Nielsen’s Nook

One thing that is exciting for me is that the biweekly publication of Park Cities Presbyterian Church published a 500 word article I wrote in October 14 edition of their This Week newsletter. This Week is read nationwide by approximately 2,200 people. For me the thing that differentiates this from just publishing it on my blog is that someone else had to read it and decide if it was worth publishing. Blogging of course has no such strictures. At any rate, here is the article for you and as you will notice it duplicates some of the materials you will have seen else where here. Thanks to Stephanie Barker and Terri Speicher for the privilege to write for PCPC.
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Christian the Yoke’s on You

When I was a boy, I received a coin inscribed with the words one dollar. While the words described something that was true about the coin, they didn’t tell the whole story. The coin was an 1883 silver dollar that is now worth about $50.

Scripture can be like this. In 2 Corinthians 6:14 we are told not be otherly yoked to unbelieving things. The word yoke is like the one dollar inscription on the coin I received. The word certainly tells us something, but the concept at hand is far weightier. This idea of being yoked runs throughout scripture.

Just as the value of my silver dollar grows over time, so the weightiness of the metaphor of being yoked increases through the course of God’s redemptive work in history. Where do you suppose we might find the metaphor of yoke first minted? Conceptually, we witness it in the Garden of Eden, where the serpent seduced Adam and Eve to throw off the blessed yoke of God from their necks, only to find that in its place the devil subtly slipped a silky noose. On the cross, Jesus broke the bars of this satanic yoke and restored us to union with God in Christ.

The Christian life is walking in Christ’s yoke, to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1) We walk in this yoke only by the steps of faith and repentance with the purpose of seeing the likeness of Christ formed in us. In this way we experience an exodus of sorts, walking from the land of slavery and sin to the purposed destination of promised rest in Christ. Just as God broke the bars of Israel’s slavish yoke, so God has liberated us by binding Himself to us.

We walk neither aimlessly nor alone; rather, God Almighty has­—in loving kindness—bound himself to us. Walking with us, He leads the way to everlasting rest. Is this not the language of Jesus’ imploring words in Matthew 11:29–30, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light”? The Christian life is walking with Christ in His unbreakable yoke of love.

By the time Paul gets his hands on the conceptual coinage of yoke, it has sharply increased in value and meaning from the mere idea of joining two animals. In His divinity, Christ has united us to God in His glory. In His humanity, Jesus has bound each member of His Church together in love and thanksgiving. Loving God and our neighbor is rarely easy. The wonder of our union with Christ is that He works in us now to grow us up, leading us that we might truly love in His likeness.