"Come, All Who Are Weary"

ear Edinburg First Family,

I’ve had The Porter’s Gate song “Come, All Who Are Weary” on repeat this week. It takes Jesus’s own words in Matthew 11:28-30 and turns them into an invitation you can sing: to the weary, to the striving, to anyone whose shoulders are tired—come, lean in, lay it down. The melody itself feels like exhaling. It’s the kind of song that slows your breathing down just by listening to it.

That invitation comes straight from Scripture: “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” (Matthew 11:29-30, NRSVUE). In Jesus’s day, every rabbi had a “yoke”—a particular way of interpreting the law and shaping a student’s life. Many of those yokes were heavy: rule stacked on rule, expectation stacked on expectation, with little room for anyone to fall short. Jesus offers something different. Not less to carry, necessarily, but a gentler way of carrying it—a yoke shaped by grace instead of perfectionism, one that actually fits.

This is what it means to rest in God’s presence. Not simply to stop moving, but to trust—all the way down—that we are cared for, redeemed, and restored by a God who is fundamentally good and kind. Rest isn’t the absence of a full calendar. It's the confidence that even in the middle of carpool lines, lesson plans, doctor’s appointments, and meetings that run long, we belong to Someone who is holding us.

ne of the hallmarks of the good news of Jesus Christ is the new community Christ forms among us—the kingdom, or as some love to call it, the kin-dom of God: a place where everyone belongs, where relationships matter more than performance, where healing and wholeness of heart, mind, and spirit are the point rather than the exception. This is la familia de Dios, the family of God. These are communities of rest. And I find myself wondering: whatever role we hold this year—parent, teacher, student, coworker, neighbor, pastor—how might we become places of rest for the people around us?

As summer winds down and the school year’s busy-ness rolls back in, I invite us to practice this together in a tangible way. On Sunday, August 16, we will hold our Back to School Service of Blessing. Students, teachers, and school staff of every kind are invited to bring a school item you'll use this year—a backpack, a lesson plan book, a laptop, an ID badge—to be blessed as you head into the year. Invite a friend, a neighbor, a coworker. Let's send our whole community into this school year carrying the blessing of Christ within a community of care and rest!

Descansando en la gracia de Dios / Resting in God’s grace,

Pastor Sarah