Sumgmu’s Monthly Message, July 2025

Happy Independence Day! We give thanks to God that we live in the land of liberty. We are free. We can speak, think, travel, believe, and do as we please. This is freedom. And yet, how ironic it is that here, in the 21st century, a lot of people do not seem to be all that free. Our age shall be known, not as the age of freedom, but as the age of anxiety. We are anxious about many things: having enough money, having good enough health, being secure and safe. We are free, but in a sense, we are not really free.

We are not the only ones who feel that way. Jesus said to those who lived in Palestine about two thousand years ago, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, I will give you rest. 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: 28-30).

The yoke often becomes the symbol of captivity and enslavement. Breaking the yoke becomes the symbolic expression of liberation from slavery and oppression. As we come to Jesus, the old yoke of slavery and oppression is broken, and the new yoke of Christ, the yoke of grace, is given to us. The yoke of the law is replaced by the yoke of grace, and our yoke becomes his yoke.

God through Christ comes first to bear our burden so that our burden becomes his as well. In this way God works in us and through us. To become a Christian means to bear the yoke of Christ. It means to be a fellow worker with Christ.

As a true yoke-fellow and as a fellow worker with Christ, we are reminded of the fact that we are not alone. Christ is with us and bears the burden that we bear. He suffers with us when we suffer and works with us to cultivate our souls.

That is the meaning of the yoke. It is the yoke of grace, peace, and freedom. We live in a free country, and we are free. However, we are not really free, because we are anxious about many things in our lives. Do we want to live really a free life?

As we begin the fourth year of ministry together, let us come to Jesus Christ, take his yoke upon us, and learn from him, who is gentle and humble in heart. We will find rest for our souls because his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. Amen.

Sungmu Lee