July 12, 2026 First Congregational Church UCC, Brimfield MA
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Romans 8:1-11 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.,* 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.,* 6 To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
We’ve been working our way through Paul’s letter to the Romans for the past few weeks, and now we’ve come to the payoff. Chapter after chapter, verse after verse, Paul has been basically saying two things: first, that there’s no point in thinking of ourselves as unacceptable because we can’t be perfect, and second, that God loves us as we are, without, before we do anything.
You’ll remember that the scholars think this letter is the closest Paul ever came to writing out what be believed in any sort of systematic fashion. Usually the letters we read from him are just that, letters. Letters to various and sundry communities all around what’s now Turkey, to churches he’d started, helping them, giving them advice. They’re the first century equivalent of a meeting with our Associate Conference Minister, Carol Steinbrecher. And that’s great, but the Letter to the Romans is different.
For one things, this isn’t a letter to a church Paul established. He’s never been to Rome and isn’t sure they want him there. So this letter was written to help them understand who he is and why he says the things he does. That said, while Paul has never been to Rome, he does know a fair amount about the Christian community there, especially that it’s mostly composed of struggling Jewish believers, and more established Roman converts – and they don’t exactly get along. In fact, it seems they were constantly struggling to control each other, which is why, throughout this letter, Paul keeps saying both groups are important, each has their own issues, and so on.
So, today, this letter which has been trying to nurture peace between the two groups, moves to the center of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel which is for everyone, whether we think we belong or not. This is the Gospel for people whose ancestors were passengers on the Mayflower. And it’s the Gospel for those of us whose ancestors came here in the hold of a triangle-trade ship, sold into slavery. And it’s the Gospel for those of us who hide from ICE because our skin is brown, or we have an accent. It proclaims love and peace for all the world.
… there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…
The reading from Matthew says basically the same thing: 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This is what Paul was trying to say to those folks in Rome. He’d heard it from Jesus and from the other disciples, and wanted them, wants us to hear the same thing. You are loved. You are loved as you are.
Mark this chapter 8 in your Bible. When you are discouraged, underline the first verse again to remind yourself that God loves you. Remember that when we follow God, follow Jesus, listen to the Spirit, we’ll be on the way to focusing on love and peace, more than anger and frustration. And remember also those words from Matthew, because they’re right. It’s not that hard stuff becomes easy, because hard things are always going to be hard… but with God, the hard stuff becomes possible. With God, we’re able to see beyond the bad, beyond our angers… able to see love, able to recognize beauty, able to practice kindness.
Bad things will still happen, we will still face trials, but we will not be alone. We will have this fellowship, and we will have the unending love of the God who has made us, made us to be messengers of love throughout the world.
We are not alone. We are loved.
Amen.
© 2026, Virginia H. Child
To Believe is to Care. . . To Care is to Do 