Download - Christ Redeemer Lutheran Church

Christ Redeemer Lutheran Church
Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV 2011) - Pentecost 7 - July 27, 2014
28 “Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
“JESUS IS THE ONLY REST-GIVER”
1. From Burdensome Labors 2. For Not So Burdened Disciples
The Wall Street Journal reported this past week that several studies on sleep indicate that for most people 7
hours of sleep a night is the ideal amount rather than the 8 hour fare which seems to have been the benchmark
for years. It was also noted that people who sleep between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a night have a longer life
expectancy. I would imagine that many of us wish we had a bit more sleep each night than what we get.
It is a medical fact that the body needs rest. God had Old Testament believers observe a day of rest (Exodus
19:8-10). Jesus at various times encouraged his disciples to rest (Mark 6:31). In our familiar text for today
Jesus describes another kind of rest, a rest for the soul which is really a rest that impacts the whole person.
More important than physical rest is the spiritual rest we vitally need in Christ. And while we may require
certain things for us to fall asleep at night, type of mattress, background music, reading, total darkness, a night
light, no caffeine three hours before bed-time, etc. there is only one way to get the spiritual rest we require.
Jesus is the only rest-giver. He is the only rest-giver from burdensome labors. He is the only rest-giver for not
so burdened disciples.
Jesus’ words in our text require that we reflect upon what he is saying. I would hazard a guess that many of us
who are familiar with these words haven’t examined the full scope of their meaning. We may limit their
application to situations in which we are struggling to cope with a variety of setbacks and hardships. When we
are weary from months of cancer treatment or when we are bone weary from assisting a relative overcome
alcoholism or when our boss at work has made conditions unbearable, we long to hear Jesus’ words of comfort:
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Jesus’ words are applicable to
these and similar circumstances but are probably not the kind of circumstances he primarily is addressing. Have
you considered what Jesus is referring to when he states that he is gentle and humble in heart? What does Jesus
mean when he states that we are to put on his yoke? I thought we were attempting to get unburdened and Jesus
wants us to take up a burden?
What is the full scope of Jesus being the only rest-giver? Let us begin by considering the kind of rest to which
Jesus refers. Jesus is the only rest-giver from burdensome labors.
There is no doubt Jesus wants us to come to him. He invites us to do so. 28 “Come to me, all you who are
weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus desires us to come when we are weary from labors that
are zapping of us of strength. When we are burdened, wearied from the battle to find peace, Jesus calls us to
himself.
Now the question becomes, what is it exactly that is causing us to be wearied from labor or burdened into a state
of weariness? Take a look at the context of Jesus’ words. In Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his disciples to the lost
sheep of Israel who thought they were in the kingdom of heaven but were not. Included in Matthew 10 is also a
longer discourse by Jesus regarding the challenges that believers will confront from unbelievers, including what
we heard in the last Sunday’s Gospel reading that children and parents may be divided over who Jesus is. In
Matthew 11, John the Baptist was in prison for having chastised the tetrarch, Herod Antipas, for marrying his
brother’s wife. John sent his disciples to ask Jesus if he indeed was the promised Messiah or would it be
someone else. Jesus commented on how many folks rejected John because he lived a hermit-like life in the
wilderness and how Jesus himself was rejected because he was too worldly; he spent too much time with tax
collectors and sinners. Jesus went on to chastise the residents of some Galilean cities who refused to believe in
him despite the miracles he had performed. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus scolds the worldly wise and
educated who rejected him. Jesus commended those who would seek God through himself with child-like trust
and without pretense. In the verse before our text, Jesus affirms that God is found not because of an
individual’s superior spiritual head-knowledge or superior number of good works accomplished, rather people
receive God as Jesus in his grace opens their hearts to believe in him.
Who is Jesus calling to himself? He is calling all who are wearied and burdened in looking for spiritual peace
apart from him. Jesus urges all to come to him. Throw away our pride and spiritual arrogance. Burdened by
sin and a conscience reeking with guilt we find solace in Christ. Whatever worldly burdens weigh us down, we
have a Savior who beckons us to come, but most especially he is calling us to have a soul at peace for he came
to remove the sting of sin from our souls.
In our Epistle lesson, Jesus is described first and foremost as our rest-giver for the soul. How do we get right
with God? How does my restless soul, how does my restless conscience, how does my need to consider myself
a decent person worthy of God get resolved? Not by boasting over my good works résumé but by abandoning
my feeble attempts at self-righteousness and then finding forgiveness at the foot of cross. 9 There remains,
then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their
works. (Hebrews 4) Our rest, our Sabbath (“Sabbath” means “rest”) is Jesus.
We heard in our Old Testament lesson and Epistle that Joshua and God’s people did not find their spiritual rest
by boasting how they had entered the Promised Land of Canaan or how they had defeated their enemies. It was
God who had provided them victories in battle. To find spiritual rest, we stop focusing upon ourselves as the
instruments of rest but rather we focus upon God.
Jesus is the only rest-giver from burdensome labors. We come to him who is gentle and humble in heart.
Jesus, according to his human nature, was made lowly, taking on the form of a servant. He submitted himself to
God the Father. He accomplished the Father’s will in being perfectly obedient to the Ten Commandments as
our substitute. Jesus in the ultimate act of gentleness and humility submitted himself to the horrors of hell upon
the cross so that we would have spiritual rest in him. We possess Christ through child-like faith in him. Jesus is
God but he is also one of us. He longs to forgive. He desires to give us consciences free from guilt. He desires
nothing more than to assure us that he loves us and that we are his children. All our efforts to find peace with
God get us nowhere until we come to Christ, battered and bruised from sin, tired of looking for God in all the
wrong places, and finding in Christ rest for a wearied soul.
