing the human body in motion; his work-life vignettes are dynamic renditions of the physical effort, daily drudgery, and economic challenges of labor in Depression-era Seattle. Here, he captures the toil of clearing the rough terrain around the Puget Sound to make room for development. A broad-shouldered rock picker braces himself as he prepares to move a massive boulder, and a second, larger rock awaits the grueling cycle of excavation (adapted from accompanying commentary at the Seattle Art Museum, March 2026).

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