The Fourth Sunday after Trinity

The invitation of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel to come to him and rest are extraordinarily attractive, especially with the offer of rest. There has been something about the lockdown that has been quite tiring at times.

Jesus spoke into a different and yet similar context to our own. It was different because the land in which Jesus lived was occupied by Imperial Rome, and daily life was dictated by the oppressor. The economy of Palestine was dependent on farming, and had suffered several famines in the years that mark the turning of BC and AD. It is tempting to therefore to think that when Jesus offers rest from the burdens, they are carrying that he is talking about the physical, mental, and spiritual results of such political and economic oppression. That would partially be correct.

Jesus is also referring to a spiritual oppression. This is a dimension that we often, even as Christians, to forget. The Spiritual, political, physical, emotional, and economic aspects of life cannot, of course, be compartmentalised. Life is never as neat and tidy as that.

Jesus asks people to come to him and to take his yoke. A yoke (to remind us) was the device put on the shoulders of oxen so that they would plough a field in a straight line. Thus, a yoke is in a sense constraining, but the yoke eases the burden of the plough that the oxen are pulling by being put on correctly and in its design. Jesus is saying that the way of life he offers is one where there are shared expectations and common goals.

Earlier in our reading, Jesus is comparing his generations attitudes to both himself and to John the Baptist. In many ways, you cannot have two figures of greater contrast. John was born into a priestly family that of Zechariah and Elizabeth. News of his birth was received with great joy. There would have been great expectations for him as well, which probably would not have involved dressing in camel skins, eating honey and locusts. His cousin, Jesus was not born into a priestly family, and the announcement of his birth was not received well by all. John was forthright in his call for repentance to tax collectors, the occupying Roman forces, and religious leaders alike. He also was not afraid to call out what he saw as the moral failings of those in political power. John was comfortable in his (camel) skin. He knew who he was and what he was called to do. Remember we get the word ‘vocation’ from the words ‘voice’ and ‘calling’. John is portrayed by the gospel writers as the voice who cries out: prepare the way of the Lord. John was a herald or ambassador. John announced Jesus to the world.

John might have had the reputation of being a Wildman in the desert, Jesus was perceived being a friend of undesirables. John pointed to Jesus, declaring with great clarity that he must have less attention and Jesus have more. Jesus called people to follow him offering them a pattern for living which he acknowledged that not all people would understand.

The way of Jesus was not the way of the world. Many Jews had a particular view of the Messiah who would come in and throw the Romans out. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah. There had been whispers in the Old Testament about a different sort of king. Zephaniah wrote, ‘Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey’. Obviously, we think of Palm Sunday when we hear these words, but the image of the humble one is a template that shaped Jesus’ life.

This did not make him a pushover or any less strident that the Baptist at times. It is hard to think of words on the lips of John that could not have been said by his cousin. Just as John was secure in his vocation, Jesus knew his own calling. He calls us to wear his yoke, because Jesus was comfortable wearing the yoke of his Father. The yoke that Jesus wore took him to cross, tasting and experiencing death, and bursting out of the grave. Jesus changed the world; and invites us to join with him in transforming the world.

The question we face as we emerge out of the chrysalis of lockdown. The word chrysalis is important, it presumes that something rather than nothing has happened. I have learnt and re-learnt how to spend time in prayer and tried to become more attentive to the stories found in the holy scriptures. As a minister, I have found more time to pray for those in my congregations than before. I have listened to their stories, laughed, and despaired as I have done so. As chapels and churches take steps to re-opening, I hope such things will not disappear. In the lockdown, I have realised that I had created an idol of myself as the ‘busy priest’. It is not that I have not been busy, but how that is has been redefined. Instead of the treadmill of meetings about the mundane and the important, there has been time to read, pray and breathe. I have discovered that in not being cluttered that I can be ‘me’, like the butterfly I can fly.

Jesus does not offer the equivalent of self-confidence course, instead he asks us to join with him on the path of discipleship. That will at times be risky. It will always involve reaching out to others with the good news. We cannot avoid that as we hear the whisper of Jesus once again: ‘follow me!’

Questions

1. What have you learned about God during the lockdown?

• What would you like to take about what you have learnt into the life of the church as we emerge from lockdown?

