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Good morning, riverside. I'm grateful
and strengthened, strengthened by the presence of

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my family, grateful to have you
here. Won't you take a moment and

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pray with me? May the words
of my mouth and the meditation of all

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of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable
in your sight, O Lord, I'll

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strength and redeemer. Amen, I'll. Scripture Lesson, taken from the eleventh

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chapter of Matthew's Gospel, closes with
the very familiar words that are in an

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invitation to the weary, to the
burdened and oppressed. They are the familiar

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comforting words we often hear at a
homegoing service or a funeral, a memorial,

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oftentimes of benediction, a reminder of
Jesus's comforting presence and desire to share

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in our burdens. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,

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and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn

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from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will

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find rest for your souls. For
my yoke is easy and my burden light.

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I find it interesting the version by
in Eugene Peterson's Message Bible, Are

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you tired, worn out, burned
out on religion. Come to me,

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Get away with me, and you'll
recover your life. I'll show you how

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to take a real rest. Walk
with me and work with me. Watch

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how I do it. Learn the
unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay

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anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with me, and you'll

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learn to live freely and lightly.
Says the word. What a beautiful and

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loving invitation, particularly when we're in
the midst of challenges and struggles. However,

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before we can fully appreciate this invitation, we may wish to place these

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words in the fuller context of this
chapter as a whole, which begins with

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providing us with an understanding of what
is going on in a very important relationship,

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a relationship that most of us are
familiar with. In the opening passage,

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a theme has developed around relationships.
We find that the people of Israel

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are not accepting of Jesus their messiah. What is most shocking is that John

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the Baptist, hearing from his prison
cell about the deeds of Christ, is

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expressing some doubt, some uncertainty concerning
Jesus's ministry, Jesus's identity. John the

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Baptist, John the waymaker, the
one who came to prepare the way for

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the Lord, the one who testifies
to Jesus's superior power, stating, I

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baptize you with water for repentance.
But one who is more powerful than I

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is coming after me. I am
not worthy to carry his sandals. He

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will baptize you with the Holy Spirit
and fire. John the Baptist is now

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in prison for speaking out in the
face of empire to declare Jesus as Messiah,

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the holy One who would come to
take away the sins of the world.

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That same John, now in prison
for his convictions about Jesus the Messiah,

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is now questioning Jesus's identity. This
is interesting. So even the most

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devout, the most loyal, has
questions and is expressing doubt. He wants

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to know if Jesus is the one
the Messiah, or if there is another

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that they are to wait for.
Jesus hasn't met John's expectations. Perhaps he's

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disappointed. The text may serve as
a reminder to us all that even the

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most devout follower is prone to disappointment. It is safe to say even the

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saved, the sanctified, the Holy
ghost filled can come to a place of

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question and doubt in their relationship with
God. Is this the Christ, the

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Messiah, the long awaited savior who
takes away the sins of the world.

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Are you the one, Jesus?
Or should we wait for another? I

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imagine that there are many of us. When we pick up the newspaper or

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listen to the news to hear the
horrors of the day, one can't help

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but ask where is God? And
if there is a God, why does

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God allow such things? Does God
hear the cries, the prayers, the

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petitions. The number of children living
in poverty in the wealthiest country is tragic,

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and here in New York, almost
thirty percent of our children live in

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poverty. The number of people feeling
isolated and lonely without the support of family,

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friends, or good neighbors has reached
epidemic levels. Social isolation and loneliness

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have become widespread problems here in the
United States, which only increases mental and

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physical health risk. Many languishing and
long term care facilities without the loving or

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carrying presence of friends and family.
The number of people sleeping in public spaces,

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on our steps and in our doorways
across the country is yet another crisis.

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How do we make sense of beautiful
buildings sitting vacant or partially occupied after

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the pandemic fostered remote work while there
is a swelling number of unsheltered people in

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our city and country as a whole. We have a humanitarian crisis that has

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led to tens of thousands of people
crossing over the border in search of a

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better life. But there is a
conspicuous absence of at a national strategy to

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help address this crisis. Jesus says, I come that you may have life,

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and you may have it more abundantly. Yet nearly one point five million

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New Yorkers now experience food insecurity.
One has to wonder if abundance is reserved

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for just a few. There are
more liquor stores, smoke shops, and

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overpriced, poorly stock bodegas than health
and wellness programs right here in Harlem.

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If we are in genuine relationship with
God, I would suspect that there are

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any number of days when one might
be doubtful, frustrated, and even angry.

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This happens in real relationships. We
get upset when our hopes and expectations,

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our understand our expectations our understanding is
not aligned with what we experience.

