SUNDAY, JULY 5TH, 2026 – SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
MEASURING GREATNESS
THE REV. RICHARD BURDEN
Photo: Entry into Jerusalem, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=55433 [retrieved July 4, 2026]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Entry_into_Jerusalem_-_Google_Art_Project_(6834070).jpg.
Title: Measuring Greatness
Collect: God of the humble and gentle heart, you who shoulder our burdens even as we fail to understand our own actions. Yoke us to you, teach us the bearable lightness of your humbleness, and show us the way to rest. That psalm has a lot of pomp and pageantry, doesn’t it?
Lots of gold on display…nations clamoring to offer gifts…the wealthy seeking favors…the king’s name proclaimed and praised.
It’s gaudy and showy and frankly kind of boring in it’s predictability. It’s the way empires always present themselves…dripping with wealth…and fame…and power. But is it really power, if you have to show it off so much?
We have our own versions of this don’t we? Which we might be more aware of this week than some others. America “The Great Experiment.” “The City upon a Hill.” Triumphant…Exceptional…Of course, there are counter-narratives to every empire. And this week especially we are poignantly aware of how dis-united we are in the interpretations of our own history. Still… on the whole, we still tend to measure greatness in terms of wealth and power, rather than gentleness and humbleness of heart, don’t we?
Jesus undoubtedly knew this Imperial Psalm…recited it…but I can’t imagine him ever trying to actually embody it. Because he is a living embodiment of a completely different theology of power and greatness. He’s the king who rides in on a donkey, remember? He’s the ruler who comes to serve…who shoulders the burden alongside you. Who helps us discover true rest.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” How do you hear that? How does it land in your body, today?
“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.” When you hear that…does any part of you relax? De-contract? Even just a little? Do your shoulders drop…or that area around your eyes soften…maybe your jaw unclenches, just a bit…maybe you’re just able to breathe a little deeper and easier. What is that like? Being just a tiny bit more relaxed? What’s possible now that wasn’t when you were tensed?
Gentleness of heart…is not just being nice, or having warm-fuzzy feelings. It’s a state of being. A state of being open…relaxed…grounded. Keep feeling into that now…let your shoulders drop a little further…let your face, eyes, and jaw relax more…or connect to your breath. If you really want a clearer sense…you can try clenching your fist…and then releasing it…letting it go. And pay attention to what happens in your body when you do that.
Now you might ask… “How am I supposed to do this in the midst of what’s going on in the world?” “Isn’t blissing out just a form of complicity?” “‘Letting go and letting God’ is fine for those with privilege, but not everyone has that luxury.” When does striving for gentleness and humbleness of heart become just cowardice wearing a halo?
Those are fair points, but remember…Jesus isn’t showing us how to escape from the world… he’s showing us how to be in the world in a different way.
And we all know what the world looks like when greatness is measured by wealth and power…we still live in that world. And we all know what the world looks like when people act from that place…grasping for…clawing for…fawning over…wealth and power…It looks like today’s Psalm and today’s news. We know all too well what that world looks and feels like…but … what does the world look and feel like when greatness is measured by gentleness and humbleness of heart?
Take another breath and relax your shoulders again (or your jaw…or whatever is able to de-contract)…Feel that…What would change if you acted more consistently from that (relaxed) place rather than from this (tense)…place? Acting from a relaxed and grounded place is how “wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”
Jesus’s promise of a shared burden…a easy load…and rest for your souls, is not a way of escaping the world…It’s a way of rooting deeply into the good soil of faith, so that something different…better…and true can grow. Amen.