Pentecost: Leah

 We are in Ordinary Time in the church year with no major feasts. It’s also the heat of summer and that can make us feel like we don’t have any energy. Day follows day in a similar pattern. Ordinary time—day in and day out, the same things happen. It can be rather numbing.

I wonder if that’s how Leah felt. After all, she was not the pretty younger sister. She was the responsible, older sister with ‘lovely eyes.’ She worked to keep her brother Laban’s household running smoothly. Then as the wife of Jacob, she did the same. Day after day she did what was expected of her as the older sister, the one in charge, and the one who could take care of any problem.

Being the ‘responsible one’ can be quite a heavy load. You don’t want to disappoint anyone so you keep trudging forward ‘doing your duty’ day after day. The routine can blur our sight, so we don’t see God. Yet, God is there whether we take time to notice or not. What can Leah’s daily life tell us about where God shows up in our own daily lives as we live up to expectations of all kinds? And how that might be different than we expect?

Expectations are something we all have. We have expectations of ourselves. Expectations of God. Expectations of our family and friends. We also try to meet the expectations of our employers, children, friends, etc. All those expectations can pile up pretty high, as they did for Leah. She had Jacob, her sons, the rest of the tribal group, and her own self-expectations. Think about your own expectations and how you try to measure up.

How do we release some of those expectations? Jesus invites us to be yoked with him. He says 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. We are to share the burden with Jesus just as two oxen share the load of a plow or wagon. What can be too much for one animal, can easily be pulled by two. In the same way, the work that feels too heavy by ourselves can be shared with God and with others. Jesus promises rest for your souls when we don’t try to do everything alone. Just like Naomi learned last week, it is the community that upholds us in the hard times of life.

The Pulpit Commentary notes Jesus is inviting us. The Commentary says, “there is work to be done, therefore enter on it. The yoke is the service that Christ gives us to do [and] that Christ speaks of it as though almost identical with his yoke.” We each have gifts to use in the daily work and it goes better when God is part of the work.

Leah may have found her work tiresome because she didn’t recognize that in the serving of others she was doing God’s work. Brother Lawrence is famous for his words of wisdom found in Practicing the Presence of God. He found joy in finding God in all the parts of his life as a monk. After his death Father Joseph de Beaufort, of the monastery, compiled the book noting, "[Brother Lawrence] had always been governed by love, without selfish views; and that having resolved to make the love of GOD the end of all his actions, he had found reasons to be well satisfied with his method. That he was pleased when he could take up a straw from the ground for the love of GOD, seeking Him only, and nothing else, not even His gifts."

How many of us are willing to pick up a straw, or piece of trash, or open a door for the love of God? I have to admit I don’t really think of those things as being actions that show God’s love. However, when you stop and think about it…anything that makes life better for someone else is the hand of God.

If we take seriously being yoked, and co-workers, with Christ then truly anything we do that moves the Kingdom of Beloved Community forward is God’s work and God is present.