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We believe in an all powerful obnisition
of nipotent God who takes away the sins

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of the world. Yes, a
loving God who has given us free choice,

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but can also change the hearts and
minds of each of us. A

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familiar refrain in the Black Church would
be, won't he do it? As

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a testament to God's good work?
Yet we witness the work of our Supreme

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Court recognizing there is no person or
persons, justice or court that is a

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match for God. So, Lord, how did you allow the Supreme the

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Court to roll back Row versus Way, affirmative action block and student debt relief

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and allowing a website allowing a website
designer to refuse to make same sex wedding

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websites. I hear the echoes of
the late Congressmen Reverend Adam Clayton Powell Junior,

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saying, is this the land of
the free and the home of the

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brave? Lord? Are you the
God who never leaves us or forsakes us,

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the God who grants clarity and understanding? I don't understand. The playing

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field has not been leveled, so
everything affects Black, brown and lower resource

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communities disproportionately, there are higher maternal
mortality rates among Black American women, and

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according to the CDC, more than
eighty percent of them are preventable. Fewer

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quality resources and services, and communities
that are already suffering from scarcity, a

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lack of affordable housing, a lack
of access to quality food, a lack

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of opportunity, higher levels of violence, particularly gun violence, and many children

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find it easier to get guns and
their parents will ever realize. Friends.

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Let the first portion of this chapter
serve as a reminder that even people with

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strong faith can struggle with questions of
doubt, especially when we have such high

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expectations. There's no question prison has
to affect one's physical, emotional, and

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spiritual functioning. I imagine for John
he was surrounded by other prisoners under harsh

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conditions. This changes one's behavior,
perhaps mindset. You may not know who

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you can trust, and it may
alter relationships. And if we allow circumstances

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to define the way we see God, we risk becoming a prisoner. Two

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prisoners of perspective. When we choose
to adjust our perspectives, we tend to

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be able to see God's goodness even
in the most challenging of circumstances. These

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moments feel like the gracious and divine
movement of the Holy Spirit. I see

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hope, I see hope and feel
God's rhythms of grace moving through circumstances of

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life. As we tuned into the
election of results last week to learn you

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Saith Salaam was one of the Central
Park five wrongfully accused and sentenced to prison.

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Now twenty three years later, has
won the seat on the New York

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City Council. It was a reminder
that we can find strength in knowing all

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the challenging and difficult experiences in this
life are temporary. Trouble don't last always.

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Even the darker nights where there is
weeping through the night, joy returns

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to greet us in the morning.
When all is finished and we have endured

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all things with faith in Jesus Christ, we have the promise that God shall

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wipe away the tears from our eyes, that we can rest from our burdens.

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In our text, friends, Jesus
says, you can exchange heavy burdens.

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You can exchange heavy burdens of expectations
and your anger and prejudice and rejection

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of others, and take on the
lord's yoke. Jesus promises what he knows

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will result as true rest for weary
souls. Friends, don't be discouraged.

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There is hope. I see hope. I see hope in Harvard's thirtieth President,

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Claudette Gay, who knew months ago
that the Supreme Court would would render

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a decision on students of fair admissions
versus President and fellows of Harvard College.

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President Gay, a brilliant analytical political
scientists and Harvard's first black chief administrator,

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spoke directly to the Harvard community and
all who care about moving forward with the

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mission of education in the face of
continuing racial discrimination, where she stated,

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we will comply with the Court's decision, but it does not change our values.

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It does not change their values.
We continue to believe deeply that a

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thriving, diverse, intellectual community is
essential to shaping the next generation of leaders.

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So long as we have leaders like
her, Let the Supreme Court do

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what the Supreme Court does. I
see, I see hope right here.

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Each time we can open our doors
to those who are struggling to have their

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basic needs met, their basic physical, emotional, and mental or spiritual needs.

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I feel a sense of hope,
and I feel God's grace when we

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meet read and served newly arriving asylum
seekers visiting our food pantry and clothing distribution.

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Each month, Julio and maid A
graciously flow with the ever increasing demands

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of people visiting social services, and
by God's grace, we can meet them

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in the need. We've moved,
we've turned no one away, Thanks be

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to God to discover that we are
at a cross roads, perhaps broken down

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and tired of living life on the
merry go round as the Populace song rise

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up by Audredago's we can rise up
to Jesus's invitation to go down a different

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road. We're invited to let go
of one way living or a more abundant

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life, one way of living for
a more abundant life, the same Jesus

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whose ministry was to meet people right
where they were in their brokenness, hurt,

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pain, rejection, and look lovingly
and tenderly in a way no other

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can. We are invited to let
go and discover still a more excellent way.

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There is for each one of us
a great invitation we have received in

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this reading of today's text. Perhaps
someone is at a crossroads, frustrated,

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angry, losing hope for a better
tomorrow. Perhaps this is the time to

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accept this invitation. Come with all
your burdens, Jesus says, all your

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frustrations, your disappointments, all your
anger, all the righteous indignation to receive

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and experience the unforced rhythms of grace. May it be so, God bless you,