Weariness is part of life. We all experience it, some more than others, but we all experience it. But what are we supposed to do about it?
Years ago, when I was a junior in high school I recall reading Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman in English class. It is the story of a traveling salesman who has lived life taking care of everything on his own, deceiving his family by engaging in extra-marital activities, and who has given everything he has to try to be great, but who never managed to achieve greatness because he focused on the outward appearances of greatness rather than on anything real. The salesman, Willy, is utterly mediocre. The play tells of the end of his life with flashbacks to better times, more exciting times, more hopeful times, but also shows the various abandonments and betrayals Willy has faced or perpetrated. It won a Pulitzer and a Tony, and is a classic of literature and stage. I hated it. It was entirely too depressing with no real redemption in any aspect of Willy’s life.
While I didn’t like the play – I much prefer happy endings – it did stick with me and I admire the insight and skill it took to write. One line in particular that I remember from the play is when Willy Loman says, “I’m tired to the death.” I recall my English teacher explaining to a bunch of uninterested teenagers that this was not just tired like we understood it, but truly weary – tired in all ways – mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually – to the point of loss of hope. She tried to impress upon us all that was contained in these few words, but it took years for me to really understand on a personal rather than intellectual level what was meant. Willy was bone tired – used up and wrung out like an old rag – and totally frustrated and lacking in hope. Eventually, in the play, Willy kills himself because he sees no possible improvement in his lot in life and thinks that the insurance money will help his family. It doesn’t, of course, as most life insurance policies include a rider disallowing payment for suicide. A tragic ending, but one that may all too real for those who have no hope in the Lord.
Now if I’d written the play, there would have been some redeeming hope – some spark of life that would keep Willy going and allow him to triumph over the circumstances when the troubles of the world tried to drah him down. That hope would have come in the form of faith – the certainty that God will care for those who trust Him and believe in Him. And that hope would be well-founded. After all, that kind of hope is what today’s Scriptures are about – pushing on through the weariness not on our own power, but by allowing God’s power to work in us. That kind of hope is why mission trips make a difference. It is not just the work that gets done, though that is appreciated, but more importantly it is the hope given to those who may be at the end of their ropes. It is about loving our neighbor in a way that is tangible, lasting, and that gives them assurance that God is still watching over them, caring for them, providing for them. It is about proving that something greater than we are can take over and get us through when we are growing weary.
That kind of hope is the reason the passage from Isaiah is a favorite for many, including for me. The kind of weariness it describes even youths having is beyond mere physical tiredness. It is the kind of weariness that Willy Loman experienced. But unlike Willy, those who read and hold onto Isaiah’s words know that there is reason to go on, reason to hope, even in the most difficult circumstances. That’s what it means to wait upon the Lord, using the old language – it means we are to trust in Him, in His timing and provision, and to know that He will fill us when it feels like we are running on empty. Basically, Isaiah is telling us that when we have come to the end of our ropes, God does not tell us to tie a knot and hold fast, but will create more rope and give us the strength not to simply hold on, but to climb even higher. God is truly the “creator of the ends of the earth” and He never runs out of energy or hope. The words are a reminder that we must rely on Him, though. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.” Without the second part of that, which is verse 31, we are left with weariness, tiredness, stumbling and falling. It is verse 31, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength,” that makes the difference.
What great power there is in these few words! Even the words themselves can provide a sense of hope and the strength. The last day we were in Johnstown on the worksites with our youth, Chris, one of the leaders from a church in Fulton, NY shared with Jim and me, the other leaders of that particular junior high crew, that her devotions passage that morning was verse 30 – the part about youths growing weary. It did not include verse 31 – the part about hoping in the Lord. We chuckled, but were reminded that we had a responsibility to encourage and lift up the young people we were working with – that we knew the rest of the words, but that not everyone necessarily knows them well enough to supply them when they are left unsaid. Sometimes it is hard to look beyond your own circumstances to ask God for help, especially when the task at hand seems daunting. So, weary though we were, Chris and Jim and I poured what energy we had left into the task, but we also spent the day relying on God for strength and energy. And God provided not only the strength and energy, but the miracle to get the job done and to give the youths and the homeowners the hope and sure knowledge that He is with them. It was a tangible lesson for both the young people and the homeowners that they were not even aware of, not to mention for we adult leaders who were aware of and appreciative for the reminder lesson. I actually kept the verse Chris had written out in my pocket all day, as a prompt to keep going.
