Stoles and What They Mean

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart.”   -- Jesus (Matthew 11:29)

            Some of you have noticed a series in the Canada Lutheran where some of the pastors in the BC Synod are telling the stories behind their favourite stoles.  I’m going to try a similar series, beginning with one of the few stoles that I actually purchased for myself.

            For the uninitiated, a stole is essentially a strip of fabric used as an ecclesiastical vestment (although the first definition that pops up is a woman’s long scarf or shawl worn loosely over the shoulders!).  A stole is usually the colour of the season in the church year.  The stole I am describing today is green, which covers the entire “growing season” in the church year – the Sundays after Pentecost.

            The stole symbolizes the yoke of Christ – an image that likely originated with animals being yoked together in order to do farm work.  To be yoked with Christ is (hopefully) to be working in tandem with Jesus.  Jewish rabbis spoke about the yoke of the Law (or Torah) – also meant to keep people working in tandem with God.  Jesus, however, boiled the Law down to two related commandments: to love God with your whole heart and soul and mind and to love your neighbour as yourself (Mt. 22:37-40).  This is the “easier” yoke described in Matthew 11.

            The stole pictured here was hand-made by a Bedouin woman near Jerusalem.  The embroidery on it is the Jerusalem cross, which consists of one larger cross and four smaller crosses.  The four smaller crosses represent the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), and the larger cross is inspired by Acts 1:8. 

The good news about Jesus was to be shared with the whole world (sometimes referred to as the four corners of the earth).  With Jerusalem in the centre, Jesus’ witnesses have shared the good news to the North, South, East and West.

            Every time I put on this stole (or another one), I am reminded of where it came from, the person involved in making it, the call to share the gospel, and the call to be working in tandem with Jesus, living the law of love.

                       In Christ,

            Pastor Lynne Hutchison