Sliced bread first appeared on the scene on July 7, 1928, when Otto Rohwedder made the first commercial bread slicing machine and installed it in the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri. It was an immediate success. In time other bakeries across the nation started buying Rohwedder’s machine. And sliced bread started appearing in stores all over the place. But in 1943, the Federal Government banned sliced bread. The reason was because America was two years into WWII. Sliced bread required thicker packaging to keep the slices from drying out. The government needed all the plastic they could get for the war effort.

This had created an uproar across the country. One distraught housewife wrote a letter to Congress, and here is what she said.

“I should like to let you know how important sliced bread is to the morale and saneness of my household. My husband and four children are all in a rush during and after breakfast. Without ready-sliced bread, I must do the slicing for toast – two pieces for each one – that is ten. For their lunches, I must cut at least twenty slices, for two sandwiches apiece. Afterwards I make my own toast. Twenty-two slices of bread to be cut in a hurry.”

She pleaded with Congress, please do not take this away from us. Two months later the ban was revoked, and bakeries everywhere were once again able to sell sliced bread.
(Remembering When America Banned Sliced Bread, September 7, 2022, Gastro Obscura)

Sliced bread has become a benchmark for latter inventions. Have you ever heard the phrase, “Greatest thing since sliced bread.”

But an interesting side note is that technology, which was meant to make our lives easier, has in turn made life more hectic and busier. Isn’t it interesting that our busyness has increased with the amount of modern technology that is available? Before the invention of the cell phone, people waited for an answer to their questions. Now if people call and you have not answered the phone in five seconds, people get mad. We have answering machines on our phones but often callers do not leave a message because it takes too long. Now please do not misunderstand, I am not asking everyone to give up their smart phones or technology. I am just making a parallel between our time saving devices and how they can make us busier and more stressed than ever before.

Today in our scripture lesson, Jesus is speaking a word of blessing to us. More than that, He calls us into rest. Here in chapter 11, Jesus sees hundreds of people whose lives are a grueling, daily grind of demanding work. He is looking at people who are overworked, heavily taxed, and poorly led by selfish and oppressive rulers. In a word, these people were weary; that weariness was made worse by the fact that they had no hope. These first century Israelites had no prospect that it was going to get any better. That is why they dreamed intensely and prayed earnestly for a Messiah. His coming was a long shot, but it was all that they had.

Well, here is their Messiah, He looks over the weary crowd and says, “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The word “burdened” means to work until you are EXHAUSTED! If we come to Jesus, He will give us rest. He has it, and He wants to give it out to everyone who asks for it. Rest! And the only ones who receive rest, are those who come to Jesus.

Even today there are people who would hear all this and say, “Rest, that’s not for me!” But it is, you just do not want to admit it. Do you know anyone who will not go to the doctor no matter how sick they are? Do you know someone who cannot fix anything, cannot even change a light bulb, but will not ask for help? There will always come a time when you will not be able to make it through life alone. If we try, we will become exhausted, both physically and emotionally. When people refuse to look for help, they will seek it in other ways. They will become distracted by entertainment. Believe they can find it through a romantic relationship. Or they try to find it in a bottle or through pills. But all those things do is to add to the burden, not subtract from it.

As Jesus stood there that day and looked over the crowd, He also looked over us today, and the invitation that He gave in first century Israel is no less powerful to us this day. Notice Jesus says, “COME TO ME.” He invites us to Himself. Jesus does not call us to a philosophy, or an ideology, or a moral program. He invites us into a relationship with Him. He’s the one who can give us rest. He is the one who can help us. He is the one who can show us the way.

Jesus then adds something odd. He says in verse 29, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your soul.” This seems very strange. Hidden behind Jesus’ words is a promise of rest using an object of work! A yoke was a wooden beam that was carefully fitted to an oxen’s neck so it could pull a plow or wagon. How can you receive rest through that? A workout maybe, but rest? That does not make sense.

That is until you understand how a yoke works, especially a double-sided yoke. When training a new ox, it was always teamed with a more experienced veteran ox. Why? Because the older ox is stronger, wiser, and could follow instructions better. If they did not combine the two animals, the field would not get plowed. Now we see better what Jesus meant when he said, “Take on My yoke”. Jesus invites us into His yoke. He is the older, the stronger. Our goal is simply to stay in step with Him.

Jesus does not say these words because He is trying to enslave us. Jesus comes to unburden us, to free us. He says these words because He is the one who carries the burdens of life. He takes the worries, the concerns, the hurts, and the heartbreaks. Jesus is the one who carries it all when we are weak, and we feel we have no hope. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow You, You would walk with me all the way. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and burden light.” Following Jesus should be a delight to us, not hard, not bondage, but freedom.

In New York City on 5th Avenue, in the lobby of the RCA Building stands a large statue of Atlas holding the world. Atlas is presented as the world’s strongest man, and he is huge with rippling muscles. And you can see him strain as he uses every bit of his strength to hold up the world. But right across the street stands St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Inside, just beyond the alter, is a statue of Jesus as a boy, and He is holding the world in the palm of his hands. He’s holding it like a baby holds a rattle. Jesus is not grimacing but has a big smile on His face.

I mention this image because we all have a choice on this day. Will we live life trying to be Atlas, and struggle to hold our life together only to get more exhausted? Or can we come to Jesus, the one who holds the world in the palm of His hand? Will you come to Jesus and receive the rest you need? The choice is ours! But I hope you will choose the one who could give us rest.


Until We Meet Next Week at the P.E.W.,
Pastor Joel