November 10, 2019: The Burden of Being Fully Human – Scott Oppliger

John tells the hearers of his letter that the commands of God (which are loving God and loving others) are “not burdensome.” There is an echo in these words of the invitation Jesus offered to any who would come found in Matthew 11, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”

 

What John is getting at, and what Jesus was talking about, was learning the way to become fully human. To live lives of love, lives marked by the grace, essence and presence of God. This is what it means to be human. What if we understood these commands not as another rule to follow, but a path on which to walk so we can discover what full life actually looks like?