When we are afraid of the future, when financial woes abound, when addictions assail us, when our purpose in
life is allusive, when relationships are frayed, will we find rest in Christ? Absolutely, but our rest comes first
and foremost from a soul that is at rest in Christ, at peace in the forgiveness of sins. When life is a mess we
come to Christ. God help us to examine life’s messes in light of sin. If we have come to Christ for forgiveness
of sin then all the giants that need to be slayed in life will be slayed as we approach Christ as his disciples. We
come to find rest in life’s trials already possessing peace with God through Christ. Equipped with that rest we
are assured that God will deliver us so that the rest that evades us because of earthly situations can be obtained.
What about an example? How does a Christian deal with negative stress? The Christian begins by seeking rest
in Christ for his or her soul. Before we tackle any matter-at-hand we hand our souls to Christ and are thankful
that we are right with God through faith through which we receive the forgiveness of sins. Then we start to
examine from a position of rest how the stressor is to be removed. We examine our motivations and goals for
doing what we do that involves the stressor. We seek the advice of others. We seek to offset the stressor with
2
activities that take our focus away from the stressor. We seek the courage to make changes in our life. We may
need to simplify our lives. We may have to make changes that involve giving up certain perks that we had
become accustomed to. We don’t fear change. We evaluate how the Bible may specifically instruct us to handle
a particular situation. We pray that God would grant us the wisdom which leads to decisions which minimize
the stressor. We determine how the current situation still enables us to serve God with our abilities and time.
We keep focused on heaven. We believe that there is nothing that can happen to us that God will not provide
ways for us to conquer. I would imagine that in most of the situations for which we are burdened with negative
stress there is a component of the stress that can be relieved through a maturing of faith in Christ and a greater
diligence in fighting against a sinful mindset or a sinful action. In many instances much of our ability to handle
a crisis will vastly improve when we place a greater trust in Christ and daily discover the joy which comes in
devoting our day to Christ.
Jesus is the only rest-giver not only from burdensome labors in which we seek spiritual rest apart from him but
he is the only rest-giver for not so burdened disciples. Jesus’ words in our text make us do a double-think
wouldn’t you say: 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Stop. Take my yoke upon you… Wait a minute here. We were supposed to be dumping our worries and
cares on Christ and now Jesus is giving us a yoke. Recall that a yoke is a wooden device, beam or stick that fit
over the heads of two oxen or other animal joining them together so that they can pull a load together. The
yoke that Jesus gives us isn’t meant to burden us but is rather to remind us that we are yoked to him so that
whatever problems assail us, he will be there pulling with us. We Christians may face consequences from
nonbelievers for being Christians, but with souls at rest in Christ, armed with the promise that Jesus will equip
us to meet any hatred directed at us, then we don’t feel the burden. We don’t consider hardships suffered for
Christ a burden. The Holy Spirit moves us to joyfully suffer on Christ’s behalf. Shock alert. We consider it a
privilege to suffer for Christ. Jesus’ yoke is easy and his burden is light.
It is almost every day now that stories are appearing of Christians in this country coming under verbal assault.
Consider this story that was circulating last week on the Internet: “Shockingly, at least one conservative group
has a problem with ‘Black Jesus.’ The upcoming Aaron McGruder series doesn't premiere on Cartoon
Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim until August 7, but already it's sent the American Family
Association (AFA) into Maximum Finger-Wagging Mode, with the organization urging the public to demand
that the show be pre-canceled. (Why did the AFA object to the programming? It had nothing to do with Jesus
being cast as an Afro-American. Historically that is of course not true but if the Jesus character is portrayed in a
biblically correct way, not a big deal. Rather listen to what garbage is headed for the airwaves to which the
AFA objected. ) Giving a big fat thumbs-down to the series’ trailer, the group seethed on its website, ‘The foul
language used in the trailer, including repeated uses of the Lord's name in vain, the f-word and the s-word is
disgusting. In addition, there is violence, gunfire, drugs and other inappropriate gestures which completely
misrepresent Jesus.’” (The Wrap)
Not only is there an increasing segment of our population that has no qualms about denigrating Christ but to
feign surprise that Christians would be upset with Jesus portrayed in such a vulgar manner is one more
indication of the avalanche of Christian bashing that is gaining momentum. But we carry Jesus’ yoke which is
easy to bear for Christ is pulling with us.
If we lose a leg tomorrow, we can live with that burden. We are thankful for the days we had two legs. We
carry Jesus’ yoke that he saw fit to let it happen. The yoke is easy even though we may struggle at times
especially if we lose sight of Jesus pulling with us.
3
As we follow Jesus, is it really a burden that the yoke we wear leads us to refrain from sexual immorality? Is it
really a burden that the yoke we wear leads us to be honest? I pray that as we follow Jesus and wear the yoke of
obedience to him, we find it a joy, a light burden, an easy yoke.
There is a mattress store that has as its advertising jingle, “Trust ______________ for the rest of your life.” I
kind of like the jingle. Of course, far better words to hear are: 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” In
Christ, we have the rest of our life. May we possess that rest for the rest of lives and into eternity. Amen.
4