Scripture and the Reformation: My Burden is Light
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 11:29-30
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ~ Matthew 4:17
All that matters is that God's word be given free course to encourage and enliven hearts so that they do not become burdened. ~ Martin Luther
(Luther) then understood that the repentance demanded in Matthew 4:17 had nothing to do with the works of satisfaction required in the Roman institution of confession, but consisted in “a change of mind in true interior contrition” and with all its benefits was itself a fruit of grace. ~ Herman Bavinck
Luther saw the Roman church as putting a heavy burden on people, and that idea helped fuel his belief that we are saved by grace through faith, rather than by works.
Rather than needing to pay for an indulgence (something a poor person could scarcely afford) or do penance (a work of satisfaction), Luther knew that true repentance was a change of heart and mind.
It was trust in the grace of God's forgivingness.
Trust that God's word is not a punative one of retribution, but instead one that wants to free us from the prison we put ourselves in.
It was knowledge that Jesus proclaimed a Kin-dom of God that was freeing and meant to give rest to the souls, rather than fear of punishment.
Are there still ways in which we see grace dangled as something that must be bought and paid for?
Or where someone presents forgiveness as conditional (forgiveness from God, or from another)?
Or where we don't see our own need for repentance - our own need to change our heart or mind?
And on the flip side of the coin, have their been times when you have changed your mind or heart and felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from you...felt as if you were lighter and freer?
A time when forgiveness enlivened you and encouraged you in your faith?
God's grace is born not by our own merit or through something we buy as if it were a commodity.
it is free. It is a gift.
And the freedom of that gift is most acutely felt when we repent - when we have a change of mind and heart. That is when the word of God captures us in its net of forgiveness and makes us alive again to the Kin-dom of Heaven.
Prayer: Your yoke is easy, Lord, and your burden light. Help me to change my mind and heart when I forget that and seek my own way of salvation. Amen
From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” ~ Matthew 4:17
All that matters is that God's word be given free course to encourage and enliven hearts so that they do not become burdened. ~ Martin Luther
(Luther) then understood that the repentance demanded in Matthew 4:17 had nothing to do with the works of satisfaction required in the Roman institution of confession, but consisted in “a change of mind in true interior contrition” and with all its benefits was itself a fruit of grace. ~ Herman Bavinck
Luther saw the Roman church as putting a heavy burden on people, and that idea helped fuel his belief that we are saved by grace through faith, rather than by works.
Rather than needing to pay for an indulgence (something a poor person could scarcely afford) or do penance (a work of satisfaction), Luther knew that true repentance was a change of heart and mind.
It was trust in the grace of God's forgivingness.
Trust that God's word is not a punative one of retribution, but instead one that wants to free us from the prison we put ourselves in.
It was knowledge that Jesus proclaimed a Kin-dom of God that was freeing and meant to give rest to the souls, rather than fear of punishment.
Are there still ways in which we see grace dangled as something that must be bought and paid for?
Or where someone presents forgiveness as conditional (forgiveness from God, or from another)?
Or where we don't see our own need for repentance - our own need to change our heart or mind?
And on the flip side of the coin, have their been times when you have changed your mind or heart and felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from you...felt as if you were lighter and freer?
A time when forgiveness enlivened you and encouraged you in your faith?
God's grace is born not by our own merit or through something we buy as if it were a commodity.
it is free. It is a gift.
And the freedom of that gift is most acutely felt when we repent - when we have a change of mind and heart. That is when the word of God captures us in its net of forgiveness and makes us alive again to the Kin-dom of Heaven.
Prayer: Your yoke is easy, Lord, and your burden light. Help me to change my mind and heart when I forget that and seek my own way of salvation. Amen