Dear Christian friends:

As a child you, no doubt, were invited to several birthday parties. Can you think back to the very first invitation that you received? Do you recall the joy, the anticipation and the excitement of the first party invitation?

In our text there is a very wonderful invitation for you, one that really should cause you more joy and excitement than any that you have ever received. At first reading it may not appear so unique or strange to you. But if you think about it for awhile its unique characteristics will be impressed upon you and you will agree that it is the most wonderful invitation of all, one that can mean everything to you. So let us with the Holy Spirit's aid and on the basis of our text consider this:

When we consider who gives this invitation and those to whom it is given we are simply amazed. Usually among men one in high society will not invite those in lowly circumstances. The rich invite the rich, the white the white and so on. But here we have One who is greatest of all the very Son of God who says of Himself in verse 27, "All things delivered unto Me of My Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

The Son of God who has such power over men, the power of life and death, invites lowly men to come unto Himself. And when you consider that these men are sinful and very wicked it is all the more amazing that the Holy One of God invites them. He invites in the words of our text: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden." Who are they?

They are all those burdened with the knowledge of their great sinfulness and who understand the terrible effects of sin in nature and society, weeds in the garden, pests in the orchards, mites in the forest, vicious beasts in the jungle, quarrels in the homes, sickness and death in the hospitals, and wars among nations.

It is strange that men have become so accustomed to sin and its burdens that they scarcely consider them as such. We are not so surprised that unbelievers, the children of darkness, do not fell or know this burden. As things go comparatively well with them they feel no need for an almighty and all merciful God to deliver them. They are like the rich young man who told Jesus that he lacked nothing.

But it is surprising when the children of light, the believers, hardly feel this burden of sin. In our beloved country with our tremendous wealth and modern inventions we have reduced to a minimum these pesty burdens of sin (example spraying dandelions). And so we are in danger of feeling no sin or knowing the burden of it. This was the case with the church at Laodicea already during the first century.

Of this church the Lord said: "Because thou art lukewarm and neither hot not cold, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (Revelations 3:16-17) Would the Lord say that of our wealthy congregations in America today? I fear that in many cases that is His judgment.

Our half-hearted, lukewarm support of Synods world wide missions program seems to indicate this. During the past two months pleading letters from Dr. Behnken and other District and Synodical officials have come across my desk to the effect that we stir up our people for the great work of the Lord. Already the Board of Directors has been forced to make a 12% cut across the board on all Synodical expenditures. As one of your Synodical missionaries in deaf missions I know what damage this is going to do.

It is apparent that a certain lukewarmness has settled over many of our congregations and the reason may very well be that we feel not the burden of sin for ourselves or for others. If we feel no great need for personal salvation, how can we be constrained to be God's tools to bring salvation to others?

Let us not be deceived by our personal wealth and easy way of life today. In spite of our comforts and prosperity we are still poor, sinful beings living and working in a world upon which this damning sentence rests. "cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." (Genesis 3:17-19)

May God Almighty give us to know and feel the burden of sin. Then and then only will we rejoice in His glorious invitation of salvation. "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

This invitation of Jesus is wonderful also because of the strange things it offers. Because of sin we have paradise lost, labor and sorrow, sweat and tears. But in Christ Jesus we have paradise regained and rest from our labors.

Though the labors and burdens of sin are still experienced by the Christian they have lost their sharpness and sting for we have forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Thus these burdens become blessings to bring us nearer to our beloved Savior who loved us and gave His life on the cross to make this invitation possible.

We who know the Christ of calvary cannot fail to see the nail prints in His palms as He here extends His arms in kind invitation. And so the man who knows and feels the burden of sin gladly comes to Jesus and finds rest for his soul. Rest for this life and hope of eternal, perfect rest in the next.

And yet this rest to which Jesus invites us is not the lazy do nothing type of rest. What Jesus actually does is takes away the old burden and gives a new one, one that according to our text, is "easy and light."

This does not mean that the burdens we have as Christians are small and unimportant. Our Christian duties are weighty and have far reaching consequences. For example whether we witness of Christ to our neighbor or not. The neighbor's salvation may depend on it. But the "easy and light" refers to the attitude of the Christians heart. He is glad to suffer and work for His dear Lord Jesus. That's what makes his new burden see "easy and light."

Friend how do you feel about your Christian duties and responsibilities? Are you one of those who thinks that Christ invites you to a sort of lazy do nothing type of rest? Many in the churches seem to have this ungodly idea.

Then there are those who do accept work and burdens as Christians. Are they "easy and light" for you? Or do you feel that the pastor and the church and even God are forever imposing upon your rights and freedom?

To all we say, keep your eyes on the outstretched arms of your Savior, Jesus Christ, in this most wonderful invitation. And don't forget to see the nail prints in His palms. The price of your salvation.

This continual "looking" at Jesus through Word and Sacrament will give you the faith, hope and love that makes the heaviest burden seem light.

But if you fail to heed this invitation by despising God's Word and Sacrament your duties and burdens will become heavier and heavier. At last you will throw up your hands in despair.

Lord, lead us not into this temptation and although we are often assailed by it give us faith and love to overcome and gain the victory.

Amen.