Weary and Heavy Laden
Welcome to the Sunday morning sick ward of the life-weary and heavy laden; to the Sunday morning assemblage of the wounded and heavily hurting; and to the congregational gathering of the cross-carrying members of the Lord’s church. They have travelled in for one of their vital, tri-weekly appointments with the Great Physician. Don’t let the neckties, dress shirts, high heels and nice dresses fool you. And don’t be deceived by the suddenly-appearing smiles and the “I’m fine, how are you” responses. While such may be truly genuine and reflective of the inner soul of some, there are quite likely many more with whom such responses might possibly be a bit more automatic than authentic, more generic than genuine, and more robotic than realistic.
Feeling weary? You aren’t alone.
The truth is, that if you love enough to probe just a little bit deeper, and look just below the surface, virtually everyone you see here is more than likely struggling with something – whether it is readily apparent to the untrained eye or not. Some may be experiencing the daily pain and stress of a personal, potentially fatal physical ailment. This, while others might be found to be silently struggling to come to grips with an even greater and more intense life-threatening physical ailment involving some beloved family member… such as a spouse, child, or grandchild perhaps.
Many may also be heavily-burdened by some particular personal sin or temptation they struggle to overcome on a daily basis. Some may be carrying and suffering the scars and abrasions produced by such spiritually lethal heart diseases as pride, anger, self-righteousness, or some other sort of sin-producing parasite or paralysis. Still others are quite likely heavily burdened and legitimately heart-broken because of a seemingly hopeless situation involving certain of their loved ones who simply will not come to the Great Physician for the priceless and sin-cleansing cure they so desperately need in order to obtain and enjoy a full earthly, as well as a phenomenally beautiful eternal, life.
Yes, look around. But don’t just look with your physical eyes; really and truly turn and look with your ‘spiritual heart of insight’ eyes. Understand that the person behind you, beside you, and before you, is a weak, and burdened, and hurting, human being. And they have come here, seeking some measure of healing. Help them. Hold them. Love them. Lift them. Listen to them. And help bear their burden with them. Be, just what “The Doctor” ordered (Please see: Matthew 9:11-13, 11:28-29; Acts 20:35; and Galatians 6:2).