Activity

Pray for the headteachers and staff of our schools: Thomas Jones, Penysarn, Rhosybol, Moelfre, Llannerchymedd and Amlwch.

Y Drindod 4

Mae gwahoddiad Iesu yn Efengyl Mathew i ddod ato a gorffwys yn hynod ddeniadol, yn enwedig gyda’r cynnig o orffwys. Bu rhywbeth am y cloi i lawr sydd wedi bod yn eithaf blinedig ar brydiau.

Siaradodd Iesu i gyd-destun gwahanol ond eto’n debyg i’n un ni. Roedd yn wahanol oherwydd bod y tir yr oedd Iesu’n byw ynddo wedi’i feddiannu gan Imperial Rome, a bywyd beunyddiol yn cael ei bennu gan y gormeswr. Roedd economi Palestina yn ddibynnol ar ffermio, ac wedi dioddef sawl newyn yn y blynyddoedd sy’n nodi troad BC ac OC. Mae’n demtasiwn meddwl felly pan fydd Iesu’n cynnig gorffwys o’r beichiau, maen nhw’n cario ei fod yn siarad am ganlyniadau corfforol, meddyliol ac ysbrydol gormes wleidyddol ac economaidd o’r fath. Byddai hynny’n rhannol gywir.

Mae Iesu hefyd yn cyfeirio at ormes ysbrydol. Mae hwn yn ddimensiwn yr ydym yn aml, hyd yn oed fel Cristnogion, yn ei anghofio. Wrth gwrs, ni ellir rhannu’r agweddau ysbrydol, gwleidyddol, corfforol, emosiynol ac economaidd ar fywyd. Nid yw bywyd byth mor dwt a thaclus â hynny.

Mae Iesu’n gofyn i bobl ddod ato a chymryd ei iau. Yoke (i’n hatgoffa) oedd y ddyfais a roddwyd ar ysgwyddau ychen fel y byddent yn aredig cae mewn llinell syth. Felly, mae iau yn cyfyngu ar un ystyr, ond mae’r iau yn lleddfu baich yr aradr y mae’r ychen yn ei dynnu trwy gael ei rhoi arni’n gywir ac yn ei dyluniad. Mae Iesu’n dweud bod y ffordd o fyw y mae’n ei chynnig yn un lle mae disgwyliadau a rennir a nodau cyffredin.

Yn gynharach yn ein darlleniad, mae Iesu’n cymharu agweddau ei genedlaethau tuag ato’i hun ac ag Ioan Fedyddiwr. Mewn sawl ffordd, ni allwch gael dau ffigur o wrthgyferbyniad mwy. Ganwyd John i deulu offeiriadol teulu Sechareia ac Elizabeth. Derbyniwyd newyddion am ei eni gyda llawenydd mawr. Byddai disgwyliadau mawr wedi bod iddo hefyd, na fyddai, yn ôl pob tebyg, wedi golygu gwisgo mewn crwyn camel, bwyta mêl a locustiaid. Ni anwyd ei gefnder, Iesu i deulu offeiriadol, ac ni dderbyniodd pawb y cyhoeddiad am ei eni. Roedd John yn llwyr yn ei alwad am edifeirwch i gasglwyr trethi, y lluoedd Rhufeinig oedd yn meddiannu, ac arweinwyr crefyddol fel ei gilydd. Nid oedd arno chwaith ofn galw allan yr hyn a welai fel methiannau moesol y rhai mewn grym gwleidyddol. Roedd John yn gyffyrddus yn ei groen (camel). Roedd yn gwybod pwy ydoedd a beth y galwyd arno i’w wneud. Cofiwch ein bod yn cael y gair ‘galwedigaeth’ o’r geiriau ‘llais’ a ‘galw’. Mae Ioan yn cael ei bortreadu gan ysgrifenwyr yr efengyl fel y llais sy’n gweiddi: paratowch ffordd yr Arglwydd. Roedd John yn herodraeth neu’n llysgennad. Cyhoeddodd Ioan Iesu i’r byd.

Efallai fod gan John yr enw da o fod yn ddyn gwyllt yn yr anialwch, roedd Iesu’n cael ei ystyried yn ffrind i bethau annymunol. Tynnodd Ioan sylw at Iesu, gan ddatgan yn eglur iawn bod yn rhaid iddo gael llai o sylw a bod gan Iesu fwy. Galwodd Iesu ar bobl i’w ddilyn gan gynnig patrwm byw iddynt, a chydnabu na fyddai pawb yn ei ddeall.

