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Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, we’ll be looking at the Old Testament reading for today for the sermon text. Please be seated.
It was terrible, that burden that I had to carry. The burden of my people. The burden of their greedy, selfish complaining. Ah, I wish you could have seen it. Well, at least you did get to hear about it today in your Old Testament reading. In fact, I wrote it. I’m Moses, and maybe you’ve heard of me, or some movie with some Charlton Heston guy in it. And you can probably relate to me, because I bet that you too have to deal with some pretty burdensome people. But just imagine spending 40 years in the desert with them. That’s what I was dealing with.
Let me give you a little background about that Old Testament reading today. Thousands of years ago, my people, the Israelites, the Hebrews, the people of Yahweh, you call them God today in your circles, we were slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years. But God delivered us from slavery and called me to be their deliverer, their leader. And at first, it was great. We saw Yahweh do some amazing things, and we were freed from slavery, and we left Egypt. We were like one really big, happy family. And we started a journey into the wilderness, and that’s when the complaints started to roll in.
“Moses, we’re hungry. Moses, we’re thirsty. Are we there yet?” So I talked to Yahweh, and He gave us food. He gave us manna, a bread-like food that came down from heaven and was there every morning. But that wasn’t enough. “Moses, all we’ve got is this manna. We want more. We want something else. We want meat.”
What was so bad about manna? I mean, it was free and delivered fresh every morning. Sure, it was the same thing for every meal, but we got creative with it. We made manna burgers, filet-o-manna, manna on a stick, manna cotti, b-manna bread. We even made wine out of it. Today it’s called manna chevitz. But was that enough? No!
Manna live. I was told people today have a sense of humor, and so I wanted to use that. We Israelites, we Jewish people have a sense of humor too, but my people, “Moses, we want meat! Remember all that great grub that we had back in Egypt? That’s what we want, Moses.” Just where am I going to get that? Their greedy, selfish complaining was a burden.
But you know what the real problem with them was? They had forgotten what Yahweh had done for them and how He had provided for them in the past. They stopped trusting Him, but they complained to me. What a burden. So I said to Yahweh, “Why has the burden of this people come on me? Did I give birth to them? Am I their mother? I can’t carry this burden alone. Where am I going to get food for them? Why are you making this so hard on me, Yahweh? In fact, Yahweh, let me die. Why? Just kill me.”
Yeah, that’s pretty pathetic, I know. Because I sure did my share of complaining too, didn’t I? Like the rest of my people, I was only thinking about myself. I was so selfish too. I had forgotten the things, the amazing things that Yahweh had done. I had forgotten how He had provided. I had forgotten that I can trust Him. But it was such a burden.
And I suppose you’re not immune to that either. You too? You too? Let’s listen. What God has done for you in the past. You too may forget that He’s provided for you in the past. You may not trust Him. You too may have times of greedy, selfish complaining.
In fact, I hear that things aren’t much different today than they were back in my time. The burden of that sin can really get heavy. You know what I’m talking about. Things that you’ve done that embarrass you, accuse you, shame you, burden you. And the burden of that sin may get so heavy that you can’t carry it anymore. And you might just want to die.
Well, Yahweh didn’t kill me. Instead, He helped me. He sent relief. He had me get together 70 men of the elders of our people, and Yahweh would enable them to help me carry that burden. Despite my greedy, selfish, complaining life, and forgetting what Yahweh had done and how He’s provided in the past, Yahweh didn’t forget me and provided relief from my burdens.
And Yahweh provides that relief of your burdens for you too. But not with 70 men of the elders. He provides with just one man, His own Son, Jesus. And Jesus is a far greater deliverer than I ever was. He’s a much greater burden carrier than me because he carried a much heavier burden than I did. He carried the burden of sin, your sin. Your greedy, selfish complaining. Your forgetting about God’s provision for you. Your lack of trust in Him. All of that Jesus provides relief for because He carried that burden for you.
He carried the burden of sin to the cross, where he was nailed to it and suffered and died there to take away your burden. And what a terrible burden he carried. In writing about the crucifixion that was going to happen some hundred years later, the prophet Isaiah said this: “…all of us have turned to our own way.” And Yahweh has laid on him, that is, laid it on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. The burden of all of the sins of the world. Yours, mine, everyone’s were put on Jesus. And he carried that burden so we don’t have to.
The burden of your sin, Jesus wants to take it off of you. He wants you to have that relief. Jesus even said this. He said, “Come to me, all who are tired and burdened, and I will give you rest.” He provides relief because He can. He’s the one who has carried the burden for you. He’s the one who paid the price of the relief of your burden. He’s the one who forgives your sin and takes the burden away.
I know, there may be something, some sin, something that you’re really burdened with. Maybe you’ve been dragging it around for years. There’s relief. Jesus wants to take it from you. Look to Him. You don’t have to carry it. He’s paid for it. He wants to relieve it from you. He’s carried your burden for you.
And I thought I had a burden. Really, I was the burden. I am the burden. I am the burden. All of us in our sin are a burden to Jesus, but it’s a burden He gladly carried to relieve us of it.
I think you Lutherans that I’ve heard about here in the world today, I think you Lutherans, you have a very good view of this, that God is not a burden maker, but by grace, through Jesus Christ, He relieves your burden, the burden of sin, in the forgiveness of them.
And because Jesus has carried the burden of sin and relieved us of it, we can live a burdenless life. In any of our burdens, Jesus is there to take it from you. Now, I hear that this church, you call it St. Paul Lutheran Church, I hear that it’s burdened with seeking new ministry leaders, a new minister of music, a new pastor.
Don’t forget that God provides. And maybe you’re burdened with worry over your finances, of your future, about your family, about your health. Maybe stress is really heavy on you right now, and maybe you’re even burdened with thoughts of death. Don’t forget that God provides. Don’t forget the amazing things that God has done in the past for you. Don’t forget that Jesus relieves the burden of sin and all of your burdens.
And God provides people to help with your burdens too. Like He gave me 70 elders to help with my burden with my people, He also gives elders today. And I hear that this church has such men to help carry the burdens of the church. I hear they do a pretty good job of it too here. Don’t forget that God provides. Don’t forget the amazing things that Jesus has done in the past for you. And don’t forget that He relieves you of that burden.
And you, not just the elders, but you can be a burden reliever. You can live in ways that people see the joy and relief you have in Jesus carrying your burden for you. People may ask you about that. “How are you so calm? How are you so joyful in the burdens of your life?” And you can tell them about how Jesus has carried those burdens for you and for them.
So may all of your greedy thoughts, selfish complaints, when you have them, may they turn to one request of God. No, not give me something to eat, but “Jesus, relieve me of my burden.” And may you never forget and always be thankful to God providing that relief in Christ. Amen.
Now may the peace of God, which goes beyond all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus till life everlasting. Amen.