Sermon: Proper 9 RCL A – “Death Pledge”

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A guy walks into a bar and orders a round of drinks for everyone. He announces, “I just made my last mortgage payment, and we’re celebrating!”

“Congratulations on paying off your mortgage,” another patron says.

The man shakes his head. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I still owe $422,378. But today’s payment was the last one I’m gonna make.”

Mortgage is a French word. It combines two Old French words, mort meaning “death,” and gage, meaning “pledge.” There’s your happy thought for today: signing a mortgage means signing a death pledge. It was named this as a mortgage only ends when the loan has been paid off or when you die. Congratulations on owning a home.

Concerning the mortgage, the author, Calvin Trillin, says, “Among married couples, the person who actually makes out the mortgage check is likely to be more cautious about spending money than the person who doesn’t. There is something sobering about sending away that much money every month in the knowledge that, rain or shine, you’ll have to come up with the same amount of money the next month and the month after that.” 

You would think this sobering effect would give us pause. Still, it seems that as soon as someone’s financial position improves—a new job, raise, etc.—instead of remaining where they are and being able to breathe a bit more easily financially, they sell what they’ve got and go out and get themselves an even bigger mortgage, which is partially why the average mortgage in the year 2000 was $152,100 and, as of June this year, is $428,000. (Source)

I remember living in Wisconsin when I was in seminary. Originally, Nashotah House was out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by corn fields. That all changed with the suburban sprawl of Milwaukee. New neighborhoods were going in all around, and some of the houses were massive. The funny thing, people were living in them, but when you went by at night and could catch glimpses of the inside—there was no furniture! They had such large mortgage payments that they couldn’t afford to furnish them. What do I know? The upside: they could sell those houses today for three or four times the amount they paid for them. 

Anyhow… the mortgage—the death pledge—only ends when it is paid off, or you die. If those death pledges were only on our homes, it would be one thing, but we strap ourselves with all sorts of death pledges; they just come by different names. The Bible refers to them as yokes.

The yoke was a wooden device placed across the shoulders of a pair of oxen so they could work together in plowing a field. It worked out well if the yoke was fitted correctly and the animals were equal. If they were poorly fitted, the animals would get sores as the wood of the yoke rubbed up against them. If they were unequally yoked, the weaker of the animal would be carried along to wherever the stronger one led.

Remember last week? We talked about the Prophet Jeremiah. He said to the king of Jerusalem, “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve him and his people and live.” (Jeremiah 27:12) Jeremiah was telling the king that, for a time, he and the people must submit to the rule of the Babylonians. The Babylonians were much stronger, so Israel would have to go where they led, but by submitting, the Israelites would live.

Ultimately, the Israelites refused to listen to Jeremiah and attempted to throw off the Babylonians. For these actions, the Prophet said to them, “By breaking a wooden yoke, you forge an iron yoke!” (Jeremiah 28:13) The Prophet said, “If you think things are bad now, just you wait!” Through their refusal to heed God’s word to them, like us in taking on an even greater mortgage, they took on an even greater death pledge and became even more firmly yoked to their enemy.

These types of yokes exist in the world outside of ourselves, but they exist within as well. Our souls can become yoked with those iron yokes, and we can be spiritually led—dragged, kicking, and screaming—where we do not want to go. St. Paul said it best, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Wretched man that I am!” You can almost hear him scream with frustration as he writes those words. The iron yoke around his soul leads him to commit deeds he did not want to commit and to speak words he would later regret, and we would all like to think that it is only Paul that this can happen to, but we know better. We all know the yoke that is strapped to our souls. And we can come to believe that it is a death pledge—something we will never be rid of until we are dead.

Here’s a question (and I don’t expect you to be shouting out the answer): what is the spiritual yoke in your life? What death pledge have you made that no matter how hard you try to overcome it, it remains? And, if it seems you’ve finally defeated it, it only comes back worse than before. You’re like the person Jesus spoke about: “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first.” (Matthew 12:43-45) We all fall prey to this cycle. Like the Israelites and the Babylonians, a person in such a place has exchanged a wooden yoke for a yoke of iron. They join Paul in his frustration and say, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

To this, Jesus replies, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, 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.”

St John Chrysostom understood how Jesus might expand on those words by saying, “Come, not to give an account but to be freed of your sins. Come, because I don’t need the glory you can give me: I need your salvation… Don’t fear if you hear me talk of a yoke, it is sweet; don’t fear if I speak about a burden, it is light.” 

Jesus put it another way, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:24-25a)

“Take my yoke” is just another way of saying, “Take up your cross.” The yoke and the cross are the loving means of your salvation. If otherwise, Jesus would not say He is “gentle and humble of heart.” Instead, he would say, “Take my yoke and slave your life away.” “Take my yoke and die under my driving whip.” No. “Take my yoke and find rest.” Find peace. It is no guarantee that things will become rosy and without a care in the world, but it is a promise of comfort in the assurances of Christ; know that regardless of the difficulties, you are yoked to the One who can and will see you through.

You may not ever have a house mortgage, but every one of us will wear a spiritual yoke, so, in the words of Joshua, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” (Joshua 24:15) Will you struggle under the iron yoke of this world and forfeit your soul, or will you submit to the yoke of Christ and live? Say with Paul, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Choose the yoke of Christ and find your soul’s only place of rest.

Let us pray: God, our Father, You redeemed us and made us Your children in Christ. Through Him, You have saved us from death and given us Your Divine life of grace. By becoming more like Jesus on earth, may we come to share His glory in Heaven. Give us the peace of Your kingdom, which this world does not give. By Your loving care, protect the good You have given us. Open our eyes to the wonders of Your Love so that we may serve You with a willing heart. Amen.