That bit of hope, those words of assurance and help made all the difference on something as simple as a last day of painting. Poor Willy Loman needed those words. If I’d written Death of a Salesman, it might not have garnered awards, but there would have been a character like Chris who recognized the hope and help at hand with a strong faith and a gentle sense of humor, and who willingly shared it with others. Willy didn’t have that help, didn’t have that hope, didn’t have that faith. What a difference it might have made.
Perhaps if Willy Loman had had the faith and hope, his experience would have been more like the one we read about in Galatians, the one we are called to live out. Willy was, in fact, caught in sin, as are we all at various times. But even more than that, he had no one to help carry his burden. People might well have been willing, but he never thought to ask and would likely have rejected any help offered out of a false sense of pride and duty. Willy tried to do it all on his own, unaware that there was help but a breath away. See, it is not only friends and neighbors who help carry the burden, but the Lord Himself. Galatians urges us to carry one another’s burdens so that we can do what needs to be done, most especially fulfilling the law of Christ, recalling that Christ said all the law and prophets were summed up in loving God and loving neighbor. Galatians reminds us that while we each have a load to carry, we also have Christian companions who will help us carry our load, even as we help them with theirs.
Perhaps if Willy had not thought too highly of himself when he was young, he’d not have felt so let down in his later years when he was unable to be the star performer that he’d envisioned himself to be. Perhaps if he’d instead tested his own actions, as Galatians urges, he could be proud of having done the best he could do and not rely on competitiveness for a sense of self worth. Perhaps he could have seen himself as a beloved child of God to the very end, carrying the load that was his to bear instead of trying to shoulder the weight of his little corner of the world on his own. Maybe if he’d held onto the hope of future reward for those who do not give up, he’d have managed to live life differently – more successfully in real terms, no matter what worldly success he did or did not achieve.
But Willy didn’t manage to live the first part of Galatians or to hold onto the hope of the second part of our reading. Instead, he fell into the trap of ignoring God and any possibility of help and tried to do it all on his own. He rewarded himself along the way with activities that were not only inappropriate, but that hurt those he loved. He reaped what he sowed – a life of fulfilling fleshly desires with little or nor regard for pleasing his own spirit, his family, or, more importantly, the Spirit of God. Instead of reaping a bountiful harvest by pressing on instead of growing weary, Willy gave up.
It is important that we not follow Willy’s example. We must, instead, focus on the lesson of Galatians this morning, “doing good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” It’ so easy to think about right after a mission trip, but that is not the only time we should think on such things. It doesn’t matter if we’re on a mission trip or at work, traveling to distant places to help with specific projects, or simply helping a friend. We are called upon to do good to all people, especially to believers. And since we have little way of knowing who is and is not a believer, we cannot presume to help only those who we know believe in a similar way to us. We must reach out to each person we meet, offering words of encouragement, the hand of friendship, the help we are able, and, most importantly, the hope we have in Christ Jesus.
All the accolades, all the projects, all the personal milestones and pleasures of the flesh are not enough to keep us going if we do not have hope in the Lord. To me, that is truly the lesson in Death of a Salesman. It may not be the lesson intended - I doubt Arthur Miller was intentionally writing an evangelical message for the masses. Even so, the lesson can be seen when we contrast his writing with that of even more timeless writers like Isaiah and Paul. Nothing will ever be enough without hope. And without hope, we are sure to grow weary, carrying the whole burden on our own, failing to see a better day ahead.
So when you feel yourself growing weary, remember these passages of Scripture and instead of giving up, give more. Help another who is in worse circumstances than you are and you will be surprised by how much better you feel and how the Lord provides the strength you need to press on. It is so easy to get caught up in our own lives, our own challenges, our own family or personal issues. But when we look outside ourselves, when we lift our eyes to see those around us who are in need of things we can provide, we will see that God will give us what we need to get through and to make a difference for His Kingdom. God constantly gives us opportunities to share His message of love, to make a difference in His name, to encourage one another and even to bring hope to the hopeless. We just need to remember the burden is not ours alone and to rely on the Lord to give us the strength and energy we need to soar like eagles.