Nid ffordd yr Iesu oedd ffordd Iesu. Roedd gan lawer o Iddewon farn benodol am y Meseia a fyddai’n dod i mewn ac yn taflu’r Rhufeiniaid allan. Nid Iesu oedd y math hwnnw o Feseia. Roedd sibrydion wedi bod yn yr Hen Destament am fath gwahanol o frenin. Ysgrifennodd Seffaneia, ‘Llawenhewch yn fawr, O ferch Seion! Gwaeddwch yn uchel, O ferch Jerwsalem! Wele, daw eich brenin atoch; buddugoliaethus a buddugol yw ef, yn ostyngedig ac yn marchogaeth ar asyn, ar ebol, ebol asyn ’. Yn amlwg, rydyn ni’n meddwl am Sul y Blodau pan glywn y geiriau hyn, ond mae delwedd yr un ostyngedig yn dempled a luniodd fywyd Iesu ’.

Nid oedd hyn yn ei wneud yn wthio nac yn llai ystyfnig na’r Bedyddiwr ar brydiau. Mae’n anodd meddwl am eiriau ar wefusau Ioan na allai ei gefnder fod wedi dweud hynny. Yn union fel yr oedd Ioan yn ddiogel yn ei alwedigaeth, roedd Iesu’n gwybod ei alwad ei hun. Mae’n ein galw ni i wisgo ei iau, oherwydd roedd Iesu’n gyffyrddus yn gwisgo iau ei Dad. Aeth yr iau a wisgodd Iesu ag ef i groesi, blasu a phrofi marwolaeth, a byrstio allan o’r bedd. Newidiodd Iesu’r byd; ac yn ein gwahodd i ymuno ag ef i drawsnewid y byd.

Y cwestiwn sy’n ein hwynebu wrth i ni ddod allan o’r chrysalis o gloi i lawr. Mae’r gair chrysalis yn bwysig, mae’n rhagdybio bod rhywbeth yn hytrach na dim wedi digwydd. Rwyf wedi dysgu ac ailddysgu sut i dreulio amser mewn gweddi a cheisio dod yn fwy sylwgar i’r straeon a geir yn yr ysgrythurau sanctaidd. Fel gweinidog, rwyf wedi dod o hyd i fwy o amser i weddïo dros y rhai yn fy nghynulleidfaoedd nag o’r blaen. Rwyf wedi gwrando ar eu straeon, chwerthin, a digalonni wrth imi wneud hynny. Wrth i gapeli ac eglwysi gymryd camau i ailagor, gobeithio na fydd pethau o’r fath yn diflannu. Yn y cyfnod cloi, rwyf wedi sylweddoli fy mod wedi creu eilun ohonof fy hun fel yr ‘offeiriad prysur’. Nid fy mod i ddim wedi bod yn brysur, ond mae sut mae hynny wedi cael ei ailddiffinio. Yn lle melin draed cyfarfodydd am y cyffredin a’r pwysig, bu amser i ddarllen, gweddïo ac anadlu. Rwyf wedi darganfod, wrth beidio â bod yn anniben, y gallaf fod yn ‘fi’, fel y glöyn byw y gallaf ei hedfan.

Nid yw Iesu’n cynnig cwrs cyfwerth â hunanhyder, yn lle hynny mae’n gofyn inni ymuno ag ef ar lwybr disgyblaeth. Bydd hynny’n beryglus ar brydiau. Bydd bob amser yn golygu estyn allan at eraill gyda’r newyddion da. Ni allwn osgoi hynny wrth inni glywed sibrwd Iesu unwaith eto: ‘dilyn fi!’

Cwestiynau

1. Beth ydych chi wedi’i ddysgu am Dduw yn ystod y cyfnod cloi?

2. Beth hoffech chi ei gymryd ynglŷn â’r hyn rydych chi wedi’i ddysgu ym mywyd yr eglwys wrth i ni ddod allan o gloi i lawr?

Gweithgaredd

Gweddïwch dros benaethiaid a staff ein hysgolion: Thomas Jones, Penysarn, Rhosybol, Moelfre, Llannerchymedd ac Amlwch.